TEAMBLT LEJOG - Joe's musings

Hi everyone. If you have been following us then you will know we are at the end of day 7 of 9 of our Land's End John O'Groats epic. James has been providing a fantastic blow by blow account of each day's events. Here is a different take from me on the last seven days.

This LEJOG business is very very hard for me. Both physically and mentally very taxing. If all three of us ranked the fitness of the team members I would be third of the three. I have no excuses I am just a tad slower from time to time. Matt and I are 52 at the end of the month. James is 46. Apparently age does not make a big difference in cycling with 50 year olds often beating 40 year olds in races. What does seem to make a difference is attitude. PMA (positive mental attitude) can overcome lots of things. James has done a round the world yacht race and seems to have bags of PMA at all times. Matt is a member of a cycling club and has cycled with people who do LEJOG in five days! In a time trial he does 10 miles in 28 minutes and he thinks the Hampshire Hilly Hundred (100 miles around the steepest hills in Hampshire) is fun. My body thinks doing 10 miles on a bike in 33 minutes is very painful and my brain will not let me enter anything on a bike which is 100 miles long!

Each day of LEJOG my brain and my body play a game of anti-PMA. For a start, at breakfast my stomach tells my brain to stop eating so much food. Brain replies that we are going to need 8,000 calories and to stop complaining. We then get on the bike as soon as possible and before breakfast has been digested so stomach complains again. Before long, more calories are being consumed in the form of energy drink and energy bars. Stomach tells brain that snacking is bad but is once again over-ruled. This goes on all day. A big problem occurs at about 4.30 when we have done 80 miles. A good week's cycling for me this year has been 10 miles on a MTB on a Wednesday evening and 40 miles of a road bike on a Saturday morning. With Matt and sometimes James I have done three of our 80 mile rides but nothing longer until now.

So at 4.30 and 80 mile distance body says time to stop. Brain says that if we stop now then there will be major problems. No shower and no comfortable bed for a start. I am sure PMA would cure all this but when all your muscles are aching, your bum is sore, your stomach is churning PMA is difficult to find.

Anyway got to go now - we need to go and eat a big supper to put right the deficit between calories burnt and calories consumed so far today. Stomach be warned - we are going to have to stuff you to the limit!