The Highway is alive tonight

Well the last week hasn't gone to plan due to the passing of a close family friend. She will be missed.

So - a quick catch up!
I had completed about 40km from last Thursday to Tuesday evening. Those were training days 4 to 9

Wednesday evening was my first time up on the saddle post work in quite a while. Months even. Lots of months! Last month it was mainly rain related tardiness. I'm not against cycling in the rain, I just hate the fact that you put on some wet gear but you end up sweating so much in it, it's pointless! I'm sure any cyclist out there would agree!
So Wednesday evening I came home from work, had my protein shake and headed back out while the muscles were still warm. I was aiming for a nice 10km cycle, with a few photo opps for this blog! I honestly think I'm quite lucky with the beautiful road routes I have in my local area. I was taking the photos this evening with my beloved iPhone, but on future trips I might just bring my better samsung camera. I want to document this training and my holiday so I have a personal scrap book to look back on!

As you can see above, Cork is blessed with a beautiful entrance to its harbour. And while this photo is really nice, I honestly don't think there's anywhere nicer in late spring / early summer when all the trees are green!  Check out my photos on picasa web for more if you wish!

So my first evening went well. I pushed myself hard coming home from work, then pushed myself pretty hard on the cycle around the Marina. That is just under a 9km cycle so it is a nice warm up route. My back muscles seem to be holding up fine - my spine felt like someone was giving it a Chinese burn. It's a tightness which is difficult to explain. The best I can offer is it feels like one vertebrae is going one way, the next vertebrae the opposite direction. Weird uncomfortable feeling.

Thursday evening I pushed it out an extra 4km.  I went around the same area as last night, just mixed up the direction.  I also went by Blackrock castle..... 

which as you can see, looks slightly pretty with the sunset on it!  It really was a beautiful evening out.  


I felt good this evening for the whole cycle.  No real pain, just the muscles reacting to my maintaining an average speed of 28km/h for the majority of my cycle.  Normal!  My favourite shot this evening thought was this:

It was taken from a bridge on the old railway line route I go.  Truly awesome in my view!


Tomorrow I'm thinking of a 30km roundtrip to Carrigaline. I was thinking of something bigger but I have my gym session with my trainer tomorrow night and I don't want to over do it! My planned cycle would also mark my longest cycle in a little under 1 year. Should be very interesting to see how I fare and how the body feels come Saturday.  So far - I know it's been quite a basic training - but I'm coming along nicely I feel!  You have to start somewhere and I'm 11 days in now and feeling good for what I've done.

I'm going to throw up some pics of my gear and equipment soon so you know what I'm using!