The cycle of fitness - 20 April 2009

Posted by Paul Collins 1 comment

As often happens with the best-laid plans, there have been some alterations to my schedule for fitness in 2009. This is not to say that I’ve gone back on my goals, or that I’ve taken the lazy route to convincing myself that I can skip a few sessions as ‘it won’t make that much difference and I’ll run further next time’!

The emergence of the country from our deep-freeze of a winter this year has pushed me to go further than just walking between the station and the office every day. The solution has been to get on my bike (something I’m sure plenty of people have been waiting for me to do for ages) and cycle to the office.

This has landed me with a host of benefits – some obvious and some unexpected – and given me a way to get fitter while getting to work. First, the stats: The journey from where I live near Hampton Court to the office in London is in the region of 12 or 13 miles, depending on the route I choose to take, and takes about 45 minutes each way. The shortest route is also the most boring and potentially the most dangerous, while if I’m prepared to do a couple of extra miles I can get at least part of the journey in the clean air along the Thames towpath. Regardless of the route I choose, there is almost no way to avoid the two hefty hills that stand in my way on each leg of the journey.

As this is something of a distance to attempt for a full five days of the week, and because of the realities of work with evening functions, meetings, etc, I’m aiming for three days’ cycling per week. This also gives the legs a bit of a break from having to do 25 miles every day!

From the point of view of getting fitter, there has been some clear improvement – from the round trip taking me in the region of two hours in the first week or two, I’m now doing it in less than one hour 40 minutes. While the hills are still a hateful necessity for the journey, they are getting a little easier, and I’m able to get up them quicker, making the pain shorter! It is also true that I’m not spending too much time in the worst of the traffic fumes. The busiest parts of the route, along the A3, have a separate cycle lane away from the traffic and much of the rest of the time I’m at least in some semblance of clean air.

Aside from enjoying the fitness side of things, there are a host of other advantages. For one, the money I’m saving on train fares is more than welcome in the current climate. Added to this is the fact that it takes me around half the time to get to and from work cycling as it does on public transport. The most unexpected advantage of taking the bike to work is that I arrive more awake and in a much better frame of mind than I do when travelling by train. I’m not sure if it is the frustration of commuting, the knowledge that I’m paying over the odds for a substandard service, or just the proximity of people with their iPods too loud and their nose buried in their copy of Metro, but public transport really isn’t doesn’t feel like a pleasant way of getting to work any more.

Of course, this means that I’m not out running during the week any more, but the occasional jog at the weekend and more walking in the hills of the Peak District as the weather improves will be on the cards. I’m still aiming for the Tough Guy 2010, and will start the running training in earnest after the summer has come to an end.

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