1/2 Hell of the North, sunshine, good food = awesome weekend

Rapha organised a sportive ride last Sunday. The event called "Hell of the North" and celebrates Paris Roubaix spring classic. The route goes over North London's worth roads and includes 20 grave sections.

I turned up 15 minutes before the official start. The start was on Pond square. On my way I found a very nice climb, which one is quite rare in London. Only 20 minutes away from home, I keep in my mind this street! 73m ascent on 900m.... it isn't too bad for short intervals!

Registration opened in time, I got my map in 5 minutes. The course was 100km long. I felt myself great and I really enjoyed the off road sections, but I didn't select my tires carefully. After 32km I got my first puncture followed by other two in the next 9km. I had only 3 spare tubes and 3 CO2 cartridges. When I got my last puncture around 41km I decided to pull out. I was a bit sad, because the organisation and the course were great! But, I didn't come home straight. I was really hoping in my good luck now and carried on my ride on the solid tarmac. I did a nice loop around North London and when I stopped front of my house, my Garmin stand on 110km. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! I didn't feel this great since I came back fromFuerteventura!

After a quick lunch and a little nap I went out for a small Whole Foods shopping.

I tried to don't buy any unnecessary and I had to reorganised my basket couple of times during the shopping! But end of the day I was a good boy! I just bought some toothbrushes, coconut shred, veggie wash, grounded cinnamon, fresh pumpkin seed butter, raw fruit bar, my usual Carob bar and a Salt of the Earth natural deodorant.

This toothbrushes are brilliant. They made by Preserve Company. It is 100% recycled fromyogurt cups! What a great idea. Check out Preserve's page, you will find lots of interesting stuff on! Also very good stuff the salt deodorant. I was a bit sceptic with it in the first time, but it works absolutely fine! It is 100% natural, made from Ammonium Alum, it is a natural antibacterial mineral salt. If you don't want to punishing your skin with lots of chemicals, give a try for this one! Made by Crystal Spring.

After my short shopping trip I started to prepare some dinner. Basically "The Dinner of the Year" (at the moment). I made my first full RAW meal. Not just raw vegetables and ingredientsput on the plate... it was a complete meal! Spaghetti with "Meatballs".... (Recipe is coming up in next post.)

Monday went quick again. I had an appointment with Martin (SuppleWorX) 11 o'clock. The treatment is going very well, my 17mm hip different dropped down to 10mm! Yihha! He worked hard 1,5 hours on my legs. I got some deep tissue massage and all sort of magics. It was a hard work both of us. I felt my legs very tired during the afternoon. I stayed home during the afternoon, I studied fro my upcoming anatomy and physiology exam. I just popped out to buy some stuff in Holland and Barrets. I bought a bag of milled flax seed, cocoa and berries super food, 1,5 kg 10+ Manuka honey, bean selection for sprouting, some iron tablets and bag of dried wine fruit for Adel.

The last week I tried to eat much raw as possible. I think I managed well, I ate only my meats and protein omelets cooked. I think I ate 85% raw.... My daily 2-3 green smoothies help a lot. I feel myself more energised and positive, BUT I have to pay more attention the calories intake during my exercises. It will interesting how my body handle this highly raw diet after the next week, when I am going to start to run again. Riding wise, I have to eat or drink some energy product 30 minutes before my ride and I have to consume at least 2 gels/ hour. When I was on normal diet, I just ate every 45-60 minutes. Has to be learned the right timing now, but when I find the right moments, my engine spins like a hell!

I am grain free now more than two months and I absolutely don't miss any grain related products. I have much much less gut problem then in the past.

I had my second (and last) dentist appointment this morning. I just got two more filling and a bit clean up. All done and honkey dory!

Shop is going well and workshop is quite busy with couple of big jobs. My day wasn't too hectic today, but it went very slow after my 5,5 hours last night sleep. I was very tired, I had an early morning workout in the gym and I ran to the dentist before work. I decided to not ride tonight. I was a bit unmotivated , weather was windy and cold... I just wanted a peaceful evening.

I wanna find some event around end of May, a running race or may be a duathlon?! We will see....