Last week I started training in earnest for my cycling/running 3 ice cream, coast to coast adventure (well if I eat one when I start and one when I reach each coast thats three – seems like a reasonable goal to me!)

My motivation for training, however, has been very hit and miss. I appear to be in a new stage of Peri-/Menopause (who knew there’d be even more excitement!) and I’m experiencing crazy mood swings, lack of motivation and above all else, extreme tiredness. Its difficult to manage and doesn’t lend itself to long runs and bikes on cold wet days. I’ve taken to having afternoon naps on the weekend. All I need now are slippers and a pipe (I have the blanket). Actually I have the slippers come to think of it.

None the less I’ve managed to get out a few times and generally feel better after a few warm up miles outdoors. My road bike is still tucked away for winter so I’ve been out on the mountain bike instead. So far I’m enjoying getting back in the saddle. I need to remember not to put my water bottle in the holder on the down tube of the bike, when I go mountain biking. You inevitably ride through mud and sh** and the drinking bottle starts to look less appealing….

In order to train intensely over the next few months (as I really don’t have much time compared to the time I had for JOGLE) I will need to build my strength up further in order to avoid injury.

My husband and I have turned our garage into a gym recently and so have started working out together. This is a lot of fun and we can help motivate each other. He is also training for a few Ultras this year so also needs to minimise the risk of injury.

Our cat is still wondering how a new room has appeared as if from nowhere. He keeps going in there, sniffing around a bit and running out again. Bless.

As well as physical training, I need to practice navigating on the bike. Navigation when I run or hike is easy (aside when paths just aren’t there! 😆). I have used my Fenix watch for this and its easy to follow. The problem with cycling is that I have to wear prescription glasses to see the traffic in the distance and the watch or onboard Garmin ‘thingamy’ is at reading distance. I simply cant see either when I’ve got the glasses on. This is something I need to ponder on. I could get varifocals but really don’t fancy them. Perhaps my bike screen with the map could be enormous, like size 50 font? Or my watch could beep madly at me when I have to turn left or right? (Any thoughts?)

So I genuinely wasn’t planning on having any adventure this year but then I was talking to my husband one day about running coast to coast and pondering the idea of simply doing it over a ‘long weekend’.

That conversation turned into ‘why not take a week to do the coast to coast trail’? I did consider this but after much consideration I decided I liked the idea of running the shortest coast to coast cycle route on foot. Since this would only take 4 days max and my hubby had mentioned the idea of me taking a week I came up with the idea of a coast to coast duathlon.

So in June I will cycle from the west coast to the east coast and then run back again. This adventure will be quite different from my last one in a number of ways.

• Its just one week versus seven but I want to run as far as I can each day on the running section. Rather than limiting myself to say 40km a day I would like to see what my body is capable of and keep going till I cant go anymore.
• I will definitely camp or wild camp so that the first point is possible. This gives me the freedom to carry on into the evening and reduces admin.
• I have yet to decide whether to do the bike in 2 or 3 days. Ideally 2. For many club cyclists this would seem fairly easy, however, I’ve never been a great endurance cyclist and I haven’t been on my road bike in 14 months! So it’s definitely a challenge for me!

The coast to coast route I have decided on is Whitehaven to Sunderland (and back). It’s approx. 210km (each way) but will no doubt be 220km+ by the time I’ve faffed, got lost etc.

So there you have it, the coast to coast duathlon. I would of made it a triathlon but the ocean is in the wrong place.

Wish me luck 😁