stats of the week: run 27 km, cycled 190 km
A proper sports week with increased running and another ride up Mont Ventoux, taking the easy way up from Sault, however, the final 2 km are always really tough.
5 weeks to Berlin, 10 weeks to London. I hope to increase distances up to 18 km in time for Berlin.
The area around Sault is famous for its vast Lavender fields.
stats of the week: run 20 km, cycled 139 km
Focus is on running now as there are just 5 weeks to the Berlin Halfmarathon. I am happy with my beginner's course for my calf until now but there are still doubts that I will be able to finish 21 km. Current workouts sum up to 7 km so far. Running events seem to come back finally, signs are good that London will take place on 3rd Oct.
A new hobby is beaver watching down at our local river, the Ouvèze. Every evening our friend is on time at 8.15 pm for his evening meal across the river.
stats of the week: run 12 km, cycled 232 km
stats of the previous week: run 7 km, cycled 73 km
Watching the pros when the Tour de France crossed Le Mont Ventoux twice was a great experience. All the spectators behaved very well and supported every cyclist from any team and country. What a difference to Wembley stadium at the European Football Championships.
What the hell has happened to the English society? I have spent 25 years of holidays in Britain, ran 20 London Marathons and finished 4 London Rides. I have always appreciated the English way of life and how the English keep company with each other. The English were known for being the ideal of fairness expecially in sports. Now they boo the hymns of their guests and barrack other teams as soon as they got the ball. London has been the most unkind host of all championships ever. Brexit has changed much more than I thought.
However, here are some impressions of the Tour de France:
stats of the week: runwalked 10 km, cycled 37 km
stats of the previous week: runwalked 7 km, cycled 155 km
It was a fortnight of recovering after the strenuous Ventoux ride. More due to low motivation rather than to weakness. I developed what I call a beginners' course for my calf: walking and jogging alternately with jogging of max 400 meters. It works so far.
Watching the Tour de France is my daily sport now and I look forward to spotting the heroes on the slopes of Ventoux next week.
stats of the week: cycled 351 km
stats of the previous week: cycled 323 km
The fortnight culminated in the participation at the Gran Fondo Mont Ventoux. There were roughly 2,500 cyclists taking part thereof half each chose the short route of 100 km / 2800 am and the long route of 120 km / 3800 am.
It was a piping hot day with degrees well beyond 30°c. I did fairly well until Chalet Reynard after the former food station already had run out of water. Obviously this caused problems for a lot of cyclists not only me. Mounting my bike again for the final stretch of 6 km to the top I suddenly felt totally exhausted. I managed to keep riding at a speed of 6 km/h while many others had to push their bike or stopped.
However, at the final bend 50 m before the top I suffered a horrendous cramp that forced me to stop and rest. After a couple of minutes I was able to finish the very steep final meters on my bike again. I only did the short route but it was one of the toughest days I ever had and by far the hardest climb up Ventoux of the 7 ones I did. Surprisingly my ranking at 661th place out of 1,200 finishers was fairly sufficient.
stats of the week: cycled 285 km
stats of the previous week: cycled 174 km, zwift cycled 41 km
stats of the week before: cycled 162 km, zwift cycled 146 km, tm walked 14 km
Still no running due to the calf problem. I tried to jog several times but after less than 1 km the muscle striked again. So I now decided not to run during the 4-week-holiday in France. As we entered the London 10K which is on now I have to walk it to get at least my shirt and medal that I payed for.
The area around Mont Ventoux is still the very best I know for cycling. Although I miss running much I can enjoy cycling here. There are lots of passes to choose from and the landscape is more than lovely. There is no better way to spend the final years of your life than to settle in the Provence and just enjoy day after day.
stats of the week: run 10 km, cycled 85 km, zwift cycled 217 km, tm walked 8 km
stats of the previous week: run 2 km, cycled 281 km, zwift cycled 51 km, tm walked 12 km
Still no running due to the persisting calf problem which maybe caused by a back problem my physiotherapist guessed now. I do daily back exercises now but without success so far. Will try diclofenac for a next attempt.
Luckily cycling keeps me alive. Life without running is a life on brakes for me - cycling still feels only like a deficient substitution. However, I have completed 3,000 km this year so far and look forward to the Gran Fondo Mont Ventoux taking place on June 13th.
