Author: Buck

My last blog was all poorliness and bikes. I hit my nadir on Sunday morning when I had to admit defeat and not do the Manchester marathon. I hadn’t done any training at all for 3 weeks and I was still feeling weak. It started to clear on Sunday afternoon. Obviously. I went for a test run and managed to do 10 miles at a modest but forced pace. Even though I was still a bit ill, and it was so, so hard, it was a joy to be out doing a bit. I’d been going stir crazy doing nothing for 3 weeks. I got back on the pushbike torture training thing (The Sufferfest) the next day and didn’t die. So, I’m back in the game. Yay!   I took my bike to the garage as I said. I trust the mechanic as he’s always got too much work on so he doesn’t make up jobs to boost his money. A few times he’s told me what to do and sent me away to do it myself. Anyway, he took the bike for a test ride and said the engine was “sweet” and agreed it was a steal for the price. I got him to do the full service, down to the valve clearances. On another bike I’d probably have a go, but these have gear driven cams, so you have to get a series of cogs all meshed exactly right. Put one back slightly out of position and you’ve got a dead bike. Actually, I may have been fed a scare story, looking at it, I reckon that’s do-able. I might get a cheap engine and have a mooch. While I was looking for an example picture I came across a gear driven Ducati. That is art. Would not want to drop a cog and have to reset that! That’s all beside the point. I took it to the mechanic and got a proper job done. I picked it up today. He’s sorted out the front brake, changed the brake and clutch fluids, replaced 4 valve shims and done the valve clearances, apart from annual changing of oil and such, that’s me for 15,000 miles. On the ride home from buying it I was worried that my other bike was quicker to rev up and sprint off than this new one. On the ride home from the garage I nipped past some slow cars and hit the power band. Off like a scalded cat! That was a hoot. I’ve been waiting all week for some crash bungs to arrive so the mechanic could fit them. (These are crash bungs, by the way. Just to protect your fairings and engine from getting smashed to bits when you come off.) (Just rereading this before posting it. Other people might say “if” you come off, lol.) It’s not a big job, take your fairing off, mark them, drill a big hole in them, put them back and fit your crash bungs. It’s […]

That’s about all that’s going on right now. Luke was dying with a beastly cold that laid him up for weeks. He was bored of being ill at home so came around and gave it to Wendy and me. Which is nice. Wendy’s been off work for nearly two weeks with it. She’s gone back now but she’s still as rough as rats. I’ve not been so bad, just weak and feeling lousy. I did a 20 mile run 18 days ago, not done a hand’s turn of training since. I’ve got the Manchester marathon on Sunday. I’m doubtful I’ll even be starting.   The rest has all been about the bikes. I put my FireBlade up for sale on eBay. *sigh* It’s the most amazing bike I’ve ever ridden, but it’s just too, too much. 90mph in second gear (of 6.) You spend all your time struggling to stay out of automatic ban territory (100mph+), it takes all the fun out of it. In an amazing turn of events, I put the bike up for sale, 2 hours later it had sold! No hassle, no insulting offers! Unheard of. Also I’ve sold my saxes as part of my triathlon training. Cut out all distractions from your focus on your goal. While they were there I was always tempted to go back and waste more time on something I’m never going to be able to do. I’ve finally got on top of the crash damage on my winter bike. I had to strip and clean the carbs in my latest ordeal. But now it seems to be running OK, finally. Nothing but trouble, but I’ve got it sorted. Now I want shut. I was on the verge of buying an Suzuki SV650, a slow (123mph) naked (to slow me down some more) and cheap V twin, that also handles well and is great fun. So, a Harley.  But better in every way. And way cheaper. As I say I was on the verge of getting a really low mileage one for under £2K when I read a long term review of them. It seems they are all I thought, but built to a budget. The reason it’s all so shiny and pretty is because it’s not been ridden in winter. They are rustbuckets in waiting. No good for me. I want one bike, that’ll do everything, that I can ride all year. So I’ve bought another VFR750. Exactly the same as my winter bike, but not rusty and horrible.   It’s in the bike shop now having a once over to see that the engine is fine. If so I’m getting it a total service (big job, setting the valve clearances and shims, but once it’s done it’s good for 15,000 miles.) Then I’m getting the paint on the wheels re-done and redoing the forks myself. Then maybe a respray. That’s it then. One bike, all shiny and lovely, one set of bills, all year round useable and I have […]

I did that 20 mile run last weekend. That was quite good. In the teeth of the gales that were battering us I went out and tried to run 20 miles at a good pace. I wanted 7.30, but the wind was atrocious, so I settled for keeping it under 8 m/m. So that was a good effort. Then nothing. Work are still battering me with hours, then Luke, Wendy’s son, had a really evil bug, he was bored with being ill on his own so came around and gave it to me and Wendy. Super. Wendy’s been off work, rough as a rat’s arse, since Tuesday, I’ve just been feeling week and horrible. I had a patch, lay in bed last night, where I thought that I was actually OK, and could probably manage a run. I got up this morning grotty again. I’m missing valuable training and I’ve got the Manc marathon in a fortnight. I don’t have the time to be ill. However, I thought I’d make the most of my down time by finally selling my kit. I put it off, not because I want to keep the kit, but because of all the hassle trying to sell stuff. I decided to put my FireBlade up for sale as it’s ridiculously fast and it’s only a matter of time before I get caught and banned. Losing my license costs me my job. I can’t risk it. I put it on Gumtree for £2,800, a fair price, I got it cheap at £3,000 (or was it £3,100? I forget.) I said “This is the price I want for it. If you want to haggle imagine I put it up for £3K and you’ve beaten me down.” I put it on eBay at the same time, for £2,500 opening bid on the auction, or £2,800 “buy it now”. Amazingly, before I’d had chance to be bombarded by questions and scams, someone bought it.  Within 2 hours! I took the advert down off Gumtree prompting one of the Gumtree denizens to text me, “I’ve got £1,800 for the FireBlade now” That is more the calibre of abuse I was expecting. I’ve checked the buyer’s feedback, he’s been on eBay for 9 years, 100% positive feedback, lots of “Paid full amount. No hassle. Great eBayer.” I think it’s a done deal. That was easy. Also I’ve decided to sell my saxes. The thing is, truth be told, I’m crap. I just can’t do it. While I have saxes about the place I’m always tempted to go back and try again. I really want to be able to play, but I just can’t. I can’t get the hang of counting time. Without that it’s all meaningless. Even typing that has made me think I should give it one more go. NO! Focus on triathlon! I listed them yesterday. Within hours I got an email about the soprano. The guy came around tonight, played it like I would never be able, and […]

I know. I know. My week has been a nightmare for my training and just in general.  Sunday was an 11 hour shift, I weakened and called it a rest day. Didn’t train. Monday I had nightmare. Supposed to be a 7 hour shift, at the last minute they changed my second drop to Didcot, (just past Oxford in deepest Darn Sarf). That bumped it up to an 11 hour shift. Then they shut the M40 on the way back up. I was going to run out of driving hours so I took another break to clear my clock on the A50. I went to start my truck back up, nothing. Had to call the repair guy out. By the time he’d got to me and repaired it I had enough time to get back to base with a spare half hour before I ran out of my legal maximum of 15 hours worked. If you run out you have to pull over and spend 9 hours on break. I set off, because it had gotten so late they’d put night roadworks closures in place. A50 shut. I had to divert. I made it to the M6 by luck, I didn’t know the diversion route, and started to relax. Then the signs came up “M6 J17- 18 long delays”. What? OK, I know that diversion. No probs, come back on at 18. Then next sign, “M6 J18- 19 closed”. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I had to come off at J16 and work my way around. I got into the yard with 8 minutes to spare of my 15 hours. I just pulled over and dumped my truck. Didn’t train. That put me on a reduced rest for Tuesday, so 9 hours later I was back in, minus the hour for commuting, the hour wind down/ eat/ shower etc. Knackered. Didn’t train. Wednesday I had an easy run, then when I got back they stitched me up with a bad second run. The second drop takes ages to load you. I was there 4 hours 15 last time I went so I was fuming before I started. 3 hours 30 this time. a 13 hours 15 shift. Didn’t train. On Thursday I had a day off as I had a hospital appointment. By this time I’d built up a mental resistance. I was fighting against training. Everything seemed too hard. I didn’t train. Friday, today, I was struggling. Really struggling. I prevaricated for about 2 hours or so before I finally forced myself on to the bike. I TRAINED! Huzzah! So glad I did. I decided to redo the 4DP fitness assessment. It’s an hour of beastly tests. I’ve only been on Sufferfest a month, you’re supposed to do it every three months, but I wanted to know if I had improved. Here’s the proof. FTP is how much power you can maintain for 20 minutes (up 10 Watts) MAP is the 5 minute test (+17W) AC is the one minute […]

Sufferfest’s mental toughness programme says you need to set quantifiable weekly and monthly goals. Then review how your training went that week so you can reward yourself for success and try to learn from failure. So here goes. I split my goals down into the disciplines. Swim: (For the week: ) Arrange 3+ swims per week. (Month: Learn not to sink. Learn to breathe.) Bike: 3 sessions per week (2 Sufferfest, 1 long ride.) Run: Increase fast (sub 3 marathon, 5.48 m/m) by half a mile a week.   It was my first week, I worked 6 days at work, doing a 12 and a 13 hour shift (with an hour’s commute, so two rest days). That having been said I did 2 swim sessions and am making great progress towards my monthly goal. I have floaty pretty much sorted, and my breathing is really coming on. It’s harder than it should be because I have to overcome the way I have been doing it. If I don’t concentrate for a second I slip back into it.    I didn’t manage the outdoor long ride because I’ve only had the one day off and it’s cold and blowing a gale, but I did 3 tough sessions on Sufferfest. I increased my max power burst on The Shovel (a 1 hour 6 minutes intervals beasting) from 580 watts to 897. That was a good job.   The running was another mixed bag. Now I’ve decided to get serious and have rest days, then work battering me with hours, I’ve only done two runs this week. That’s after 2 months of running every day. Which is what I feared. However, I did achieve greatness. I set out to do a 5½ mile fast run. Instead of a mile warm up, a sprint, catch my breath, then do the fast run, I tried to go at pace from the off. It was a mistake, frankly. It was so hard. At the end of 2 miles I thought my pace had dropped off so much I was going to have to jog and do it again. I looked at my watch, still 6.50’s, so I put my back into it. Then it was just a matter of not letting it slip. Horrible, horrible. I decided to make it 6 miles as I haven’t set my watch for half mile intervals. The last mile has a short but steep hillock. I looked at my watch at the top of it, wearing my lungs externally, and I was on 7.40 pace. So, on my last mile, totally shot, I had to claw back 50 seconds! And I did. I should look into a proper speed plan. But I’ve gone from 4 miles, joint best ever distance at race pace, to 6 miles, in 2 weeks.   Some good achievements: broke my duck with the swimming, have worked out best times to swim, and started to make progress on a proper technique. I’m really digging in on […]