Time Warp!

 😮 Wow! Where has the last 2 months go? I guess the Vlog has taken all my time. That was one of the main reasons for creating the Vlog - to stop me working late and getting stressed. It’s certainly done that. But I don’t want to stop this Blog either. It’s been going for so long, it would be a real shame to cease blogging now ✊. So let’s recap on the last 2 months.  

The strength and conditioning has been the priority, as planned. My target remains the British Standard Distance Duathlon on 24 March 24. Still maintaining the S&C, I returned to the track to raise the run intensity and bring in sweetspot sessions for the bike. 

The track sessions have been enjoyable, even with a couple of icy evenings to contend with. As we get towards the end of December I’ve just completed a track session that indicated some decent run form: a pyramid session of 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400. I averaged 3:28 per k across the session, with the 1600 at 5:42. Pretty chuffed with this session. But have I suddenly found my race form too early?  I’m thinking of some reverse periodisation sessions by bringing in some longer endurance steady runs. But keep building the sweetspot bike sessions. 

Right, it’s late and I need my Zzzzzzzzs. I’ll update further to document all the YouTube channel stuff and also a recent Podcast I was lucky enough to be a guest on. The AMP Podcast specialises in chats with Age Group multisport folks - aspiring or experienced , it’s not elitist. More to come on this  

See you all 🙃  later. . . . 

Blog or Vlog. . . Or Both?!

 https://youtu.be/CSc3hxwkmfk?si=wFIWw6a9oReHVEFr

It has been a month since my last post here. That’s because I have started a Vlog! See link to my YouTube channel above✊. What does that mean for this Blog? I can’t bring myself to bin it, after nearly 16 years! So I think I’ll maintain this ills fashioned media! The Vlog is documenting my training as I prepare for the 2024 National Duathlon Champs on 24 March at Oulton Park. I really hope it’s not freezing come race day  - hate the cold and that’s an early season race for sure. 

Training has continued in a positive way, with the strength focus still the priority. The weight has been increasing and I’m primed to start more explosive Plyometrics. I need to be in shape for mid-March. That means some more intense training late-December and January. Brrrrr freeze 🥶 

I’ll post my latest training status on here soon - BRB. This Blog is not dead yet!

Finding New ways to Stimulate Adaptation

 The title of this post is very important to me as I approach the big six zero next year! It’s taken a while but I’ve come to terms with the fact that lifetime PBs mean nothing when racing now. I was still chasing lifetime PBs for cycling and triathlon into my early 50s. But resetting as I left the RAF after 34 years rocked my life in so many ways. Racing in any format went south. I ticked over at best. Since 2017 I’ve had a few ‘ok’ results but nothing compared to 2023. I’ve felt back ‘on it’ and ran really well . . . For my age. And this is what I’ve accepted - a new baseline that I need to hold or minimise the decline as best I can. This means repeating the strength and conditioning that seemed to set me up so well. But not just repeat the same exercises and build plan. I want to try and find new ways to stimulate the old bones (and muscles!) and hit the new age group next year during full bore. That means being in top condition and race fit for late March 23 to race competitively at the British Duathlon Champs.

So after only 3 strength sessions I’m actually getting hyped to see what I can achieve. I have 2 tweaks so far to make to the strength sessions. 

Firstly, include single leg bike technique pedalling on the spin bikes when completing the standard sessions. Secondly, incorporate calf specific strengthening. This is because there is evidence that calf strength is the biggest factor that causes speed decline in older runners. These are small changes but could be significant gains - or at least maintain my speed from this year. I’ll also bring in more stride sessions throughout the winter. I started quite late with these sessions this year. 

Ok. It’s early days but time tends to zip by quickly. I’m aware that I’ll probably need to start run track sessions Dec/Jan. 

Until next time. . . 

Resetting Continues

 Another week+ gone by and thankfully I’m continuing to recover from covid, albeit slow recovery. I’m still not firing on all cylinders but let’s not groan about covid anymore. 

I’ve completed 2 conditioning sessions back at the gym now. After the first one I was pretty sore for days. After the second session I wasn’t nearly as sore. So hopefully the strength and adaptation will kick in. 

In other news I packed up my Wahoo KickR for a warranty return. I should receive a replacement shortly. I only asked for some maintenance advice due to some creaky flywheel noises and that resulted in Wahoo offering a replacement. How’s that for customer service. 

So with no turbo to use I did some single leg work in the gym using their spin bikes. At this stage of my training where I’m building strength I actually think this single leg focus is a good thing. I’ll be incorporating this aspect into my regular gym sessions. 

I also got out for a spin with Jase Walkley last Sunday for a real ride! Great fun and riding the TCR was such a joy

COVID Recovery and Fake Nikes!

 Two weeks since my last Blog and at least a week into COVID recovery. Still not feeling great and my good form seems a long time ago already. Of course I’ve been here many times with injuries and illness. The mind plays tricks and you think all is lost. Truth is, I need these short and long term goals and the training build to hit those goals. So when the training is interrupted and the goals are reset and seem way in the future it’s tough. That’s space I’m in now. But the pressure - if that’s the right terminology - is that next year I move up into the 60-64 age group and if I can relocate this year’s form I feel that I can be competitive in national Duathlon competitions. Plus I’ve qualified for the European Sprint Duathlon champs; just don’t know where this event is yet or when or if I can afford to go🥸. 

Anyway, fact is I am now resetting from covid and aiming to start the same kind of routine that got me fitter than ever this year. That means the start point is conditioning. Here we go! 

On to the next part of this blog post - fake Nike Alphafly super trainers! I love the Nike Alphafly and Vaporfly trainers. They are a game changer for sure. So when I saw a purchase option for Alphaflys at £99 I thought wow; got to get me some of these. . . . Even though I don’t need them right now. The provider was OnBuy.com; supposedly a reputable shop window purchase site. Turns out they are fake. When I received them they were instantly way heavier than my current real Alphaflys. 

As well as the weight, they are not stiff at all. I can bend them in half. Where as the real ones are mega stiff - and stiff for a reason; so I assume the fakes don’t perform well at all. 

Another cake signpost is the tongue label on the fake:

The words Alphafly NEXTZ is clear. But this is not what genuine Alphafly shows:

It is clear that the proper words should be Alphafly NEXT%

So there we are. Always purchase from a known source! Good news is that I can return these and OnBuy.com do provide purchase protection. 

Onwards and upwards 

End of Year Races Derailed - COVID Hits

Today is 2 Sep 23 - yup, birthday time again. My present to myself this year is a sose of COVID

Darn it; this will deinately mess up my race plans for end of season. It's Newcastle 10k next Sunday. Then the Autumn Darley Moor Duathlon on 17 Sep 23. Finally, I had planned to race the Knutsford 10k on 1 Oct 23. All these events are now looking very doubtful. I guess I just need to reset for next year earlier than planned.

Super Shoes - Saving the Legs

 I’ve mentioned the subject of the running shoe development over the last 5 years. The carbon plated ‘super shoes’ are a joy to run in for me. This year in particular, has been a revelation, mainly because I’ve stayed healthy. But I really have noticed that my legs are not totally wrecked after hard runs and races. 

I’ve fallen j on to using the 3 Nike models for training and racing: Tempo Next% for training fast sessions and track, Vaporflys for fast intervals and training races and the Alphaflys for pure racing. These shoes are nit cheap but just managed to bag a mega deal for a new pair of Alphafly:

Happy days and I look forward to trying these out. 

As for training this weekend the Parkrun session was tough but managed a low tempo Zwift session ok on Sunday. Today I wanted to have an easy day but also turn the legs over. So I unwrapped the treadmill and did some fast feet work. I enjoyed this different type of session and hopefully not too much fatigue building to enable me to bag a quality track session on Wednesday 

Key Run Session

 Today I completed my planned key run session that was integrated into The Wammy Parkrun. The session consisted of: Warm up and drills, 5k Parkrun as over 5k race effort/under 5k race effort, alternating 1k reps. Then finish with a 3k tempo run home. 

I wasn’t feeling fresh, following a busy work week and broken training routine. But I wanted a key session in the bag, if only to feel better mentally. The 5k over/under set went well I think. 

I would have liked the over reps to be closer to 3:30 pace but not to be today. I got held up as we approached the dead turn too. But the differential between effort levels worked out ok seeing as I did this on feel without clock watching. Plus I felt strong on the last 1k and recovered quickly to start the tempo 3k. 

This tempo effort felt ok and smooth. The New Balance Fuelcell Elite trainers felt good; maybe not as snappy as the Nike Alphafly or Vaporfly but a fun shoe to run in that doesn’t mash the legs up. 

The plan is for a L2 endurance ride tomorrow on Zwift as the weather looks pants again. I’d like to get a track session in on Wednesday too. 

Laters

Next Events

 So with the TT done and a decent run off the bike last Sunday I’ve had a strange week so far (Thursday today). I’ve been on the road a bit with work and this has meant limited training. However, I’ve felt pretty fatigued all week and what training I have done hasn’t felt great. I’m trying to plan the next few events and how to train up to the final race I have booked, which is the Knutsford 10k on 1 October 23. This is meant to be a fast course. It’s also a British Masters Age Group Qualifier. I’ve only gone and registered my interest 😱. My 37:31 clocking this year easily meets the time standard. All I need to do is finish top 3 in my age group. Trouble is, I’m in the top end of my age group 55-59. In fact I’m 59 next week. When I checked out others in my category I was seeing times clocked around 35-36 mins🤯. So if I bag too 3 it’ll be a miracle. 

Right, so what events are lined up:

Newcastle 10k.  10 Sep 23

Darley Moor Duathlon.  17 Sep 23

Knutsford 10k. 1 Oct 23

I guess there’s not much I can do apart from sharpen up as all these events are not far away. Mindful of feeling tired, I’m not aiming to go crazy this weekend.  So a full blown Parkrun effort isn’t a good idea. If I perform badly I’d feel down. So the plan this Saturday is:

Warm up run to Parkrun.

Drills

Parkrun as over/under 1k efforts aiming for 3:30, 4:00.  Tough ask but let’s see

Tempo run home

Report to follow!

J5/8 Open 25 Mile TT - Run 5k Acceleration off Bike

My last blog previewed my weekend bike/run key session; the main part being the 25 mile Open TT event on the J5/8 A50 course. The run planned was an acceleration 5k, increasing the speed every 1k. I’d hoped for a sub-hour TT and a sub 20 min 5k run but the key for the run was to be the acceleration aspect when fatigued. 

I must admit, I loved the travel to race vibe. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a TT and although I’d tried to get mor bike intensity, I suspected I’d be left wanting and be quite slow. The course is fast - the A50 dual carriageway routes are generally fast but not without roundabouts and some drags that sap the legs. I had raised this course back in 2014 and clocked 56:33. Can’t believe that was 9 years ago. I was preparing for the Outlaw and actually going pretty well, if I remember. Plus I was slightly younger. 🥸

Anyway, the course is fast for the first 12 miles really. 

The profile explains why it is fast outwards towards the turn. As much as I tried to save a smidgen of power. Not sure if I did 😆. I actually surprised myself and managed to sustain a decent effort to clock 57:37 by my wahoo. The official clocking may be slightly different but I’m happy enough with this result. 

Onto the acceleration run. I selected 5k to give myself a decent distance to maintain my focus on speed. Don’t want to end up plodding. So happy with an overall time of 5k 19:49. But the important aspect was the increasing pace as the fatigue sets in. 

Overall, a good key session the bag. 3 weeks until the Newcastle 10k now. I may race a Parkrun 5k again on Saturday. Let’s see how the weeks goes with work and stuff. 

Laters

Open 25 Mile TT on Sunday 🚴

 It’s Friday and it’s been a strange kind of week regarding training and race focus. I completed the Sunday key session of high intensity bike followed by some tempo/ threshold sets running off the bike. But the weather turned and I decided to complete the bike set on Zwift. Not ideal as I wanted the TT bike road feel in the real world. As it was, I just didn’t feel great on the bike. My back had continued to irritate me after pulling it last Wednesday. Plus I just felt fatigued. But I ran an ok pace for 3 x 8 min around 3:58 per k pace but later in the day I was totally wiped. So this week has been a focus on recovering. I managed a leg spin up Zwift session with short 30 sec high intervals and longer recovery. Hopefully this will keep the legs tuned in. 

Ii was pleased to get out on the road to test out the TT bike on Wednesday too. I didn’t feel to bad but the focus was feeling good at speed on the road. I also tried out the TT overshoes for a marginal gain

So the weather looks ok for Sunday morning and I’m looking forward to a TT blast. No idea how I’ll go time-wise but really want to be sub-59 min.  The plan is to run off the bike with a progression run or 3 tempo/threshold efforts again. 

Then it’s just a few weeks until the KMF Newcastle 10k and the Darly Moor Aprint Duathlon. 

Laters

Consecutive Intense Sessions

So last session was all about a track session that went well, achieving a great pace - for me. It was a full bore effort though. The legs didn’t feel too bad the next day (yesterday), which meant I was set for a kitchen sink TT bike road session. The idea was to go with the flow with the effort and get used to actually moving at speed! Most of my training is now completed on the smart trainer with Zwift sessions. 

The session went well again and once warmed up I was throwing in some decent effort and getting used to the bike at speed too. 

Every time I ride the Canyon Speedmax I am reminded what a great bike this is. The position felt great. I’m hopeful of having a decent ride at the open 25 mile TT event on 20 August. Just hope the weather holds. 

That was yesterday. After 2 good days I’m now feeling totally wiped. A bad night’s sleep hasn’t helped and a pulled back a couple of days ago are adding to that feeling that I’ve been run over by a bus. Rest again tomorrow- well, an easy day with some training 😎. Aiming for another TT bike road ride followed by a threshold/tempo run off the bike. 

Tracktastic 🏃‍♂️😎

Hello everyone - me 🥸. Last night I attended the NTC track session of the classic 10 x 400m with 90 seconds RI. 

I had completed a couple of track sessions with Newcastle AC and another interval session on the road. So gradually, the speed conditioning seems to be kicking in. Add to this the 18:15 parkrun 5k effort and I’ve had a decent period of training. 

Even so, I didn’t expect the 400 reps last night to be quite so fast - I mean fast for an oldie like me🥸. First rep was 1:18 and I thought it was too fast as I do like to ease into these speed sessions. But I gradually realised that I could sustain this pace and event sneak some more speed in during the last 4 reps. 

 Wet happy with this session and makes me think a sub-18 min 5k may be possible. Time will tell but the last time I ran 400s at this pace was way back when I lived in Cambridgeshire training with St Ives AC. That must be 15 years ago! 

Onwards and upwards 

Weekly Bike Run Key Session

 Sundays are normally key bike/run sessions. With the 25 mile TT event on 20 August I wanted a full on TT bike session; the run off would be a less important part but still useful for my run ambitions. The weather prevented an outing for the Canyon Speedmax, which is a shame because I need to get some road time in the real world roads. As it was, I had to jump into a Zwift session. I chose a 50k race, which turned out to be perfect - absolutely brutal. This was by far the most intense bike session I’ve completed for a while. My legs were really mashed. This is good to hopefully gain some form on the bike. But not so great for the run off!

I thought I’d be unable to run actually. But I reduced the effort compared to recent weeks and did 3 x 6 min tempo/low threshold with 2 min RI. 

So a really good session all round today. My legs are still trashed. So aiming for recovery and a track session on Wednesday. 

Onwards and upwards 

Into August 🚴🏃‍♂️

 

A week on from the 5k blast and I’ve recovered quite well . Panic bike training for the 25 mile TT planned for 20 August commenced. I deceived to dust h the Manchester Airport Duathlon based on cost. Plus the fact that a local TT on the A50 was a big temptation. There are not that many events on the A50 now and I rode this course back in 2014 as Outlaw prep. I remember riding 20 miles to the event, clocking 56:30 for the 25 miles, then riding back the 20 miles. Got to love Ironman distance training. 

I won’t be as quick this time, that’s for sure! In fact I’m worried that I won’t break the hour. But I need to remain focused on the fact that I am Duathlon training. It will be a joy to ride the Canyon Speedmax in anger! 

The balance of training run and bike often messes with my head. After some good run sessions I fear the bike fitness reduces. So after a few good bike focused sessions I fear I’ve compromised my running. And so it goes on!

This week has been a good balance though - I think! I’ve completed some intensity in Zwift bike workouts by choosing short high power repeated efforts like 15 sec on, 15 sec off. 

I’ve maintaining my touching on speed methodology for running. Easy days are strides and steady runs are extended strides and drills. I missed track this week due to work. So I used a stretch of the Wammy to complete 2 x (5 x 400) with 90 seconds RI between reps. The aim was to run faster than 5k pace and I certainly did that. I maintained 3:20 pace which is around 1:20 for each 400m rep. This is good for me though I want it to flow more at this pace. It was forced a bit but then to condition the legs to run faster I guess you need to push - but relax too!

Into August, then. 

Parkrun 5k Full Gas

 Job done at Parkrun The Wammy this morning. This is my local course and I can jog there a couple of kilometres to warm up. So 10 seconds off my 2019 time. Happy with that, though finding that 16 Seconds over 5k is a big ask to go sub-18.  I mustn’t get too hung up on this as this is the first time I’ve averaged 3:30 something per k pace.  Maybe some more track sessions will help. Who knows. Onwards with the plan and some panic bike training for a 25 mile TT on 20 August.

Mark SAGGERS 12 parkruns | Male 4/116 VM55-59 | 86.39% Newcastle (Staffs) Triathlon Club

18:15 New PB!

Parkrun 5k Full Gas. . .

Tomorrow is Parkrun 5k full bore attempt. It’s been a while since I’ve had a full effort blast on The Wammy. My best is 18:25 from 2019. Strangely, although 4 years ago, I feel in better shape now than back then. But that perception may be wrong! Conditions look ok. I’ve had an easy week and no reason to be slow 🤔.  The only blocker is my terminal velocity limiter. I need a sub-3:40 pace and I’m not sure I can sustain that. 

Let’s get this done 👊

Key Sessions - Bike Catch Up

 

Sundays have become the day to complete a longer endurance brick session. Last week I was out on the roads on the Canyon Speedmax. Middle of July and the weather was pants today. So it was turbo time. I feel like I’m playing catch up with the bike to gain some form for the 2 planned duathlons. My running is coming along nicely again but today’s session reminded me that there is some work to be done on the bike. I chose the Matt Hayman Paris Roubaux workout, which I’ve done before. It’s a tough one and I had to reduce the FTP bias. Note to self: do this session again with the bias set at 90% all the way through. I dug in and pushed the thoughts of cutting the session short away - weak🤨. 

The run part of these sessions has developed into a high tempo/low threshold longer efforts too. This should mix well with the track sessions above race pace and regular strides. 

I completed the 3 longer reps of 8 mins with 2 min RI. Last week was 7 mins reps and I felt pretty ropey after the session. Today felt much more controlled and the pace was virtually the same as last week. The feelings are good that I’m progressing nicely with conditioning the legs. 

I’m travelling with work this week; so it’s a decent time to have an easier week and maybe be fresher for a full on parkrun 5k run effort on Saturday. I’ll see what the conditions are like but I’m confident of getting closer to 18 min. It will be good to compare with my 18:39 clocking at the Port Vale 5k a couple of weeks ago. 

I do like my regular goals! 

A Wammy PB would be awesome at my age! Think I need to run under 18:20