Saturday 29 March 2014

Taking a hit

Fast bike, slow rider
The last three weeks have seen my training stall completely with me only managing a couple of hours each week. This has mainly been down to work and life stuff which I just was not able to balance up; having to work late meant that I was just too wiped to do a session at night. This has also led to me eating absolute rubbish as well, which is a complete double whammy. Virtually zero training and a steady gain in weight as I attack another pack of crisps, does not make an endurance athlete, even a mediocre one.

There will be a few changes in the Wheezy household next year and I am going to have to change the way and time that I train accordingly. I am going to have to start trying to get some sessions in early in the morning before work so that I can have my evenings free for concentrate on family and work commitments.

My bike fitness has really taken a dive. I did a 25 mile tt three weeks ago which although was slow, felt fairly comfortable, but then last week I did a Sporting 21TT. 'Sporting' in TT terminology means 'lumpy' or 'slow'. I was very, very slow. The first 10 mile loop was uncomfortable with the second one just being downright awful. To add insult to injury I properly bonked on the 15 mile cycle home trying to say on Simon and Brian's wheels as we spun slowly home and I couldn't even do that. Today was a little better at the SCCU Sporting 10. I was able to hit it a bit harder but a long 28 when I should have been doing a low 26 is pretty hard to stomach. Tomorrow is the last SCCU Sporting event of the early season, the Sporting 25. I intend to get there early and try to get a few miles in before the start to bulk the ride out a bit and then use the tt as training. I am simply finding it too hard at the moment to push any form of hard effort without red-lining very early.

I have the Alpe D'Huez triathlon in a few months time and I am going anaerobic on the smallest rise in the road. I am going to hit the hills really hard over the Easter break and try to claw some fitness back;  I think that I might even need some double bike days. The last month or so has shown me that in cycling, at my level at least, nothing beats volume.

Sunday 9 March 2014

Owned

With the sun shining it was time to get the Argon out of the shed and get some tt miles under my belt, So Simon and I headed out early this morning to take in part of the 25 route that will be the first tt of the year, next week. This was the closest I was able to get to Simon all morning.

On the Mickelham Bends below Boxhill



















I had absolutely nothing in the tank at all and it's just down to not getting enough volume done on the bike, so the first few time trials of the season are going to smart a bit. Simon was looking pretty bombproof again, making it all look so easy. I'll be playing catch up again this season.


It was great being on the Argon though; the downhills were a lot of fun. A couple of hours with 36 miles on the clock including a stop for a bulging tyre. Very odd.

Running continues to progress with my legs feeling strong. Still not doing any speedwork and just concentrating on solid, easy miles.