This morning I drove to Richmond Park quite early, parked up and intended to embark upon two good laps of the park.
I took my beloved Orange Brompton with me and with good intentions started off. I was given the challenge of completing a circuit in 20 minutes - a very tall order, but always keen on a challenge I set off.
Before setting out I had some porridge, a banana and plenty of water. As I wheeled the bike to the park I had another banana.
The last time I came here I was with iCrazyBee who by his own admission found the hills demanding. I found that as I didn't have to wait for me partner in crime, I was just about able to cope with them, although flashbacks of the hills on the Brompton Marathon came back strongly in waves. Stupidly I left my Garmin Edge 200 (which is becoming indispensable) in the car!! I had to rely on my watch to time myself. I managed to do one lap in 27:48 but I have to tread with caution as it isn't as accurate as my Garmin.
Just into the second lap I heard my name being shouted out. I turned to see two friends walking their dog. My training was abandoned as I was convinced/persuaded to go to the nearest coffee shop to chew the fat. Typical. I regaled them with stories of all three Brompton events amongst other things.
Feeling guilty I have just gone out for another run. This time recorded by my Garmin:
Time - 30:11 mins
Distance - 8.19 miles
Average Speed - 16.26 mph
Maximum Speed - 26.11 mph
Calories - 532
Ascent - 334.9 feet
I do hope that I can maintain these training runs in the coming weeks. In the last couple of weeks I have lost almost half a stone. I have been eating more sensibly yes but I do feel that a large part of this has been the cycling. Ideally I'd like to lose at least another half a stone but we'll see.
Hi - I've just become a brompton addict and live close to the park - are you cycling on the road or the shared gravel path? Either way 20 mins seems like an astonishing time as I'm managing about 50 mins on the gravel!
ReplyDeleteThe road. The gravel path would take a while. 20 mins was set by a pretty hardcore Brompton user who managed under 25 mins at the recent Bropmpton World Championshis on a two speed! Try the road and see how you get on.
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