Post Number One

Right then, my first blog.  

Why am I writing a blog? Well, if all goes to plan, 2014 should be a good year for me ... possibly the biggest and best of my life (though being an optimist I'd like to think that all my years will get progressively better even after this one!). In my head, this blog will achieve 2 things; it'll firstly be a personal record for me to remember 2014 by. Secondly, it'll be a blog that is avidly followed by thousands of people all looking for an insight into cycling training! Obviously, that's in my head... the reality might be a bit different... just a few hundred followers... or less, maybe.

My 2014 year should be the biggest of my life for the following reasons:

1. My better half is expecting our second child (first little girl) in April
2. I will be marrying my better half in December
3. With a little luck and good judgement, I will be riding my bike at various big events during the Spring, Summer and Autumn

I doubt very much that the first two points will be of much interest outside of my immediate family, therefore I'll be focusing most of my dubious writing talents on the cycling bit. I will also try and throw in a few mildly funny anecdotes along the way to liven up what could otherwise be a blog with about as much life in it as Ronnie Biggs (for future reference the Great Train Robber died today).

So, today's date is Wednesday 18th December 2013. By my reckoning that gives me 13 days (I'm not superstitious) to get a year long cycling training plan together for 2014. I could wait until the New Year and call it a 'Resolution' I suppose... but there is something about a 'New Year's Resolution' that I believe condemns the idea to a pointless, short existence before dying an unremarkable death. So I'll get cracking before then and start as I mean to go on from January 1st.

In the fitness / coaching game (for that is my background), a year long training plan is called a 'Macrocycle'. So I'm going to build my own macrocycle around a number of personal goals I have. With any luck, my training should help me achieve these goals with minimal wasted time and effort. (I can't afford to waste time with my training these days as I have rooms to decorate and wedding table centre-pieces to manufacture besides other things apparently).

Of course, life could well get in the way of my perfectly laid out plan (macrocycle). So it's important that I take into account that some things might need to change. The best I can hope for is that the things within my control are organised effectively. So I'm going to spend a few days thinking and jotting idea's on beer mats until I'm confident that what I'm hoping to achieve is SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-framed. Now I know, you've heard of SMART goals before, so I won't bore you with the detail right now. That pleasure will come in a future blog.

Oh yes, if you've read this far then you may be wondering what cycling events I'm thinking of achieving... Well, here goes:

• To complete the National Marathon Mountian Bike Championships 
• To achieve a 'fast' 10 mile time trial time
• To ride the 'Raid Pyrenean' sportive (Riding the event for Cyclists Fighting Cancer)
• To compete in the Team Pursuit at the European Masters Track Cycling Championships

I'll go into more detail on these goals and others as well as why I've chosen them over the next 13 days!

Thanks for reading!!

Paul