From last year’s experience, I know I can cycle a hundred miles. I might not have been as fast as I’d like, but I was able to put myself through it and my recovery time was pretty good. This year as part of my challenges I signed up for a few tougher cycling events in addition to Pedal for Scotland in September, just to raise the bar a little and keep me motivated to train harder through the year.
However, I’m not a huge fan of the long endurance rides. I don’t think spending six or seven hours in the saddle is as much fun as a manageable two or three hour ride that leaves plenty of time in the day for other things. My first ride of this year is a 45 miler in May that I’m quite looking forward to. Training for a 45 mile ride with some tough climbs is doable when you have a busy family life, while training for 100 mile rides isn’t quite as practical.
To that end I decided to limit number of cycling events I signed up for so I don’t end up in a constant onslaught of training for and participating in events. This left the door open up for some other fitness challenge, though, and when my old college mate Eoan suggested doing the Tough Mudder, I had to have a serious think about it.