200 days, sounds like a lot doesn't it ?
It is now just 200 days until the etape, not that I'm starting to worry.... much !.
Training this week has been a bit poor. I've had a nasty chesty cough and haven't done much. An hour of intervals ( 2min @ 250w ) on Wednesday. No Rugby again this week (snow). Jo went out on Saturday night, so I dragged the bike and turbo in from the garage and did a good L2 hour in the kitchen ( 80min @ 155bmp, 220-240watts)
On Sunday we went to Mum's for the pre-Christmas family gathering. Good to see everybody. Hope I didn't give anybody my cough :o/
I fell asleep for most of the afternoon, aided by a big lunch and a dose of Benilyn with a red wine chaser. Mum has announced that I've entered "some bike ride thing" so I guess there is no getting out of it now :o)
Cough is still bad, so can't see much training happening over the next few days, and then we are into the Christmas festivities. Probably won't hurt to take it easy for a bit.
Happy Christmas.
Wednesday 22 December 2010
Monday 13 December 2010
Outside...
The snow has gone, and the temperature has crept above freezing for a couple of days , so rugby was back on again. A pretty good afternoon gave Earlsdon a 40-3 win over Spartains. I scored a try from a flying run down the wing :o) I'll happily describe it to you in intricate detail..... "It all started just inside our own 22...."
Sunday was rugby for Fin, and then I squeezed in a couple of hours out on the bike, before Josh's cristingle service. Note the use of the word "out" - yes, I actually make it out into the real world, rather than just on the turbo in the garage. Hard work though. Lots of excuses ( cough, sore legs from rugby, not eaten enough, still early days, etc, etc) but it just about killed me.
Also first trip out for the phone + HRM. A bit annoyed thet the heart rate trace stopped after a couple of minutes, and the phone battery died after an hour. ( Map )
Spent the evening looking at the elevation trace. Leicestershire hills are so tiny compared to the Alps. I was hoping to find that some of the slopes around here would be at the 8% I'm facing (obviously not for very long, but would give me some idea of the steepness). From the traces and looking at maps, I'm not even close, and I'm struggling on these.
The reality of how hard this is going to be is not lost on me.
Sunday was rugby for Fin, and then I squeezed in a couple of hours out on the bike, before Josh's cristingle service. Note the use of the word "out" - yes, I actually make it out into the real world, rather than just on the turbo in the garage. Hard work though. Lots of excuses ( cough, sore legs from rugby, not eaten enough, still early days, etc, etc) but it just about killed me.
Also first trip out for the phone + HRM. A bit annoyed thet the heart rate trace stopped after a couple of minutes, and the phone battery died after an hour. ( Map )
Spent the evening looking at the elevation trace. Leicestershire hills are so tiny compared to the Alps. I was hoping to find that some of the slopes around here would be at the 8% I'm facing (obviously not for very long, but would give me some idea of the steepness). From the traces and looking at maps, I'm not even close, and I'm struggling on these.
The reality of how hard this is going to be is not lost on me.
Thursday 9 December 2010
Turbo Intervals
SportsTrackLive
Another turbo session done. Hard work tonight. Still feeling the cold a bit so it took good dose of will power to get outside.( not something I have a lot of ! )
Felt surprisingly good on the warm up, so stuck in a few intervals. 250 watts for 2 min. 2 min rest (200w ish). Managed 8 repeats until I started to struggle. Long warm down.
Package from PHD arrived today (very quick service) so I've got a very nice SIS Recovery chocolate drink tonight.
Feel I've missed a few sessions and I've only been going a couple of weeks, but seem to be making progress. Long way to go.
Another turbo session done. Hard work tonight. Still feeling the cold a bit so it took good dose of will power to get outside.( not something I have a lot of ! )
Felt surprisingly good on the warm up, so stuck in a few intervals. 250 watts for 2 min. 2 min rest (200w ish). Managed 8 repeats until I started to struggle. Long warm down.
Package from PHD arrived today (very quick service) so I've got a very nice SIS Recovery chocolate drink tonight.
Feel I've missed a few sessions and I've only been going a couple of weeks, but seem to be making progress. Long way to go.
Got man Flu...
Well, got a bit of a cold.
Josh is suffering with proper (6year old) Man Flu. He's had a couple of nights of broken sleep, with strange hallucination/dreams when he overheats. Not much fun for the little chap, and keeps me awake too.
Had a heavy session in the gym on Thursday lunchtime. This had a big affect on the following turbo session on Friday, when I struggled to do anything useful. Cut the session short after about 30minutes and experimented with saddle positions instead. The result is I don't like the saddle I have on the TT bike, and it causes numbness no matter what angle I have it. the saddle on the old training bike is much better, but is falling apart. Dear Santa.... ;o)
Swapped the training bike onto the turbo and did a good hour on Monday. Saddle feels a lot better.
( 60min, 220 watts, 90 rpm, 150-160bmp)
Missed the session on Wednesday because of my cold, but did manage to go to the gym today and should be able to get another turbo hour in tonight. I could even get outside and join the Club at the Mallory Park training ride ?!
Josh is suffering with proper (6year old) Man Flu. He's had a couple of nights of broken sleep, with strange hallucination/dreams when he overheats. Not much fun for the little chap, and keeps me awake too.
Had a heavy session in the gym on Thursday lunchtime. This had a big affect on the following turbo session on Friday, when I struggled to do anything useful. Cut the session short after about 30minutes and experimented with saddle positions instead. The result is I don't like the saddle I have on the TT bike, and it causes numbness no matter what angle I have it. the saddle on the old training bike is much better, but is falling apart. Dear Santa.... ;o)
Swapped the training bike onto the turbo and did a good hour on Monday. Saddle feels a lot better.
( 60min, 220 watts, 90 rpm, 150-160bmp)
Missed the session on Wednesday because of my cold, but did manage to go to the gym today and should be able to get another turbo hour in tonight. I could even get outside and join the Club at the Mallory Park training ride ?!
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Missed Weekends
Almost every training plan you come across will show long rides on Saturdays and Sundays. On a normal Saturday I'll be playing rugby on and then on Sunday I'll be recovering from playing rugby and helping coach Fin's U10s rugby team. So not much time (or energy) for that 4 hour training ride then!
The last couple of weekends have been different because rugby has been frozen off, which would have left time to ride, but we have been away visiting friends so I didn't actually get out. This is a prime example of Carmichael's "Time Crunched Cyclist", other commitments, quite rightly, outrank sitting on the bike. The time spent in Oxford and Sandy over the last couple of weekends was wonderful and I really wouldn't want to give them up. I just need to find other times to get the miles in...
The last couple of weekends have been different because rugby has been frozen off, which would have left time to ride, but we have been away visiting friends so I didn't actually get out. This is a prime example of Carmichael's "Time Crunched Cyclist", other commitments, quite rightly, outrank sitting on the bike. The time spent in Oxford and Sandy over the last couple of weekends was wonderful and I really wouldn't want to give them up. I just need to find other times to get the miles in...
Tuesday 7 December 2010
Wednesday 1 December 2010
More Snow...So going to Turbo
The snow continues to fall and temperatures have fallen to "bloody cold" so more Turboing in the garage. ( Actually think I'd be on the turbo even if it was sunny outside )
Usual story - start with fan heater on, jumpers, hat, gloves until I warm up.
Surprisingly, I didn't feel too bad. Managed to keep going for 60minutes + 15warm-up and 10 cool down without getting too bored. The novely will wear off soon I'm sure.
I've been reading a couple of new books. Todays favourite is The Time-Crunched cyclist, Chris Carmichael. An interesting read, and I love the theory, but it's not going to get me to the top of the Galibier. Back to the traditional Base Line training so a long Level 2 slog tonight.
Latest Training
http://www.sportstracklive.com/
60 minutes at Level 2
145-155 bmp
210-220 watts
20mph
90rpm.
Usual story - start with fan heater on, jumpers, hat, gloves until I warm up.
Surprisingly, I didn't feel too bad. Managed to keep going for 60minutes + 15warm-up and 10 cool down without getting too bored. The novely will wear off soon I'm sure.
I've been reading a couple of new books. Todays favourite is The Time-Crunched cyclist, Chris Carmichael. An interesting read, and I love the theory, but it's not going to get me to the top of the Galibier. Back to the traditional Base Line training so a long Level 2 slog tonight.
Latest Training
http://www.sportstracklive.com/
60 minutes at Level 2
145-155 bmp
210-220 watts
20mph
90rpm.
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