World Gone Crazy!!!!

Well, after my last positive post, where I was looking forward to racing after feeling stronger and ready to race, the entire World seems to have been turned upside down with this Corona Virus - or COVID-19, to be technical. All events have been cancelled for at least the next 6 weeks, with some events cancelled until at least Aug 20. So I have had to rethink everything. Well, I have still got the London Duathlon as a main goal as his is scheduled for 6 Sep 20. I really hope we are back to normal by then! I am still feeling confident and training well. I am a bit annoyed to be losing the regular Wed Track Sessions. I will have to find an alternative session with similar intensity. As far as biking goes I have finally given in to the surge of interest in smart turbo trainers and purchased a brand new Elite Direto Smart Trainer and hooked up to Zwift. This is a major step for me. First impressions? Awesome! I am very pleased with this bit of kit. The feel of the ride is so much better than a tyre to roller set up. The direct drive is the way forward. And I am getting used to using Zwift. It isn't that intuitive but with some tips from buddies and GCN I am getting there and really enjoying the rides. This morning I linked up with Jase Walkley and we completed a session together even though we were both at our homes in respective garages. Great fun and the time flew by. Yesterday I completed a Group Ride which was meant to be a recovery session for me. I ended up riding way too hard but enjoyed it nevertheless. Even after a few days I can see the benefit of using Zwift. Maybe I can hold back the age related performance decline a bit longer by using this platform! As for running, I am feeling ok. I ave had some decent sessions and have been consistent for sure. Now the aim is long-term for September; so I need to build back with some strength work. More Kettlebell and sandbag sessions, mixed with tempo and speed work periodically. Then build the distance starting around June I reckon. Onwards and upwards

British Duathlon Champs Soon

I finished my last post stating that I couldn’t remember when the next race was. Well I realised that one of my goals for the year was not that far away. The race is on 19 April at Bedford Aerodrome. This realisation was a bit of an eye opener and my motivation has raised significantly. I have completed some decent high intensity turbo sessions and the power numbers are increasing gradually. The key turbo sessions are based on GCN videos: VO2 Max 6 x (2 min max, 3 min easy) and 5 min SS to finish with, Two sets of 40/20 (current best is 249W for each set) and SS efforts of 6 min with tempo 3 min ‘easier’. I have also completed a hard 110k road ride with the local Tri group. Running has picked up too. There have been a couple of decent track sessions and a constant progression run as 6 min, 4 min, 2 min. As further prep I am entered into the Newcastle-under-Lyme 10k. Not quite sure how I’ll go at this race, which is basically 3 miles up a hill and 3 miles down. The majority of turbo sessions are now completed on the TT bike. I’m feeling good in this bike again now. So basically I’m feeling motivated and training well. Avoiding injury is the priority. The plan is to give the British Duathlon Champs a good thrashing. Then regroup and build again for the London Duathlon, which is a longer race. I will have 5 months to build up and I want to incorporate much more strength and conditioning for that period. I’ve let this aspect slip lately. So to rectify that I’ve joined a gym to get access to some old school iron pumping equipment 😎🏃‍♂️🚴‍♀️🏃‍♂️