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@ghettro
Thanks for the kind words!
I didn't really talk about it in this thread, but in 2023 I went through a bit of a low period, had to stop cycling for about half a year for personal reasons and lost a lot of fitness. So I spent a lot of time training and not making any progress and became quite frustrated and upset, wallowing in my lack of form. To compound it I managed to hurt my back at the gym and that made it worse. I was also constantly sick, had a bad throat infection and just felt like rubbish.
I began to see a physio and then learnt how to lift properly, now I can lift way more than I ever did with better form. Also at the beginning of 2024 I hired a coach for 3 months to try to get over this plateau. Turns out that I was training way too intensely and not enough volume. So I started on this road in January with mostly Zone 2 training and stuck to the coach's programme strictly, averaging something like 10-12 hours per week consistently. I've been doing that until the present more or less and my goal was to start racing, that was it!
Once I started racing my goal changed and it was to get a podium finish in the Vets C Cat, however I actually forgot about all that as I just enjoyed racing so much. I think I then promised myself if I made it to Cat B I'd build some nice deep section track wheels for myself, so keep an eye on this thread...
I never thought I'd enjoy racing, even now I still get a bit anxious before a race and have a bit of a feeling that I want to bail. However during a race there is a real rush, and afterwards I can't shut up about it. I find it really quite energising and it puts me in a good mood, even if I don't score lots of points!
To be honest the best thing, (and I'm aware this sounds like a cliche) is that the community at Herne Hill Velodrome is so good, I've made so many friends there who I train and race with. Also the coaches are fantastic and I've learnt so much from them and all the training sessions I've done.
Definitely if anyone is thinking of giving it a go, have a spin at one of the track tasters or skills sessions. This all started when I decided to buy a track frame off this forum!