SportsShoes Blog

21/09/09

Well I’ve now moved into my new flat in Manchester and I’m back into track training for a competition in Barcelona later on this week! After Trophee d’Or stage race I flew back home for a 12 day break from the bike! I was pretty busy, seeing friends and family, shopping, going out etc.  I also went to Barcelona for a 3 day holiday, it was really nice to get a bit of sun and see the sights! I’m sure my next experience of Barcelona will be a bit different though, a lot less lazing around in the sun and eating tapas and a lot more hard work!!

I’m really enjoying being back on the bike though and getting back on the track.  I’m sharing the flat with another cyclist, Dani King at the moment until the other girls get back from the World Road Race Champs in Mendrisio.  It’s really nice, situated in the student area of Fallowfield, Manchester.  It’s pretty busy around Fallowfield at the moment as its Freshers Week- we’ve stayed away though- don’t want to be catching any freshers flu!

Training on the track has been pretty mixed really, on some sessions I’ve felt quite good and on others, terrible! I guess it’ll take a while for my legs to adjust to riding the track again and get used to pace judgement necessary for individual and team pursuiting. I’m going through the motions though and hoping I’ll be able to do a decent time for the 3k individual pursuit in Barcelona.

Well I’m feeling much better now - dont think the antibiotics really worked but a long break over the Christmas holidays helped me get the bug out of my system and I got back on the bike a week ago.  The plan is to do as much riding as possible on the turbo for the moment and avoid the icy outdoors to keep the cold off my chest.  It pretty much takes all the enjoyment out of riding my bike- I’ve just finished a monotonous 90 minutes sitting in the saddle and going no where - but its definitely better than nothing!

JI have ust come back from a break off the bike and so I’m getting back into it again now. Went to the gym last Thursday and absoloutly died!! Apart from that I’m just doing easy riding at the moment as I don’t have any competitions for a while.  The weather’s pretty bad at the moment - typically it was lovely weather during my week off! I tried to go for a run to make the most of the weather but only managed 20 minutes and had aching joints for 4 days afterwards! I should be hearing pretty soon about whether I’ve got a place on the Olympic Academy Programme which I applied for at the end of August! Fingers crossed!