Janathon - Day 1

So over the past 6 months, I have been trying to keep fit and stay as active as I can without being able to run. I'm quite competitive, and I find it really hard to motivate myself if I don't have an event that I am working towards. Since picking up my injury, I have been going to the gym, working on the stationary bike, swimming, and resistance training. Keeping active, but not working hard because I have felt I have nothing to work for.

So April told me about Janathon. If you don't know what it is, you can have a look here. Ape is involved too and you can follow her exploits here. Basically, it is about being active throughout January. The slogan is "Jog, Blog, Log", and you are supposed to blog every day about your exercise. It says Run, but it can be anything from running, cycling, snowboarding, surfing, weights, washing the car, hoovering intensely, sex (I suppose it would need to be lots though, and you would need to have your Garmin hooked up to your heart rate monitor...)

Obviously I can't run at the moment so this gives me a good platform the build on my cycling throughout the month. I want to take part in a couple of cycling events this year, namely the London to Brighton ride for the British Heart Foundation. It's on my birthday (and Father's Day) so should be a great event. I've never cycled as far as required for the event (54 miles) so this is a good time to start.

So Day 1 of Janathon was a cycle in the neigbouring villages near where I live in Milton Keynes. Woburn, Woburn Sands, Bow Brickhill to be precise. 16.8 miles, completed in 1:13:34. Average speed of 13.6 mph. I'm relatively happy with that. I used MapMyRide for my iPhone, and set up a little route. First time I have done this route so I spent some time on the side of the road checking where to go (I nearly ended up on the A5...).

Overall, a good start and I intend to go back out on the bike tomorrow. Ankle is a bit sore as the route had some elevation and dancing on the pedals was a test for it, but feel OK as I sit on my sofa now with April looking over my shoulder eating Maltesars.

I still haven't got any clip pedals for my bike so the plan is to get some this month and that will help improve my speed and power output. But just getting back out on the road feels good and I'm positive about my fitness levels and positive about my injury for the first time in a while.

Todays Totals:

Janathon Totals:
Miles: 16.8
Time: 1:13:34
Weight: 90.5kg (Change = +/- 0) - I'm 6"3 by the way!


LATERS!!!