November 2020

November turned out to be a decent month, all things considered — 27 activities and just over 18 hours of moving around in the dark and drizzle that autumn reliably provides. The bulk of that came from running, with 10 outings covering 96 kilometres at an average pace of 5:23 per kilometre (not quick, but moving), and 11 rides adding another 151 kilometres, which included a rather humbling FTP test on Zwift that confirmed exactly what I already suspected about my fitness. I also took a spin through Watopia and France virtually, which is about as exotic as things get when you're pedalling in a spare room in November. Rounding things out were five walks, a single FiiT workout that I'm choosing to count as cross-training, and the quiet satisfaction of picking up 55 cycling PRs — though I'll admit the bar for some of those wasn't particularly high.

So compared to October, this was a significant step up — 27 activities against 14, and nearly 300 more minutes of actual effort. October was, if I'm honest, barely a month at all fitness-wise: three runs and a lot of walking, which is fine, but isn't exactly a training block. The shift into November seems to have coincided with getting back on the bike properly, presumably before the weather made outdoor riding completely miserable and Zwift started looking like a sensible idea rather than a last resort. Whether this momentum carries into December — with its shorter days, mince pies, and general goodwill toward sitting down — remains to be seen.

Summary generated by Claude