I was having some issues with my previous website theme. It looked ok, but something had really gone very badly in the wordpress backend (you dont want anything going badly in there!).

I’m really trying to get these things set up so I dont have to spend a lot of time over the next few months. It’s going to be hard enough fitting everything in without having to spend hours doing website admin :).

I’ve done a couple of marathons before and not really paid too much attention to what my heart was doing. I mean, as long as it’s still beating, I was figuring I was doing just fine.

Turns out, I’ve been wrong. It is important. I have been running what is generally known as ‘junk miles’. When training for endurance events, its important to train up the the energy system you have for long distances – this is your fat burning system. To do this is fairly straightforward, you exercise at a rate that uses this system. Makes sense so far, if you are training for a running event, you use your legs, it’s not much good doing press ups.

The difficuly is, training this long distance energy source requires you to keep track of your heart rate, and counter-intuitively it means you often have to keep much slower than feels ‘right’.

To find the zones you need to run in you need to find your maximum heart rate, and then use percentages of those. The general rule is something along the lines of 220 – your age. Mine is more like 192 (which I found after running a 5km pretty quickly).

This makes my zones:

[table]Zone,HR
Z4,173 to 182
Z3,163 to 173
Z2,144 to 163
Z1,125 to 144[/table]

The vast majority (90% or so) of my training will be in Z1 and Z2 – almost none of the training I have ever done has been in this zone!

….. Starts with a single physio session. I’ve been struggling with a problem in my lower back after one too many games of football and my right knee after one too many long runs.

It’s not like I need a working knee to complete my run training. Or a flexible back to keep comfy after hours in the saddle. Ah.

So, before the training starts it makes sense to get all fixed up. Physio session number one is about to start….

So first thing. I’ve read the books. I’m inspired. I’m signed up. Ah, here’s the first thing – I dont have a bike. I live in a little flat in Manchester with very little room in it to store bikes. Handily we do have a ‘secure’ area in our car park to do that. I use quote marks around secure, because, well, it’s about as secure as leaving a £20 note on the street with a big note saying ‘take me, I’m yours’ next to it.

In the past, I’ve had stolen:

1. a whole bike
2. my brakes
3. my rear wheel
4. another bike
5. my rear wheel, front wheel, forks and stem

All of these were locked up. With many locks. Of different types. In a room with two locks. In a locked car park.

I guess I’m just unlucky!

So the first step is to buy a bike. I’ve never bought a road bike before, so there is a lot of information to take in. Carbon frame? forks? how much to spend? internet vs shop? Which type of gear (shimano/sram/campy). Which model in that range? Is weight important?

So far the only advice that I’ve really listened to is ‘get one that you love’. With that in mind my heart has been taken by a Sportive Bianco at Ribble cycles:

Now I just have to wait the few weeks for it to arrive…..

And buy a bloody massive lock!