Not sure how that happened...

I've gone and entered the Outlaw Triathlon next year. One minute I'm merely looking at the website and the next I have a congratulatory e-mail confirming my entry. I genuinely don't know what came over me but I'm quite excited. My basic plan is this:

Bike; lots, especially on trainerroad.
Run; a bit. Keep ticking over, enjoying PArkrun and think about some longer miles in March.
Swim; meh. That's cheating.

All the nineteens

It was my 19th Bushy parkrun yesterday and I ran 19:19! Spooky. Even more spooky was the fact that I ran 20:20 the week before, but I guess I should aim to run that next week. I started much nearer  the front so didn't get too hindered and had a clear run. My main motivation was chasing down the man dressed in a carrot costume and I managed to overhaul him in the last 400metres. Running a solid sub-20 time and being beaten by a fancy dress vegetable would be just too hard to bear. Anyway, second fastest ever time on fairly minimal training. Having a lovely break from the turbo and already feeling quite refreshed. Onwards.

2017

So it was my last tt today with a 25 mile effort on the lumpy G25/56 course. It was frankly a bit rubbish as I developed a cold earlier on in the week and I just couldn't get much power through the cranks. The first half was ok but a 4 minute negative split showed the fact I bombed pretty badly over the second half. 1:05:20, almost a full 10 minutes slower than my pb three and a half months ago, which in fact seems like almost a lifetime ago. So a crap end to the season but not entirely unexpected.

However it's been my most successful season ever. Taking over 5 minutes off my 25 mile pb and almost 2 minutes off my 10 mile time, as well as setting a course pb on the club G10/42 course by over a minute. That's all something I am super chuffed with and beyond my expectations before the season started and I believe that there could still be more to come next year. My 21:58 10 was on a pretty slow day and I had not done as much VO2 max work in the build up so I think that a sub 21 is achievable and a target for next year. I think that a sub 53 25 m tt could also be achieved and I am going to see if I can set a fast enough time to enter the National 25. So, that's the two main targets for next year and I need to get a decent 50 under my belt. My pb is still around 2:06 which is well below where it really should be.

How to achieve all this though? Well, a bit more of the same, in the sense that I'm going to hit the turbo hard again this winter, but as I said above, I'm going to do more VO2 max sessions and really try to boost my ftp over the winter. If time allows I would like to get a monthly long ride in of around 70-80 miles to aid the fat burning and aerobic efficiency. I think that's where I have lost out when competing over the longer distances. The first half of my season was way better than the second so I need to think about how I can not lose focus from June onwards. I'm going to need to lose a few more kgs too. Too many biscuits and crisps are slowing me down and that's where a little bit of running and some Parkruns come in.

All that said, I'm looking forward to a bit of a break over the next 4 weeks. The plan is to have no plan except to keep doing a little bit of running and some very unstructured cycling before getting back on it at the beginning of November. Then it's time to get it on like Donkey Kong.

When is a 25m tt not a 25m TT?

When it's 22.5 miles.

It was the Epsom Open 25 on the G25/54 course, two laps with a pretty testing climb over the first mile and a half of the lap. Only it wasn't. The organiser found out at 5am this morning that dozens of cones had been put out on the second half where a 'Tough Mudder' event was going to be taking place with all the ensuing traffic that would entail. The promoter changed the event to avoid this and it became three shortened laps and therefore three times up the hill. Bah. After the last couple of months I was not expecting much but it was my best ride in a long while. 53:18 for 22.5m equates to a 59:20 25mile TT and on such a lumpy course I'm pretty pleased with that, with me pretty much negative splitting over the course. So I have one more 25 next week and the Bec Hill climb for a bit of fun and then I'm planning to take a month off from anything structured before starting up again in November. I'm not sure what I'm going to change, if anything. I'll be sticking with Trainerroad over the winter but as I intend to focus primarily on 10 and 25 tts again, I am not sure whether to change plans. The guys at Trainerroad are uber-helpful so I might ping them an e-mail and see what they suggest.

I have been ticking over with a few short runs every week and I was back at Bushy for the Parkrun yesterday and recorded a 19:36. Usual scenario. Started too far back, worked my way through and felt comfortable and was blowing like a train over the last mile. 4th in my age group and 49th overall, so quite pleased. Might see if I can do a little speedwork and give sub 19 a go. Onwards.

End of the season

The last month has been a bit of a wash out but to be honest, that's been no bad thing. A couple of tts but my lack of training really showed. One thing I have learned this season is that my age is starting to show, mainly in the fact that a) if I stop consistent training I lose fitness very quickly and b) I need a lot more rest between hard sessions than I used to. Even when on the bike, a hard Trainerroad interval session leaves me barely able to turn the cranks the next day. It's not a major pronblem but it is a readjustment that I have to make. Two hard, back to back sessions are simply counter-productive for me now.

I have started running again, which has been great. I have actually been very good and reigned my ego in. I have two rules. No runs on consecutive days and all my runs are on grass. I have got up to four miles and I have done more laps of my local recreation ground than I care to count, but it's been a real toni and so far there has been no grumbling from my feet.  I also did a couple of parkruns at Bushy. Nothing spectcular but just used them as a harder run instead of the plodding around the rec.

So I have a couple of 25m tts left. It will be interesting to see if I can get under the hour. I think I will be there or thereabouts and I have tried to get some Trainerroad miles under my belt to claw some fitness back, but it's not a given. I'm just trying to grow my ftp a little ready to hit some big base miles at the start of November.

A steady decline

So I have been on a steady decline since June. July has seen me become unfocused and much more ad-hoc with my training and as a result my speed and power on the bike have taken a hit. The summer holidays are always a hard time for me to remain consistent. In theory, I should have ample spare time but actually the focus is on my family and therefore camping holidays, lazy days and wall to wall Olympics watching are the order of the day as regular routine goes out the window. Yes, early mornings are there but as I am a bit of a night owl,  a 5am alarm call becomes impossibly difficult. I have also far exceeded my expectations for this season over 10 and 25 miles which has dented my motivation somewhat.

But I have another go on the F11/10 in three weeks' time so while I completed a thoroughly dreadful ftp test last night which has seen a 10watt reduction, I've got a short space of time to get some focus back and see if I can better my 21:58. On top of that, I am flirting with purchasing a cyclocross bike and having a go at some cyclocross racing this winter for a few giggles and bants. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. They are probably right but at least I'll have a soft landing when falling off.

Dunstable RC Open 10

So last Saturday I was on the super fast F11/10 course down on the A41 near Aston Clinton. It's an hour's drive but it seemed worth it to have a go at getting under 22 minutes, which was my main goal. I was hoping that something nearer 21:40 could be doable with favourable conditions. The course is fast as it is basically two long flat sections of the A41 with a long downhill in the middle that you don't have to go back up, so a dream of a course. As expected though, the weather conditions were not too favourable. It was trying to rain as I pulled into the school car park and the air temperature was well down at about 15 degrees. Worse than that, the wind was steadily picking up and with it being a north-easterly it would provide a head/crosswind for most of the long leg between the two turns. Bah...

Anyway, I still felt pretty good so after a warm up on the turbo and finding the start I was feeling confident that I should pb. The start is on the slip road that joins the A41 and it is a nice fast downwards ramp and as I headed along to the first turn I was bumping along at around 29-30 mph with a tail wind. very cool! The first turn was quite complicated and relatively slow but very well marshalled to send me back up the dual carriageway and straight into the wind. So again, it was just a process of hunkering down but after a mile or so along here I could feel myself red lining. Even the downhill didn't offer much respite. I had bn told that I would probably end up spinning out here but I was still mashing the cranks pretty hard even here. The end turn was a lot simpler although I had to slow up for traffic and then it was the final sprint, if tou can call it that to the finish, another mile or so away.

I tend not to look at my Garmin too much but as I was within 20 metres of the chequered board I couldn't resist a peek and saw 21:54! I was desperate to get under 22 and I knew I had a few seconds in hand as I always start the Garmin as the timekeeper counts down the last 5 seconds. I just squeaked it with 21:58. Really pleased to get under 22 but was hoping for a bit more. The thing with tting is, there's always next time.

Resetting goals

Another 25 on the fast P885/25 course this morning and another pb, taking 59 seconds off last week's time to record 55:49. A massive gift hill right at the start and very little wind although it drizzled most of the morning.  Over half the field decided not to start as a result and I thought about it, but obviously I am pretty glad that I didn't bale. Being a faster course it generated a faster field. I was 31/57 starters. Normally a 55:xx time would see a rider in the top ten on a G course but I am used to being mid pack.

My main goal for the season was to go under the hour and I have done that, and more importantly I know that I can keep doing it. I never thought that I would ride a 55 but here I am doing so and it feels great, but I now have to start resetting some goals. Short term, I've got a couple of 50s coming up so barring disasters, a pb should be on the cards. In theory, a sub 2 hour might be possible but I am not sure that I have the endurance legs for that and the course I will be racing on is quite lumpy. Mid-term, I have a 12 hour again in August which will be just to get around and see if I can add a few more miles onto my distance from last year.  Other than that, I am a bit stumped and I need to take a few days to plan out some other events to target this season.

Portsmouth North End 25m TT

For most of the week I was still feeling a bit run down but by Thursday I had started to perk up a bit, so Simon and I headed out for a few hours, spinning gently. Although our gentle spinning took us up Newlands, Whitedown and Pebblecombe hills. I dropped it down a notch, letting Simon take the KOM while I just winched myself up as steadily as possible. I got up early on Friday to do a Trainerroad VO2 max workout and I was glad to see my NP for the session was where I would expect it to be; another indicator that I had worked the bugs out of my system.

So this morning was the Portsmouth North End CC 25m TT, on the fast P881/25 course, basically batting up and down the A3 for two laps. I have had this event inked in my diary for a couple of months with this being my first proper hitout this season at a sub 1 hour 25m tt on a fast DC course. We had also got a team together with the intention of trying to beat the KPRC Men's 25m team record of 2:52:54, therefore three of us would need to average 57:xx to achieve this. Dale has been on top form all season, riding 55/56mins all season so it would be down to Simon, John and myself to back him up for the other two places. Simon went sub 60 two seasons ago and John was looking for a sub 60 too. I knew that without the illness I had suffered recently I should be in 58 minute shape, so it would be a close run thing, but I still felt that I could improve on my pb of 1:00:56 set two years ago.

My mantra for today was 'relax'. I have obviously been thinking about Frank a lot recently, and our many conversations and I remember discussing with him not that long ago, the phenomena of riders posting faster average speeds in say a 25tt when compared to a 10, or in a 50 when compared to a 25. Frank puts it down to being relaxed and not chasing the time, which I think was partly what went wrong for me at the last club 10, as well as being under the weather. I also got some final advice from John about this course which was to not lose too much time on the northbound section as this had some noticeable climbs, so his advice was to hit the hills a bit harder and recover over the top.

So, a decent warm up on the turbo and my legs felt pretty alight straightaway, I think I had the vagaries of the VO2 max session still in them, but as I headed north for the first time I settled into my cadence and was not afraid to back off if I started to stress a bit too much straightaway, but really aimed to keep my legs using the whole of the pedal rev. After the turn at 5 miles I started to hit some pretty good speeds as I dropped back down to the start area, catching a couple of riders en route, which is always nice. The bottom turn was a little confusing but well marshalled, but as soon as I hit the northbound carriageway my speed plummeted. The wind had picked up and I was fighting the front wheel, even bouncing over the rumble strips on one occasion.  I stayed relaxed and tried not to fight it, tucking myself as low as possible, trying to make sure the tail of my helmet was down my back and not sticking up like a sail, not worrying about the drop in speed but just aiming to get to the final turn and the 20 mile mark where I could start to really empty the tank. I had a bit of luck here. One of the fast guys caught and passed me but I was able to use him to push me on, with him dangling out 50 metres in front while I tried to keep him there, which I just about did, although he was on his first lap while I was nearing the end. I had a final check of my garmin at 23 miles and it showed 52 minutes elapsed time, so 4 minute miles would get me home under the hour, but I knew I was obviusly going much faster than that so I really started to push on as hard as I could, using the downhills as best as possible and thinking that a 57;xx might be on; a result beyond my wildest dreams.

The chequered board came up and I stopped the Garmin on 56:48!! Blimey. A 4:08 minute pb. Not too shabby, even if I say so myself, and I didn't feel completely wiped at the end. Staying relaxed had paid massive, massive dividends (and the months of Trainerroad sessions on the turbo in the shed of course.) The double bonus was Dale, Simon and I beating the 28 year old club record by over a minute.

I am a very happy chappy. I think I might have turned myself into a time triallist at last.

A bad week

I was at work on Wednesday when I got a few urgent messages on my phone.  It transpired that Frank, our timekeeper and until recently, our secretary at Kingston Phoenix had been in an accident while cycling to meet some other members of the club that morning.  I won't go into specifics, but he is alive, which is a testament to his fitness and the many thousands of miles of cycling that has kept him fit and healthy all his life. He has been very seriously injured and it has shocked all of us who know him, as he has been a District timekeeper for many years and has many friends within the time trialling community. If you TT in the London South District, you know Frank. If Frank can have such an accident then anyone can, and after the recent other scares I and other friends have had, it has just reinforced the feelings of vulnerability I currently have. We have all been in shock since it happened and we can only hope and pray for Frank's recovery, which will be long.

On a much more mundane matter, my performance also took a big dip last week.  After my joint pbs over 10 miles in the previous weeks, I was looking forward to consolidating my training. I had been bulking out my trainerroad sessions with some longer commute rides home, usually about one hour.  What I didn't realise was that I was burning the candle at both ends and was over-training. The first indication was last Monday's threshold session, which I had done a few weeks before. I felt really uncomfortable and when I downloaded the session I was 10 watts down on the last time I had done it. I didn't really cotton-on at the time, but this was the first indication that I was not right. A few hours later I had a scratchy throat and raised temperature, my usual indicator that I am overreaching.

So Wednesday evening's tt came around and while I was not particularly in the mood for it, what with the news about Frank and the fact that it was miserably cold, I felt pretty strong, as I set out on the first leg. By the turn at Beare Green, I was still feeling ok, but not as strong as two week's before and as I headed for the finish it all started to unravel. The final hill at South Holmwood, which I had utterly nailed before now felt like the North face of the Eiger. There was no staying on the tt bars this time; instead I was sat up spinning furiously with burning quads. Dave, who I had beaten by 40 odd seconds before went past me and took and 15 out of me. My final time was 23:56. Last year that would have been grand but to be over a minute slower than my previous time, and almost two minutes slower than Dale, after being only 20 seconds behind him showed how far I had fallen.  I have taken the second half of the week off as I try to get back on track.

So, no more late nights, no more unnecessary commute rides, and rest. I'm still learning

PBing for fun

This week was a double header, with a Wednesday club 10 on the Holmwood course and then the SCCU 10 yesterday on the faster G10/57 course. Wednesday was almost cancelled with torrential rain earlier in the day, but my faith in the met office was restored as they predicted accurately that the rain would clear from about 3pm. What I didn't know, with my limited meteorological knowledge was that with a passing thunderstorm, high humidity and a damp road would provide almost perfect tt conditions. In fact as I sat in the car park at the start, the trees were not moving at all, with the wind dropping to nothing. So perfect conditions, feeling great. Time to go after my best 10 time of 23:41, set two years ago.

It was a rubbish 10 for me. We didn't have a pusher off, which is very unusual, and of course it took me a few seconds to get clipped in. I over-compensated and as I went up the first rise I was pushing far too hard. Two miles later a tractor pulled out in front of me on a downhill stretch just before the first roundabout and with other traffic around I had to slow up, which left me carrying a lot less speed up the next rise. It was all feeling like very hard work but I regrouped at the turn and tried to refocus as the A24 dropped back down to Beare Green. My quads were absolutely screaming and I was 'mashing' on the pedals far too hard. As I hit the last half mile I had two riders in front and I used thee guys as a target, catching one of them before the end. I felt I had completely blown it. Despite it just being a small club 10, I had gone for it too hard and I just didn't feel very fast. Bah.

So I waited for Frank, our timekeeper, to come back to the carpark to give us our times and I was thinking I might just have squeaked to a new pb. I had to blink and triple-check when I looked for my time. 22:47!!  54 seconds faster than my previous best and on a slower course. To say I was stunned was an understatement. As you can imagine, I was a happy chappy. I was beaten into second place by Dale who rode a 22:04, which was a great ride.

It was a couple of days of easy one hour rides on the way home from work before getting the tt bike out again for Saturday morning's SCCU 10; the same event and course where I set my pb in 2014. The weather was no where near as good with the temperature a very cool 9 degrees and a stiff northerly wind of about 10-15mph, so far from ideal. My plan here though was to just ride it better and engage more of my pedal stroke when compared to Wednesday's effort. I thought it might be possible to do a low 24 in these conditions.

it was a much better ride from me. I controlled my effort and paced it well and I was lucky, not having to slow down on any of the ten or so roundabouts that I had to negotiate. I have found this course pretty hard to ride in the past with a nasty climb right at the start but I felt really strong throughout. As I crossed the line and stopped to unclip my helmet and have my usual dry heave by the side of the road, I knew that it was my best ever 10. Not my fastest, but I felt that I could not have paced it any better. So I spun gently back to the HQ, got changed and had a look at the results board. Unbelievably, my time was exactly the same as Wednesday, 22:47!! The really pleasing thing from my point of view was that Dale beat me again, but he was slower and only 19 seconds ahead. I have never been that close to him before and I think it shows how well I paced it and how far my training has brought me. It is still very early in the season. One of my main goals for this season was to go sub 23. Well I have done that, and I believe that on the right course, on the right day, sub 22 is possible. Blimey. Maybe I am becoming a proper tester.

Driven to distraction

Last Sunday was the SCCU SPOCO 25m tt. Four laps on a lumpyish, bumpy and gravelly course, so not particularly fast. I think only one rider went under the hour, with Dale coming very close and getting second place. It was a small field that started but I came 12th, and helped KPRC to a second placed team prize. I won a bottle of wine.

I managed to have another consistent week, mainly on the turbo with a long ride yesterday around the hills. My ftp continues to gradually creep up and on Saturday I had a really good session of 4x10 minutes at ftp. I had ridden this same session just ten days before and I had another 5 watt increase, but this time I stayed aero for the whole session. In the last two weeks I have also started doing to odd session before work, getting up at 5:15am, doing my hour on the turbo, then getting ready. I am not really a morning person so doing a hard session that early in the morning seemed like a bad idea, but it has been manageable and means I am not doing these sessions so late at night. I am also doing these sessions in a fasted state which should help with fat burning, so the theory goes. I have switched to the Trainerroad Low Volume 40km TT plan, which only specifies 3 sessions per week. Basically, one VO2 max session, one sweetspot and one endurance session. The plan is to get these ones done then anything else on top is a bonus, like a longer commute ride home or a long weekend ride.

I think another week or so and I'll test my ftp again. I am gradually closing in on 250 watts and I should invest the same effort in dropping some kilograms but I am finding it hard to do. I seem to be resolutely stuck at 72kgs, but to be honest, this is just a hobby and I like eating, so I am not going to worry about it too much.

My main distraction at the moment is my inability to find the reason for a constant creaking on my Van Nic. New bottom bracket, tightened chainring bolts, checked pedals, sprocket and jockey wheels. It is driving me nuts. Sometimes it is there; sometimes not. I am starting to lose the will to live.

On the upside

Skinny ankles and hairless

Last week was the Phoenix Open 10 mile TT on the G42/10 course. It was blowing a hoolie as I cycled over with Simon and Dale and therefore I was not really expecting a lot. It even started to try to rain when I got to the HQ and signed on. I had also done something very drastic.For the first time ever, I shaved my legs! In the pursuit of marginal gains, I had decided to take the plunge. It is a lot harder than it looks by the way and I needed a few bits of very un-aero sticking plaster initially to stem the bleeding.

So, like I said, fairly rubbish conditions, very early in the season and  not really feeling the cycling love. But it's the same old thing. Stick on  number and it is game on. 25 minutes or so of very hard work and see what happens. The outleg was very tough. I had cooled down waiting for my start so the first hill out to Beare Green left my legs feeling completely fried, but gradually I got into it, just trying to hunker down and keep as aero as possible in the South Easterly cross/headwind. At the top turn I had recovered a bit and thought about really trying to use the tailwind a little and I could feel myself getting stronger as the ride progressed. The really good moment was the hill at 7.5 miles. For the last 5 years this has been my nemesis and I have always struggled here but this time I felt extremely strong going up, staying on the aerobars and in the big ring; something I don't always achieve. The last mile was a hoot and as I got to the curry house 600 metres from the finish I gave it everything. It felt good. And it was good. 23:56. A course pb in April and only 15 seconds off my pb on a slow day. Vindication for me for the work that I have done on the turbo over the winter. If I can keep the consistency going over the next three months and get onto a faster course or two, sub 23 should be a realistic target. I am very happy with that.