Monday 12th May 2014
Cycling (01:02:02 / 15.85 Miles / 15.60MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 75)
Not the best of commutes hometonight. For some reason it just was a bit hard to get going and the traffic was busy which didn’t really help at all. The run in earlier in the day to work had been really good and one of the fastest trips down the road that I have done in a while. On reflection the massive backpack that I brought home with me didn’t really help at all and the slight headwind on the road home may have slowed me a bit too, but sure it’s all good miles in the Bank.
Swimming (01:00:00 / 2200M)
Technique Session
BLOODY HELL! What started out as a good session got a WHOLE lot tougher as it progressed. Lots of descending sets, which basically means getting faster as you go through and with limited recovery time. That was hard enough, but then Coach Oliver decided to turn the screw and have us do 25M full out sprint repeats. I managed to do 20 of these with about 30-40 secs recovery between each one. I surprised myself by holding a decent pace throughout but it was absolutely brutal. At the end I was completely spent and felt like a man defeated.
Wednesday 14th May 2014
After being in London the previous day and not getting any training done, I was determined to get back on track and do some quality training.
Cycling (17.47 Miles / 01:18:00 / 13.40 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 75) Elevation 665M
Pond Park Road Hill Repeats X 6
An early start on the hill and I was looking forward to this session, which is unusual given that it is hill climbing and not the easiest bit of training that I do, however I have been doing pretty well at it over recent weeks and I was optimistic about going as fast as I had done last few times.
Despite it being a lovely morning which was bright and clear with very little wind, I just didn’t feel the lover right from the start and I noticed my pace was a bit slower than I had hoped for.
As the repeats continued, I managed to hold roughly the same sort of speed and effort until I got the fifth set and things got noticeably slower here on in.
Repeats Five and Six were not really any harder in terms of effort but they were slower. I’m not sure why this session was slower but I was on my road bike whereas I had been using my TT bike over the last few weeks and it does feel faster, even on the climb, which I wouldn’t have expected.
Maybe they should use TT bikes for the Climbs in the Alps in the Tour de France!
Running (00:48:46 / 6.20 Miles /00:07:51 per mile / HRZ 3)
10K Time Trial
This time is a long way off my best time for 10K at 16.01, but as a training run it wasn’t too bad and the route meant I was running uphill for about two miles at the end, so on the whole I’m fairly happy with the pace and time. It did feel pretty tough but I’m pleased at myself for hanging in and trying to focus on staying relaxed as I ran.
Swimming (00:53:31 / 2300M)
Endurance session
No coach tonight and fairly low numbers in the lanes, so I decided to ditch the prescribed session and just go for a straight swim broken in to 3 main sets of 750M with a short recovery between each one.
It all went rather well I think. The first 750M was around 16 Mins, which bodes well for my predicted (or hoped for!) time of 15 Mins at the Sprint Tri coming up next weekend. I was fairly relaxed on this pace and know I had a bit more to give. The second and third sets slowed a bit but I honestly think that this was predominantly due to a bit of traffic in the lane and they came in on about 17 Mins each. Still pretty good and I felt very comfortable throughout. I really do see the value in these longer endurance based sessions and need to do more of them.
Thursday 15th May 2014
Running (00:50:49 / 6.00 Miles /00:08:28 per mile / HRZ 2)
Tonight was just a fairly easy effort run within HR Zone and it was also my first chance to run in what comes close to Heat. It’s amazing when you are not used to any sort of heat how much harder it feels. I’m sure it was only about 16C but it was noticeably warmer and I was sweating buckets. Still, it felt comfortable enough and the pace was pretty steady.
The best part of the whole run was when I got back to the house, Keara had started the BBQ and was having a glass of Erdinger Non Alcoholic beer. ( It was a school night after all!)
I had a sip and it was absolutely amazing. Cold beer never tasted so good. Needless to say, as soon as I was showered I had a bottle cracked open for myself.
At only 125 calories in a 500ml bottle, I think I have found my perfect recovery drink.
For the rest of this week I plan to do a 90 minute ride, 2 Hr run and then on Sunday I am tackling the Etape Mourne. A 70 mile ride through the scenic MourneMountains in Co. Down. 1700M (5500ft) of climbing in what promises to be bloody awful conditions. Rain and wind again. Great!
A New piece of kit.
I have struggled to get the right balance of warmth, breathability and rain proofing recently and usually end up being wet, overheated or too bulked up – or a combination of all three!
Having watched the Giro on TV I noticed that in the wet, most of the riders were wearing a Rain Jersey made by Castelli called the Gabba.
After a bit of research it became clear that this is THE best item of clothing on the market to provide a good degree of waterproofing and breathability.
I got mine yesterday and early indications are that it is going to be my go to piece of clothing and it seems like a simple base layer under it will be enough in everything but arctic conditions whilst still getting a lot of breathability. I also will be bale to wear it in warmer spring weather with no under layer.
I can’t wait to get trying it out more. Not cheap but hopefully one of the best items I have bought for cycling.
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