I have always been a pretty active person, involving myself in a lot of different sports but I have never completed a half marathon or marathon. The closest I have come to the distance is doing a 20km run as a 15 year old for “fun” the day before a footy (Australian football) match, in which I could barely move during the game. Needless to say my coach was not impressed. Anyway that is (hopefully) going to change come March 2019 as I was lucky enough to win a ballot spot in the NYC Half Marathon.

Now you’re probably thinking what on earth does this have to do with cycling and why on earth would you want to run that far anyway. Just to clarify I am definitely not a triathlete, nor do I want to become one, although I have done the odd corporate triathlon but please don’t hold that against me.

What this has to do with cycling is that it is new territory for me to balance my cycling to get ready for my first season with TBD and running a sub 90 minute half marathon. Why I want to run that far is a simple one; I love challenges, I run a little bit for cyclocross, have a lot of friends who are crazy into running, got inspired after watching the NYC marathon and plus who wouldn’t want to run through a fully closed off Times Square?

I have just completed my first full week of training and it was the first time I have exercised 7 days in a week since early September 2018. The week involved some low intensity rides and then a hard chase/follow Tom Hendry’s wheel ride on Sunday plus what will be my staple of 3 weekly runs consisting of Speed/Threshold/Endurance.

My week 1 stats that left me asleep on the couch at 7.30 on Sunday night were as follows:

Cycling:

Total Time: 8:22:00
Total Distance: 233km
Total Training Stress: 355 (based on old FTP)

Running:

Total Time: 2:22:04
Total Distance: 27.2km
Total Training Stress: 389

Given my recent lack of riding and then launching into a full week of training, I was a little surprised at how good I actually felt on the bike on the long ride on Sunday, even the ride a smiley face on training peaks! After our team calls with Coach Fetty I already have some clarity in theory on how I will balance both training stresses in theory, in practice who knows. Over the next 12 weeks I will write updates on how both levels of fitness are tracking, how I am feeling and how I am dealing with training through my first real winter!