And so the question became "Would I be able to get up in time to cycle to work?"
As it happened, I needn't have worried. Often when I have to get up early, I end up having a really bad night's sleep as I'm paranoid I'm going to oversleep. And so it turned out, looking at the clock at 3, 4.30, 5.10 and 5.35 before finally deciding to get out of bed just after 6. It's not often I'm out of bed before both of the children. S is still in his early bird phase and will often be out of bed when the sun comes up on his alarm clock (6am). Fortunately, G can be relied upon to sleep a little longer, which avoids the whole street being woken up by World War III when they can't agree on what they want to watch on TV.
This morning, I was able to be downstairs enjoying the peace and quiet, slowly getting myself ready to go out. (This was the quiet before the storm part 1!)
When Sarah has ridden into Birmingham before, she's joined the canal by Dudley Port railway station, but there is a significant elevation change here (the canal goes on an aquaduct over the road). I also felt that I would be going slightly away from Brum before heading towards it. Having chosen my route and still not entirely awake, I set off. As I joined the canal towpath by Ryder's Green, I allowed a little speed to pick up before realising I needed to turn sharper than I had thought. If I was driving a formula one car, it might have been said that I let the back end slide out a little, but less than a mile into my journey and almost having a close encounter with the canal wasn't the start I had in mind.
It was a lovely morning and I was happy with the way I way riding, not pushing too hard since I had a full day ahead of me. The journey in took me the best part of 44 minutes and a quick shower and change later I was ready for the day.
I'm not sure what time it happened, but sometime this afternoon, the heavens opened (the second storm). This left me with two choices - admit defeat, cycle to New Street and get on a train, or head back. I decided that the exercise was good for me, but the puddles don't half form quickly on the towpath. I'd barely gone a mile and my shoes and socks were already sopping wet. I did push a bit harder on the way back, although there wasn't a huge benefit in doing so. I'm not sure I could have got any wetter! Did anyone order a drowned rat?
On the brightside, on standing on the scales when I got back in, I lost 1.5lbs this week.
Cycling: 14.50 miles in 1h 24m 21 (2 rides)
Juneathon totals:
Running:
Distance - 26.88 miles
Time - 3h 54m 02
Swimming:
Distance - 5.27 miles
Time - 3h 50m 38
Cycling:
Distance - 125.24 miles
Time - 8h 38m 03
Walking:
Distance - 17.98 miles
Time - 4h 37m 18
Cross Trainer:
Distance - 10.32 miles
Time - 1h 31m 51
Rowing Machine:
Distance - 1.24 miles
Time - 09m 07
Total Distance - 188.17 miles
Total Time - 22h 40m 59
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