Onwards and upwards (literally)

After receiving Phil’s plan for weeks 5 and 6, I mentally prepared myself for all the hill training and the longest ride yet.

Having experienced my first ever long climb of 1000ft – (before Phil’s advice) I can use hindsight to see that I did everything that he advises not to do, starting off too fast, not focusing on my breathing and running out of energy by the time I reached the top….not a great start! So, the last two weeks have been all about putting Phil’s advice into practice – this time using Arthur’s seat which is perfect for Phil’s plan of 4-6 moderate hill reps.

Learning to pace myself has been the biggest challenge for me this week as it’s difficult to not get caught up in chasing another rider that passes me on a climb. Phil’s useful tip of sticking at your own pace will need to be drilled into me prior to Touro day – as this part is hard to put in to practice when you’re not practicing with a big group and working out who I’ll be able to stay with and not burn myself out too early.

However, as the event date is fast approaching and now knowing, with less than 2 weeks to go, Phil’s tips on how to climb hills effectively I have been putting this into practice and bringing all the tips together.

All in all, weeks 5 & 6 complete…now to rest and mentally prepare for the challenge.

Categorised in: News

This post was written by Alex Simpkin