Well finally Challenge 2014 is getting back on track. Today I booked two cycle rides.

The first is in Snowdonia and a place I love to go back to. Actually I’ve gone for the short route (47 miles) just as a tester of the fitness which has been hit by the break in training due to the sciatica. It’s also not long after I will have had some intense physio on my back which I’m hoping will get me back into the running training again.

The second is the work-team Manchester to Blackpool trip. It’s taken a lot of chasing around to get people to commit, but finally we’re getting somewhere.

All in all the cycle training has been going OK, although I managed to fall off my bike last week trying to negotiate a parked wagon in a narrow street with a daft layout. In the rain. Fortunately no lasting damage, the bike survived and the cuts and bruises will heal. Needless to say I did complain to both Greggs the Bakers (their parked van) and Cheshire East Council (their stupid road layout) so at least I felt a little better after that.

I’ve been following online an ex-colleague doing the Brathay 10in10 challenge which makes my efforts look rather amateurish – find a difficult marathon e.g. Windermere and run that marathon every day for 10 days. Hats off to them all, it’s a great cause and takes the concept of endurance running up a notch. Whilst it’s inspiring, I’m not sure that it’s something I’d want to put my body through given it seems to have learned to creak on its own accord this year without doing anything remotely strenuous.