Ok, I get it, this blog is called “get the RUN done”, with the emphasis on the running, but recently the bike part of my life seems to have had much more influence over me. Which is strange really as I have never been much of a biker, which added to the fact I am more of a brick than a fish would explain very well why my triathlon results remain so unimpressive.

Buuuuut… they’re gonna get better. And do you know why they are going to get better??… let me tell you! It’s because I actually found myself enjoying the bike, and instead of having to force myself out once a week to glumly swerve around cars and pedestrians, it feels like I will be jumping at the chance to ride on a daily basis! And the magic formula I have found is… getting lost! Yep, that simple. well that along with choosing to ride in areas with very little in the way of cars or pedestrians.

The last two rides I have done, I have chosen an end point and put it into my mobile phone, turned on navigation and let the lovely young lady Siri read the maps and direct me. Now she doesn’t always get it right and sometimes I choose to ignore her, which will result in me getting lost over and over… and I love it. I am confident that the maps on my phone will get me unlost when I need to, so I just ride along merrily discovering tiny roads flanked by fields full of fruit trees or small villages looking like they come straight out of a Constable painting. As a rule, the tinier the road or the smaller the village then the less cars, and I can actually hear Siri from my back pocket, calmly trying to redirect me to get back on track.

So today I managed another 55k ride in a ridiculous slow time of around 3hrs, although to be fair some of the roads were not fit for road bike riding, there were some steep bits and also, I stopped continually to get my bearings. Not sure how good it is for speed training but I am sure it helps my endurance, and I can focus my speed work on the indoor trainer. What it is most important is that I am getting more time in the saddle, which I am told will translate directly into improvements in my riding, so that has to be a good thing.

Now, I need to go get the run done, as I have written this while recovering from my ride. I feel good so hopefully can get in a nice hour of decent running, which will end the week well and keep me just about on track for my “new and yet to be disclosed or even decided upon” challenge…

PS. Yep, I got the run done, a good 10k feeling strong