Lumen's winter TT prep plan

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

The prospect of being passed on my TT bike/pointy hat combo by hairy people on mountain bikes is pushing me in the direction of the road bike, regrettably.

ride the TT bike without the pointy hat

niceonetom

I vote for road bike with the pointy hat.

Raam

niceonetom wrote: »

I vote for road bike with the pointy hat.

Can you do the run with the pointy hat? Bound to be faster than without.

ROK ON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_PAHbqq-o4


I thought of your log wilst listening to this.

BTW, re the duatalon.

TT Bike and hat. No point in having them if you dont usem.
Also, you should wear Kaiku kit.

What do you care with a bunch of trinoobs think of you. You are a mod on 410 for chrissakes.

Lumen

niceonetom wrote: »

I vote for road bike with the pointy hat.

Good suggestion. The course was hilly and short with a couple of technical-ish bits, so I went with the road bike, cheap Planet-X clip-ons and the pointy hat. The hat felt fast.

Was apparently 4th off the bike in the newbie race, and not passed on the second run, although not sure what happened in the transition area.

Will post fuller race report and stats later. Running off the bike is hard.

I suspect there will be pictures to follow at some stage, since there were several photographers around.

edit: pictures here, and (to save the digging) me looking ridiculous in a pointy hat.

mloc123

Lumen wrote: »

Will post fuller race report and stats later. Running off the bike is fun.

fyp

Lumen

Race format:
2 km run (1 shortened lap)
8.6 km bike (2 laps)
2 km run (1 shortened lap)



Arrived very early, about 9:30. Spent some time reccying the course with a marshall/triathlete called Philip who took me round and gave me some tips (thanks if you're reading this!). Ran up and down a bit trying and failing to keep warm.

The first 2km run leg took about 9 minutes. Easy enough, felt like I was keeping some back for later, although my HR rose to 182bpm so I must have been trying. The leaders looked like the sort that run properly and were a hundred metres or so in front at the end.

First transition was messy, as I tried to fit my Garmin (which had been in my jersey pocket for the run) to the stem. Bad idea, couldn't get it on in the tight space between my aerobars, wasted maybe 15 seconds on this then put it back in the pocket. Transition time (stopped) was about 40 seconds.

Out of transition there was a 200m run with the bike to the mounting point. I'd fitted eggbeaters and was wearing MTB shoes to make this easier. Mounted the bike using a running cyclocross remount which helped pass a couple of people faffing. Yay for cyclocross.

The bike leg was (according to my power meter) a little over 14 minutes, average 178bpm, perhaps 36kph or so. The course was fairly up and down with a fair bit of braking. Also, I stopped at one stage to clarify which side of the tape I was supposed to cycle (marshalling was a bit ambiguous). Average power around 240W, peak 5 min 268W. Reasonably happy with that given all the coasting on descents. Finished the ride at 181bpm.

The second run leg was pretty tough, taking a couple of minutes longer than the first for the same distance. Heart rate averaged only 173, so I wasn't pushing that hard but had a bit of a stitch and was struggling to control my breathing. I got passed by a runner in the women's newbie race (who started a couple of minutes ahead), but none from my own race. Ended up at 181bpm.

Result: probably 4th (pending official result) in about 37:30 (again according to my Garmin). Average HR 175bpm.

Aside from all the numbers, it was tough but a lot of fun, a bit like cyclocross without the mud and constant painful crashing. I reckon I could take a couple of minutes out by pushing harder on the runs and faffing less in transition.

Not sure whether I'll continue to sandbag in the newbie races or go for the proper one next time. My pointy hat did not go unnoticed.

daymobrew

Lumen wrote: »

Not sure whether I'll continue to sandbag in the newbie races or go for the proper one next time. My pointy hat did not go unnoticed.

I'm doing the "proper one" (I only signed up for #2 and #3), so if we are to have the mod-v-mod race you'll have to promote yourself.

Lumen

daymobrew wrote: »

I'm doing the "proper one" (I only signed up for #2 and #3), so if we are to have the mod-v-mod race you'll have to promote yourself.

Yeah, um, about that....

It turns out that whilst I have full TI membership, I never actually signed up to any of the duathlons. Something went wrong with the registration process, and when I signed on last Sunday, I just picked a very similar name on the sheet, thinking it was a typo. This person (lets call him Mumen) didn't turn up for the race, so my unintentional gatecrashing was not rumbled.



I'm on the reserve list for the next two.

Beasty

Sounds like ID fraud to me;)

mloc123

Lumen wrote: »

Yeah, um, about that....

It turns out that whilst I have full TI membership, I never actually signed up to any of the duathlons. Something went wrong with the registration process, and when I signed on last Sunday, I just picked a very similar name on the sheet, thinking it was a typo. This person (lets call him Mumen) didn't turn up for the race, so my unintentional gatecrashing was not rumbled.



I'm on the reserve list for the next two.

Failing that you could give Punchestown a shot.

Lumen

mloc123 wrote: »

Failing that you could give Punchestown a shot.

runireland.com says online entry is closed

edit: since there were so many no shows for the first Phoenix Park event, I might just turn up and see, even if I don't get a place.

mloc123

You can enter on the morning in Naas(Punchestown) once you have your TI licence... I hope

Edit: http://www.runireland.com/events/2010-02-21/naas-triathlon-club-duathlon-race-series-2

Lumen

Time is ticking on, still not settling on the TT bike. My higher saddle position on the road bike feels like it's helping me stretch my hamstrings, so I'll just try to get some volume done on the road bike for now.

Mon, Tue: recovering from Sunday's duathlon.
Wed: Road bike turbo. 1:03, 192W, 145bpm, 731kJ. 20@160W, 30@212W, 3@311W, 10@160W.
Thu: culture, beer.
Fri: Road bike turbo. 0:51, 199W, 145bpm, 613kJ. 20@160W, 3x(1>rpm,1<rpm), 7@300W, 5@170W, 8@255W, 5@160W. Chart.
Sun: Road bike turbo. 0:53, 198W, 147bpm, 630kJ. 20@170W, 3x(1>rpm,1<rpm), 5@318W, 10@160W, 6@253W, 6@160W.

Racing season looms nearer, so I'll start tracking time spent over 300W in addition to Z3+ (tempo and over).

Summary:
Pedalling: 1:54.
Pedalling@Z3+: 1:05.
Pedalling@300W+: 0:15.

Lumen

Sorry for more numbers, feel the need to share...

Whilst I'm not really focused on training above threshold level, it's required as the 5 minute "leg emptier" of the FTP test structure I've started to use as a fun training session (following the general pattern of the test but cutting short the final threshold section).

For someone with a "all rounder" power profile, 5 min power is about 120% of 20 min power. So if my FTP is 250W then my 20 minute power should be 265W, my 5 minute power might be 318W.

In Week 6 I could only manage 300W for 2 minutes.

In Week 7 I attempted an FTP test and did 280W for 5 minutes.

On Friday of this week (Week 9), I managed 300W for 7 minutes.

This evening, I did 318W for 5 minutes, seated. My HR averaged 181bpm, climbing to 186bpm at the finish (and still climbing).

This is real progress. Last year, I managed 300W for more than a few seconds only rarely, usually during out of the saddle climbing.

My weight is back down around 69kg, so my 5 min power is currently 4.6W/kg.

Now, back to the boring tempo work to drag up that 20min power....

Home:Ballyhoura

Really fun chart here detailing power to weight ratios for various times at different levels of competition and abilities! Enjoy, at least I do whenever I do a test like this...the results it gives me seem to be slightly wrong though as if they were correct technically I should be winning every race I enter!

EDIT: At 4.16 W/kg for 5min it puts you in cat 2...does that sound about right?

Billy Whizz

That chart you linked to is way off, more up to date one here: http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/images/powerprofile_v4.gif

Also those are American cats, for Irish Cat 2 you'd want 5 min power > 5.5W/kg.

Lumen

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Really fun chart here detailing power to weight ratios for various times at different levels of competition and abilities!

Yes, that's the standard Coggan power chart. I prefer this version:

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

At 4.16 W/kg for 5min it puts you in cat 2...does that sound about right?

Er, no. I don't know what cat2 means in Irish racing terms, and I haven't raced yet, but I fully expect to get my arse kicked even in handicapped club races.

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Enjoy, at least I do whenever I do a test like this...the results it gives me seem to be slightly wrong though as if they were correct technically I should be winning every race I enter!

I think it would be slightly more representative if all races were hill TTs. The chart is ultimately only a set of arbitrary interpolations between couch potato and doped pro.

edit: thanks Billy Whizz, pretty much what I expected

DirkVoodoo

Lumen wrote: »

Er, no. I don't know what cat2 means in Irish racing terms, and I haven't raced yet, but I fully expect to get my arse kicked even in handicapped club races.

So that's what all this intensive training and rigorous power measurement is for, it makes sense now :rolleyes:

Here, I got you one of these:



I have my top tips for next week. Narrowed it down to about 3 riders, all of whom are slightly crazy in their own way. You happen to be one of them.

uberwolf

Lumen wrote: »

but I fully expect to get my arse kicked even in handicapped club races.

you've been following a structured training plan. You'll not struggle in handicapped club races.

Lumen

To supplement my previous race report...

Results from the first Phoenix Park Duathlon here.

I came fourth, under my pseudonym (explanation). I hope the real Paul is happy with the result :pac:

My running was slow, but I expected that being a non-runner (in fact I'm oddly proud).

My transitions were completely crap, 2:03 for T1 and 3:31 for T2. I lost 30 seconds to the leaders in those transitions. I was only 13th in the second run.

I came second in the bike leg, 12:29 for 8.6km (13 seconds behind first place). 41kph is a decent enough speed on a road bike, given the technical bits.

Oddly, according to the results from the experienced race, their fastest bike leg was 20:35 for 13km, which is <38kph.

Something must be wrong there. Why are experienced racers on full TT rigs going so much slower? Surely an extra 50% distance can't make that much difference. Maybe they hold some back for the run (which I clearly failed to do).

I've just signed up for the second and third races, where I'll be in the experienced group (was on waiting list).

Down with running.

Raam

Nice work, Lumen.

blorg

Jesus well done that is good going!

Beasty

Well done Lumen

You'll have to find one of these events without the running bits - you could then get a podium finish:)

Lumen

Thanks. To be honest, the official timing looks way off, though I don't know how since we had timing chips. I have 14 minutes of data from my Powertap so I can't have been cycling for only 12:29; there's no way I can cycle at an average of 41kph on a hilly course with braking, pointy hat or no pointy hat.

Anyway, who cares - after my cyclocross suffering I needed a boost. :pac:

MadHatter

Well done. That's an impressive debut. I'd say they'd have laughed you out of it if you tried for the newbie race again in the second event

I agree the timings do look a little off. For example, last August there was a Formula 1 style duathlon (run, cycle, run, cycle, run), each cycle was 2 laps of same course with the winner, Bryan McCrystal, posting cycle times of 12:42 and 12:55 respectively. I know it was a longer event, but this guy is supposedly a savage on the bike. I'd be suprised if you cycled the 2 laps faster than that - no offence to your good self - especially given your race report mentions you stopped on the bike leg to ask for directions! The transition times seem very long for everyone, perhaps a general problem with the split times across the board. That said, still a very good performance, I suspect you'll finish well up the field in the experienced races now too.

I've signed up for the next two myself, so I'll probably see you at the start line. I plan on not taking first race too seriously, will be more concerned with collecting some stats on garmin than with race result, but hopefully I'll be up to speed for race in March. There, that's the sandbagging out of the way...

shotgunmcos

MadHatter wrote: »

Bryan McCrystal, posting cycle times of 12:42 and 12:55 respectively. I know it was a longer event, but this guy is supposedly a savage on the bike. ...

He sure is, his midweek hour turbo session apparently includes 4 reps of 8mins at 400 watts!

Well done on your first duathlon.. great result pointy hat or no pointy hat

MadHatter

Actually, I'm an idiot. Ignore my comparison above to August duathlon, the cycle leg was a different route (Gardai had Military Road closed that night).

But split times still look strange all the same.

Lumen

Had to abandon a late night turbo session due to creaking from the bottom bracket area (didn't want to wake the kids).

I have this on my Addict, only tonight I was turboing on my Planet-X cross bike.

W.T.F.

So I changed the pedals (which I'd just swapped on from the Addict) to my other Time ones

Still creaked, or rather cracked.

The only remaining thing in common is the rear wheel (Powertap).

What would make a cassette (or hub) creak like that?

Will try another wheel tomorrow night.

On a positive note, my new Tacx Satori is lovely. Loads of resistance means much less noise from the wheel, so now I can really hear all the other noises my bikes make.

Raam

Could be a million different things, one of which is the skewer. Maybe grease it a little.

Beasty

Raam wrote: »

Could be a million different things, one of which is the skewer. Maybe grease it a little.

You can't say that without listing the other 999,999 alternatives you have in mind:)

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

You can't say that without listing the other 999,999 alternatives you have in mind:)

Ironically I was watching House at the time. WWHD? Differential diagnosis people!

Home:Ballyhoura

Lumen wrote: »

Had to abandon a late night turbo session due to creaking from the bottom bracket area

I get that every now and then on my turbo too and I just realised that yours is a Tacx Satori too so maybe it is something to do with that. I initially thought it was coming from the BB too and maybe even a crack in the frame making noise but I would say it is just the skewer!

Lumen

Racing looms.

Mon: nil.
Tue: Cross bike/turbo. 0:17@197W (0:11@tempo). Abandon due to Powertap wheel creaking.
Wed: Cross bike/turbo. 1:00@152bpm, no power data.
Thu: Road bike/turbo. Tempo/V02max+ intervals, 1:06@200W, 156bpm, 796kJ (10@160W, 10@201W, 2@304, 10@202W, 2@306W, 10@202W, 2@312W, 10@210W, 10@160W). Felt good.
Fri, Sat: rest/taper.
Sun: road race cancelled, but cycled to and from. 1:09, 702kJ. 0:20@Z3+, 0:04@300W+.

Summary:
Pedalling: 3:32.
Pedalling@Z3+: 2:17.
Pedalling@300W+: 0:10.

Lumen

Two races planned this coming weekend (club league, duathlon) so will take it fairly easy.

- Tue: RB/Turbo, 0:45, 197W, 144bpm, 535kJ. 10@150W, 15@204W, 5@260W, 10@220W, 5@160W. Started very late, legs feeling niggly so didn't push.
- Thu: RB/Turbo. Did warmup (20@160W) then gadgets failed me, my hamstrings felt crap and I couldn't be arsed to continue. I think I'll resume commuting and running next week - need a bit of time off the turbo.
- Sat: club race.
- Sun: duathlon.

Summary:
Pedalling: about 4:30.
Pedalling@Z3+: about 2:00.
Pedalling@300W+: about 10 mins.

mloc123

Will keep an eye out for you on Sunday then

mloc123

what bike you going with for tomorrow?

Lumen

mloc123 wrote: »

what bike you going with for tomorrow?

TT bike. It needs some action.

Chips Lovell

Good luck and enjoy it. Remember what Tom said yesterday. This is your last one.

Lumen

Race Distances, Experienced Male & Females:
2.6 km run (1 lap)
13.1 km bike (3 laps)
2.6 km run (1 lap)

Feck that was cold.

As I stood at the start line, teeth chattering, I thought to myself: what am I doing here? I'm not a runner - I haven't run a single step since the last one a few weeks ago. It's cold, I have safety pin holes in my Rapha jersey, and I'm standing far too close to a man wearing a headband. I should be in Dundalk, getting dropped in a road race.

I think I ambled around in about 45 minutes (7 minutes behind the winner). I jogged around the first run, HR around 160bpm, then completely ballsed up T1. My gloves were so thick I couldn't get my helmet on. Then having prepared the whole elastic band/shoes on pedal thing I messed up the bike mount and wedged a folded bit of shoe in my heel. Would have been quicker in runners. The rest of the bike leg was OK, then I jogged round the second run without losing any places.

The Planet-X Stealth felt fine (this was my first time on the road with it). Didn't feel any problems putting out the power.

I'm signed up for the third one of the series but my motivation has gone.

Nice to meet mloc123 and MadHatter.

edit: got resulst.

Position 22/65 (in the Experienced Male category).
- Run 1: 10:03, 15.52kph, 6:13 min/mile. Group average: 10:12, fastest: 7:57 (4:55 min/mile).
- T1: 1:20. Group average 1:19, fastest 0:38.
- Bike: 22:44, 34.6kph. Average 25:17, fastest 18:59 (41.4kph).
T2: 00:56. Group average 1:06, fastest 0:40.
- Run 2: 10:27, 14.92kph, 6:28 min/mile. Group average 11:06, fastest 8:15.
- Finish: 45:28. Group average 48.57, fastest 36:40.

abcdggs

Lumen wrote: »

I have safety pin holes in my Rapha jersey,

:eek:

Lumen wrote: »

The Planet-X Stealth felt fine

That saddle looks even weirder in real life than in pictures

Nietzschean

got a taste for the road racing and seen the light?

MadHatter

Bit hard on yourself there Lumen. 23rd is a good placing, especially for someone who admits to not being a runner as these events tend to favour the runners. And even more so considering the bike race yesterday. Look on the bright side - you got a solid workout and a good first test drive for the tri bike in racing conditions.

Lumen wrote: »

Feck that was cold.

Agreed, hands were frozen to the bone getting the stuff organized in transition before the race. Warmed up okay once we got underway.

Lumen wrote: »

I have safety pin holes in my Rapha jersey

Two words - race belt

Lumen wrote: »

Nice to meet mloc123 and MadHatter.

And nice to meet you guys too.

Raam

MadHatter wrote: »

Two words - race belt

Lumen, don't even think about it.

mloc123

Good to meet yourself and MadHatter. Nice race, pity my neck is in bits after landing on my head :rolleyes:

shotgunmcos

for a non runner there is nothing wrong with 6:13/mile pace... at that even you are faster than half of the A/R/T folk. Solid enough bike but your second run was only 20sec or so slower than your first which indicates that

a) you could have given the first run and/or bike a bit more welly
or
b) you are a much better natural runner than you give yourself credit for

mloc123

Lumen wrote: »

Position 22/65 (in the Experienced Male category).
- Run 1: 10:03, 15.52kph, 6:13 min/mile. Group average: 10:12, fastest: 7:57 (4:55 min/mile).
- T1: 1:20. Group average 1:19, fastest 0:38.
- Bike: 22:44, 34.6kph. Average 25:17, fastest 18:59 (41.4kph).
T2: 00:56. Group average 1:06, fastest 0:40.
- Run 2: 10:27, 14.92kph, 6:28 min/mile. Group average 11:06, fastest 8:15.
- Finish: 45:28. Group average 48.57, fastest 36:40.

On the speeds.. the course is shorter than advertised. First run was 2.39km, bike is 11.98km and second run is 2.43km. Fastest bike split average about 37kmph I think

Lumen

mloc123 wrote: »

On the speeds.. the course is shorter than advertised. First run was 2.39km, bike is 11.98km and second run is 2.43km. Fastest bike split average about 37kmph I think

That makes sense, I certainly didn't feel like I was running 6:13/mile pace.

They could at least measure the course properly. :rolleyes:

mloc123

yeah, they seem to have just taken the figures that Belpark have used for the summer duathlons.. ahwell

Lumen

I'm already thinking about my next quarterly training plan, but I'm not quite done with this one yet.

With two weeks to go until I find out whether my 40km TT time has improved, I think I'll focus on comfort and flexibility. This means more running and swimming, and a resumption of commuting by bike.

Tue:
- Commute (~1:20).
- Short run/gym/swim. Finally got around to calibrating my Suunto foot-pod on the treadmill at the gym. The calibration varies with speed, and I've set it to be most accurate at approx 14kph (~7 min/mile pace) which is probably around tempo for me.

Wed:
- Commute (~1:20). Feeling quite drained.
- Two-up trailer intervals, including sprints up the ramps in Blanch Centre multi-storey car park. "Go superfast daddy, go superfast!" Damn, that's fun.

Sat: race.