The wind down has commenced, trying to find that balance between training and recovery in order to start the ride as refreshed and prepared as possible...but how do you know if you have done enough? How do you know if you have done too much? Of course you will know after the event, as hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Looking through the statistics on Strava yesterday evening after a quick 60 minutes on the turbo, it says that I have completed 9,013km this year, which is not a bad average actually, although I have a feeling that September may be my record month - haven't hit 2,000km yet, so there is a 2021 target that I have my best chance of achieving. My biggest week has been 501km, so that is going to get annihilated as should achieve around double that in the week commencing 13th September. I will say though, thinking about those numbers is a little daunting, and takes me back to my original question - how do you know if you have done enough?
Sometimes it is not just about the time and energy you put in on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, the hours of training shoehorned around a full time job, or even trying your best to eat clean and recover as best you can. Sometimes it's a couple of people that are close to you that give you perspective, who tell you that you could do it now let alone in a couple of weeks, or who know and believe in you enough to tell you to just chill - you're ready. I am lucky/fortunate enough to have some of those people in my life, and very grateful for them and their wise and honest council. Sometimes you get caught in the details, head-first down the odd rabbit hole, but it is always good practice to crawl back out every once in a while, take a deep breathe, and look at everything from a different angle (or get dragged back, either way works).
So on Bank Holiday Monday I went for a walk around Victoria Park with a coffee (of course) - to just chill and find some balance. Taking on board the advice to take it easy and relax, I meandered through the trees whilst listening to some random music, which was a lovely way to while away an hour. Full disclosure here, I was actually out do some shopping/errands (but did go the long way through the park just to mix things up), and this was after a 2 hour turbo session in the morning...guess there is not a lot of help for some people.
Balance, it's all about balance. Given the environment, timeframes, work load, etc, I am very happy with my training and preparation for the big ride. Could I have done more? probably. Should I have done more? Well, you will find out as the adventure unfolds from the 12th September.
Comments