Update!!

Now you know how I got into this challenge I thought I would update you as to my progress since signing up!!

Training

I have always subscribed to the Heart Rate method of training; using HR zones to work at different intensities, I was taught this by the coaches at East Essex Tri Club when I first joined.
It has worked well for me these past 5 years and I had no reason to change when I started my usual endurance training in November but I had read all the articles and forums about using a power meter for cycling and everything I read indicated a massive increase in cycling fitness if you used a program based on power.
Training with power has always been so expensive I couldn't even consider it but with the release of the Garmin Vector pedals & the Stages Crank arm system it brought it into a realm of affordability so I got a Stages power meter at Christmas and immersed myself into the wonderful stats filled world of power! I read some books and looked at various programs until I came across the Training Peaks website, this was started by the guy considered to be the expert at training with power so I registered & paid $89 for a program that would suit my training for the Haute Route.

The training is tough and you need to spend a lot of time on the turbo which can be so boring but you need to control your outputs and that is easier & safer to do on a turbo than out on the road! I have followed the program very closely and also added in the odd run and kept my swimming going so in fact I was doing more than I needed to as the program was cycling specific.

It has definitely worked and I have become a better, fitter cyclist.

To bring you right up to date this is how the year has gone so far:

Jan, Feb & March were spent building endurance, long rides in Zone 2 and shorter more intense workouts in the higher Zones.

April saw us take on a very wet Spring Lambs (Loads of punctures) Paris Roubaix and a training block in Mallorca which included the Mallorca 167 sportive. It was in Mallorca where I really noticed an improvement, I was quicker up the climbs and had no problem hammering it on the flats. The training had changed from endurance to high intensity endurance and the hours cranked up!

May I completed the mighty Fred Whitton challenge said to be the UK's toughest sportive, Then followed a 7 day training camp in France, unfortunately the weather was not kind to us so I couldn't do as much work as planned!

June First up was the Walden Velo 101 which I did on my own and was pleased with my performance and improvement on the previous year. It was then out to the Alps for a 4 day training block with Alpine Cols, this was a great weekend with a lot of hard climbing on Cols that I would actually do in the Haute Route and proved that I could do 3 tough days in a row!

July With a fairly easy ride around some of the Surrey Hills in early July the Etape du Tour now loomed large!! It was my plan to use this as a test of how fit I had become but the weather had other ideas! The rain was biblical which made the descents dangerous & cold, in the end I was just glad to finish in a reasonable time and fairly high up in the climbers standings, it was a tough day on the bike.....Nuff said.

August Where has the year gone????!!!! I have just come back from a 3 day trip to the south of France for a friends 50th celebration, I cycled in the hills everyday and although we didn't do too much climbing I was pleased I felt no effects from 3 days in the saddle.......

I now have 17 days left before the start and I am very scared! I still have 10 days hard training to do before the Taper so I will try to concentrate on that rather than my nerves! It is also time to start thinking of the logistics; kit, bike, nutrition, recovery, what to pack & how to fit it all, in! there is so much to remember that I'm hoping it keeps my mind off the actual event!