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Home > About childhood cancer > Online Community > Community Tips >Member Details
Name:
Beverley
User type:
Other
Member Stories
Bev's training blog
1st April
Well this is a first for me as I’ve never done a ‘blog’ before!
My name is Bev and I work at CLIC Sargent. This year I’m representing the charity during the Brazil Cycle and Project for Kids with cancer in Nov 2007 which means cycling around Brazil. Since I haven’t cycled in 20 years I thought I’d better get training!
My training pack (available when you sign up for a challenge) says to plan the training as far ahead as possible, start off slowly and build up the distance and amount of cycles. Here’s my plan:
Cycle to and from work (approx 3 miles) 2 times per week
8 mile cycle at the weekend every fortnight
2 spin cycle classes per week/or leg strengthening gym work
First outing!
I had decided to cycle 4 miles of the Bristol to Bath railway line. It was a stunning sunny day and even though I felt a bit of a fraud in all my gear (a bike with 21 gears - what are they for again??) I was ready to go! It really was just like riding a bike. I was a little bit wobbly and granted, some joggers had to veer away from me at times, but I really got into it.
After a while of peddling (and I’ll be honest a bit of coasting too) I was quite tired so stopped to check the map. I’d only cycled 2 miles – nightmare! I thought I could do more than that. I decided to get some water from a nearby café (should have bought some with me – doh!) and asked someone exactly where I was. Turns out I couldn’t read a map at all and I’d actually cycled 6 miles! Returning home I realised 12 miles was a bit punishing for a first trip.
14th April
Disaster has struck! I misjudged the last 2 stairs in my house on Sunday night and landed on my big toe. A trip to the x-ray department on Tuesday night revealed that it’s fractured so no cycling for me for the while...
Member Updates
June Update
My toe has healed nicely! I've missed cycling and i'm glad i have been able to get back to it.
It's been an interesting few weeks training-wise. I went to Toronto for a couple of weeks on holiday and although I was doing a lot of walking, I knew I needed to keep up the cycling too somehow.
I went over to the Toronto Islands a couple of times and hired a bike to get around. There are no cars allowed on the islands so it was perfect for sight-seeing and ideal in helping me continue training.
Back home now and in my lunch hour I'm cycling approx 4 miles, for 3 days each week and I'm also going to incorporate running twice a week too. I've lost around a stone in weight since I started training but I want to burn more fat and also build up leg strength/endurance so running should help that, plus I will be at the gym 3 times a week following a leg weights/strengthening programme.
Only 5 months to go so I think I will need to eat, sleep and work cycling!
July
Well i don't know about you, but cycling in the rain is definitely not my favourite pastime! These last few weeks have made it very difficult to get up the motivation to get out there and keep training. I have been doing a little bit of outdoors cycling but have to admit to retreating into my local gym and doing 30 miles on a high level 'random alpine pass' setting instead every now and again.
With 3 months to go though, i'm starting to increase my cycling to every day and trying to fit more leg strengthening exercises at the gym into each week.
However having had almost 3 days of continuous sunshine so far this week, i'm feeling a lot more motivated and looking forward to my 26 mile cycle at the weekend (i'll still pack the waterproofs though, i'm not that trusting of the forecasts yet!).
I think at this stage it's really important to really go for it and do all that you can - as one of our cyclists said "the more training now, the more smiles later".
August
Phew, well what a month it's been! I've been keeping going with the training but i have to admit it's been difficult to fit it in, around work and all the other things i have going on in my life.
I feel that i haven't been as dedicated as i could have been so the last 2 weeks have seen me up at the gym every night, fitting in spin and body pump classes with leg strengthening weights and aqua fit sessions.
It's not necessary to go every night to be honest and i would advise anyone else to give themseleves a night off here and there, to give thier body time to repair itself. But for me, at the moment, i feel i need to give it my all and do as much as i can now, so that i can physically and mentally feel as prepared as i can for the challenge ahead.
8 weeks to go!
We did it!
Well what can i say?! The Brazil Cycle was the toughest thing i have ever undertaken but also the most rewarding, inspiring, humbling and unforgettable 12 days of my life!
The cycling was tougher than i had expected but that was due to the heat, humidity and sunshine - no matter how much you train in the UK, the air/weather conditions are always going to be different abroad.
I have come away from it with such a huge sense of achievement, when i thought i couldn't cycle one more yard let alone one more kilometer, i found the energy from thinking about the children that CLIC Sargent supports. Each hill we went up (and there were a few!), made me think about the obstacles the children go through and that if they can do it for months, even years then i can do a few days of hard cycling.
The other people in the group were amazing and were like a family for those 12 days - supportive, helpful, inspiring and funny. So many stories and experiences and all with the best group of people you could hope to meet.
My advice? Everyone should do at least one of these adventures in their lifetime and I guarantee that you'll come back with so much more than you left with - new friends, new confidence, re-newed sense of what you want in life and what's important and best of all, you'll have the knowledge that you helped make a difference to the lives of children with cancer!