Quality not Quantity

This could apply to a number of things at the moment - my blogging, my training etc.

Since my last post my training had been a bit poor. I hadn't been feeling well as suggested in my last post and this affected my training and motivation. Some of you have been very helpful in providing motivational info although some of the pictures provided went way beyond exercise motivation (see above for an example!). I've also been on a course at Shrivenham this week so have been away from the web.

Fortunately, my mojo has returned and this week my training has been very productive, including one session of 30 seconds hard 4:30 steady (that had the 30 seconds peaking at over 600 watts) and another 40km turbo TT that was completed in 52:12 at an average power of 312 watts, a very impressive improvement of 13 watts since I last did this test.

So, the mojo has returned, my cycling is improving, and tonight we're off to see the Proclaimers at the Stokes' Bay Festival. Well it would be rude not to seeing as it's right on our doorstep. "When you goooooooooooooo, will you send back, a Letter from America..."

Nothing Significant to Report

10 days since I last blogged and to be honest there is not a great deal to report. Last week's training started really well and then on Friday I had to pick the boys up from school in Leeds and then had a solid weekend of training planned. Unfortunately I woke up on Saturday feeling like I'd been out on the town until the early hours (I hadn't!) and didn't feel much better on Sunday. Consequently, I didn't train at all over the weekend. I have managed some gentle training so far this week but nothing worth noting. Better to feel better before overloading the system again. Still, plenty of time to QCB. [Gulp!]

40km Turbo TT

I know when training is going well and I'm feeling good about myself because my mind starts telling me that I need to do some 40km turbo TTs. And so it was this week, that little voice in the back of my head saying "Go on, you know you want to" when my body was saying "Don't do it, they hurt like hell".

As always, it was a case of mind over matter, and after a very pleasant walk along the beach this morning I was into the garage just after 7am for the first really hard turbo session of the year. Yes, I've done some of the 6 x 6 sessions but they are not as tough as this. After a good warm up and calibrating the turbo, I was away. As Sags had done in his recent TT success the plan was to start a little below maximal effort and build into it. To cut what could be a very long and boring story short I finished in 55:18 at an average power of 299 watts. So what does this mean? Well on 9 May when I did my last power test my FTP was 283 watts, so without doing any specific power/interval training, just riding my bike for an average of 6 - 7 hours per week, I have seen an increase in my FTP of 16 watts, or a little over 5%. With 3 months to go to Quelle Challenge Barcelona I reckon I need to raise my FTP by another 30 watts to be in with a realistic chance of a sub 5 hour ride but today's test has demonstrated to me that this is entirely achievable with a structured training programme; I can't wait until the interval work starts at the beginning of August and I start using larger power figures - I reckon my FTP figure will increase rapidly from that point.

As expected my legs are very tired now but I'm feeling really good. We're off to see Ice Age 3 in 3D this afternoon so a chance to relax; I have been known to fall asleep in cinemas and I expect there is a very good chance I will do so again this afternoon.

Anyway folks, take care and train smart. Except those of you who are racing this weekend, in particular those at IM Austria, in which case best of luck to you all and race well.