This is me, about to set off on a training ride down The Great Ocean Road in January... The carefree pose would soon be a distant memory...
THE SUMMARY OF MAX'S PERSONAL TRAINING PROGRESS IS AS FOLLOWS...
I'm into my third month of training for the event... Coming from a (very) low base of fitness, and trying to keep up with the other guys/girls (mostly seasoned pro's) has been something of a challenge - to put it very mildly!!
Weeks 1 - 5
Nothing short of purgatory...!! There's no other way to describe it!! Including 4.30am starts, where I wrongly figured that over-dosing on caffeine may somehow make up for a lack of fitness... The thing I hadn't factored is that all the seasoned pro's also start with a coffee or two - so no advantage there!! The lowest point was being (almost literally) carried into an air-conditioned Hungry Jacks / Service Station (thanks Geoff!) to re-hydrate and recuperate, on a day of cycling 100kms in 36 degree heat!!
Week 6
I got to the point where my legs and lungs no longer felt like imploding after riding fifteen minutes... Progress, though painfully minimal, was more than welcome...
Week 8
I got to the point where I didn't get dropped off the back of the pack, and made the whole ride un-assisted! There was once a time when one of the guys in the pack would need to cycle up beside me going up steep hills, put a hand on my back and push me a few hundred metres to stop me rolling backwards down the hill (Thanks Stu!).
Week 10
One morning I didn't come stone-motherless-last, and it appeared (at least to me) that I didn't hold anyone in the group up! I won't mention who was behind me that one particular day... They know who they are, and I'm not buying the "sore back" story!!
Week 11
After a bit of a pep-talk on Sunday night (suggesting that people who are not fit enough will have to travel in the support van if they can't keep up!), I'm ready to step up the training to the next level... And there's even some discussion of shaving the legs... I'm told it makes you go faster, and that the ladies love it (but I'm not convinced on either count!).
3 Months and 1 Week until the Tour begins!! Bring it on!!
