Injury Niggles

Summer progresses and everything feels a bit odd. No racing and WFH is actually ok at the moment. I'm still heavily engrossed in the Zwift platform and really enjoying it. The risk is I will over-train. I am entering more Zwift events and these make the time in the saddle go by so quickly - I'm finding myself prefering to ride indooors, abive a riad ride. Clocking up 300+k a week has really bumped my bike training volume. Hopefully, that will pay off when a real race is in the cards.

Training for What? And L'Etape Virtual!

Well the news was received that the London Duathlon has been postponed until Apr 21. So that was my last chance for a 2020 goal to race gone. I know that everyone is in the same boat but I am disappointed that I no longer have a race target for this year. I think I am in decent shape too. That said, last Monday I ran and was left with a very sore hip. Not sure where this came from but it was really stiffening up the next day. Two days later and it seems much better. I will try a short run today. The other big development is the demise of my Elite Direto Smart Trainer! Yes, after just 3 months the belt is shredded. I am in touch with ELite, who are very responsive for warranty claims but the belts are just not up to the task. After researching the topic, it appears that there are many instances of belt failure. The solution seems to be just keep changing the belt. However, after changing my belt, the problem remains - slippage and clinking when turning the belt. I was (and still am) totally fed up as the smart trainer linked to Zwift has been a life-line for me. Sounds a bit heavy, I know. But mentally, it has been a huge benefit to me. And my training is the best t has been for 3 years. So I took the plunge and splashed out on what is said to be the best smart trainer out there - the Tacx Neo First impressions? Amazing. It is almost totally silent and so realistic. You even get vibrations when riding over cobbles. The power response is instant and I cannot recommend this smart trainer enough - get one! I gave the trainer a good test during some of the Virtual Tour Rides on Zwift and it was flawless. Zwift have introduced new Worlds to coincide with the virtual Le Tour. This has been even more motivating! I ventured out into France yesterday and grabbed a Mt Ventoux KOM. Probably the only time I will get this KOM jersey as the route is not yet fully open to all riders. The official Ventoux Virtual L'Etape is this weekend. I may have a full gas effort with this ride but it will hurt! I rode yesterday at a constant 190W 3.3W/Kg and it took me 90 mins. I may be able to ride at 230-240W and it will be really testing - can't really say no!

Zwift Racing Du Style

This week started if with a bang by mixing up a session of Zwift racing, hill reps running off the bike and strength work. That was quite an intense session. Then on Tuesday I did another Zwift race, planning to keep the power down to a manageable level so I didn’t kill myself. I sort of managed that but probably still went too hard. Wednesday was another tough day as I had a Duathlon simulation planned. I warmed up in Watopia. Then ran for 45 min as 10 min warm up, 30 min increase pace every 5 min, then 5 min easy. I timed that run to get back into Zwift where I’d entered the Bologna short TT. It worked well and I had about 2 min to wait before I was off. The legs were tired - very tired! I struggled quite a bit and the course didn’t help as although short, the final 4K is steep climbing. With fresh legs I would attack the climb but I was hanging on. After that it was the final leg of the Duathlon simulation which was a short 15 min increase pace run again. A great session but hard. Tired now. Back to work

Timed 5K - Run Fitness Assessed

This week I really tried to recover better and make the key sessions count. The important session this week was a timed 5K run, which would provide some sort of idea as to my run fitness. The consistent track sessions stopped early March due to the lockdown. So my hopes of building some sped into spring have kind of taken a wrong turn! I used the Whammy Parkrun course for the 5K but amended the route slightly to try and get the flattest route possible! The out and back course is pretty flat anyway but it does have a 600m drag to the turn point. Anyway, although nit totally fresh for this effort I was feeling ok. I had a bit of a blip half way and then picked up the pace towards the end. This made me think I should have pushed harder through the middle part. But a finish time of 18:20 is as fast as I’ve ran for the last 4 years. So I can’t complain. This week I received my NB Fuelcell trainers. Although I didn’t use these for my timed 5k (it was raining!), I did use them for my second run that day. The day’s train I was a broken Duathlon. So later, after the 5K timed, I did a Zwift race followed by a tempo 3k in the NB. Great feelings in these shoes and I’m eager to try them again in a fast paced run. I’ve put some Hickies laces in them for fast transitions. I’ll need to play around with lace positioning but they seem slick to get on as this set up. I really enjoyed the split Duathlon day but it was quite hard on the legs. I had an easy day on Friday, just a recovery spin. Then I ran for 90 min to a 65% HR. This felt ok but again, tired legs. To finish the week I completed the Zwift Week 8 session 4 set - and then carried on to complete 70k in 2:04 bagging the Big Foothills route badge. So extra XP pints means I’m closing in Level 21. Now for a few recovery days.

Sunny Spring

It’s now official; this spring is the sunniest ever in the UK. This fact was not lost on me as I reflected on the fact that since mid-March I’d only ridden once outside! So I zipped out again yesterday for a relaxed spin to grab some vitamin D before the weather breaks - which it now has!

This ride was also the first outing for my Boardman that I had purchased 2nd hand early April from an NTC member. What a great ride this bike is. I really enjoyed riding this bike. It’s very responsive and stable on descents. Very pleased. And the ride in the sun was great too. Shame it’s wet and significantly cooler today.

Now and Then - 38 Years Ago!

Wow! I clocked a fb post the other day that showed a photo from 1981/2 of a bunch of guys from Harborough AC - my old athletics club from my pre-RAF days. I am front eight. I haven’t really changed. Can you tell the difference? I know that I was significantly faster back then! With a 10k pb at 32:23 and 3000m on the track in 8:51, I’d settle for anywhere within a few mins of those times now!

Key Sessions - First Outdoor Ride in 2 Months

I have found myself fighting to be fresh and always being tired when training. This surely cannot be good and I need to accept that at the ripe old age of 55 I cannot recover as quickly as I used to. I am sure if I read Blog posts from 10 years ago I will have said the same! My brain simply wants my body to do things that it is incapable of doing! So I have tried to simplify my training. I have 2 Key sessions - both bike/run sessions - that form the basis of training build up to September. The idea is that I hit these session fresh (relatively fresh) to expend a decent effort. The first Key Session is a short high intensity Bike/Run and the second Key Session is a longer Bike/Run Endurance Threshold session. Between these Key sessions I need to tick over very easy and include the long run session - but at a very easy HR controlled effort. Today I did the Key Session 2 Endurance Threshold. This session is one that I have used before and it is very productive and a decent confidence boost. Both the Bike and Run are completed as descending (time) efforts with 2 Min spin/jog RI. Whilst the time descends for each effort: 8 min, 6 min, 4 min, 2 min, the pace increases. So 8 min is slightly slower than race pace, 6 min at race pace, 4 min slightly faster than race pace, 2 min hard. Today I rode outdoors for the first time since mid-March and I completed the sets twice through for 38k total. I rode my Singlespeed, which provides a spot on TT position for me.

Next week I will add the next rep and so on, building to complete 3 times through the full sets. Run today felt hard as I think I was a bit too tired starting the session than I would have liked. But I completed 10k total n 45 min ending with the second 6 min race pace effort. So next time, I will aim to add the nest effort at 4 min slightly above race pace. Still no news about the London Duathlon but I will be disappointed if the event is cancelled. Oh well, so many people have had their season ruined, I can't complain if my main goal is also cancelled. With my training re-focus, I fell quite motivated. I think I am in decent shape and can build further up to September. I have also ordered some new trainers - speedy ones! New Balance Fuelcell Rebel:

In Zwift news, I am now at Level 20 and enjoying the experience even more! My Key Session 2 Bike will be a Zwift race or TT. The weather at the moment in the UK is really good and this makes me yearn for Annecy Mountains. This time last year I was preparing to leave for a week in paradise. Oh well, maybe next year. . . . .