Feeling Tired - Must Rest

Woke up this morning and felt really tired; legs were aching and a general lack of energy. I was supposed to be doing a 2-3 hour road ride but despite the good weather I binned it. I took the dog for an hour's walk in the park, had a good breakfast and then slept for another hour or so on the sofa - clearly my body needed more rest. A quick look at my training diary showed I hadn't had a rest day for 7 days so that sealed it - feet up and enjoy a day off.

Took the boys to see the new Indiana Jones film this afternoon - really enjoyed it.

What a (humpty) numpty I am. Having been unable to count and work my watch properly yesterday I headed to the pool today ready to do 100 lengths. I got bored by about the 20th length but persisted and completed the 100 lengths. As I finished I reached for my watch to check the time ... to find I hadn't started it. Tw@t!

I Can't Count ..

Well I got to the pool this morning and it was open so got stuck into my 5 x 400m session. I don't like it but sometimes it just has to be done. First one was completed in 6:36 but my ability to count went to pieces after that and I recorded 7:03 and then 7:26 even though the effort was supposedly increasing. Binned the last 2 efforts and did a "200" in 3:38 (WTF!!!) and then a 100 in 2:30 (Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!). I guess it is a combination of not hitting the buttons on my watch properly and not counting correctly but it seriously messed with my head.

Nice easy 4.5 mile run this evening with my son and the dog.

Any advice for tapering for a HIM next week would be appreciated. It's not my A race so I'm happy to try something different. I've found that resting completely 2 days before the event and then doing some very short race pace stuff the day before works well for me - what would you suggest?

Pool Blues

I've not been swimming much lately and with my first HIM race (or "not quite a HIM race" as Frank would say) just over a week away I headed to the pool this morning to knock out a quick 2km. I was somewhat miffed to find the pool out of action due to a problem with the chlorine levels.

Flexibility (key to Air Power and all that!) was called for and so I did 40 minutes of core, stretch and flex instead. This evening I added in the Cycling Weekly recommended session for those short of time, as follows:

Warm up thoroughly
6 x [30 secs as hard as possible, 4 mins recovery]
Warm down

For me, the 30 seconds as hard as possible means 500 watts. The first 15 seconds are just about OK, the next 10 are hard increasing to very hard, and the last 5 are leg-burning lung-busting just-about-maintain-the-cadence-chuffin' hard. The 4 mins recovery was done nice and easy at about 210 watts (Kelda and Frank should not read that!) with HR reducing to about 130.

Total session time was 48 minutes and the science behind it (according to CW) is that it brings on the same training benefits as a 90 minute LSD ride.

Train smart folks.

Turbo Training

I speak to many people and have seen many posts on forums saying how boring turbo training is, and these people use this as an excuse for not using one. Simple fact of the matter is that a turbo trainer is a fabulous tool to bring on training effects and also measure those effects and those who refuse to use one are, in my opinion, missing out.

Let's address the above point first - turbo training is boring. Or is it simply that these people try to replicate on the turbo what they do on the road, ie get on and ride for 60 minutes at a steady pace (or 3 hours if your name is Hussler and you're in the Falklands!). Yes, this would be dull and to be honest when I started riding the turbo some 3 years ago the "40 minutes at 80% of MHR" was the session I looked forward to least. So, keep the steady rides for the road and use the turbo for interval training, easy recovery sessions or for when the weather is really bad. For interval training, the turbo becomes a different beast, an instrument of torture known in some cycling circles as "The Rack", but it is fabulously effective as such and if you have the means of measuring power output then you can accurately repeat sessions and measure progress. Boring? Never, especially when the figures tell you you are improving and this is backed up by a good performance on your bike, like a PB in a local TT.

When I started turbo training I bought Peter Read's "The Blue Book". Peter is well known in cycling circles as a guru of turbo training and his books have been used for many years to good effect. I have only read The Blue Book and can vouch for the effectiveness of the sessions. As well as helping you plan your sessions there are specific sessions to help overcome your weanesses, be it top end speed, power, endurance, etc etc. Over the last few years I have adapted these sessions for my own use and introduced some ideas from other people.

So where am I now? What sessions do I do? And why?

Before I go on, I must make clear that I am not a coach, so these are my own thoughts based on my experiences.

As a triathlete it is important that we can train on subsequent days. It is quite possible to do some really hard sessions but this is not practical if you have to take 48 hours off afterwards. My sessions are therefore geared to introduce some overload to bring on improvements whilst still allowing you to train on subsequent days. There are 3 core sessions that need to be completed each week.

1. Level 4 turbo.
2. Level 3 turbo.
3. LSD road ride.

If time permits you can do more, but don't add recovery rides etc unless you have, or will, complete the 3 core sessions each week.

I now do all my turbo training based on power output, so it was necessary to have a turbo that could measure this. Fortunately, when I started turbo training I bought the Tacx Flow which has been a superb ally. There are a number of comments that the Tacx Flow is not accurate when it gets to the higher power readings but, at the same time, there are hardly any comments that it is not consistent. It doesn't matter to me whether it's accurate, as long as it is consistent - the numbers are just that, numbers on a scale. As well as power, it records HR (with a suitable HRM chest strap), speed, time, distance, calories burned etc. So loads of data to keep the geeks happy.

So, you have the turbo trainer and the bike to go on it. What next? The first thing to do is a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test. This is a test to determine the maximum power you can put out in 60 minutes but performing at this level for 60 minutes on a regular basis would be hard work and mentally tough, so the protocol I use is a maximal effort for 30 minutes, and then take 95% of the average power from this 30 minute test as your FTP. The Level 3 session will then be done at 90% of FTP and the Level 4 session at 105% of FTP.

Anyway, I think I've rabbited on long enough for now, so I'll save the actual sessions for another day.

Train smart folks.

It's windy and raining, time to hit the turbo.

OK, some may say HTFU but it makes no sense to me to go out on the road in the wind and the rain unless you really have to. So today I made the sensible choice and jumped on the turbo. To be honest, my legs were feeling a bit tired but once I got them spinning and warmed up they were fine. The Level 3 session is a key session so it was 3 x 20 mins at 290 watts with 2 mins recovery in between. Interestingly, ave HR was only 147 over the hour so not really Level 3 at all; maybe it's time for another painful Functional Threshold Power test?

Don't know about you guys but I enjoy reading what you are doing and how we manage to squeeze training into our busy lives.

Well done to all the Ironman lanzarote guys, sounds like a very tough race.

Family Comes First

Sags was planning a monster brick session today but I had to drop out due to family commitments. I did manage a 55 minute run with him though. He had cycled over to my house and was planning a big bike home and then another run when he got there. Hope it went well mate.

This is turning into a nice recovery week for me. Will have about 50% of normal volume with some good sessions and a race included.

I forgot it was a Bank Holiday weekend ...

I was working in Luton today so got a short run in through the hilly wood. The schools were breaking up for half-term so I had to drive to Leeds this afternoon to collect the boys and duly packed my bike hoping for an hour or so of hill efforts. Fat chance. The roads were just manic and I only just got to the school in time so there was no chance of a ride. By the time I got home I had spent 7 hours in the car and was absolutely knackered.

I've relaxed with a couple of Bulmers finest and am looking forwards to running with Sags tomorrow. No doubt he will want to dish out some pain as payback for having his butt kicked on the bike at Brize (6 seconds is 6 seconds!!!). This is turning into a really slack week.

Only 2 weeks to Bala - GULP!

Analyze this!

There's nothing triathletes like more than analyzing results, and nothing triathletes hate more than having to wait days for results from organisers. So it's good to see that within 24 hours the full results for the Brize Tri were on the RAF Tri website, along with a grovelling apology from Jamie for making a bit of a hash of the results on the day. Don't worry Jamie, these things happen and I'm sure no-one will remember it next year. It's not like we still talk about the year JC "won" at Brize when the timing gremlins struck once again! Apart from that the day was excellent.

Anyway, and far more importantly, Sags may have won BUT I HAD THE FASTEST BIKE + T2 SPLIT - WOO HOO!!! I'm never going to match Sags in the pool or on the run so this is a significant moral victory for me, especially when you consider how delayed I was during the bike leg (see previous post for details). I'm fairly certain without those delays I would have been comfortably under 28 minutes.

I was going to train today but my legs decided this afternoon that they had actually worked quite hard yesterday and that rest was the better option. Hopefully I will have a good day tomorrow; I'll let you know what happens.

Brize Tri

Where do I start? First race of the year and there was so much going on.

I'll start with my race.
Swim - I was in the same wave as Sam Wright and the RAF's Golden Girl, Bev, so it would be a good wave to see how I'm going. Well, I was 3rd out of my wave but Dale called 6:40 as I exited the door of the pool to transition so I was very pleased with that.
T1 - Bit of a faff getting the tritop on over wet skin but until I have a one piece for sprint events this is the only option.
Bike - The bike route is short at about 10.5 miles and I was determined to treat it like a TT with a full on effort. Once onto the road I could see Bev but she wasn't exactly hanging about and I had to work hard to catch her. Sam by this time was well out of sight but I got my head down and gritted my teeth; this was really hurting. It was worth it though because after a few minutes I got my first sight of Sam and another couple of minutes and I cruised passed him, trying to look relaxed and in control when I actually felt anything but. First problem came at the major right turn; when I got there there was a lorry doing a 3-point turn in the junction and I had no choice but to stop and unclip and wait for him to sort it out. I reckon I was stationary for about 10 seconds but there's the slowing down and speeding up time as well. Later, I was catching Chairman Pete at the 2nd right turn and got caught behind a white van, not a great problem, cost me maybe 4 or 5 seconds, but I had neglected to change down and when I went to get going again I was in a MASSIVE gear.
T2 - No problems here and I ran out with Dale's words of encouragement ringing in my ears "Your favourite bit now Mick!"
Run - I hadn't got far when I had a pain in the stomach area, it was like a stitch but went right across just below the ribcage. It felt like cramp and/or I had a large ball of wind that needed to get out. However, just after Sam cruised passed me things got a bit better and I started what could almost be described as a run. It was still hurting but it was bearable, although my mouth now resembled a very dry thing.

I finished in 58:37ish, an improvement of some 30 seconds from last year but both the bike and run routes were slightly longer so I am well happy.

Sags was awesome, although not quite as awesome as the official results suggested. He started 4 mins behind but didn't overtake me so there is NO WAY he finished in 52:52 against my 58:37; I think the timing fairies were being a bit optimistic there.

Reg DNF'd - what's that all about? Hero to Zero mate, you need to HTFU! Give yourself a good talking to like you did after Dambuster last year; you came back strongly from that so fingers crossed for you.

No doubt the forum will fill in a few more details in due course.

Next races for me are the Bala HIM on 8 June followed by the Odiham Sprint on 11 June. I suspect I won't be at my sharpest for the Odiham race!

I reckon Sags is bluffing ...

Guess who I saw riding home from work today? Yep, our sick friend Sags. Was he pootling along taking it easy protecting his aching body? Oh no, he was on his race bike complete with disk wheel. No doubt secretly preparing for Wednesday's race and giving us a good kicking in the process.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (well the 4 of you that read this blog have been warned, and 3 of you won't be racing on Wednesday and the other one is Sags himself. Oh well ...)

Sunday's Ride

Sags was unable to ride today so after a pleasant lie in I headed out on my own. Motivated by an article in this week's Cycling Weekly I decided to do some hill efforts, which is not the easist thing to do in Cambridgeshire. Anyway, I managed a good session (10 efforts, 5 spinning and 5 grinding) and then continued the ride out towards Cambridge. It was a bit windy and I was looking forward to having a nice tailwind blowing me home, however, the wind never seemed to be completely behind me.

Overall a nice ride, 2 hours 45 mins and 80.5km. Another good week ticked off and looking forward to the Brize sprint next Wednesday.

Another Run PB!

Another Saturday morning, another run to The Meadow with my running partner, and another run PB of 56:00. Woo hoo!

OK, it was only 15 seconds off the PB and not the massive chunk I took off last time I did this route but I didn't set out with any intention of running fast, only to get some running time in my legs. It was only when I got to my first checkpoint I realised that I was obviously running OK and that maybe the "Magic 55" that Sags had put in my head might just be a possibility. The last third was done at a proper effort, to the extent that I was dragging Bandit along faster than he seemed to want to go (poor thing was quite tired by this point).

Anyway, the good news for Sags is that a hard run effort today might just take the edge off my bike legs for tomorrow.

Only 5 days to the Brize Sprint and I am pleased to say that I reckon my cycling and running are the best they have ever been. Just need to prove it in competition now.

Train smart folks.

Today I was not meant to train ...

For a number of reasons I didn't get any training in today.

But I won the Turbo Man household wii Mario Kart competition, so there!

A Great Day for ... Cycling

I haven't done enough of this so far this year. We had some tech issues going on at work today so there would be no computers so I decided it would be a good day to cycle to and from work. I set off at 0645 and arrived 1 hour 19 mins later having covered 40.9km, including Huntingdon town centre and Cambridge city centre. This evening the wind had got up but I increased the effort and covered 40.1km (not having to go all the way round Huntingdon ring road) in a time of 1 hour 19 mins. I was planning to swim this evening but I think I will benefit more from an early night; I'm in Luton tomorrow so it's the hilly run.

Still, a good days training.

Have you seen Sags new front wheel? Looks very deep and very nice; can't wait to see it in the flesh (carbon?). Personally, I fancy the Extreme Windcheeter wheel (see above); if it's good enough for Bradley Wiggins it should be good enough for me. Best I start saving my pennies cos they ain't cheap.

Still Feeling Tired - Time to HTFU!

My legs were still tired and aching this morning but I couldn't afford another slack day. I was working in Bedord and had a late start/late finish so to make the best of it I decided to run to the pool, swim, and then run home again. So, 28 min run there, 35 min swim session including 3 x 400m in 6:52, 6:42 (drafting) and 6:43, and then another 28 min run home for a good hour and a half session. The second run was hard as my legs really wanted to stop, but I wouldn't let them, oh no, it was HTFU time and so I gritted my teeth and just got on with it.

When it was over, I felt really good. I know I'm not swimming as fast as last year but I was barely out of breath doing those times which means I should be able to get on the bike and really nail it. Which would be a really good thing to do. In my opinion.

Still Feeling Tired

Not sure if it's fatigue from Sunday's efforts or just general apathy as a result of the hot weather, but I found it hard to get back into training today. I managed a 40+ min run this morning but lacked the energy for the planned L3 turbo session this evening so just did a 30 min recovery session at 240 watts.

More Squires & Spires Stuff

OK, I blagged this from Sags' Blog but it's a good pic of the team and also one of, if not the, last pic of Sags Corima wheels before they became egg-shaped. I did notice how Sags and Mike are looking very lean whilst I look a bit, well, er ... stout!

Today has been another hectic evening practising my Super Mario Kart skills on he Wii. Isn't recovery great?

Squires & Spires Sportive

OK guys, a bit of "good day, bad day" here.

I'll start with the bad. Sags had a nasty spill; I've no doubt he will go into more detail on his own blog but it was a nasty one and severe enough to break his helmet. I hope your injuries heal quick buddy, and perhaps it isn't wise to say in a loud voice "My ar$e is really sore!". His bike is in a pretty bad state as well. Commiserations mate.

On to the good. With the excellent weather it really was a wonderful ride. Up to Sags' crash (at 76km) we were averaging about 22mph. However, there is a sting in the tail of this course with some serious hills in the last 25 or so miles. Even so, I crossed the finish line after 4:01:27 of riding time. The organisers claimed 82 miles but I reckon it wasn't quite that long - I clocked 79 miles. Mike Masters was there as well and after Sags crash Mike and I rode the last 50 or so km together.

I took a camera to take some pictures but didn't take any batteries for the camera - eedyit! We got a couple taken with Sags camera beforehand but, strangely enough, he wasn't in the mood for posing post-race.

I went to Cambridge University ...

No, I really did. Just for a couple of hours to attend a lecture put on by the Military Education Committee of the University of Cambridge entitled "Pakistan and Afghanistan: Crises with Global Implications" given by Sir Hilary Synnott KCMG. Very interesting and certainly broadened my understanding of the problems in the region. Doesn't help my training hours though, does it?

After last night's turbo session I had a gentle run to the pool this morning, 30 mins of swimming and drills and then a genle run back to the office.

Wednesday Is PAIN Day!

Be it the local bike club 10-mile TT or an L4 turbo session, Wednesday is PAIN Day. After last week's double 2-up 10 mile TT this week it was the L4 turbo session. As you may be aware, I do my turbo sessions by power not heart rate and the L4 session is as follows:

10 min warm-up
6 x [6 mins at 105% FTP, 2 mins recovery)
15 mins warm down

At present, 105% of FTP means 340 watts on my turbo trainer (Tacx Flow). FTP is Functional Threshold Power, which is the maximum power that you can sustain for 1 hour. There is a lung-busting leg-burning session to establish your FTP but I will save that for another day.

Oh yes, almost forgot, I managed a 10km run this morning as well - started very easy and increased the effort as the run went on, finishing at about RPE 7.

So another 2 hours ticked off today. I have another work commitment tomorrow evening so it will be an easy day, which is only fair after another tough Wednesday.

Train smart folks.

Slacking? No Way!

Due to the late evening at work today I had to reorganise my training in the light of the suggestion that I might be slacking.

So left for work bright and early as normal and did:

10 min run to gym
40 min swim session focussing on full-stroke with good technique and drills
20 min easy spinning on gym bike, low power but higher than normal cadence
40 min core, stretch and flex
10 min run back to the office

So 2 hours clocked up on a day that may have been "lost" due to work. I think that's a result.

Rest Day

After a really good week last week and a particularly good weekend I decided today would be a rest day. I took Bandit for a walk in the park in the morning to ease my tired and aching muscles and had to take the boys back to school in the afternoon. A little over 5 hours in the car is not good; I made sure I had a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated but driving for that length of time is very tiring.

Tomorrow I have a work-related commitment in the evening which will mean I miss my swim session AGAIN, so will try and get a good run in the morning and maybe some core work as well.

Sunday Ride

What an excellent ride this morning, just under 3.5 hours and a touch over 100km. Weather was a bit ominous when I left the house, with a few spots of rain, but once I met Sags the weather was fine and we had to stop after a bit to strip off a few items of clothing. A gentle wind that wasn't really noticeable whilst it was in our faces but when it was behind you noticed the increase in speed. Sags had another engagement so peeled off after about 2 hrs 20 mins (he had done 15 or so miles before we met though) and I had a wind assisted ride all the way home, staying above 20mph for most of the way.

Overall, a very good week for me, with 11 hrs 15 mins of quality training.

My Running Partner

This is Bandit, my 18-month old lurcher. He is probably the main reason my running has improved this winter as he has become my runing partner over the last 6 months or so. By definition, a lurcher is a cross-breed and Bandit's mother was a fully-fledged racing greyhound until she broke a leg. His father was a greyhound/saluki/collie cross which is where he gets his endurance from. And he's pretty quick (unlike me) and enjoys nothing more than chasing rabbits, squirrels and anything else small and furry that moves. He is exceptionally friendly and likes nothing better after a good run than to cuddle up on the sofa.

It's Days Like Today ...

Some days are just great. You go out training and right from the off you feel strong. As mentioned yesterday, Bandit and I went for a run round The Meadow. Last week I just sneaked under the hour for this run, with 59.57 which was representative of the times I have been doing previously.

But today I had someone else's legs on, or at least that's how it felt. RPE was about 7 or 8 but it didn't feel particularly tough, it just felt good. The time? 56:15! I am really chuffed - a PB on that route by a MASSIVE margin. My swimming has taken a bit of a back seat over the last few weeks but I think it's fair to say that my cycling has taken a step forward and my running has taken several steps forward; I'm hoping that the overall result will be much faster race times despite being a bit slower in the water.

I will post a profile of my running partner when I get some decent photos. He's very tired now and is having a well deserved sleep.

A "Rest Day" - Absolutely Knackered

Today was a programmed rest day but I had to get up early to go to Nottingham for a meeting and then on to Leeds to collect the boys from boarding school for the May Day holiday. Traffic was horrendous and I am now completely knackered.

Looking forward to an hour's run tomorrow morning - wll take Bandit with me and run round The Meadow. I think there is a long bike planned for Sunday morning with Sags. Hopefully the weather will stay fine.

Train smart.

How do I change the clock?

It seems the clock isn't posting the correct time, there must be a simple way to change it but I'm blowed if I can find it. Any ideas?

My turn to start "Blogging"

Inspired by others, I feel it is time to open my triathlon life to the world.

Hopefully it will prove to be insirational, like others have inspired me and educational, like others have let me learn. But most of all I hope it will be FUN!

However, I have a lot to learn first. How to set things out, how to insert pictures (I think I have managed that), links etc etc.