Nothing Works - Not Good

The title says it all. Nothing seems to be working. Since the National Duathlon Champs I just don’t work and something is not right. My calfs played up a few days before the duathlon and I am now thinking that my body is fighting something off – maybe a virus? I have rested with days off and tried some easy sessions. Every time I attempt the easiest of training the legs just ache and are so heavy. What makes me think that there may be something wrong is the fact that when swimming my arms and shoulders feel the same as my legs. So my du result may be the effort that pushed me over the top.

Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I detest being ill or injured! I am, therefore, really trying to focus on being positive and enjoying my abilities – such as they are at the moment! I have a 10 mile bike TT planned for Wed evening. That effort should confirm (or not!) whether I am suffering with something. I also have Cambridge Duathlon on Sunday 19 April. I wanted to do well in this to maybe stand a chance of obtaining a ranking in the National Duathlon series. The final event of the series is at Oulton Park in October. Let’s just see how the next few days go. I sure hate not being able to push hard in training!!

Some of you may know that I have been toying with the idea of getting a new bike. In my present state of mind I am not sure if I am comfort buying! So, to be wise I will stick with my bike I have. I keep feeling that I need an upgrade but it has been a good bike and produced some decent times over the last few years. If I can get close to my 10 mile TT pb on the club course within the next few weeks then I will keep it. By then I may be in a better state of mind too – and more likely to make a sound decision!

Anyway, train well out there and stay happy.

Anyone seen Monsters Vs Aliens 3D? Very funny and worth watching. I watched it with CJ – and you get to wear cool specs too!

National Duathlon Champs 2009

Hello Bloggers. Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have been hectic in my life recently. Add to that some computer functionality problems, then blogging seems to slip!

Well, with my calf problems at the back of my mind, I set off bright and early last Sunday to Milton Keynes to compete at the National Duathlon Champs. I have raced a few duathlons before but never a standard distance event of 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run (although this one was massively over distanced with a 5.3k second run!). Let’s get this calf thing done first. It was ok on the day; however, now both calfs refuse to stretch, bend or move in any way! I think it is just soreness and fatigue, as I did push rather hard on the bike and second run. Anyway, whinge done with, the race went as follows:

10k Run

Warm up for the run with a few strides and stretches. I was in wave 3, starting 2 mins after the 30 – 40 year young dudes. That means young Pete Russell (former RAF triathlete now a contractor here at Wyton) was 2 mins down the road ahead of me. I set off at a steady pace as I was not quite sure how hard to push on this first run. I was along side an Army chap in a second group. I though about going with the front group that had pulled out a gap but decided on caution. After the first lap of 4 I eased ahead of my group as I felt quite perky. I gradually picked off a few guys from the lead group and estimated that I was in about 11th place in my wave. Soon, people from the wave ahead were being passed and after the second lap I saw Pete Russell looking a bit heavy legged. I gave him a pat of encouragement but he did not look too happy. On the final lap I opened up a bit more and almost ran through the transition barriers in the process! Don’t get me wrong, I had pushed hard but I did feel that I could have pushed slightly harder. 10k run split – 36:22.

40k Bike

I had not reccy’d the bike course but was told that it was ‘rolling’ 2 loops of 20k. I suppose that was an accurate description but one hill was slightly harder than ‘rolling’. Some of the road surfaces were dire and my old bones ache! I also had problems with my gears and was unable to switch to my small ring on the chainset. This was only a problem with the hard hill and I had to grind up it. On the second loop my left leg decided that it didn’t like grinding and I cramped badly. Once over the hill, however, it loosened up and I pretty much hammered it back to transition. I felt as though the bike efforts was very sporadic. There was a lot of bunching and I duly did my bit of easing off so as not to draft. However, I then had to overtake them to up the pace. This is not a good way to ride and I think the final bike split time of 1:04:07 showed that. I wanted closer to the hour. I suppose I may just be expecting too much! No dramas in transition – unusual for me!

5.3k Run

The aim for my run was to break 20 mins. That extra 0.3k adds about a minute to a 5k split. As I set off out of transition my legs were bad......very bad! Ny running is always hit and miss after the bike but that initial 10k run seemed to have really toasted the old pins. I concentrated on short choppy strides and I feared that I was going to just get slower. However, nearing completion of the first lap my legs clicked into the fact that I was asking them to run. It was heaven and I felt the flow return! The second lap was far quicker and I caught a number of people who had past me on the first lap. As I rounded the corner into the finish I had more bounce and wished I had found my run legs earlier in the second run. As I finished the announcer informed me that I had finished in 3rd place in my age group in 2:01:59. I was very please as this was my first (and maybe only!) National Age Group Medal! My thoughts of wishing that I could have gone faster disappeared and I am thankful for being able to do what I do.

Mention must go to Jackie Wren, whom I travelled with. She was competing in the ladies race. However, she is not at her best at the moment and struggled on this occasion. Once she gets healthy, I know that she will be back to grabbing medals again – stick with it Jax.

Also, Bev Childs continued as she left off in 2008, with an age group victory. Another National title for Bev and she should have another great season in 2009.

Calf Problems!

After a few good weeks of training, I am really looking forward to racing the National Duathlon Champs on Sunday. The distances are 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run. However, after some previous speedy run sessions with no adverse affects, my calfs really knotted up yesterday. I reduced my hard session slightly in the hope to be fresh for Sunday by completing the same turbo session as last week but only going up to 7 sets on the pyramid. Then, on the 400m run reps I just completed 4 reps at a reduced speed. Overall, the runs felt very easy at 1:24 pace but the calfs decided to stop being flexible. This has happened to me before and I am not sure why. Could it be that I was stuck in a car travelling for over 8 hours the day before? Or is it just that I have reduced the efforts slightly? Who knows! I just hope that the legs work ok on Sunday.

My swimming continues to improve. Although I know that I will never be a ‘swimmer’, after 5 years of battling with technique changes I now know how I swim. The technique is ok but I do not generate great speed. That said, I am probably swimming as fast in training as I ever have. I have not completed any time trials yet but the sessions indicate that I will be no worse than last year in the H20. I completed a main set of 12 x 100m with big Nige Porter today. I started off with 1:29s feeling nice and smooth. My lack of swim fitness soon kicked in though and I fell into 1:31s with the odd 1:30. Raising the threshold to consistent 1:29s is the aim. The good thing is that I feel when the form is bad and I can back off with the effort and ‘click’ back into a smoother feel. That is something that I could never previously do and it shows that the technique sessions at Swimshack throughout the winter have been beneficial. I am sure that I can gain speed as my fitness increases but the real test is how far behind I am when I get out of the water after an open water 1500m triathlon leg! A 22 min 1500m would be cool and enable me to capitalize on my bike run speed to capture a better overall result.

However, one thing that has been on my mind lately is when does one stop searching for speed gains and switch to minimizing speed losses! I came to this sport quite late but now that I am in the 45 – 49 age group the future may entail concentrating on stemming the age induced drop off! A sad thought but let’s be thankful for the 5 year age group system and the fact that we can still be active – can’t wait until I am 50 now!

Someone Else's Legs!

With one week until the National Duathlon Championships, things are not looking too bad considering occurrences outside of training! If I can stay healthy, then it may be a decent race. That said, CJ, my youngest, is suffering with a stomach bug. Having been the target for some projectile vomiting I am hoping that I will not contract the bug!

Training has been ok the past week. A few easy days seem to have done the trick. After the sad showing during the previous weekend’s ride with Turbo man, I took a few very easy days. On Thursday I did a short and sharp turbo session followed by 6 x 400m run efforts with 1 min recovery. The turbo session was most enjoyable and had me dipping in and out of anaerobic land:

Warm up
3 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
5 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
7 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
9 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
7 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
5 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
3 x 15 sec hard/15 sec spin
1 min spin
2 min @ 350W

This is a good session and I monitored my power output. And stayed constant at 400W up to the set of 9 and then 420W to the end. The 2 min @350W seemed like spinning after the short and sharp stuff.

Off the bike, the 6 x 400m went ok too, though the legs were wobbly:

1:26, 1:19, 1:16, 1:19, 1:16, 1:12

These times are quicker than previous efforts so the running may be coming together.

After another 2 easy days I rode with Turbo Man for the last time before he moves to Plymouth . . . Sniff. . . Turbo Man has been a great training partner (on the bike at least! Yes, we have done the odd run together too!). We did 3 hours and I needed some longer efforts. I was on the TT bike, complete with disc and deep rim front so turbo on his road set up was at a disadvantage from the start. He also decided to put someone else’s legs on this Sunday . . .

. . . and he was finding it tough going. I also seemed to have put someone else’s legs on but I was lucky in that they were a good pair! I felt strong and enjoyed the efforts. Off the bike I did the same 5 miles hard run with yet more wobbly legs. This week I averaged 6:12 per mile, as opposed to 6:25 per mile the previous week.

Swimming has also been on the up. I continue to build the swim fitness and I have joined speedy Nige Porter again with some nice sessions. This morning we did 2 x 200, 4 x 100, 8 x 50 all off the minute mark as the main set. I found it tough and did not stay with Nige but I felt smoother and coped better with the pace. 200s were 3:05 and 3:08. 100s between 1:33 – 1:34. 50s between 43 – 44sec. Again, not great times but not bad for me after the winter’s technique work.
Apologies for the lack of pics lately. I still have problems with my computer. Train well bloggers and best wishes to Mat Stephenson, Daz Sharpe and Pete Norris, who are competing in Ironman South Africa on 5 April. Also, Jackie Wren, Pete Russell and myself compete at Milton Keynes at the National age Group Duathlon Champs on 5 April – Let’s pray for decent conditions.

Training Weak. . .I Mean Week?

Another week has slipped by and, with ‘stuff’ going on at home and my intention of bagging another big training week, it’s been a hectic one.

Training for last week looked like this:

Monday: Cycle to pool, swim, cycle back. 1 hour steady run.

Tuesday: Swim. 1:05 EZ Spin and core work.

Wednesday: Swim. Bike/Run efforts as 7 x 1 mile on TT bike followed by 21 x 200m on running track.

Thursday: Cycle to pool, swim, cycle back. 55 min steady run.

Friday: Rest (away with work).

Saturday: 2.5 hour bike with 2 x longish tempo efforts. Run off bike 5 miles at 6:25 miling.

Sunday: Cycle to pool, swim, cycle back.

It doesn’t look that much but with work and home stuff going on, the week was draining. Saturday’s ride with Mick really felt laboured. The previous week, I felt strong but this week was torture. I still tried to do the tempo efforts but the legs were just not there. I thought about binning the 5 mile run off the bike but I knew that I would not be happy having stacked a training session! As it turned out, even though the legs felt terrible, I still maintained a 6:25 per mile average. Mick (Turbo Man) the full time cyclist was going well and I am sure he was laughing as I suffered!

I have upped the swimming now as I need to get some sort of swim fitness. It is coming slowly and I have tagged along with Nige Porter for some sessions now. He is a decent swimmer and is dragging me along to complete proper sessions. The trick is to keep my new stroke and build some speed – not an easy task! Today, I managed to complete 2 sets of 5 x 100 on 2 mins, with 90 sec between the sets. I managed between 1:29 and 1:31 for the first set. I then purposely reduced the effort to try and keep the stroke technique. The times dropped, but not as much as I thought they would and the second set was also consistent between 1:30 and 1:33. This is actually not a bad session for me (timewise) though the effort was quite high. If I can build on these times I may just see some improvements in the swim this year after all.

I have been searching around for a possible new bike. . . . . for some point in the future – like maybe 10 years away! Currently, in no particular order, options would be:

Cervelo P3

Isaac Aerotec

Cannondale Slice

Dream on!

It Is All About The Bike!

Training last week topped 13 hours and I am slightly tired. I had plans to attend the RAF Triathlon training camp at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. However, Julie is still not well and it would not be right to leave her at home for a week while I spent a week in the sun doing what I enjoy!

So, it was business as usual at home. I was away with work all of Friday and could not train. This shifted my rest day and I did a 40 min run on Saturday, followed by 30 mins spinning on the turbo. The run was completed with 30 sec strides on descending recoveries – start at 90 seconds recovery and decrease by 15 sec until the last stride is completed with 15 sec recovery then repeat.
On Sunday, it was up early and meet Turbo Man for a longish ride. I opted to ride with Turbo instead of St Ives CC, as Turbo will soon be gone due to his posting – sniff, another training buddy disappears! Anyway, I thought that Turbo was going to dish some pain out and I waited patiently to be hit with a blistering attack. As it was, Turbo was lost in his new found cycling enthusiasm and he was more than happy just to be on his bike pedalling. Turbo is now truly a pure cyclist! I wanted a couple of longer tempo efforts and I had a loop that we could complete twice. Turbo has explained what happened on his blog but I think that he was merely toying with me – pretending to drift off the back to fool me into thinking I was going well! This happened a few times on the way back too, as we cycled up some very small inclines. It is kind of him to try and make me think that I am going well on the bike but there really is no need! I know that he will be dishing out some speed in the months to come and it will be interesting to see his progress as a cyclist.

I completed the ride on Sunday on my TT bike again, as I am concerned that I have not got the miles under my belt in an aero tuck. Having ridden my TT bike in races since 2006 I thought it was time to replace a few parts. So, on Saturday I fitted a KMC Silver Lightweight Chain.

11/25 10 speed cassette and Token silver ceramic bearing jockey wheels.

The quick link on the chain is so easy, when compared to the Campag once only fit method. The bike feels smooth and fast. Time will tell if the legs can actually make it go smooth and fast!

Great runs at the weekend from RAF Triathletes at the Fleet Half Marathon. Mat Stephenson, out of retirement, showed us all that you never lose your genetic gifts as he ran a personal best 1:15:38. Daz Sharpe still produced 1:23, despite some illness and injury problems. He was disappointed but that merely shows that he is a class performer and the best is still to come from Daz. Mike Masters suffered in the ‘heat’ (what heat?!) but continued despite not having the best of runs by his standards. That said, there are plenty of people who would love to run sub-1:40 for the half-marathon.

Today I cycled to the pool and floundered around like a fish with no fins. Phew, I find swimming so hard! I cycled back and consumed any food within a mile radius before completing an hour run steady with big Nige Porter. Tired now. An easy day tomorrow and then some bike run efforts planned for Wednesday. I hope to get to the track and do 30 x 200m in sets of 3. This is after a bike interval session. I may well do some tabata blasts to jellyfy my legs before the track work.

Bike Position Stuff - Again!

I know, I know, I am always going on about bike position! It's just that for triathlon and time trialing, bike position is so important. I missed breaking the hour for 25 miles by 7 seconds last year; maybe a more aero position will give me those 8 seconds!

Anyway, if you have read this blog recently , you will know that I changed my aero bar extensions, as well as lowering and narrowing my elbow pads. I have tried out the new position over a 3 hour ride and all seems ok. I don't think that there is a loss of power and the position doesn't feel too uncomfortable. . . Well, time trialing is never going to be comfortable!

The pics below show the difference in position from last year to now. The first pic was taken in Holland at the World Long Course Triathlon Champs in Holland.


The second, below, was the other night on my turbo.


I think the second pic clearly shows a more aerodynamic position. A great tip relating to the aero helmet is to get on your tri-bars and tilt your helmet back until you feel it on your upper back. When this happens, you will be aero. There is a large gap at the back of my helmet in the Holland pic - not good! Any increase in performance from a change in position is free speed in my book! I know that I am covering short distance races this year and i won't be on the aero bars for 120k like I was in Holland! However, I did all my racing last year in the position at the top pic. in theory, I should be faster. . . But then I am another year older and clearly massively over weight 8-)

Regarding training this week, I too a couple of easy days after Sunday. I have , however, been hitting the swimming in a big way. Today, I felt a glimmer of full stroke clicking into place - just a glimmer mind you! If I can build on that I may just save my swimming for this year, but the H2O still feels like a big struggle to me.

On Wednesday I did a hard bike run session. I did a 20 mile loop on the race bike that incorporated 5 x 6 min efforts at pretty much full on pace. Off the bike, I went straight into 3 x 1 mile run efforts with 90 sec recovery. The bike efforts had left my legs shot to bits and I was slightly wary of folding on the run efforts. I set the Garmin for 6:10 per mile as the target. As I set off, I felt like a wobbly jelly fish! No matter how many times I run off the bike, it never feels easier. That said, I think the practice makes you run faster with the same amount of pain! First mile done in 6:06. I was shocked as I had thought I was on for 6:30 at best. The second mile felt better. This is often the case in a triathlon race - the legs do loosen up and it well worth telling yourself this when you feel rubbish as you start to run off the bike. I hit 5:48 for the second rep. However, the third rep would be the hardest as there is a substantial hill to negotiate. I have never gone faster than 6:18 when doing this third rep. I pretty much killed myself and managed to hit 6:03. Initially I was pleased with this. But, as ever, I parked that performance and chastised myself for not dipping under 6 mins!

Today has been easy swim and easy bike. The legs feel better from the easy spinning but I have a hunger that cannot be satiated. . . Jaffa Cakes. . . Jaffa Cakes. . . Mmmmmmmm