CRASH!

I unfortunately had a cycling accident this past weekend. You always think it wont happen to you...until it does!

I am lucky enough to have gotten away with a deep gush in my elbow, ankle and a severely scraped and bruised hip...all accompanied with a couple of scrapes and bruises. My shoulder took the hardest blow and is twice its normal size but no broken bones- Thank GOD!
My bike is also a bit scraped and brusied ;-(

All I can say is Thank GOD I had a decent helmet!

This experience has re-confirmed one thing for me and that is that you can't take short cuts and choose the cheaper options when it comes to safety.Im glad I had a top quality helmet.
My hemet cracked from the impact and absorbed most of the blow that would have gone straight to my head. I do still have a head ache now and then and the side of my head feels a bit bruised but I dont have memory loss and a severe concussion and I did go to the hospital to get myself checked out.

TLC time.... I cant train now, I know my body needs time to rest and heal from the trauma but I do feel like I am cheating by sitting around all day.

94.7 Cycle challenge is in basically 1 month...this will be my second one and I am very excited to do it again. Here's hoping to a speedy recovery so I can get back on that bike again! :-)

My new helmet..I chose the one on the right :-)

Starting to heal slowly...and getting some "color" LOL..You don't want to see the rest, Ive shown you enough gore ;p

XXX
K

My Bicycle inspired Diet

You may think I'm crazy.... well, I'm definitely not ordinary ;-). But in the early hours of the morning before we go for a cycle I think of and often sing Queen's song Bicycle Race... "I want to Ride my bicycle...I want to ride my bike..."... I know right??!!

With riding bicycles in mind and me preparing for the Momentum 94.7 cycle challenge I've changed my diet...and a lot of it came naturally.

I'm eating more lean protein such as grilled fish and chicken, fresh fruit and vegetables or steamed veg and I'm trying to eat very little bad carbohydrates/ Simple Carbs. I was always a sucker for croissants or any other pastries for that matter.But I've conquered it!
The one thing with being so active... cycling so often, is that I am permanently hungry...my body burns so many more calorie's and therefore it needs more calories....the trick is to make sure you're feeding the body the correct food. Otherwise all that hard work of training ends up going down the drain.

The bonus is the healthier your body gets from training and eating right the less unhealthy foods and drinks your body will crave. YAY!!!! And its true! I seldom have those, " I NEED A CHOCOLATE BROWNIE NOW" moments..I genuinely crave healthy meals! Of course I do allow myself a treat here and there, I just opt for dark chocolate instead...and it does taste just as good! ;-) 

I now don't drink any alcohol, it's a personal choice and I genuinely don't crave even a sip of wine. If at some point I will feel like having a glass of wine I will, but for now I'm enjoying the detox and I also think it will benefit my training towards the cycle challenge in the long run. 

 But being hungry so frequently makes it tricky when it comes to quick, healthy and handy snacks. 

So in order to help me Ive started taking some supplements. The number one supplement is Whey Protein which if you've been reading some of my previous posts you'll notice it's THE MAIN supplement I love and mention all the time.

In between meals, or for snacks I supplement with Whey protein. I've found that it gives me energy and better recovery rate!

I've recently tried the EVOX RAPID RECOVERY post training and It is definitely helping with speeding up my recovery rate.

So there you have it...my Cycle diet which is in actual fact  my lifestyle choice ;-)

XXX

K

The 94.7 Cycle Challenge prep diary

We did it! We cycled just under 70 km's this past Saturday! I'm so proud of us :-)

The route: Midrand to Rosebank, Hydepark, Fourways, Lonehill, Buccleuch, Carlswald and back to Kyalami!
I myself would have never guessed we could do it ...but we did and without any pain I might add ;-)

Okay.....SO I HAD A BIT OF HELP ......here's what I did.

1st thing in the morning before we got ready to go cycle I tried CYTO CRANK from EVOX. It's a Pre and during performance drink. I was only going to use it during our cycle but when I read the pack in detail and saw that it's a PRE AND DURING performance drink...I heard a little HALLELUJAH song in my head! I Quickly mixed 3 scoops each with a glass of water form myself and my hubby. I also pre mixed some in a water bottle and added crushed ice so that half way though our cycle if we need an energy boost we'll have a ready cooled drink ......and we did!
 I must say I am really impressed, not only was the flavour perfect because it was so refreshing (Lemon Lime Zing) but we managed to stay on track and focused during our long ride and I didn't feel my energy levels dropping drastically as I imagined they would. I'll be using CYTO CRANK for the actual 94.7 Cycle challenge FOR SURE!!

When we got home we felt a bit like jelly...not sore or stiff but we could feel all our muscles had gone through a lot of activity..all the blood pumping and slowly lactic acid build up. It was time for recovery....RAPID RECOVERY!
I mixed some  EVOX RAPID RECOVERY into a glass of ice cold water.....Again 3 scoops is all you need and Voila!! Mango Punch was served....That's the flavour I chose by the way ;-) Very refreshing.

Did it work?? I've always wondered myself do all the before and after shakes and supplements work? But as they say ..."the proof is in the pudding" and let me tell you this Mango Punch "pudding" to be exact saved my ..well ..."TOOSH"! Sunday morning I woke up thinking ,"If I move now I'm going to feel seriously stiff!".... And to my surprise... NOPE! ..NADA!.. NOTHING!!! NOTHING I tell you!

We'll at least no muscle pain that is!! Hahaha! We went for a 35km cycle that Sunday morning and the only form of pain, from the previous days 65+ km ride, I felt was from the seat!

There you have it...we're on track for the cycle challenge, but in order to keep fitness and energy levels in check DIET is also important. In my next post I'll go more into detail about my diet.

XXX
K

94.7 Cycle Challenge

So as some of you may know my husband and I have signed up for the 94.7 Cycle challenge....let me not forget to mention we've signed up for BOTH the mountain bike race and the actual 94.7 kilometer race. Yes we felt very brave at the time! Now we're cycling our Butts off to make sure we finish both! Haha!

This is going to be my 1st time doing the incredibly popular 94.7 Cycle challenge and I am SO excited!!!
Who would have guessed that I would be the first one up in the morning every Saturday and Sunday to go cycle at 6.30am!?! I wouldn't have either, but let me tell you it is the best feeling in the world.You wake up to the calmness and beauty of the morning...the smell of fresh air and hearing the birds chirping is just magical.

I've always enjoyed being active and training, I have some background knowledge from being a qualified Group Fitness Instructor as well as obtaining a Certificate in Exercise Science. So my passion has always been with health & fitness. But training to cycle 94.7 Kilometers is a whole different ball... um...cycle game!

4 weeks to the main event and I've decided to blog about my training progress.

We started out cycling every weekend about 3-4 months ago... I remember feeling like a hero when we cycled a whole 18 kilometers!! That's far from 94.7km...... so the stronger we got, the more and further we cycled for, and so the passion grew.

These past 2 months I have been cycling at least 4 times per week with one of the days being a longer ride. Going to a spinning class or cycling on a stationery bike is VERY different to cycling on a mountain or road bike!! If you are thinking of doing cycling events/races I'd strongly suggest you train on an actual bike out on the road or use off road facilities.
Don't get me wrong Spinning is great cardio and endurance training,  it is in my opinion one of the best cardio workouts one can do and it melts body fat! But in order to be prepared for an actual bike race you need to feel what it's like to cycle on the roads, to get the feel of and balance of the bike, know your gears and essentially, become one with your bike.

You often hear of people changing their diets in order to prep for a race or sports event, well that starts to happen automatically. In order to have the energy and strength to endure so many hours and kilometers of cycling your body starts to crave more food...but healthier food. If I ate food low in nutrition,had some alcohol and sugar the day before we went cycling. During that cycling session  I felt lethargic, had low levels of energy and really struggled cycling compared to if I ate a healthy meal with lean protein, no sugary desserts and very little or no alcohol ( Thank God I don't have a problem in the alcohol department, I can only manage one drink maximum anyway!)

My diet
I've cleaned up my diet in order to help my body and muscles get healthy and stronger, to be able to complete such frequent and long distance rides.......and of course for the main event. BUT... it's FRIDAY and I wont spoil your Sunday Cheese cake with a diet plan! Enjoy this weekend because on Monday I'll give you the low down on my diet  :-).... PS It's not THAT BAD!

Tomorrow we're doing a 70 km ride! Since its a long ride I'll be trying out some supplements to see if they will help for the actual 94.7 Cycle Challenge. I'm going to try the EVOX RAPID RECOVERY for after the long ride as well as their CYTO CRANK which apparently helps sustain energy levels for endurance and performance training pre and DURING workout. ...the "during" part is what I'm most interested in. I'll pre-mix some with water and hopefully it helps me during my cycle, so lets see ;-)

Here we are, My Husband and I, make sure you come back on Monday I'll Keep you posted regularly on our journey to 94.7 Cycle challenge! Enjoy your weekend ;-)

XXX

K

Take up a hobby...I've staryted cycling!

My hubby and I have been enjoying our weekend off road mountain biking, its a hobby we get to do together, enjoy nature and spend quality time together.
Well this weekend hobby has grown on us and we now have entered the 94.7 Cycle Challenge. A year ago I would have told you you're crazy if you think I'm going to cycle 94.7 KILOMETERS!!!

Today, I am super excited and I believe we can do it!

This hobby has motivated us to eat cleaner and leaner too.....we might as well use all this weekly cycling as our main cardio training and combining it with a healthy eating plan will melt off the body fat just in time for a Summer beach body! ;-)

So I recommend taking up a healthy hobby...one that you can do with your man or your girlfriends....there's so many fun options out there not everyone likes cycling and that's cool.
Take up sexy Latin American dancing with your man or pole dancing with your girlfriends, whatever it is that interests you go for it! It's never to late to get active and start a healthy,social and fun activity! ;-)

PS. Today is a cardio day so we having a break from our Buns & Thighs workout.... So Cycling for me ;)))

XXX
K