A passion for running and cycling

kennyb3

16th June - am

20k @ 29 km/ph.

nice sunny commute, followed by hayfever attack - not nice. need to sort it out.

Cycling YTD: 1343 km

ManFromAtlantis

injuries aside........

whats your poison. if you had to pick only one for the rest of your life.

running or cycling ?

kennyb3

If i had to pick one right now it would be running but that could change

Running Pro's:

- Cheaper
- Better suited to Irish weather (particularly winter)
- Less time consuming
- Less Painful, lot of suffering to cycle really well esp up hills.
- No mechanical issues with bike (they drive me mad)

Cycling Pro's:

- Keeps me slimmer
- Easier to do with other people/more sociable
- Fantastic in the summer - good tan, excellent scenery
- No need to train every day (can easily take 2-3 days rest a week - in fact you generally need it as your thighs can be too painful to produce proper power next day after hard effort). Although this kind of contradicts the less time consuming thing.
- Good to be able to train while helping the environment. (commuting)
- there is also a great feeling of achievement in knowing you can cycle 100+ km in a day. I havent really started to use this advantage but id like to cycle round Ireland and a bit of France some day. Just knowing that you dont 'need' a car and can get almost anywhere on a bike.

In an ideal world i'd like to focus on running in the winter and cycling in the summer while also overlapping a bit of both too.

Woddle

Hi Kennyb, your my cycling expert so I hope you don't mind me using you
I covered about 26km this morning, 8km of these were up a tough climb but I actually covered one of the miles at 8'56 pace, my hr was really high and also going back downhill on the other side I clocked 49kmph, I'm just curious to whether these figures are in line with what you know about cycling or am I just crap at it.
Also when your free wheeling down a mountain, it feels like cheating, do you do sth different to still get a workout going downhill.
Thanks in advance

kennyb3

Woddle wrote: »

Hi Kennyb, your my cycling expert so I hope you don't mind me using you
I covered about 26km this morning, 8km of these were up a tough climb but I actually covered one of the miles at 8'56 pace, my hr was really high and also going back downhill on the other side I clocked 49kmph, I'm just curious to whether these figures are in line with what you know about cycling or am I just crap at it.

TBH, you d have to give the overall average of the spin. But even that can vary depending on terrain, the type of bike your using, whether you are using proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals, wind and so on.

Maybe have a look back through my log from May last year and you ll see how i went from 26/27km/ph to 28km/ph over 20/30kms by changing to cycling shoes and my general musing re starting off. It really takes until you ve done about 200 - 500km to find your cycling legs.

Woddle wrote: »

Also when your free wheeling down a mountain, it feels like cheating, do you do sth different to still get a workout going downhill.
Thanks in advance

No dont do anything really but you should keep turning over the legs even if its not adding to your speed as it helps avoid leg cramps. you ve earned the tiny break is how i see it as going up decent hills on a bike aint easy.

A bike work out is rarely as intense as running (hill repeats and racing excluded) but you are at it for so much longer. (i.e an easy run might be 30-40mins) an easy cycle for me with be an hour and half generally. So in terms of workout as i think you are referring to it - you ll be working muscles for an hour or so at least and likely burning off alot of calories. This is a huge benefit of cycling - on a sat morning id cycle for 3 hours which would equate to roughly 2000cals or nearly a days worth of food (80%).

Woddle

Here's my garmin link for today, it's just its a mere 22kmph average and I'm just curious whether I need to work harder.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37076344

kennyb3

Woddle,

Not really sure of the area or them garmin elevation charts put given that climb id say thats a good enough cycle to be honest.

Miles 10 to 16 look like you were bang on the money anyway even prob faster than id expect for someone starting. Just looks like that was a tough climb from mid way through mile 2 to 7.

Again it all depends on traffic, wind direction and so on. As long as you feel you are working hard im sure you are and hills are a great workout. if you feel your not working hard enough on the flat try a lower gear (harder to puch cranks around).

Just keep at it and enjoy. also take them garmin cals and multiply by about 60 - 66% for a reasonably accurate idea of real cals.

Woddle

Cheers Kennyb I suppose I was just looking for a bit of reassurance, so thanks, I'll keep plugging away.

kennyb3

Nice easy 4k with the gf as was a nice evening for it and my leg has been less sore and stiff of late.

pleasantly surprised that my leg is only the very slightest bit stiff this morning, i kind of expected worse - nearly there. will run at some stage next week again, short and easy.

YTD: 363.7 miles / 62 runs (2 races)

DustyBin

Great to see you back running kennyb
Remember to take it easy now, even when you feel good
You were feeling good (and running great!!) back in February and got caught on the hop with the achilles again - just take it really really easy this time - baby steps

kennyb3

Thanks dusty, dont worry it will be very small amounts for 2 reasons - 1 leg still isnt actually right, like it should be 2. still plan to focus on cycling for the summer. hopefully do my 1st race next wednesday.

kennyb3

19th June

Decided last nite after good few beers and a good laugh at england with a mate that id skip the club session and lie in till after 9 - normal people would think im odd seeing 9 as a lie in but its an extra hour and half in bed on a sat morning.

got up and was out on the road by 10. was prepared for the northerly wind from the weather last nite - thankgod - it was windy and the first half of the spin was dead into the wind. with that in mind im fairly delighted with the average speed.

lovely sunny day, tan lines coming along nicely - have to at least look like a real cyclist:)

tired now though.

81k @ 29.5 km/ph


Cycling YTD: 1424 km

El Director

I hear you dude about sleeping in till 9, it's so true, I think that's a great lie in! Fair play for getting up and putting in the miles this morn. Thats something I am totally useless at!

nomadic

Any time before 9 is getting up early for me.

kennyb3

@ el d - you seem to be doing more than just fine.

@ nomadic - i cant believe that id now consider 9 a lie on a few years ago back in the drinking days if i seen 11 o clock in the morning on a weekend id be doing well.

20th June

Just a nice recovery spin well the first half anyway, then i kind of got carried away TT back from sutton with wind on my back was just too much fun clipping along at 40km/ph - i love that feeling, you think your ready for the tour but then if you turn around you are near crying into the wind. thats cycling for you though.

great weather - portmarnock was mental busy with an influx of people to the beach and roads were mental so had to be super cautious.

motorists were sound but one guy got frustrated pulled up beside me and veered into me and was shouting. i lost the plot!! chased him down into sutton pulled around cars and up to his window which was open and gave him the most unbelievable tongue lashing. i called him everything. he didnt say much but he certainly didnt apologise either. ignorant pr_ick.

the major problem i have is that i was grand, im an experienced enough cyclist but if it was a newbie or a once a year person they could of crashed with what he was doing and been hurt or even run over.

anyway no harm done

28k @ 28.9 km/ph


Cycling YTD: 1452 km

kennyb3

Nothing to report all week, as did something to my inner thigh - was bit tight before cycling last sunday but not sore, but woke up monday and very sore, couldnt lift my leg. very like a groin strain but quite far down the thigh and but my hamstring either. it seems to be unstretchable. it could be a nerve thing or tendon.

anyway its nothing serious and it is easing day by day, back to normal walking today. missed what id intended to be my first club race wed (was a nice flat one so would of been good intro) and will miss tour of louth.

anyway will just act as a recovery week/mid season break.

on positive note my weight is down as being strict with food and doing plenty of core and weights. cant seem to hit that goal of 11 stone though.hopefully be back cycling early next week . i miss commuting alot! will try get a swim in over the weekend too.

Macanri

Sorry to hear that kennyb3. Good to see you're going to do a bit of swimming. Give me a shout when you're back at the cycling for another spin round Howth.

kennyb3

4th July

10k @ 25km/ph

5th July

25k @ 28km/ph

Took 50secs off my howth hill TT, down to 9:20.

7th July - Race


65k @ 31 km/ph incl. 53km racing @ 31.7km/ph. Report below


Cycling YTD: 1552 km

kennyb3

COPIED FROM CYCLING FORUM

So my completed first race, or real race anyway as last years attempt ended very prematurely, and cant exactly say my preperation was ideal - 2 weeks off (first ride back was only 6 miles on sun day last) with a mystery groin/thigh injury added to a trip to the boozer the night before to meet a mate who was back from England to watch some WC. 5 pints deposited, a s'hit nights sleep and i had plenty of excuses ready for the race or even not to race. However im off on holidays in august so just forced myself to go down and finally bite the bullet and get a few races in beforehand.

I really had zero expectations, before hand i told myself id be happy if i made it around one lap with the group (group 1), given how terrible i felt before and wasnt sure what going up that hill would be like in a race. The addition of a lap was a bit of unwelcome news. going up that hill 3 times is bit cruel and i definitely wasnt finishing now.

RACE

I think there was about 10 or so in group 1 to start, we set off and the pace was grand but still a good bit quicker than i would be use to on the half 8 spin. I took my turn everytime as one of my main objectives was to do some work and not get a rep as a scrubber first night down. was going through way too hard tho, plenty of shouts of steady - over eagerness no doubt. Few lads started skipping their turns when we got out on the main road and trying to grasp what is going on in is difficult - im sure i'll pick it up - with people sitting up at times, others pushing on. the pace was all over the place. I was already starting to feel some of the turns getting harder and was worrying about the hill but kept burying myself.

The hill came as a shock, more so how slow we went up it the first time around. There were lads struggling and think everyone was trying to keep the group together. I just spun an easy gear and actually recovered more on the hill than anywhere else. Half way up the group started to split and one guy attacked, which seemed v. early, so off he went. When we got over the top a group of 5 of us were together. We worked hard and caught the lead rider just before the hill the second time. I was suffering at this stage, still doing my turn but it was getting harder and harder and i was hoping we d go as slow up the hill again for recovery - wishful thinking. This time we went up quite a bit faster and 3/4 of the way up i nearly cracked. The same guy attacked and two more went after him but . I was hanging onto the guy just ahead of me with a gap to the others and one behind me. I had to have a couple of words with myself and let a shout and somehow managed to crest the hill but was feeling pure crap. I wasnt sure if id be able to continue on.

The 3 of us got together and descended as fast as we could to try catch the two ahead, which we did just before ballyboughal. We had to absolutely buried ourselves working to get to them and i spent most of the time out of the saddle sprinting. All 6 of us came back together and then got working again. just after the flyover before you go out onto the n1, scratch (im led to believe) whizzed past us like we werent there. I sprinted full pelt and got on for a bit but last a whole mile or so. I think 3 from our group got on but not sure how long they lasted.

At this point my thoughts just turned to trying to finish, i was deligthed i'd made it so far, done plenty of work, made it away with the top half of group 1 and just about made it over the hill twice, once at race pace. To be honest looking back if i'd realised it would have been quicker and easier to turn the bike around and head back to ballyboughal i would of done that. thankfully i didnt.

The remaining 3 from our group, just kept working along the N1. During this time one of the lads took out a gel and downed it and it totally dawned on me that im an idiot - my legs were starting to cramp for ages, i was thirsty and generally felt s'hit. An hour and 25mins on the bike and i'd had only about 500mls of water - not very bright.

We were caught by another group just before murtagh's pub. We tacked on the back grand and I was thankful of a ride home. Chakattck then did his best to take me out (dont worry dude) by swinging a left and i swerved left too. When i go back on the main road the group was gone so i just cycled down to the hill (more like crawled/freewheeled). The hill the 3rd time was hell - pure hell, not sure i ll ever forget it. another group went by but i was just going to climb this one at my own pace. The ambulance/broomwagon came up behind half way up and i just so badly wanted to finish ahead of it - finish my first race, most unexpectedly. Every pedal stroke was pain, i pushed i pulled. i was getting nowhere fast, dizzy sore and feeling sick . i so badly wanted to walk yet so badly to finish. it felt like i was on that hill for ages. I though about waving the ambulance through but didnt. he waited and waited as i crawled up the hill snails pace. my legs were gone, completely wiped out.

Eventually i made it. Seeing that white line amazing, crossing it even better. I didnt get far over it before i was keeled over the bike, head spinning and feeling sick. I recovered and was secretly delighted. I did no winter training and only started riding again about 2 and half months ago (circa 1500km since then). So its onwards and upwards.

As said above it was the hardest thing i ve ever done but it was unbelievable fun too.

I learned so much for the next day about holding wheels, drafting, concentration, when to make efforts and not. I need to sort out my nutrition and could probably do with being a bit more sly as i think guys could tell i was new and was actually taking too many turns. All that will come. I ve started now anyway which is the main thing.

I also need to improve my endurance, racing nearly 55km is hard, very hard. Increase the number of hill repeats would help too, only doing 2 reps up howth. need to get up to 4 as i struggled the second time on tired legs. The third time i was just dead and had virtually bonked, less said the better.

Today i'm sore, very sore everywhere.

Summary

53km @ 31.7km/ph, with 45km @ 33.6km/ph.

My fastest 45km ever even with that hill twice.

course profile: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/113841

Macanri

Good man Kennyb, That sound like a painful experience. Well done on the first race. Sets down a marker for yourself too, for the next race.

ManFromAtlantis

good report kb. makes running seem like a doddle :pac:
you enjoying the tour de france? where do you think n roche could finish ?

kennyb3

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

good report kb. makes running seem like a doddle :pac:
you enjoying the tour de france? where do you think n roche could finish ?

I wouldnt say a doddle, but i do find running significantly easier particularly mentally. lot of suffering in cycling especially climbing. but i loved every minute of the other night and am looking forward to tomorrows club spin and a race next wednesday. I ll go back running in september/october.

TdF has been unusually exciting early on given the belgium cobbles, generally it is 6/7days of sprints after the prologue. Some mountains tomorrow and sunday too. The 22nd should be the deciding day, so hoping to get that off work and watch contador smash them on the tourmalet climb.

Re Roche - very hard to tell, all depends how he climbs, If you have a one bad day you can lose 20mins. He has never climbed day on day with the GC guys so we will see. He has definitely been saving himself though this year with being team leader. Will be interesting anyway. hopefully he does well, a top 10 may just be beyond him but hopefully top 15-20.

catweazle

I enjoyed that race report.......for me who likes cycling the least of the three disciplines the tactics involved seem like great fun. The swim and run are very much up to me, myself and I but this seems like great fun (NB: before the exhaustion sets in)

DustyBin

Sounds v tough kennyb
fair play on getting out there for the first one - as you said yourself maybe a few
tactical lessons learned and bring on the next one!
Enjoy them

kennyb3

10th July - Club Spin

80k total

64k @ 30km/ph and 16k flaffing about warming up and messing around on climbs.

quite sedate for first 20k until myself and one of the lads turned it into a hammerfest for a bit. good turn on the front hammering including over all the hilly bits. then slow before the usual group sprint on the flat section at the airport.regretted hammering earlier towards the end tho when it was all against the breeze coming home

Cycling YTD: 1632 km

kennyb3

11th July - Recovery Ride

17k @ 29km/ph

more of a recovery in terms of distance than speed. altho the speed was always easy.

threw in 2 * 40kmph plus spurts of 20secs or so on way home.

spin tomorrow and race on wednesday

Cycling YTD: 1649 km

ManFromAtlantis

have to say i'm warming to the old cycling thing. the tour de france on the tv (with feet up) you can just see the pain in their faces on the climbs. such a tough sport.
is there a lot of bitchiness about who or what teams are taking their turns at the front ? or is it all alot more civilised.
can only a team leader potentially win the race ?
you seem to get a stage win or points or something for sprint finishes, but am i right in thinking if youre in the bunch they all get the same time.

seems to me the race is decided in the mountains where the lads are spread out more.?
nearly every day ive watched (on teh flatter routes) a breakaway group maybe 6 or 8 head off, only to be caught be the peleton. its usually individuals who head off and not so much teams . is this theie chance of stage win and glory or is this all planned out well in advance. what im trying to say is some days teh whole lot finish together with no advantage to anyone. all wasted effort ?

anyhoo, as you can see i know feck all about cycling but i do admire the sport/athletes.

is roche any good on the hills? is there no chance he could win?
ps you still have to come back to us and get the 10km sub 40.

kennyb3

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

have to say i'm warming to the old cycling thing. the tour de france on the tv (with feet up) you can just see the pain in their faces on the climbs. such a tough sport.
is there a lot of bitchiness about who or what teams are taking their turns at the front ? or is it all alot more civilised..

Basically whatever team has the yellow jersey will generally do the work. The exception being the mountain stages were other teams will take up the duty in order to increase the pace if their team leader feel good. They would be trying to put pressure on other teams and team leaders and isolate the other leaders.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

can only a team leader potentially win the race ?..

In some teams there can be more than one leader but in most there is only one and they are so because they are the bst all rounders - good climbers and time trialists. So other members work for them.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

you seem to get a stage win or points or something for sprint finishes, but am i right in thinking if youre in the bunch they all get the same time.?..

correct. avoids mass sprints, barging and other stuff which will lead to crashes.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

seems to me the race is decided in the mountains where the lads are spread out more.?

Yep, time trials and mountain stages are most important. mountains are the hardest stages and you can win or lose so much time here.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

nearly every day ive watched (on teh flatter routes) a breakaway group maybe 6 or 8 head off, only to be caught be the peleton. its usually individuals who head off and not so much teams . is this theie chance of stage win and glory or is this all planned out well in advance. what im trying to say is some days teh whole lot finish together with no advantage to anyone. all wasted effort ?

Various reasons to do this

- good showing keeps the sponsors happy. for small teams this is their main aim
- chance of a stage win if they do stay away
- sprint and mountain points available at various parts of stage. If in a small break, can claim alot of these.
- even if you dont get a stage win you can be remembered for a heroic effort - Pineau the other day survived over 150km, took loads of king of the mountain points and generally put in an epic performance

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

anyhoo, as you can see i know feck all about cycling but i do admire the sport/athletes.

is roche any good on the hills? is there no chance he could win?
ps you still have to come back to us and get the 10km sub 40.

he is improving, he has done well so far. he bonked the other day (didnt eat enough) and lost 2mins plus but that wasnt too bad. he is riding well.

I ll get that sub 40 later in they year alright

kennyb3

12th July -

51.5k @ 30.2km/ph

Good spin but no hills:mad: as had to cycle home to balbriggan. wanted to go over howth.

Cycling YTD: 1700.5 km

kennyb3

My 2nd race and delighted with a 7th place finish - a nice top 10 finish. Our group stayed away, well nearly, 2 lads from scratch flew by me to the line.

The course profile is below, it looks not too bad but the perspective is just off - its actually lumpier than last week, which suits me. It was 3 and half laps. Plenty of sharp corners and potholes though. Thankfully the rain stayed away and it was safe.

First lap was a mess our group was all over the place, some working, some not, some breaks, some riding too fast some too slow. just a shambles. after a lap i said to someone beside me we should last another lap away from those behind at this pace. Think there were too many in the group (about 14) with too many varying abilities - alot of lads struggling on hills then stringing it out on the flat.

The first lap for me was all about getting to know the course as had never rode it before. 2nd lap and couple of lads went away, i was going to chase but decided to conserve energy.By third lap the race was blown to bits, group just completely split and i ended up sharing work with 2 others. I was finding the hills grand but losing wheels on descents and out of corners, but was hanging on.

Was surprised we hadnt been caught at this stage, but judging by what the marshals were saying we had a decent gap. At end of 3rd lap, i thought i was in serious trouble - back was at me, i d let a gap develop and was just generally struggling. So after only half pedalling for 50m i realised the riders ahead werent going away from me and it was just a hard part of the course. I HTFU and caught up with them. my back was still killing me - basically end up doing a 25k TT on monday night before as there was a leak in my parents house (per my sister) and they are away so i got down there asap. In hindsight i could have drove but i want to get some training done too, but this wasnt bright.

Anyway, 3 of us hung together until a km to go, and then one dropped off. The 4 ahead of us were gone so i was thinking about trying to get 5th. With about 500m to go the motorbike sped past us and a look around and we saw scratch. I and and the other rider started cursing them - couldnt believe we d be caught so late. However we put the heads down and buried ourselves. They didnt come up as quick as we thought and the other rider went for the line. I thought i was gone, but thankfully a hilly finish encouraged me to go for it - so i dropped the gears and sprinted as hard as i could. 2 guys from scartch blew past me just metres from the line, but i got 7th and the rider id been away with 8th.

Rider from our group had won which was good too. As i passed the line i just thought - yes!!delighted i was. However this was quickly followed by a flying dismount - frankie detorri style- onto my back as my calf was cramping and i thought i was going to die. my lungs were burning like hell.

Another world of pain on a wednesday night but i love it. Next wednesday is flat tho so i may struggle. More hills please!!


Summary

Didnt check distance or average speed as was too busy lying on my back in bits but id guess at around : 45km @ 31km/ph

By time id got back to car was 52k and with warm up total of about 60k.

course profile:http://ridewithgps.com/routes/80496