Moving on

This year has been, well, meh.

The good has been completing some new events. My first 100 mile tt, my first 12 hour tt, my first go on a track. All that was good fun and has to some extent, made this season worth while. Other than that however, it has all been decidedly average. My speed on a bike has not actually moved forward at all this year with a paltry 4 second improvement over 10 miles and no improvement at all over 25 and 50.  As usual, not enough consistency with a smattering of bad preparation and bad luck has meant that what I have done has kept the status quo.

But, I now feel really good about next year. My recent switch to using Trainerroad with a KK road machine turbo has completely transformed my approach. I have spent the last 7 weeks following the Trainerroad medium volume  sweetspot base plan, hitting most sessions and enjoying them. I do most of my sessions quite late in the evening, after kids have gone to bed and I've watched The Apprentice or Bake-off with Mrs Wheezy, but with most of the Monday to Friday sessions only being an hour long (90 minutes max) I am usually done and dusted by 11pm.

 I have already started to see some improvement, with a small increase in my ftp after 6 weeks (205 up to 212watts), but a big improvement in my pedaling efficiency. When I started on TR I was 'mashing' the pedals at 65-70rpm, whereas now, spinning over at 85-90rpm feels much more normal and comfortable, working all the quadrants of the pedal stroke rather than just the downstroke.

I am just finding it really motivating having structured sessions, with a good mix of steady Z1-2, sweetspot and threshold work and I don't mind it being turbo based at all. It gives me a good excuse to catch up on a few podcasts or a new album or two, while generating the most enormous puddle of sweat. While my face is hardly rising like a rocket, it is moving in the right direction and bearing in mind that this phase is mainly about achieving an aerobic base and not focussing on ftp, I'm a happy man.

So next year, is all about the bike. No running, swimming or triathlon. I would rather be average at one sport than truly mediocre at three. The big goal next year is a sub 60 25 mile to, but I intend to be well under it rather than a 59:59. I'm going to target some fast courses in a bid to get this done rather than the relatively slow ones I have been riding the last couple of years. My other main goal is to move up in the British Best All Round table (BBAR). It takes your average speed and distance over 25, 50, 100 and 12 hr tts. I was 90th this year with a 21.2 mph average, despite an awful 50 mile time posted just after my op, so I should be able to move up and get a 22mph average which will also get me a certificate. (We all like certificates) 😄

So there it is. Just need to keep spinning those pedals this winter.