Dear All Matthew here (or Monk if you want unconditional love)
I’ve just literally finished a rather epic month of training 6- 8am, working 9-5 followed by marking A level papers till 1am every night.
Now the marking is out of the way training has started in earnest as I can bike until the sun doth set.
Unlike city boy Patrick I’m currently a fen boy (fenner?) and, as you know, it’s as flat as a pancake round here. So, in order to find any respectable hills to train on, I have to cycle a good 5 miles out of Shelford. The Saffron Walden monster hill is about 1/5 (don’t know what that means) and seems to do the trick i.e. induce extreme muscle / lung pain and a variety of naughty swear words.
Patrick’s going to introduce me to Muswell hill and Highgate hill in London this Saturday morning, so please spare a thought for our tired aching gastrocnemius’s(es’s’ss?) and tibialis anteriors muscles as we curse the gradient of the hill.
Since Patrick has already completed the infamous 'Islington to the Pyrenees' marathon in 2008 he has been a great source of knowledge and inspiration. He’s been particularly helpful with all my random questions in the last 3 months and offered excellent advice, as well as being a good friend.
I have to say that I’ve never been this enthused about something to do with sport before. I feel a mixture of both excitement and sometimes extreme anxiety about the big bike ride. I genuinely believe that we are raising money for a brilliant cause, which has really helped me focus on the daily task of hill climbing and hedgehog swerving.
Hopefully I’m going to be able to keep up with Patrick in France, through the wind and the rain .... and the hills, let’s not forget those darn hills !!!
Best wishes and hope you’re enjoying the sun. xx
I’ve just literally finished a rather epic month of training 6- 8am, working 9-5 followed by marking A level papers till 1am every night.
Now the marking is out of the way training has started in earnest as I can bike until the sun doth set.
Unlike city boy Patrick I’m currently a fen boy (fenner?) and, as you know, it’s as flat as a pancake round here. So, in order to find any respectable hills to train on, I have to cycle a good 5 miles out of Shelford. The Saffron Walden monster hill is about 1/5 (don’t know what that means) and seems to do the trick i.e. induce extreme muscle / lung pain and a variety of naughty swear words.
Patrick’s going to introduce me to Muswell hill and Highgate hill in London this Saturday morning, so please spare a thought for our tired aching gastrocnemius’s(es’s’ss?) and tibialis anteriors muscles as we curse the gradient of the hill.
Since Patrick has already completed the infamous 'Islington to the Pyrenees' marathon in 2008 he has been a great source of knowledge and inspiration. He’s been particularly helpful with all my random questions in the last 3 months and offered excellent advice, as well as being a good friend.
I have to say that I’ve never been this enthused about something to do with sport before. I feel a mixture of both excitement and sometimes extreme anxiety about the big bike ride. I genuinely believe that we are raising money for a brilliant cause, which has really helped me focus on the daily task of hill climbing and hedgehog swerving.
Hopefully I’m going to be able to keep up with Patrick in France, through the wind and the rain .... and the hills, let’s not forget those darn hills !!!
Best wishes and hope you’re enjoying the sun. xx
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