Music makes the pedals go round.

I have currently hit a wall. I want to ride my bike but the weather is so unpleasant that I don’t want to go out. It would be down-right miserable and uncomfortable to ride in. I have started to lack motivation. Hmmm. Maybe, if I had a more extensive winter cycling wardrobe I would be able to tolerate the elements more. *Sigh* Maybe, if I don’t have to clean and dry my only pair of trainers after every ride I would be more motivated. *Even bigger sigh* Maybe, if I had a riding buddy I’d be more inspired... when every ride is just you and the wet/cold elements the fun is non existent. What’s the point of finding the biggest puddle or deepest mud if there’s no one to enjoy it with?

I’m mentally broke and loathed to go outside. So this week I have taken more steps towards the darker side of obsession by using the turbo trainer to achieve my mileage target. It isn’t the most desirable option but it’s definitely better than watching my fitness levels plummet from the level that I have recently worked so hard to achieve.

As I previously blogged, my introduction to the turbo trainer was interesting – wrong size bike, wrong size shoes, wrong everything! However, my 2nd session was marginally better - Mikey set my own bike up on the rollers so it was much easier and with Mikey offering encouragement I managed 9 miles towards my goal. Miserably, the 3rd session was mind-numbingly monotonous. It reminded me of all the reasons I had previously loathed Turbo-Trainers.

Damn! I needed to get out and ride somewhere exciting, but the weatherman was forecasting more heavy rain and strong coastal winds. Argh! I still had 10miles left to meet my weekly target. Could I really endure another tedious session on the Trainer?

I needed inspiration. I needed structure. Hmmm. I hatched a cunning plan! I chose 10 of my favourite songs that would motivate me and enhance my mood; songs that had different beats, styles and intensities; songs that had strong rhythms with power surges to accelerate my effort. I then devised a playlist; 10 songs = 10 stages. By stringing the songs together I made a structured workout. Track 1 to warm up. Track 2 to take the intensity up a level. Track 3 to accelerate my efforts into a climb. Track 4 - an easier recovery period. And so on…

(I won’t scare you by revealing my track-list, but for those that don’t know me I will tell you that I my taste in music is quite diverse. I love rock, grunge, punk and old-school hip hop. But I also have a very odd passion for cheesy pop. There’s nothing quite like New Kids on the Block to evoke great memories of my misspent musical youth.)

And I have to admit it worked wonders…. I got through my whole session without the need to stop. My legs were tired but at no point was I wishing that the whole ordeal was over. I sailed through my playlist. I was enjoying myself and was very surprised when I got to the last song. So surprised, that I restarted the playlist and did a couple of extra miles. I had obviously underestimated my abilities. Next time I will increase my overall speed, I had decided to not over do it as I didn’t want to fail first time, so for 8 of the 10 stages I never really exceeded 16mph. Oh yeah, and I will also find some longer songs - best dig out my old Queen records.