Long-distance events

Busy medical exec Martin Mcshane is eager to up his endurance

Martin Mcshane, 61, began cycling as a young boy and later commuted by bike while training to be a doctor. On becoming a GP, he progressed to mountain biking, dabbled in triathlon and eventually settled on road riding. He joined a club and got the bug for multi-day events after completing the Hot Chillee London to Paris.

Mcshane has decided to try cyclo-cross this season, and told us he is already “completely hooked” on what he succinctly described as “50 minutes of unadulterated agony”. His next challenge is to train for the Deloitte Ride Across Britain.

What do you most want to improve in your cycling?

My hill-climb pace: I feel like I seriously need to lose some weight to be more competitive. If I could knock a stone off, that would help me a lot. I’m a passionate amateur who’d like to do a bit better. Fulfilling my ambitions needs a hell of a lot of training. In a moment of complete insanity, I signed up to do the Deloitte Ride Across Britain. That’s the big one for me in 2019. What are your motivations?

I have found cycling helps me cope with a busy executive job and gives me fitness goals to focus on. I think cycling’s my mindfulness. There’s strong medical evidence to show the physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise. The older you get, the more important it is. I try to go to the gym once or twice a week. I used to be the national medical director at NHS England for long-term conditions, and the best pill in the world is exercise.

What are the biggest barriers preventing you from training optimally? Balancing the demands of the job and family life — much room for improvement! I have resorted to three sources to try and structure my training: Strava training plans; Youtube training videos; and Zwift. I’ve also got a Fitbit and track my resting heart rate. Most training plans seem to be designed for younger people… I look at them and wonder whether I’m just being a wimp.

What are your strengths in training? If I have a long work trip away, I try to find a way of fitting in a bike ride or some sort of training — recently, even while in the desert in Las Vegas. Even if I don’t feel like it, I know it will do me good.

What are your weaknesses?

I need to improve my power-to-weight ratio. I’m a bit of a number nerd but I don’t really know where and how to pitch myself with zones. When people talk about Zone 1, I find myself thinking ‘that’s too easy’ — maybe a mistake. I lack structure and throw myself into it in a haphazard way!