Some of you might know, if you have been following my blog, that I have a somewhat reduced or small lung capacity which I think might be limiting my performance. I tend to notice it when I am out cycling with friends from the Road club. I generally manage to keep up on the flat ok but as soon as we start to climb hills its a different story. Although I have been training hard over the winter and feel fitter now than I have ever felt, I still don’t have anywhere near the capacity to climb hills as they have.

Recently I have been made aware of a device called the Power Breathe, which is a piece of equipment that athletes use to try and improve breathing and lung function. It has been shown to be of use to sports men and women as well as being people with health problems associated with breathing etc.

The lungs are controlled by muscles in the  chest and the diaphragm, which is a thin membrane below the rib cage that stretches across the abdominal cavity.  It is the movement of these muscles that enable to lungs to breathe in and out. These muscles, like any other muscle, needs exercised in order to improve performance.

The Power Breathe is a small piece of equipment that athletes use to exercise the muscles that improve lung function. Its a small item to breathe through that provides a bit  of resistance in order to make the muscles work harder.   As time goes on and your muscles get stronger, the resistance can be increased to make the workout harder. The equipment has been shown to have an effect after 2 weeks of using it twice a day for 30 seconds at a time.

I’m not expecting to get miraculous results with it and suddenly be able to climb like everybody else, although I am keen to try it. If it can even help me climb a little bit better it will be worth the time. Only time will tell but I will keep working hard to keep my performance up as high as I can.

http://www.powerbreathe.com/

I learned an important lesson last week while out on as longer run. By the time I got back into Edinburgh after 55 miles, I was extremely exhausted and someone asked me what I had to eat that day.  I had a bowl of cereal before I left in the morning and, about half way through the 4 hour ride had about 6 squares of chocolate that I had left left over for baking the previous day.

No wonder I was tired, that was nothing like enough food to sustain me over that length of run.  A friend advised me that I should have had a large meal the night before packed with carbohydrate, then in the morning a hearty breakfast. I sometime have porridge before a cycle as it allows you to have a slow release of energy, this along with toast and fruit would have been better than a bowl of cornflakes!

Another difficulty I have is eating and drinking on the go as it requires the rider to be able to ride with one hand and a bit of extra balance. Unfortunately I don’t have someone to cycle along side me and offer me a tray of delights as Andy Schleck does in the photograph here.  However, I am learning to drink on the move but have had to adapt a little to enable me to do this. When I am cycling along in the pack I am aware of others eating and drinking as we go particularly when I see banana skins being hurled into the field as the side of the road. If I need to drink I tend to drop back out of the bunch so I have more space then, after I have had a drink, work my way back up. Cycling with one hand and drinking takes a lot more balance and control and I tend to wobble a bit when I do, so I have to choose my moments carefully.

I would like to learn to eat on the go because it gives the other riders an advantage and it can really help conserve energy if you can eat in the saddle. I have been exploring ways to do thins like having a little box like the triathletes do on the cross bar. Again it takes balance and for me, like drinking, it will take practice. I feel that this is an essential skill to learn as I have shown, cycling on an empty stomach is not a good idea.

On Sunday I joined the Road Club to go cycling for their new regular Sunday run, which I really enjoyed. As cycle training goes, I found it really streched me. There was about 12 of us and, although grey and over cast, the weather was fine. We headed southwest to the Borders into a headwind and did a big circular taking in some country roads. Coming back was lovely on a well surfaced, wide open road with a strong tail wind.

I have to tell the truth here, I struggled a bit on Sunday. When we left a place called Carnwarth with about 20 miles to the others could tell I was getting really tired. One of them offered to go ahead and when he got back to Edinburgh, get his car and come and get me. He picked my up just on the outskirts of Edinburgh and I must admit I was glad to see him when he rolled up in his car.

By the time I got back into Edinburgh I had done 55 miles which was probably a bit much for me. It did make me wonder about my limits and biting off more than I can chew. I have  done that king of length of run and longer in the past, although I have done them at a slower pace over a longer period of time.  When I did that sort of run in the past I was with another club who go at a much slower pace. The club I cycle with are predominantly a race club so naturaly tend to go faster.  I really enjoyed the run all the same although it will make me more cautious in the future about taking on more than I can handle.

I went to RPM class tonight after a few weeks break from it and I really struggled but survived. I knew it was going ot be hard after a gap but it was fine. I felt good after it as usual and it has inspired me to get back into my training.

I have kind let my training drop a bit over the last few weeks which is not good so I need to try and step it back up. I was training really hard over the winter but after my skiing trip kind of let it drop  for whatever reason. If anything I should have stepped it up, now that the better weather is coming in.

I very conscious tonight of my RPM being very low and I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve not been for a few weeks, or because of my CP. I suspect its a bit of both. The instructor was asking up to go the maximum rate of 130-140 RPM but I can’t  get anywhere near that rate.  If I really push it I can just touch 120 RPM for a couple of seconds but otherwise my sprinting speed is somewhere are 110- 115RPM. Frustrating yes, but I spoke with a physiotherapist at one time about it and she explained that people with CP don’t have the same neuro-muscular control as the average person which explains things.

I’m glad I went tonight because it has inspired me to get training again. I’ve got cycling planned for this weekend so hoping the weather is fine.

I went on club social ride today that takes place on the first Sunday of every month and I really enjoyed it. We went out on a nice tail wind, although coming back was a bit more difficult so, I dropped off the back and made my own way home rather than struggle and hold the group of 20 back .

I enjoy going out on club runs because the company is always great, I’m lucky enough to be part of Edinburgh Road Club, a really nice club. I seem to do ok on the flat and keep up with the pack fine although as soon as we start climbing, its a different story all together. I really struggle to get up the hills and, as soon as we start climbing, I get dropped.

I have been working hard over the winter trying to get my fitness up by attending RPM classes and circuit training, working out on the Turbo and doing hills reps. I’m feeling a bit frustrated at the moment because, despite my efforts, it would seem that I still can’t keep up with the able-bodied people I ride with.

One thing that I have discovered  is that, without doubt, I have a very small lung capacity and this has to be a contributing factor. It was actually a friend of mine who discovered on the Internet that it is a manifestation of cerebral palsy to have a reduced lung capacity. Unfortunately there is little can be done about that and although I train hard, I might not ever be able to climb as effectively as other people. Off course I find it very frustrating but its one of these things that I’m going to have to accept.  I have a tendency to compare myself with many of the other members in the club who are not only able bodied, some of them are top athletes. I must remember that it is not helpful t0 compare myself to them and it is not a reasonable comparison. For someone with CP I hope I am in top bracket of fitness and hope to improve even more.