Weekly Review October 4th – October 10th 2021

Each week I try to review and reflect on my previous week on the bike. This allows me to see how my fitness and ability is progressing on a wider timescale than day to day. For previous weekly reviews please click here

Six days riding, yet only five count. Unfortunately the cock up on Tuesday meant five riding days in a row as a result, and as I sit here writing this on the Monday evening, I have to say I am really feeling knackered right now.

And that’s not to say last week was particularly tiring, just day after day of activity isn’t good for me physically. Seems the Garmin agrees.

Here are this weeks rides:

Frustratingly, things didn’t start well for me this week. With my wife away I was on daddy day care / evening duty and due to work commitments, I didn’t get a chance to ride during the daytime on Tuesday.

This meant leaving the ride until late in the evening, when the kids were finally in bed.

No big deal, I thought, get them asleep, do my final Zwift Academy workout, then into bath and shortly after, in to bed. If anything, I would have certainly slept well… not that I needed the help that evening, as it happened.

Unfortunately the PC locked up on me 10 minutes into the ride, just after the warm up had finished and I was 15 seconds into the first interval. Bummer.

Restarting the PC and getting everything back up and running would have taken ten minutes or so, and that would have meant me finishing my ride around 22:15 or so, as memory serves. I just couldn’t be bothered.

Much was the same on Wednesday as I went to repeat the ride. It was another late one, tired after the kids had finally gone to sleep and honestly not really in the mood for it. Even before I hit the first interval I felt tired in the legs, never a good sign. Getting through it was more of a mental slog than a physical one in the end, though it was definitely harder than I anticipated.

If anything I probably should have taken it easy on Thursday – and I did intend too – but the weather was nice and I got out at dinner time, and I smashed myself.

In hindsight that probably overdid it for the week. Silly me.

Not that it helped much, but I did take it easier on Friday – still outdoors though, so still harder than an equivalent 45 minutes indoor, for sure.

By Saturday I was thrashed. I took a lovely longer ride, even though I did get wet, I really enjoyed that one. It was laid back, chilled out, and generally good for the soul.

For me, that’s what those enjoyable weekend rides are all about. Just cruising along, enjoying the fresh air, being in the country side with few cars around. Ideal. Made me pine for the summer though, which seems a long way off right now.

And yeah, Sunday… meh. Largely forgetable.

So for the week ahead I have hopes of getting outdoors again at the weekend – another ride like Saturday would be grand. Soon enough the dark nights will be upon us and that will put paid to that sort of thing on a Saturday afternoon at least.

And then comes the cold.

Anyway, indoors I have the last Zwift Academy group ride to do. Another recovery ride. The last one was a bit of a waste of time in my not so humble opinion, so hopefully this time around it’s a bit more worthwhile.

Before that I have the Finish Line ride. Not really looking forward to that, truth be told, but will be waiting till I feel fit and fresh before attempting it. Not sure when the final day for that one is, either. Need to look that up.

However, right now, I’m knackered. It’s been a long day and I’m ready for a rest.

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