It doesn’t look as though the lack of exercise and far too much food during my few days away recently have done too much damage.
I did a turbo trainer session the other day and my performance was OK. I even checked the tyre pressure before the session to make sure things were consistent and managed to do a 3:2 minute interval session with a power output of 350 Watts for the hard efforts. I also did a few 1 minute intervals afterwards as well.
Here’s the actual workout:
Warm up: 10 minute ramp from 120 Watts to 200 Watts
Main set: 7 x 3: 2 minute intervals
- 3 mins @ 340 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 3 mins @ 350 Watts, 2 mins @ 120 Watts
- 5 mins @ 210 Watts
- 1 min @ 420 Watts, 1 min @ 120 Watts
- 1 min @ 420 Watts, 1 min @ 120 Watts
- 1 min @ 420 Watts, 1 min @ 120 Watts
- 5 mins @ 220 Watts
Cool Down: 2 mins @ 150 Watts, 3 mins @ 120 Watts
Here’s the trace from my heart rate, cadnce and speed sensors, including the time when I dropped the chain after the third 3 minute interval.
Heart Rate, Speed and Cadence Trace
Swimfit was good on Tuesday this week.
As usual I was fairly tired by the time I got there having done a lab test for Jon at Sports and Exercise Science and then an hour of circuit training, but I soon got into the swimming.
After a warm up and some drills Lauren had us doing 15 x 75m for the main set off 1:45. The first 5 reps were steady for the first 50m followed by a 25 sprint. The next 5 reps were steady for the first 25m followed by a 50m sprint and the final 5 were flat out all the way. It turned out to be a pretty good set as I tried hard to keep my times the same on the final 5 reps and just about managed to do it and actually knocked off a few seconds on the last few.
One swim a week just isn’t enough though so I think I’m going to have to find a way to fit an extra one in now and then.
The question is, should I spend lots of money on a new road bike or should I not earn that money in the first place by working less and spend the time training instead?
What would be the most beneficial, faster times due to a better bike, or faster times because I’ve spent more time training?
To be honest, I think I’ll have to go for the new bike and here are three good reasons why:
- If there’s a chance for some new toys then you have to take it – “He who dies with the most toys wins!”.
- There’s only so much training that my (not so young) body can take and if I do too much I’ll start getting problems with my knees and back.
- It’s easier. Training is hard work, saving time by buying a new bike is much easier!
I wonder how much difference it will make though.
I’m supposed to be doing the Wotton Triathlon in just over a week, but preparations aren’t going too well. Jay, Brad, Matt and Beale are going to love reading that!
I should be training hard for it now and then easing down by the middle of next week ready for the race a week on Sunday. Unfortunately though I’ve had a cold for a week now and have done absolutely no training at all. What’s worse is that whenever I get a cold these days it seems to go to my chest which then makes me think I’d best be careful otherwsie I’ll end up in hospital again. The dull ache that I get in m on the left hand side of my middle back has returned so I’m being good and continuing to take it easy despite the need to train!
I didn’t do the Dyfi Enduro at the weekend thanks to the cold and now my main aim is to get rid of it completely before the Triathlon so that I can at least do it. In the meantime it would be good to do some training as I haven’t even had chance to try out the new position on my bike after chaning the bar and saddle positions so that I can reach the aero bars better.
The race is on Sunday 16th so I’ll be driving to Gloucestershire on the Friday evening and if the weather is OK I’ll do a course recce on Friday evening so that I at least know what to expect. Hopefully before then I’ll be able to get out on my bike a couple of times and make sure that I can run 4.5 miles!
I’m not going to be fast, but at this rate I won’t even get around the course.
Once again I’m being a Sports and Exercise Science lab rat for Jon.
I did the ramp test yesterday which is always carried out before the test to give Jon some data that allows him to calculate the work rate that my subsequent tests should be performed at. Basically after filling in some disclaimer forms and a quick height and weight measurement, I get on the bike and pedal. I have to breathe through a mouthpiece and wear a nose-clip and heart rate monitor too. The resistance is then gradually increased by 30 Watts per minute and I have to keep going for as long as I can.
The good news is that I’d lost some weight. I was 75.6kg this time and 78.2kg last time. Strangely, I’ve also shrunk as I was 169.7cm tall last time but I’m only 169.1cm now! In fact, that makes me 5’6″ when I used to be almost 5’8″. Oh well, nothing I can do about that except maybe think tall thoughts.
Best of all though I’ve managed to increase my Work Rate Peak. Last time I did the ramp test I got to 384 Watts, this time I think I just about nudged it to 400 Watts. That’s good as it shows I’ve improved a little over the past few months. It does have a downside though as it means the subsequent tests will be carried out at a higher work rate than they were last time.
I’ll keep you up to date on how I get on on subsequent tests.
All of this was followed by a hard circuit training session and then swimfit – I should start seeing some real world improvements if I keep training at this rate!
The nice weather continues and I’m beginning to enjoy my rides on my road bike. Not only can I cover much greater distances than on my mountain bike but I don’t need to drive to the trails and I don’t need to clean it after a ride.
Yesterdays ride was twice around a local 10 mile loop. Actually its a little over 10 miles at about 10.65 miles. First time around was OK in a time of 36:29, the final couple of miles into the wind were hard though. Next time around I pushed quite hard on the first few miles with the wind behind me, but then struggled a little over the hills in the middle and against the wind at the end. My time for the second loop was however 2 seconds faster at 36:27.
With the mini Triathlon looming – my first for 20 years – I thought it would be sensible to dust off the road bike and get out there on the road to see if I can still ride it.
I’ve been using it on the Turbo Trainer recently so I know that it was mechanically (just about) OK, although I did have to make a few adjustments to the setting as I had raised the bars for use on the Turbo Trainer and with them in that position the gear cables were too tight and wouldn’t allow the bars to turn. I guess it would have been fine as long as I didn’t have to go around any corners.
I decided to cycle from Ynyslas to Machynlleth and back which was 25 miles and relatively flat. It wasn’t long though before I decided that I needed some easier gears. The bike is ancient and the lowest gear it has is 42×21, quite a high ratio compared to modern road bikes which all seem to have a 39 tooth chain-ring up front and a cassette that goes to at least 23, sometimes 25 or 28 at the rear. As soon as the road pointed upwards I was out of the addle and struggle with the gear ratio.
I did make it though and although my knee is now a little sore, I kind of enjoyed it and didn’t completely embarrass myself by averaging 18.5mph. Plenty of room for improvement though.
I thought I’d try out Garmin Connect as well as it seems to have improved considerably of late, so here are the details.
Nant yr Arian MTB Trails
The last time I did a timed circuit of the Pendam Trail at Nant yr Arian was about a month ago and it took me 41 minutes and 5 seconds. I was pretty disappointed with this as it was very slow compard to my personal best of 37:22.
I’ve been feeling a bit slow on my mountain bike lately so on Saturday I changed the tyres on it to make it a little faster and easier rolling ready for the Dyfi Enduro. I went from a 2.4″ Mountain King on the rear and a 2.35″ Maxxis High Roller on the front to 2.2″ Mountain Kings front and back. Still not the fastest rolling tyres around but hopefully a nice compromise between easy rolling and grip.
Whilst at it I cleaned my bike in the sunshine and found that the seatpost was half full of solid mud. I cleaned this out then thought to myself if the seatpost is like that then maybe the seat tube is as well. It was, so I cleaned that out too. I’d been carrying around extra weight in the form of mud inside my frame for a while!
Yesterday the conditions were perfect for a MTB ride so I headed off up to Nant yr Arian and starting from the Pendam car park rode around the Pendam Trail to the visitor centre. I wasn’t pushing hard and hadn’t intended on doing a timed circuit but depsite getting a little held up on ‘High as a Kite’ I got to the visitor centre in under 15 minutes which I thought could be good for a record. I therefore upped the pace a little and decided to do a full circuit of the Pendam Trail before heading off elsewhere.
After the Italian Job I was chasing another guy in front of me who was going along at a fair lick. I later found out that it was David, but having him in front of me and catching him slowly made me push just that little bit harder. He missed out the singletrack section at ‘Spaghetti Junction’ so once again I was chasing him down along the tarmac around Llyn Blaenmelindwr. He then took the shortcut to Hippity Hop whilst I went round the back and pushed hard on the final climb, overtaking a couple of other people before hurtling down Hippity Hop to finish in a time of 36:55, a new personal best and 27 seconds faster than my previous best. I was happy with that.
I then stopped and had a chat with David who came down Hippity Hop just behind me and we headed off for a circuit of the Summit Trail as well. Not a bad day out in the hills.
Topo & Heart Rate
I used to be quite a good triathlete – But that was 20 years ago now and thing shave changed since then. I’m older, fatter, have less time to train and much much slower.
Despite this somehow my sister (Trudi) has talked me into doing a triathlon in May in order to raise money for her childrens’s school and a local swimming pool. It isn’t just me, she has talked Jay and Brad (my brothers) into it, along with a few others too.
It is only a short triathlon. The swim which should be my strong point is a little odd as the pool is only 15m long so I don’t think I’ll be able to gain any time on that part. At 450m in total it would normally take me around 6 minutes in a normal pool… 20 years ago that would have been 5 minutes.
The cycle is 21km (13 miles) and is apparently quite hilly. I didn’t really have a suitable bike for this as my road bikes date from the time when I was doing triathlons so they are 20 years old too and almost antiques. No carbon fibre, no indexed gearing or anything like that. I’ll have to see what I can get to replace them!.. New toys, don’t you just love it! Again, there was a time when I would have been able to do 13 miles on a bike in around 30 minutes, this time I think it will be around 45 minutes, especially if its really hilly.
And then there’s the run. 7km (4.3 miles) and once again hilly. Once upon a time that would have been easy and would have taken me somewhere around 25-27 minutes. I’ve been for an experimental run here just to see how I’ll cope now. I did a 4.2 mile run, completely flat. It took me 40 minutes and what’s more it hurt for a week afterwards!
Why did I agree to do this? Only a month to go until the big day, I have the Dyfi Enduro to do a couple of weeks before hand and there just isn’t enough time to make any improvements.
Jay, Brad, Matt and the others doing it are all younger than me and seem to be training hard with the sole intention of beating me… No matter what everyone says about taking it easy and not worrying about where they come in the race, the competition is hot!
I had been doing quite well with my fitness drive recently. I’d been out on the bike or on the Turbo Trainer a fair bit, I’d been swimming once a week and going to circuit training once a week and I’d even started running a little bit. Best of all, I’d lost a little bit of weight, getting myself down from hovering around 78-80Kg down to about 75Kg (on a good day).
All of that went out of the window last week though when we went on holiday and the main activity of the week (other than keeping warm and dry!) was eating. Cereal, cooked breakfast, toast and waffles for breakfast every day and a large 3 course meal every evening! Not helped by the fact that Anna and Morgan aren’t the biggest of eaters and as we’d paid for the food anything they leave I feel obliged to eat so often in the evenings I would have my starter, Morgans starter, then my main course, followed by my pudding, half of Annas pudding and half or Morgans pudding!
Needless to say I have some weight to lose again as I’m now back to my standard 78Kg or thereabouts! Oh well, lets hope it is easier second time around.
