This year, for the first time ever, I've got into the Tour de France. Maybe because I'm doing a spin class at the gym and can appreciate the fitness involved to cycle for 85 hours over three weeks up vertigo-inducing mountains. Well done Alberto Contador - you're amazing!

I was interested to see that since beginning the Tour de France on July 4th, Lance Armstrong has updated his Twitter page more than 225 times, an average of 14 times per day. That's a pretty impressive total considering that he spent most of his day taking part in a gruelling 2,141 mile race. He's accrued around 1.4m followers and he reckons the short messages are ‘prob the most accurate’ way for people to gain a ‘good perspective’ of the demands of the 21-stage race and, taken collectively, they provide an intriguing insight into the mind of a one of cycling’s greats.

What particularly interested me was that he often used his time on the massage table to send his tweets. That's multi-tasking for you.

The photo of Lance [above] gives a real insight into all the muscles involved in cycling. Professional athletes know the benefits of massage for cyclists - they're living proof!

Click HERE to read more about tweeting Lance.

Energy bars are a great way to have a healthy snack on the go. Unfortunately, they are often loaded with sugar and fat and can also be expensive. For a decent tasting bar - my favourite was Tesco Finest Fruit and Nut - you pay a whopping £2.54 for 3.

Why not save some money and whip up your own, customised energy bars with this simple recipe [I haven't actually tried it out yet but am off to the supermarket today to buy ingredients, so I'll keep you posted on the results].

Each bar is virtually fat-free, easy to digest and supplies 30g of carbohydrate - enough to fuel 30-60 minutes of hard running


• Combine 175g oats

• 85g muesli and dried fruit together in a bowl

• Warm 3tbsp of honey until it becomes runny - add it to the oat mix

• Stir in 150g dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, figs, apple, pineapple)

• 2 egg whites

• 175ml apple juice



Press the mixture into a lightly-oiled 18x28cm baking tin

Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes until golden

Allow to cool slightly then cut into bars



Ideas for other ingredients:

Coconut
Hazel nuts
Peanuts
Cashew nuts
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Dried cranberries

Roll in sesame seeds while still slightly warm to coat

According to an article in the Evening Standard - 01 July 2009:

" Andy Murray's run to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where he takes on Juan Carlos Ferrero today, has been assisted by regular dips in the cubes normally used to cool your gin and tonic".

Full article here

Ever since I heard about Paula Radcliffe having ice baths to aid recovery, I've given them a go. After all what's good enough for Paul is good enough for me!

OK, I don't actually have bags of ice cubes to hand, instead I sit in a bath of cold water [which in winter is icy] and it also does the trick. The water is so cold it literally takes my breathe away.

The reason behind this torture is:

"During exercise muscles suffer small fibre tears that cause small amounts of internal bleeding. When you get into an ice bath (for between five and 10 minutes), the cold causes the vessels to constrict and the blood to flow out of your limbs.

When you step out of the bath, and your body warms up, blood flows back and this invigorates the muscles with oxygen, helping the cells to repair themselves better"

It really does work! Whenever I do a run that is over about 90 mins I spend the last 10 minutes of the run actually looking forward to my ice bath. Why? Because that means it's over, I've done it and I can now relax for the rest of the day. My legs also don't feel so heavy afterwards.

I think I'm going to try a few ice cubes next time ........