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!