Phil’s training diary 3: Bent bars and bruises

I didn’t deserve that glass of beer on Friday. Yesterday morning I went out for a 5 mile coaching session with the training team (Helen 2, Angus 4, Matthew 7) on the Dartmoor cycle path – the picture shows me with the team just before we left home – that bit went fine. More seriously, in the afternoon I took the cross bike onto the moor and did the Sticklepath Horseshoe running race route , about 10 miles and 1700 ft of ascent, with lots of bike carrying and loads of granite blocks to navigate. It was my first serious off road session since the end of the cross season in January. But I kept falling off, my descending was rubbish and just before I got home I had such a tumble over the front that I bent my bars and cut myself up. I was pathetic, like a jelly, a wet lettuce, all those weeks over the summer I have been deluding myself that road miles and running are doing me good and I have neglected the critical off-road stuff. It was a rude awakening and I need to punish myself, more off road pain and no booze now for 2 weeks. Phil ‘aching back and neck’ Haygarth