#Turbovember Day 29 & 30

Another commute day yesterday with an easy spin into work and then battering myself on the way home, pushing hard for the whole ride. After a short break I went out for a 40 minute very easy run. No bad reactions and felt quite comfortable.

So today was the last day of #turbovember and I celebrated by having another rest day. I've just totted up the numbers for the last 30 days, I hadn't had time before now nd I am pretty pleased. 34 hours total with only 2 complete rest days. The third week was the most surprising with 14.5 hours training. It's been a good kickstart to my winter training but now it's time to get a bit more balance with some slow, easy running and getting along to a weekly swim session. A good start, but now it's time to keep the momentum going.

#Turbovember Day 27 & 28

Technical issues (a crap laptop) meant no post last night, but yesterday's #turbovember session was one hour's worth of bike commuting and a run. The commute was grim, in particular, forgetting to dry my cycle shorts at work and then having to put on very wet and cold lycra at the end of the day. Bleeeeurrrgh. It was a steady effort there and back and I felt so much better for a two days' rest from cycling. #Turbovember or not, I needed it. The run in the evening was a 35 minute affair; very slow to start and then after 20 minutes 5x1 minute with a 1 minute recovery. The efforts were fast strides rather than full out efforts in order not to stress the feet too much. All good, other than feeling overweight when trying to run fast. I need to do lots of slow easy miles and get it down a bit.

Today was more commuting on the langster and a busy evening has meant that that would have to do, as today has been my birthday.

What I wanted was one of these;

What I got was one of these; 

I did get a fab skull cap thingy to wear under my bike helmet, which with the sudden drop in temperature is very timely and some new lycra. Fab.u.lous.

#Turbovember Day 26

Forgive me, for I have sinned. Ended up not doing a turbo set last night and also have not done one today, although I was back for a swim at the club tonight. Mainly drills but very hard work non-the-less. Overweight and underpowered. Bike commute tomorrow though.

#Turbovember Day 25

I had a lovely run this morning, pootling around the bottom of Boxhill then Simon and I took in the climbs up to the farm at the top of Young Street then through the back of Denbies vineyard before looping around Ryker's cafe for home. We started too fast and I had a bad patch for a couple of miles before settling in for the rest of the run. Aching like a SoB now, but in a good way. I'll put in a gentle 30-40 minute spin this evening, but unfortunately I don't think that I can count it as a brick session with an 8 hour gap between.

#Turbovember Day 24

A day of rest, because I sorely needed it. Instead, I have eaten chocolate cake and drunk champagne. Tomorrow I will repent by going for a long run and a short turbo.

#Turbovember Day 23

Today's session was one hour's worth of bike commuting on the langster. The ride in this morning was hard work; uphill most of the way and on fried legs from the short, sharp session the day before. The weekend's going to be interesting as little wheezy has been sick for the last few hours so it's not looking good.

#Turbovember Day 22

Another late one due to life issues. 35 minutes with 5x3mins, 1 min recovery, which just tips me over the 1000 minutes for #Turbovember.

#Turbovember Day 21

I've managed to tick off one of the 90 minute sessions which gives me a frustrating 990 minutes total #turbovember time so far. Tonight's session included 5x10mins with 5 mins spin recovery. Probably too much easy stuff but I feel that I still need to take it a bit easy at the moment. I'll aim to have a harder and shorter set tomorrow night as time will be tight. Very glad that I am nearing the end of this thing.

#Turbovember Day 20

A long day at work, home at 9.30 and then straight into the turbo dungeon. Even I could see the relative futility of that one. Anyway, 30 minutes done with 2x5min tempo efforts in there. I still have 3 90 sessions and 2 bricks to knock off to officially complete #Turbovember and only 10 days left to do them in. Double turbo days? Now that's something I've never contemplated before. Bed.

#Turbovember Day 19

I felt marginally better today. Less snot; more energy. A good sign. However this evening was a very gentle 30 minute spin which still left me feeling a bit more tired than it really should have done. However I have been basking in the glow of yesterday's 7.5 mile run done without my feet imploding on me. I had kind of forgotten the importance of that quite significant fact.

#Turbovember Day 18

I was feeling very secondhand this morning but I had arranged to meet Simon for a run so I managed to drag myself out of bed to meet him. We decided to head over to Richmond Park and do a slow lap and this was to be my longest run in a long time. It was a gorgeous morning, lots of frost on the ground and only just above freezing. The only damper on it all was my stomach which still wasn't feeling right. The first few miles were ok but as we ran on I began to feel worse and worse. I could feel myself getting hot but it was not a healthy warm glow, instead, it was my cheeks and throat on fire while I shuffled along at a barely respectable pace. The last couple of miles from Richmond back to Kingston were horrible and I couldn't wait to get back to the warmth of the car. I made the decision there and then that that was going to be it for the day. I could have gone into the turbo dungeon for a short session but it would not have achieved anything. So today was the first day in 18 that I have not been on my bike. Tomorrow, service will be resumed. But for now, night nurse and bed.

#Turbovember Day 17

I am really pleased to have got today done. I felt pretty second hand this morning with a very tight stomach; that feeling you get when you've consumed too many gels or carb drink. My diet has been awful for the last week or two, rarely eating a balanced dinner and far too light on fruit and veg. Allied to that there's been a vomiting bug doing the rounds at work so it seemed that it was my turn to suffer this but it never really materialised. By mid-afternoon I thought I might as well hop on the turbo and see if that improved the situation or not. Kill or cure and all that.....

It was a fairly low key session of 45 minutes on the turbo as 10spin/10steady/10spin/10steady/5spin. I then went out for an easy run afterwards. the first time I have run in anger in 2 weeks. Other than my stomach I felt really good. Proof positive, in my mind at least, that there is some transferable fitness from bike to run. I cannot remember my last brick session. Three months ago? Something like that and my feet were behaving themselves. Hopefully tomorrow will be a slightly longer run and short turbo spin. Fingers crossed.

#Turbovember Day 16

So I am trying to turbo/cycle every day this month. What's the worst thing that could happen to inhibit that? Get ill? Well, I've done that and carried on regardless. Break my bike? Nah, I can fix that fairly easily. No, the very worst thing to happen would be my washing machine to break down. Twice. I have been wearing the same pair of cycling shorts for four commute rides and two turbo sessions, including yesterday's sweat fest. I almost had to crack them to get them off this evening. I took it easy on the way into work this morning as promised but I ended up beasting myself a bit hard on the way home. There's a mile long section just before I get to my parents' house and a guy had jumped on my back wheel but I couldn't get him off; my legs were just too fried. Still, he didn't have the speed to go past. Commuter racing; gotta love it.

This evening was an easy 30 minute spin at low intensity. Tomorrow morning will be a brick session and my first run in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it.

#Turbovember Day 15

So I am halfway through this #turbovember thing and I am still intact, just. I have to say the last couple of days have been hard work, particularly due to this snotty cold which has hung on grimly. I think that I am just about over it now but it would be fair to say that sitting on a turbo everyday, usually pretty late at night, come what may, probably hasn't been the best remedy for it. But it has shown that I can train through it with a bit of care. My commuting had to give though while I tried to recover but I was glad to be back on the langster today for my one hour's worth of commute mileage. Felt pretty good too.

This evening was another 40 minute session and it was the first time that the lactic acid really started to flow. It went, 10min w/u, (4x2mins, 2mins spin recovery), (4x1 min, 1min spin recovery), 10 mins w/d.

It hurt. A lot. I have not pushed myself hard on a bike like that since my 25mile tt a couple of months ago, although this time I avoided a technicolour yawn.

Top turbo tunes tonight? Stone Roses- Love spreads, Kasabian-underdog, Led Zep-Nobody's fault but mine. Commute ride tomorrow and either an easy turbo or easy brick it it's not too late.

#Turbovember Day 14

A very late 40 minutes just done. A steady 10 minutes and 3x5mins steady, all the rest easy spinning. Knackered. Bed.

#Turbovember Day 13

Today was mainly spent travelling on a coach on a work trip which should have been fairly relaxing but I ended up eating far too much rubbish and not drinking enough, so that by lunchtime I had a banging headache. I felt that my 100% #turbovember month would be in serious jepardy but by the time I had got home this evening and after drinking a few litres of water later, I was feeling  a lot better. I ended up doing an easy 50 minutes as 10mins w/u, 10mins steady, 5mins spin, 10mins steady, 2x5mins hard with 5mins spin recovery between. No music; this time I spent it catching up on the latest IMTalk podcast.

#Turbovember Day 12

I have hit a mini landmark tonight with a total of 600 minutes logged for #Turbovember. 10 hours' worth of turbo time in 12 days despite a cold and too many 30 minute box ticking sets. I'll take that. :-)  As I was feeling a bit better tonight I did 45 minutes as 10min w/u easy spin, 10min tempo, 5min spin, 3x5mins hard with 5min spin recovery. I felt pretty good, all things considered. Much better than yesterday.

Two other nice side effects from #Turbovember. One, I can listen to my music without annoying anyone else in the house (tonight was an early 90's mega mix taking me back to my early Loughborough days; Come Home by James being a particular favourite followed by Step on and The Happy Mondays. I *really* need to change the record) And two, I'm starting to get those little lumps above my knees that proper cyclists have. I think they are called quad muscles. :-0

Onwards.

#Turbovember Day 11

There's nothing more frustrating than having a gorgeous autumn morning which is just begging for a run or cycle to happen, only to be laid up with the lurgy. I felt pretty rugged this morning and my plan to get on the road and do a few real miles was never looking realistic. Instead I lay in bed with a thick head mulling over what could have been.

So it was a 30 minute box ticker for #turbovember this evening instead, staring at the back of an unlit garage door being watched by the neighbours in mild bemusement / awe / disbelief. The one saving grace from all this was that as I opened the door and trudged out into the darkness the mrs barely raised an eyebrow. Eleven days ago I would have got at least some form of derisory comment about hamster wheels or words to that effect, but no more. It seems that #turbovember and the consistency which it has brought about has had other positive benefits.

Hopefully, I can get down to some serious turbo efforts in  a day or two. 30 minute box tickers are starting to get boring.

#Turbovember Day 10

Still not firing on all cylinders so today was going to be a 30 minute box ticker, but once I had warmed up for 10 minutes I didn't feel too bad so I ended up doing a single 20 minute tempo effort before a bit more easy spinning to finish, maintaining a tt position for most of it. Hopefully I 'll be ok to tick off a 90 minute interval session tomorrow morning.

#Turbovember Day 9

I knew that I was not going to get a turbo session in today so I took the 'soft' option. The rules of #Turbovember state that 3 of the rides can be outdoors if required, so today I used up one of those lives. A total of 70 minutes' commuting was done. I took a slightly longer route home from work to make up for the lack of turbo action and it also helped to burn off some of the amazing flapjack that mum had made, which I stopped off for with a cup of tea at the end of this evening's ride. I feel pretty rough though. I have had another sore throat and runny nose for a couple of days and there's loads of bugs going around at work. I think it's going to have to be another gentle 30 minute box ticker tomorrow.

having said that, I felt good on the way home and was pushing the langster hard up the hills and along the flats. The gains from #turbovember might be small but they are most definitely there.

#Turbovember Day 8

After successfully negotiating the first week, today was another struggle. After work, then family stuff, dinner, more family stuff, it was 9.30pm before I could even remotely think about a turbo session. And to be honest, I didn't want to do it. I had bailed on my commute ride today as I needed a bit more rest in lieu of a higher quality turbo session in the evening but it was really hard work to peel myself away from the TV and take the cold walk to the end of the garden. I ended up doing a solid 60 minutes with 5x5mins with 2 mins spin recovery. A great set, once I had got going.

Tomorrow will prove to be a very tough day. But it's Friday and that's a good thing. Onwards.

#Turbovember Day 7

One week down. Woop woop!

Hardest day so far, just through not enough hours in the day. One hour's worth of commute riding, pushing hard on the way home. Lots of fun. I have just literally finished an easy spin on the turbo for 30 minutes to keep my 100% turbovember account going.

My toe's flared up again on my right foot. A rather clumsy tumble turn on Monday, too close to the wall is the culprit (haven't run all week anyway). I knew as soon as I hit the wall it would cause a reaction. Got it under control though and not being made any worse by the cycling. Just irritating.
I'll take that over painful. :-)

Hodge - Thanks mate.

#Turbovember Day 6

It was a fun commute to work and back on my new langster. It was harder on the way out with it being mainly uphill, but there's only one climb where I have to get out of the saddle. The ride home has more freewheeling, which I find more annoying than grinding uphill. The bike's very comfortable although i need to tinker with the position a bit more. Still, it's an hour's worth of riding in the day and it all adds up.

In the evening it was another 30 minute #turbovember session. It was very unstructured but I ended up putting some longer tempo efforts in and I have to say that despite the increase in volume over the last week I felt very strong. That said, I didn't get a run in today, but with 90 minutes' worth of bike work, it's been a productive day.

#Turbovember Day 5

A hurried 30 minutes in the dungeon before the kids' pick up; mostly high cadence/low resistance spinning with 2x5min efforts thrown in, mainly to keep me warm. This evening it was back to kingfisher Tri for a swim session to start the long process of rebuilding  some swim fitness. While this month is about building some base bike and run fitness, triathlon is 3 disciplines (apparently) so I need to get some swimming under my belt now as well, if I am to stand even the remotest chance of qualifying from the Dambuster Tri. Being 10 minutes down after the swim will mean game over almost straight away. It was mainly technical stuff this evening but I still found it pretty hard. There was no real catch to speak of; I could feel my arm slipping through the water rather than driving with an effective forearm and my spine was too bendy. I was thrashing like a marlin on the end of a fishing line rather than staying straight and it all just felt very weak and underpowered.  It's a long way to go yet and I have found that usually my swim fitness is the one area that comes back pretty quickly.Fatal last words. Doh...

Commute rids tomorrow, lunchtime run with an evening turbo set. Off.To.Bed.

#Turbovember Day 4

The weather was foul this morning so I ended up doing a 2 hour turbo instead of venturing outside. 2 hours on the turbo is at the very limit of my boredom threshold and my coping strategies revolved around the Led Zeppelin double disc remastered album and doing 10 minutes at tempo with 10 minutes easy. I managed to get the session done and out of the way before 9.30 so I could spend the rest of the day with a smug face.
Onwards.

#Turbovember Day 3

Today was a scheduled as a run day so I was up early again for a slow run, sticking to the local trails towards Oxshott Woods in an effort to keep to a softer surface in defence of my feet. Sun shining, leaves on the ground and muddy underfoot; what's not to like? A slow 5 miles in 41 minutes and it felt a bit laboured but it's great just to be doing a bit of regular running.

In the afternoon, Wheezy Junior and I went over to Richmond Park for a steady 1 mile run on his upcoming cross country course before coming home and christening the new turbo dungeon with a steady 30 minutes on the turbo. A long (ish) ride in the hills tomorrow. Could be painful.

#Turbovember Day 2

After yesterday's fiasco, this morning had a semblance of planning about it, so it was up early to get an hour's turbo in before domestic duties kicked in. The main set was 2 x 20 mins, concentrating on maintaining smooth, powerful circles at a relatively low cadence. Found the second one pretty tough going.

Should be able to squeeze a 30 minute run in this afternoon. Feet are behaving themselves, which is nice.

#Turbovember Day 1

Much, much mucking about today. Spent most of it kitting out the new turbo dungeon at casa Wheezy before then deciding to sort out the rear deraillieur gear cable which  had stopped shifting a week ago. Found out it had frayed so went to local bike shop; got home before realising it was wrong cable; went back, got correct cable; installed cable; shifter still didn't work; spent 90 minutes trying to get shifter to work; swore a lot; lost will to live; decided to remove cable again and realised the nipple end (gyick gsnerk) had not seated itself in the shifter; 1 minute later rear deraillieur working perfectly.

There then followed an easy 45 minutes spinning the pedals. Day 1 complete. Off to bed.

Hodge - Cheers fella. :-)