tawfeeredux's 2011 plan

tawfeeredux

I can't sleep, so I'm going to start on my 2011 plan right now. It'll be a bit rough at first, but I'll put some structure on it as i'm going along.

Reason for plan:

I spend a lot of time thinking about doing things, instead of actually doing them, so I'm hoping that by putting something in writing & then posting it on a forum, I can shame myself into following through.

2010 has been a little better than previous years in terms of acting on the list of things to do - rather than preparing for & doing one sportive (usually the W200) and then getting distracted & spending the rest of the summer playing football, running, etc., this year I've pushed on & done 5/6 sportives, plus I've started racing. I've discovered that my body is capable of a good bit more than I've asked of it over the last few years, and I want to see how much further I can push myself next year.

Goals:

Mostly racing-related. I want to get to a stage next year where i'm competitive at A3 level at least. Would also like to do an Etape or something like that, but that may be for the following year.

Initial Stages:

There's a few things on the to-do list that I'll have to sort out over the next few weeks:

1. Join a club. More than likely one of the clubs in the Orwell/Lucan/UCD, etc. league. Just need to make a freakin decision!
2. Get hip/lower back issue sorted out. Choose a physio, persist with the treatment, do the exercises, get mad with physio if I don't see improvements.
3. Finish building up my Planet X (Sweet Jebus, i bought the damn frame last October & still haven't finished it!)
4. Work out a training plan, including bike work, diet, cross-training, use of HRM/power meters. Ticking off no.1 on the list would go a long ways to starting on this.
5.

As incentive, I've promised myself a nice carbon-framed racing bike if I've made good progress by late 2010/2011. Looking at a TCR Advanced maybe, or, pending the surely imminent lotto win, a Colnago EPS. I need to define what good progress is though & what the time frame is, so I can properly work towards it.

Running out of ideas now, so I think I need to read more of the other training logs on here & then come back to this. It's a start though.

tawfeeredux

Some minor updates just to keep this thing ticking over:

1. Checked with the local club re weekend spins. Nothing on this weekend, so headin out for my first spin with them on Sun 18th.
2. A friend suggested a chiropractor for the hip problem, so I've an appointment set up for next week. Can't come soon enough tbh, as it's burning with pain at times this week.
3. Spacers bought for the Planet X. Thought I might pick up a front mech this evening but no joy. If I could get that tomorrow somewhere, i think i've everything i need to build it up this weekend (on my Lidl workstand:)).
4. Really need to start going back to gym to work on core muscles. This weekend for definite!

tawfeeredux

Core
Got back to the gym again this weekend for some core work. Just back from the gym this evening too, so hopefully I can keep this going.
Warmed up on the threadmill for 20 mins, then started into some bridging exercises. Found them really tough. Didn't think it was that long since I'd last done core exercises, but i was struggling to hold each position for even 25 seconds compared to the 45 seconds I'd easily have done earlier in the year. Tried a few pilates exercises as well, they were a lot easier.

Hoping to get 3 core sessions in per week over the winter, I can do some at home anyways if I can't get to the gym in time. I'm going to do up a programme of core/pilates/yoga exercises that i can do & then divide them into a rotation so i don't get bored.

Hip/lower back
I've been to a chiropractor a couple of times re hip/back problem. He reckons my sacro-iliac joint & pelvis are twisted out of place & it's causing my legs to extend from the hips at different angles. I know my right knee comes closer to the top bar of the bike than the left, and there's a slight imbalance in muscle size around the glutes & hamstrings so i'm thinking this may be the root cause. Another few sessions will be needed to get the problem area straightened up & then it's a matter of addressing the muscle imbalance.

New bike
Finally got the Planet X built up over the weekend, but haven't got out for a decent spin on it yet. I was thinking of doing the Swords Hill climb on the 17th or maybe even the Leinster Road Race Championships the day after, but with a wedding to attend this Friday & no mileage on the new bike (the old bike is currently missing brakes, Ergo levers & a rear derailleur!), I may be giving those a miss. I've signed up for a duathlon though later in the month, so that may be the first (un)competitive outing it gets.

The Bible
Got a copy of Joe Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible, & while it's probably a bit too detailed for my needs, I'm still getting some useful stuff from it. Proper rest, improving on weaknesses rather than concentrating on the things i'm good at, gradual increase of intensity, planning to peak for specific races - probably all common enough sense, but I need to incorporate it into a plan.

Stats
The plan is to start keeping track of a few stats to give me an idea of how things are progressing. For the moment, the only relevant stat is weight which currently is a feathery 65.8kg. Still 3kg heavier than a couple of weeks ago & i can't see it getting much better after Friday!

tawfeeredux

7 weeks since my last update, this is going well...

Still trying to get a bit of structure to this. Working crazy hours & a sore back are not helping.

Fitness Test
Dropped into TCD last month to get a fitness test done (thanks to Neil, aka leftism, & Bernard, thankfully they didn't have to use the big stick!).

Some stats:
Load @ T-Lac: 290W
HR @ T-Lac: 190
% VO2max @ T-Lac: 78%
% HRmax @ T-Lac: 90%

Never having done one of these before, it's hard to evaluate these figures. The impression I got from the testers was that the results were good, but not great, i.e. there's room for improvement.

The Plan
Didn't realise when I went for the test that I'd also be getting a training plan drawn up for me. I'd been getting into more detail with Joe Friel's Bible beforehand, so I've been a while since trying to incorporate the test results & Neil's advice with the stuff I'm taking from Friel.

I'm sticking with HR & RPE as my measuring systems on a day-to-day basis, but intend to go back for another fitness test in the New Year just to see where the other measurements are at. Don't think there's any point yet investing in a power system.

The test results seem to tie in with the Self-Assessment section in the chapter on Testing. Endurance would be a strong point, with strength & power needing work. Speed skill probably could also do with improvement. Would love to have a go at CX racing for the latter, but finding it tough to make the time for anything right now.

The Action

Only started taking notes the last couple of weeks, but in the last 7 weeks, I reckon I've fitted in about 6 runs, half on the road, half in the gym. Maybe 3-4 bike sessions, mostly higher cadence to ease the pressure on the back, & on twisty roads to try & improve road handling ability. Only recently purchased a new HR monitor, but I'd reckon half of that's been done in zone 1 (recovery), 30-40% in zone 2 (aerobic) & rest between zone 3 (tempo) & zone 0 (taking it handy).

Also started doing weights. I've read the arguments for & against, but I've always liked weights. Taking it very easy for the time being. Back seems to hold up well in the gym, but don't want to overdo it. When I've done weights before, it was always mostly upper body focused with heavier weights at 10 reps. Now doing much lighter weights (c40% 1RM) at 15-20 reps, with a good balance between upper & lower body (leg press, lat pull-down, squats, chest press, seated row, hamstring curl, standing row, heel raises).

Along with the exercises & stretches prescribed by physio, I'm also getting back into the core exercises, using some pilates stuff from classes i did last year.

To Do List

Finish off Annual Training Plan as per Joe Friel. Think I'm still in Prep phase, but would need to start into Base 1 fairly soon. Need to plan workouts a few weeks in advance if possible. Currently doing it ad hoc, as time & energy levels allow. Conscious of avoiding over-training, but suspect I'm nowhere near that level yet.

Also need to get out on a few more group spins. Bike handling in close quarters is something I've to work on.

Edit: dunno if there's any mods reading this, but any chance I could change the title of this thread, it sucks!

Beasty

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Edit: dunno if there's any mods reading this, but any chance I could change the title of this thread, it sucks!

You want to change it to "it sucks"? Are you sure?:D

Lumen

From what I know of A3 riders, I think 290W threshold @ 65kg is a decent enough place to start.

You have an obviously advantage in being light in that you can wheelsuck on the flat and hang in on the hills.

Sort of depends what you mean by "competitive" though.

tawfeeredux

Beasty wrote: »

You want to change it to "it sucks"? Are you sure?:D

Ha, ha, mite be an accurate description alright. No, can it be left at tawfeeredux's 2011 plan?

Edit: Thanks Beasty

tawfeeredux

Lumen wrote: »

From what I know of A3 riders, I think 290W threshold @ 65kg is a decent enough place to start.

You have an obviously advantage in being light in that you can wheelsuck on the flat and hang in on the hills.

Sort of depends what you mean by "competitive" though.

Not sure what I mean either. I've had just 2 A4 races & feel I'm competitive at that level, but I don't know what sort of gap there is between that & A3. Or it could be that I came in fresh to those races while most of the rest of the field was winding down after a long season, so that maybe A4 level is my limit.

Given that next season will be my first proper go at racing, I'm probably better to find my level as the year progresses. I'm still making objectives, but depending on how things go during the winter/spring, it might be say 'top A4 rider in target race' rather than 'top A3 rider in target race'.

morana

Lumen wrote: »

From what I know of A3 riders, I think 290W threshold @ 65kg is a decent enough place to start.

You have an obviously advantage in being light in that you can wheelsuck on the flat and hang in on the hills.

Sort of depends what you mean by "competitive" though.

The only issue is that A3's dont race up hills!!!
4.5w/kg is fine for the A3 category. If you look at your test and see what you are doing at around 4mmol of lactic this is kinda the wattage that you would be doing in a TTor up the road in the break. Anyway its a good start.

Be sure to train with like minded individuals. Also, if you have a power meter and go out with a big group you will notice that a high percentage of your time will be spent not pedalling-great for recovery and handling but not so good for training!!

Anyway best of luck with it and dont be afraid to say hello!!!

tawfeeredux

A better week overall.

Mon: Weights (adaptation phase as per Friel)
Tues: Rest
Wed: 1 hour spin (well, 2 half hours spins [zone 1/2] either side of browsing for more ways to max out my credit card)
Thurs: 6km run (mostly zone 2)
Fri: Weights + some spinning on exercise bike
Sat: 95km club spin (mostly zone 1)

Gonna have 1 more week (2 sessions) of adaptation weights before moving on to transition phase. Mid-week endurance workouts are more likely now to be runs rather than bike spins, partly cos it's easier to find the time for them, and partly cos the running seems to help ease the back pain. Hopefully though, I can keep up the club spins at the weekend.

tawfeeredux

An ok sort of week.

Sun: Morning, 25km spin (testing a few adjustments to saddle & bars). Afternoon, 5km threadmill, weights.
Mon: Rest
Tues: 1.5 hour bike
Wed: Ski machine warmup, weights.
Thurs: 5km run
Fri: 3km threadmill, weights
Sat: Club spin, c.70km

Possibly did a bit too much leg weights this week. Certainly felt it today. On the other hand, the back felt better than it has in a while. I'm wearing the HR monitor but doing little or nothing with it. Need to finish reading Friels Bible & figure out what sort of workouts I should be doing, & when.

tawfeeredux

Not a great week

Sun: Recovery Spin, 1 hour
Mon: Back sore, not in the mood for gym
Tues: late getting out of work, 0.5 hour gym, warmed up, stretched, went home.
Wed: Weights, 1 hour. Upped the weights a bit (started into Maximum Transition phase).
Thurs: 1 hour bike, sore back & hip.
Fri: Wasn't planning on any workout due to sore back, but a cold came on during the day so all training plans for the weekend on hold.
Sat: Missed club spin. Went for 5km walk in the evening which helped the back, but made the cold worse.

tawfeeredux

Time to dust this old thread off :rolleyes:.

Last update was towards the end of November. Can't remember what happened in December (most likely not much on the training front).

So I started into the New Year full of determination to get myself organised a bit better. Decided to start keeping details in a spreadsheet rather than in a diary form (either here or in a notebook). Looking at it now, the spreadsheet format is handy in terms of filtering to see when & how often i did certain types of workouts, but I find that I'm not recording other aspects of training (i.e. how tired i feel, how good/bad certain workouts felt) in as much detail.

I've also just realised that what I've saved on my desktop as 'Annual Training Plan' is not that at all, but closer to a training diary. I have no plan really. All i'm doing is looking at the nice graphs in the Planning Workouts chapter of Friel's book, figuring out what period of training i'm supposed to be in (e.g. Base 1, Build 1, etc.), selecting one of the workout codes he has listed for a typical week in that period, then trying to do that workout. Sometimes i'll go for a spin, do some random efforts, come home & figure out from his Workout Menu what sort of workout I can mark it down as.

This is my first full season though, & i'm learning as i'm going along. With work calming down a bit & (touch wood) the back getting sorted properly, I might be able to start planning more than a few days in advance. I know I need to work on my anaerobic endurance & power. I've been throwing in the occasional flat-out sprint effort in some of the spins, but I need to be more focused if I want to see any benefit in a race situation.

For the time being, here's a link to an edited version of the training diary:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AshhgQxGK_75dHlHazFKRDExbHJBTllLY1g3ZzNZZVE&hl=en_GB&authkey=CIWt2u0G


Edit: codes in that spreadsheet correspond to Friel's workouts. For those that don't have his book, brief description as follows:

E(endurance)1: Recovery
E2: Aerobic (zones 1-2)
E3: Fixed Gear (zones 3-4)
F(force)1: Moderate Hills (zones 1-4)
S(speed)1: spin ups
S2: Isolated Leg
M(muscular-endurance)1: Tempo (zone 3)

tawfeeredux

Sun: 2:00 spin. Mostly zone 3 i'd say (no HR monitor). A good few short drags done mostly in the saddle to build up strength.
Mon: 1:00 gym. Weights & exercise bike after.
Tues: 0:45 spin. Light workout. Zone 1-2.
Wed: 2:00 spin. Zone 2-3. Out to Brittas & back over Seskin hill. Nice new road surface since the last time i'd been out. Will use this for training again.
Thurs: Club league race. c.0:45 probably zone 3-4 mostly. Legs tied up quickly any time i made a sustained hard effort.
Fri: rest
Sat: 2:30 spin. Easy club spin, c.70km.

tawfeeredux

Sun: 2:00 race. Puncture 1st lap>2 laps on own>3 laps with A1/2s. Laps not recorded properly on computer, would have been interesting to see how they compared. Over 80km at a decent pace (40kph avg).
Mon: 1:30 gym. Weights & 45 mins aerobic exercise bike after.
Tues: 1:30 aerobic spin.
Wed: rest
Thurs: 2:00. Club spin in absence of league race. Very hard session, up & overs with scratch guys making it up, up, up & overs at times. Pushed myself hard, toughest workout by far this year, really happy after.
Fri: rest
Sat: 2:30 spin. Easy club spin, c.70km.
Sun: 2:00 race. Good & bad points. Climbed well, bridged to break, but positioning in bunch still poor, & sprinting woeful.
Mon: 1:30 gym. Light weights (been overdoing these lately) + 45 mins aerobic exercise bike.
Tues: 1:30 spin. Hill repeats. Legs gave up before lungs. A few form sprints on the way home.

morana

I assume you want people to comment!

I dont get the Monday sessions tbh. 45 mins on the biuke would be okay for me but the weights .

You seem to be going well so maybe its working.

tawfeeredux

well i'm kinda following Friel's programme, which suggests using weights for strength maintenance throughout season, except for week leading up to target races. I don't have his book to hand at the moment, but it was something like 4 phases of weight training:- adaptation, transition, maximum(?), & maintenance. I missed a good chunk of the middle two phases though earlier in the season, so i'm thinkin of dropping the weights altogether as I may not have the proper base built up. It's certainly something i'd be focusing on getting right for next season.

tawfeeredux

Wed: 1:30 spin. Recovery after hill repeats the day before.
Thurs: 2:30. Spin to Brittas for league race. 3 laps with semi-scratch & scratch. Felt good 1st lap, then tired as race went on. Sat in for most of last lap to save something for sprint. Not enough. Too far back when the rush began, made it to 6th (9th overall). Work to do.
Fri: 2:00. Recovery spin with a couple of lads from club. Niggle in the Achilles tendon all day. Very tired in the evening.
Sat: Rest.
Sun: Rest
Mon: 2:20 spin. Hilly workout. Form not great. Achilles still bothering me. Messed around with bike/cleat/insole setup in the evening.
Tues: 1:30 spin. 45 mins easy warm up, felt better than last few days. Next 45 mins - form sprints. 15-20 sec on, then 5 mins rest. Focused on staying low when out of saddle, trying to maintain speed when back in saddle. Tried getting out of the saddle again to finish off each sprint - tough! Decent workout i think, obviously it'd be a different story trying that after a hard hour or two's racing, but if I can remember to recruit all the leg muscles, not just the quads, i might see an improvement.

morana

the good thing is you can do the strength stuff in the saddle on the bike. But even so after a hard weekend I find it hard to have my sore muscles battered again on Monday (and tues) so recovery works for me on those days.

a lot of guys dont do any strength work in the winter and I generally mean on bike stuff rather than in the weight room. I dont know if weights work. theres a lot of debate about this. you're well organised and seem to be doing well. You should talk to eugene M form your club about training he is well clued in about what to do (not that what you are doing is wrong)!

best of luck with the rest of the season

tawfeeredux

Wed: 1:00 spin. Recovery after sprints workout the day before.
Thurs: 2:00. Spin to Black Bull for league race. 1 lap (Dorey's Forge-Batterstown) in semi-scratch with a handicap over scratch. Attacked up Dorey's Forge a few times & finally got away on the last section before turning on to main road. 4-5km on my own down the main road, & then caught by a couple of guys, then bunch came up to us about 1-2km later. Recovered for a while, then went to front to try & help reel in break. Felt strong towards the end, but didn't realise the finish line was where it was, so rolled in with the bunch.
Fri: 2:00. Long hills workout. Stayed seated the whole way up. Couple of long sprints at the end.
Sat: 1:30 track session. Headed over to Sundrive to get my accreditation. Wasn't sure about the fixed gear at first, especially the stopping part, but gradually got into it. Good advice from the lads in the track club had me reasonably confident by session's end. Finished off with a flying 200 in 14:31 (at least I was faster than the kids!). Going to try & go sub-13 before end of summer. Not sure how realistic a target that is, but hopefully it'll help improve the sprinting regardless.

morana wrote: »

You should talk to eugene M form your club about training he is well clued in about what to do (not that what you are doing is wrong)!

best of luck with the rest of the season

Cheers morana, was talking to Eugene after the club race on Thurs, he went through some of the speed workouts you had him doing. they're similar to what i'm taking from Friel at the moment. Possibly i'm taking too much recovery time after the sprints. Will have a go on Sunday at sets of sprints with shorter recovery time between the sprints & see how it feels.

tawfeeredux

Sun: 1:15 sprints workout. 35 mins warm up, then short sprints of c.15 seconds, followed by 3 mins recovery. Focused on spinning pedals as much as possible & not throwing bike all over the place. Legs very heavy at the end.
Mon: Rest
Tues: 1:50 hill workout. Longer climbs. Tempo c.15 mins, threshold 6 mins, recovery 5 mins, tempo 15 mins, threshold 6 mins, recovery 5 mins, tempo 5 mins, threshold 5 mins, recovery 25 mins.
Wed: 3:00 track league (including cycling over & back, & the hanging round between races). Started in C category (novices). 4 races - 8 lap progressive, 10 lap scratch, reverse win & out, & 4 lap handicap. Finished 2nd, 2nd, 1st & 1st. Upgraded to Bs for next week :rolleyes:.
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Rest (wasn't planning on this, but probably worked out ok in the end).
Sat: 2:00 track training. Structured warmup, incl. seated sprints. Then flying 200s from behind the derny (X 4). New facilities at Sundrive just opened & are impressive.
Sun: Race. win in the A3 Kieran Hammond. Aside from the result, found my positioning was a good bit better this time. I was able to hold a position closer to the front for most of the race which happened to be important in this one, as someone lost the wheel going up the climb the 1st time, with the result that the bunch split & those behind never got back on.
Mon: tomorrow i think i mite rest...

tawfeeredux

Mon: Rest. Very tired.
Tues: 1:00 turbo. A half-hearted session, still tired. One of the guys at the track last week told me he could spin up to c.220 & could sustain 200rpm for about 30 seconds. Had to have a go naturally. Got to 183rpm, kept it in mid 170s for about 5 seconds, then decided "to f&*k with that".
Wed: 2:30 track league. First time in B group - a lot harder. Took a while to get going, took 2nd in the third race (scratch) after wrecking myself with another lad in a 2-man break (club-mate Kevin helped with some crafty tactics to make sure we stayed away). Last race was a derny-paced event & I took off like a rocket when it pulled in. For about half a lap, i thought i was flyin, then i hit a wall & rolled in after the group. Bit annoyed afterwards that I didn't at least try to keep up with them for the last half lap.
Thurs: 2:00. Club league hill climb TT, Bohernabreena. 13:46. 2nd overall & 1st semi-limit. Upgraded to scratch. A good evening.
Fri: 1:00 recovery spin.
Sat: 2:00 spin. Club spin, very light.
Sun: 2:00 Race. Waller Cup, Bohernabreena. Punctured on 3rd lap. Rode very hard for 2 1/2 laps to try & get back on. Not a hope. Probably best i didn't either, would have been kicked out of A3 if i had;). Nice course, not half as bad as I thought it would be having read last year's thread.

tawfeeredux

Mon: 1:00 Track training. Structured warmup, then some seated sprints to work the core muscles. Rain cut session short.

Tues: 1:15 race. Mondello Park. Good hard session, felt really strong all evening. Worked hard at front of A3s, tried breaking off a few times, including on the first lap when i suggested to a guy from Mullingar who was alongside me at the front that we go for it. He laughed & said you must be joking. He came after me when i went though, but we were quickly brought back. After about 50-55 mins, rode really hard at the front to catch the A4s, caught them & then eased off a bit as the A1/2s caught on with just over a lap to go. Worked back up to front on last lap, then attacked around a bend. Ryan Sherlock was on my wheel & we stayed away until the third last corner, when i went clear again. Was clear up to last corner but caught by Doyle & Aherne on finishing straight. 3rd - good result. Looks like i only got 1 point for it though as it was just under 50km:rolleyes:.

Wed: 2:30 track league. B group wasn't as strong this week with some guys having been upgraded from last week & some others not in attendance. Won the prog race, keirin & reverse win & out, but got worked over royally in the 3up sprint! Didn't hear my clubmate telling me to go early & then got caught out as one guy went & the other just sat there with me on his wheel. By the time I copped on to what was happening & went after the first guy, he was too far ahead. A tricky event to get right, tactically i was very naive. Up to A group for next week.

Thurs: Rest. Marshalled in lead car at club league. Cool to see it from that perspective for the first time.

Fri: 2:00 aerobic spin. Nice steady spin into head wind & back. In spite of track work lately, my cadence seems to be getting grindier, avg. 79rpm. think it used to be in mid to high 80s earlier in the year.

Sat: 3:00 track training. Hard session behind the derny. 15 mins warmup, then 5mins at 35kph, followed by a flat out sprint for about 100-150m, then straight into 5 mins at 40kph, followed by another sprint, then straight into 5 mins at 45kph, again with a sprint at the end. Recovered for 5 mins, then the same again at 45kph, 50kph & 53kph. Guy on derny was pushing 55kph for a couple of laps, but i was losing him on the bends, had to beg him to ease off. 2kph reduction, cheers man! Still managed a sprint at the end somehow. lay in a heap on the grass for about 20 mins to recover. Then hung around for a while at the track open day. Tried another flying 200m before leaving, 14:51 - sh**e.

Sun: 2:15 race. Emyvale GP. Tough race. Didn't really fancy it at first, even warmup was half-hearted. Messed with the cleats for a bit, then left rain gilet on for the start. Only started to come round on second lap when I went to the front. Headwind was hard, but there was no excuse for the race to come practically to a standstill on a couple of occasions. Easier to stay at the front out of trouble. Clubmate suggested I attack at the end of the second lap, i thought that was a bit early but didn't argue & actually went a bit earlier when the pace dropped right down after a tight corner. Stayed away with a guy from Team Vision for about half a lap, then another few kms on my own. Halfway around the 4th lap, the same clubmate suggested i attack again at the end of the lap. So, so hard from there to the finish. Headwind was horrible. Stayed away though for 3rd win of the year! Shattered at the end.

Mon: rest

tawfeeredux

1st week in a while that i've struggled with recovery. Didn't help that i got 2 hours sleep the night after Emyvale which was the hardest race so far this year. Between this & my 1st stage race coming up next weekend, it was difficult to figure out what to be doing on the bike this week. Decided to ease off on the intensity apart from the track session on Wed.

Tues: 1:00 gym. 20 mins light work on exercise bike, then a lot of stretching & some core work. Weight now at 64.1kg.
Wed: 2:00 track league. First night in the A group. Picked up a 2nd & 3rd in the unknown & kilo dash. Legs felt really sore when flat out, tied up in both the kilo & devil, but at least held on for 2nd in one of them.
Thurs: 1:30 recovery spin. Legs still heavy.
Fri: rest
Sat: 1:20 moderate hills. Still not 100%, but felt legs coming back to life a bit.
Sun: 7:00 spin. LCRC Around the Mountains event. Really enjoyable day. Well fed by the Air Corps, brekkie, lunch & dinner. Motorbikes outriders keeping all roads clear for us. Mostly a recovery type spin, but with an intense effort up the Wicklow Gap included, most of which spent hanging on to the wheel of the club's super-climber. Couldn't have come round him even if i tried. Alternated between looking at his rear wheel & wondering how the hell he was still in the big ring, & looking up the road to see were we getting anywhere near the end.
Mon: rest & leg massage, ouch!! Thought about doing a very easy half hour session on the turbo after, but legs didn't want to know.
Tues: 1:00 spin. Handy spin over to Phoenix Park with a few 80% sprint efforts thrown in along the way. One hard effort up Somerton Lane on the way back followed by another on the short hill out of Lucan village.

velo.2010

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Mostly a recovery type spin, but with an intense effort up the Wicklow Gap included, most of which spent hanging on to the wheel of the club's super-climber. Couldn't have come round him even if i tried. Alternated between looking at his rear wheel & wondering how the hell he was still in the big ring, & looking up the road to see were we getting anywhere near the end.
.

Nice to see your human after all! Tell me he didn't get up the steep bit by the carpark in the big ring?:eek:. You've done a shed load of intensity in the past month gradually building every week(thats the idea I presume). Does the plan become more intense for the next month or is that as hard as you can reasonably push yourself at this stage? you can tell me i promise i wont tell anyone else!;)

tawfeeredux

velo.2010 wrote: »

Nice to see your human after all! Tell me he didn't get up the steep bit by the carpark in the big ring?:eek:.

I'm pretty sure he was in the small ring for that. First time i've ever seen him not using the big ring!

velo.2010 wrote: »

You've done a shed load of intensity in the past month gradually building every week(thats the idea I presume). Does the plan become more intense for the next month or is that as hard as you can reasonably push yourself at this stage? you can tell me i promise i wont tell anyone else!;)

I genuinely don't know how much more is left in the tank. With Ras Dhun na nGall coming up this weekend, i felt it was better to ease off on the instensity this week in the hope of coming into it as fresh as possible. In terms of the next month, a lot of it depends on how Donegal goes. I'm 2 points off A2 so would be hopeful of making it up to that level at some stage. I'd be slightly worried though about the longer races in that category, a lot of the recent work has been short intense stuff. Anyway, I'll see how I feel after Donegal & then set more targets if I feel up to it. I'll probably take a break from racing in July (hoping to get a few weeks away then, but depends on work), re-build the base fitness with longer mileage, and then try & get to a peak again for August.

velo.2010

Keep it going! You'll be as good as racing against A1's when you reach A2 cat in any case. Thats motivation surely?

Like I said to you before, If I'm still about for next year I would hope to incorporate that harder intensity into a decent programme(probably means picking up a copy of that 'bible of training'). Plus, I think I have the mileage now in the legs.:rolleyes:

tawfeeredux

Wed: 2:00 track league. Nice relaxed evening at Sundrive. First evening this year that we weren't freezing while waiting for the next race. Finished 3rd in prog race after making a good drive to catch & pass Tutschel on the finishing straight. Did a flying 200 for the match up sprints (can't remember the time, not the slowest though:)). Up against Sean Curtis in the match up & though i got beat, i was challenging him coming down the finishing straight. Guys at the track reckon the sprinting has come on really well since i started at it a few weeks ago.
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 1:15 race. 1st stage Ras Dhun na nGall. Report here.
Sat(1): 00:06:52:93! 4 hundreds of a second off 2nd place in the hill TT second stage. Need to get that skinsuit soon:rolleyes:.
Sat(2): 2:30 race. 3rd stage. Rode a stupid race today, left myself boll*xed at the end when I should have just sat in all day & conserved energy for the final stage.
Sun: 3-3:30 race. 4th stage. Nice handy spin up Glengesh at the end of a doddle of a stage. 3rd on the stage, 2nd overall. F*cked beyond belief at the end. Scenes of carnage at the top of Glengesh.
Mon: 1:00 spin. Nice recovery spin. Surprised that my legs felt up to a spin, so decided to head out for an hour. Knee warmers, woolly base layer & an extra jersey, felt so good to be warm on a bike again:).
Tues: meant to do an easy hour on the turbo just to keep the legs moving, but ran out of time. rest so.

Diarmuid

You can stop training now and let the rest of us catch up

tawfeeredux

Diarmuid wrote: »

You can stop training now and let the rest of us catch up

Never

tawfeeredux

Wed: 2:00 track league. After the nice warm evening last Wed, it was back to shivering in between races. Borrowed a turbo from the club house with the intention of keeping warm, but quickly got bored of it. First couple of races (Hare & Hound, & 1 kilo dash) were short & very, very fast. Quads felt like concrete, but I wasn't the only one. Sat up in the first one, can't remember what happened in the dash. Felt I was coming round a bit when we got to the Devil race (last & out), but wasn't paying attention & ended up being first eliminated. Took 3rd in the 15 lap handicap, so kept the points ticking over for the league, but results getting harder to come by in the A group.
Thurs: 1:30 race. Club league - 2 laps of Mullagh circuit. First race in scratch group. Legs felt good. Attacked from the gun with Diarmuid & when we were caught after a few kms, attacked again on my own. Stayed away for a lap. Last lap, had a few efforts again, but legs were tying up a bit. Relieved when a club mate attacked with a few kms to go, so I could make an excuse to sit in. Took 5th in the sprint at the end, happy enough with that as I thought I was getting dropped when the sprinting started but managed to get back up to the small group of guys contesting the sprint just as they were crossing the line.
Fri: 0:45 spin. Legs very heavy after club race on previous evening. Light spin to try & loosen them up a bit. Didn't feel like they were responding so decided to head home. On the way home, just 10 mins from the house, got caught in a thunder storm with a heavy dose of sleet. Soaked through. Flashbacks to stage 4 Ras Dhun na ngall followed!
Sat: 2:00 race. Christy MacManus Memorial. First race as an A2. Wore my blue A3 number as I don't have my new number yet, so there were a few exclamations along the lines of "Ffs, how are you still an A3?" before the start:rolleyes:. Attacked a couple of times on the drags, but there was no zip in the legs. Apparently, i was being 'marked' too. Eventually, got across to a breakaway with a couple of laps to go & stayed away with them to finish 4th.
Sun: rest.

tawfeeredux

Mon: 1:15 race. Mondello Park (1st stage Leinster 3 day). 3rd time racing in Mondello & it doesn't get any less hard or less fun. First time going anti-clockwise around the circuit. A bit faster than the clockwise circuit. Forgot to reset computer, but avg. speed was somewhere around 44kph. First race where i haven't been in a break . Decided with about 2 laps to go that i'd try to work for the sprinters. Tried to push a high pace on last lap, but didn't have the legs to sustain it.
Tues: 1:15 race. Kilsharvan (2nd stage Leinster 3 day). Another fast, hard race. A2/A1 racing involves a lot of attacking, counter-attacking, then more attacking:rolleyes:. Lots of guys with serious power - was in a 2-man break with a guy from Navan & I was in bits trying to stay on his wheel. Even when the decisive break had gone, we were still attacking each other, think there was unplaced prizes up for grabs.
Wed: 2:00 spin. Recovery spin. Out to Batterstown & back to help marshal at the 3rd stage of the 3 day.
Thurs: 3:00 incl. c.1:00 race. Club league race up Sally Gap. Finished 3rd. Happy with the result, but need to race smarter with the standard of riders in scratch & A2/A1. Spent a lot of the climb at the front of a small group, attacking every so often to try & shake them from my wheel & see if I could make inroads on Frank who had gone up the road ahead of us. Got away with that in A4 & A3 to a lesser extent, but as the senior guys in the club keep reminding me, i need to use my brain a bit more.
Fri: rest
Sat: 2:00 spin. Light spin, but legs didn't feel great. Back bothering me a little bit again.
Sun: 3:00 race. Donamon Dynamos GP. Finished 8th in a small field of c.25-30 A1/2s. Was a bit concerned going into the race about the distance (112km) as I hadn't raced this far before, but in the end, I felt I got the extra kms ok. Roads were very heavy in parts, & the legs felt awful on the first lap. Was warned beforehand that it was a race of attrition, so just concentrated on hanging in. Pace very high for the first two laps, then it eased off on the third. A 4-man break formed about lap 4-5, & stupidly I decided to try & bridge on my own. Made it across after a hard effort, but the rest of the bunch (about 14 left at this stage) came across just after - a waste of an effort. The decisive break went with 2 laps to go & I missed it. I half expected someone to drag me up to the break, & by the time I realised this wasn't going to happen, it was too late. 6 of us worked for a bit, then I went on my own. Spent a lap and a half on my todd, with the break in sight at times, but never close enough. Started to feel the distance around 100km, was getting pains in my glutes & down the side of my quads. One thing I know I need to work on during the winter is making more use of my hamstrings & glutes when pedalling - i'm all quads at the moment. Was surprised at my avg. cadence after - 91 when it's normally around 80-85. As someone told me after, it's a pedaller's circuit, you can't grind your way around it.
Mon: rest. Legs very stiff after yesterday's race. Similar feeling to having run a 10km, very difficult to walk down stairs, etc. Went to physio for the back. Got some massage work done too on the hips/quads. Muscle knots + physio's elbow = PAIN!

Getting to a stage now where I probably need to take a break from the racing & go back & rebuild the fitness. Had my first race of over 100km yesterday & while it wasn't too bad, i feel i need to get more base kms in. Don't think any of the LSD spins over the winter/spring were over 100km. Most of the A2 racing I've done so far has been short & fast & while probably good for developing power, the stamina is going to fall off unless i get some longer spins in over the next few weeks. Difficult to say 'No' to races though when you get used/addicted to the buzz .

Beasty

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Getting to a stage now where I probably need to take a break from the racing & go back & rebuild the fitness. Had my first race of over 100km yesterday & while it wasn't too bad, i feel i need to get more base kms in. Don't think any of the LSD spins over the winter/spring were over 100km. Most of the A2 racing I've done so far has been short & fast & while probably good for developing power, the stamina is going to fall off unless i get some longer spins in over the next few weeks. Difficult to say 'No' to races though when you get used/addicted to the buzz .

You can use races for training - you're doing some back to back stuff which should help build the stamina. Just try and shelter in the group a bit more rather than attacking - that may also give you a bit more opportunity to try out the sprinting

Also I find a bit of variety helps recovery. I'm probably in a similar position (admittedly at a lower level), but trying to keep fresh for the vets TT league, whilst building up to the track championships in a couple of weeks. I'll be trying to take it a bit easier than normal in the Swords League race on Wednesday (on their flattest course;)), with a commute today and another on Thursday and a bit of recovery over the weekend before the next 25m TT on the Tuesday. Then it's Disneyland Paris for a few days and I'll take the opportunity to spend an hour or so on the gym bikes each day, hopefully meaning I will be prepared for the vets track championships, followed by another week's holiday with no bike work at all.

tawfeeredux

Beasty wrote: »

Just try and shelter in the group a bit more rather than attacking - that may also give you a bit more opportunity to try out the sprinting

I've gone into some races thinkin I'll just sit in & do nothing & wait for the sprint, but then start getting twitchy & end up going off the front almost in spite of myself. Think I have Tourette's syndrome in my legs:rolleyes:.

Dermot Illogical

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Think I have Tourette's syndrome in my legs:rolleyes:.

This is where they shout "Shut up brain!"?

lalorm

I have that bible. I started reading it and had good intentions, but didn't stick to any real structure while training. Interesting that you are still doing weights throughout the year. I stopped once the racing started. Time to blow the dust off that book and venture back to the gym once a week. Oh that that climb at the back of Brittas kicks ass. Been training up there after you showed us the new road surface a while back. The other side is pure torture!

tawfeeredux

Haven't been doing the weights now myself for a few weeks. The intention had been to keep doing them apart from the week before target races, but wasn't getting to the gym often enough. I was worried that if i went back pushing weights after not having been in 2 weeks or so, the legs would be sore for a few days after, meaning i'd have to cut back on the on-the-bike training. So i've left it out for the last while. Having said that, i might ease back into it next month while i'm rebuilding the fitness again.

Btw, you know that the Brittas side of that climb is just for warming up, right? You do yer training on the other side .

lalorm

Yep, same reason why I stopped the weights. But I've noticed that the power has dropped a little since stopping so after France I'll hit them again once a week.

tawfeeredux

Tues: 3:00 spin. Light effort, but back was sore for most of the way & my right leg felt like it was asleep. Probably should have called it a day after an hour but stubbornly kept going. After some rain in the first hour, it cleared up nicely & i didn't want to waste the evening.
Wed: rest
Thurs: 1:00 spin. Even lighter effort than Tuesday, but back & right leg felt even worse. Couldn't get any power through the right leg.
Fri: rest & physio. A strain in the quad muscle & the usual tightness/crookedness in the lower back is the diagnosis. Rest for a few days.
Sat & Sun: rest - of course the sun now comes out :rolleyes:.

tawfeeredux

Mon: 1:00 gym. Light half hour on exercise bike, still had pain in quad. Back pain not as bad as recently. Another half hour then stretching & core exercises. Weight up to 66.5kg (had gone down as far as 63.5kg a couple of weeks ago).
Tues: 1:00 gym. 20 mins warm up on exercise bike, then some weights work. Concentrating on hamstrings & glutes & using light weights with reps of 20. As I can't push the quads too much at the moment, I figured I might as well try to address the relatively weak hammies.
Wed: 2:00 spin. A mostly light effort. Was meant to be doing the last night of the track league this evening, but at the time I didn't think I should risk the intensity involved. As it was, the quad & back didn't feel great for the first 30-40 mins & mostly out of frustration, i decided to increase the effort with a few 10-15 second sprint efforts. For some reason, the extra load seemed to kick the sore areas into life & ended up not feeling too bad at all for the last hour.
Thurs: 2:00 spin. Out to the club league race in Brittas & back. Didn't race as I could feel the quad very slightly still on the way out, so put my name down for marshalling.
Fri: 1:00 gym. same as Tuesday, except I had a go on the leg press machine at light weights to see how the quad would hold up. Not too bad.
Sat: 4:00 spin. Light effort, mostly zone 2 i'd say. Started to feel a bit of ache after 3 hours, so stopped for coffee & did a bit of stretching. Route mapped here.
Sun: 3:00 spin. Hilly workout. Decided to test the injuries with a bit of climbing. Route here. Felt little or no pain in the quad or back, but judging by how heavy the left leg felt after some of the climbs, the right (injured) leg is still not operating at full tilt.

Feeling a lot more positive about the injuries now though, last couple of weeks have been frustrating. Had hoped to get back to some focused training during that time, but the injury has meant that when getting on the bike, i've only been able to go out & test to see if there was any progress from the physio sessions. Might chance a race during the week to see how it holds up now.

tawfeeredux

Mon: 2:00 spin (i think...). Can't remember where I went or what sort of workout this was. I guess it was a recovery-type effort. Slightly concerning that i can't remember what i did a week ago .
Tues: 2:00 spin. Over to Phoenix Park, did a few laps (maybe 7-8) of the S-bends & Kyber Pass. Sort of an interval workout. Did the Kyber in the saddle at about 80-90%, then recovered until I got back to the turnoff for the S-bends, did a form sprint to the first bend, then recovered til I got to the drag again. Gets really boring in the park though, felt like I was there for an hour & a half, but when I checked it had only been 40 mins. One hard effort up Somerton Lane on the way home, felt great until about half way up, then ran out of steam. Left leg still seems to be over-worked compared to the right. Can't really feel quad injury when on the bike, but the right leg is still not pulling it's weight. Back still sore.
Wed: 1:30 gym/1:30 spin. Back had been at me again in the morning so went to the gym & did a bit on the threadmill. Have found in the past that running helps with the back pain. Probably wouldn't have been a bad workout if I hadn't then gone and done some weights (hamstrings, very light leg press & upper body), together with some fairly strenuous physio exercises. Didn't feel too bad leaving the gym, so decided to get on the bike for a light spin. Back & legs felt quite comfortable for a change though it was a small ring spin all the way.
Thurs: 3:00 spin, incl 1:00 race. Out to Black Bull for club league. Legs felt sore & heavy all day after yesterday's gym workout, and possibly would have been better off resting. Off with scratch & hung in most of the way, but sat up towards end of second lap. Took the long way home at a light pace to keep the mileage up.
Fri: pretty sure this was a rest day.
Sat: 4:30 spin. Light spin through north county Dublin. Ended up in Rush which seems to be a bit of a dead-end, had to retrace my route back to Swords. Put in a few sprint efforts along the way, but now the left quad is getting seized up very quickly.
Sun: rest
Mon: 1:20 sprints. Getting up to 120rpm out of the saddle. Can do a bit better than that in the saddle but can't push the same gears when seated. Probably just need to work on getting to the same RPM in progressively bigger gears.
Tues: 1:00 gym. 10 mins on threadmill, some less strenuous physio exercises & copious amounts of stretching.

tawfeeredux

Wed: 2:00, track league. 1st week of Autumn league at Sundrive. Was a bit concerned beforehand about what effect the short but intense exertions of the track races would have on recent aches & pains, but it turned out not too bad. Didn't quite go full tilt at any of the races. Even if I had, I think i'd have been struggling to get back up to the pace that the rest of the A group were at. Needless to say, no points scored in any of the races.
Thurs: 1:30, spin. Hill rep session at maybe 70-80%. Only did two reps of Athgoe hill, as i forgot to bring a water bottle with me.
Fri: rest
Sat: 3:00, incl c.2:00 race. Club championships. Spin out to Brittas for sign on to club RR champs. Then roll out to Blessington. Then race. 2 Orwell lads out front from the start meant there was 3-4 of their clubmates working hard to pull them back. Stayed just behind them for most of the first lap. On 2nd lap, I tried to bridge across to break, but 4-5 LCRCs got to the front of the bunch to do a HTC on it. Then another club mate got in a break on the main road of the 3rd lap which did bridge to the guys out front. A few of us worked to pull them back for a while, then I panicked a bit & went after them myself, got hauled back, went again, got hauled back again. Turned off for Ballysmuttan & gave it one more go. Did a hillclimb TT-style effort from there to the finish. Didn't think i had a hope of catching him, but with a couple of bends to go, I finally saw him. Looked like he was on the limit, so gritted the teeth, changed down a gear & kept going. Caught & passed him with about 20 yards to the line. Club champ in 1st season with LCRC .
Sun: rest
(Note: was off work for the next week, so was hoping to get some good quality training in on top of the various things i had on my to-do list. As usual, the more free time i have, the less I get done:rolleyes:).
Mon: 1:30 spin. Climbing workout - mixture of short, steepish hills & longer less steep hills. Tried a few form sprints on the way home. Form felt good, getting the revs up, but hard to sustain it after the climbing earlier.
Tues: 3:00 spin. Light enough spin, apart from a few sprint efforts, focusing on how high I could get the cadence - up to mid-130s.
Wed: 1:00 gym + 1:30 spin + 2:00 track league. Gym in the morning, some light threadmill, followed by light weights. Then a spin into town on touring bike, c.1:30 in total. Track league in evening. Used a new 170mm crankset rather than the 165mm that came with bike, felt more comfortable with that. Again, didn't pick up any points, but really enjoyed the evening's racing. Pushed really hard in all races, especially at the finish of each even if I wasn't in contention for points. Some new riders turned up, making the A group more competitive again.
Thurs: 1:00 turbo + 1:00 spin + 1:03 TT + 0:40 spin. Light session on the turbo in the morning, with some burts of high cadence thrown in. Spin out to Black Bull for club league 25m TT in the evening. Was late leaving house so had to basically TT out, then discovered that the usual starting place was not the starting place for TT. Figured i'd missed sign on but rode out to Batterstown anyway. Got on to list & did my first 25m TT in 1:02:23 according to the published times. Used my training bike as I figured it was slightly more aerodynamic than the brick-profiled Giant race bike. The computer on the training bike doesn't have lap function, so I had to try & memorise the split times. Published time was a minute less than what I thought i was told after the finish so can't be sure now what the splits were. definitely the first 10km were at least a minute slower than the other splits. Got passed by my minute man half way through the second 10km, but managed to up the pace a bit so as not to let him out of sight, staying roughly 20-30 yards behind him til the turnaround. On the way back I upped my pace again, passing my minute man a couple of times whenever there was a drag in the road. The extra effort to do that though disrupted what rhythm i had & he went past again a couple more times. But entering the last few kms, i left him behind & finished pretty strongly. Happy enough with my first effort. Hope to get another one in before the end of the year.
Fri: 2:00 track training. Team pursuit training at Sundrive. Working on starts, change-ups, & pacing. Good coaching can make things a lot easier! Legs felt not too bad after TT the previous evening.
Sat: rest. Was planning initially on doing the race in Robinstown, but a saddle sore that's been at me the last few weeks has been getting worse & with some nice races coming up the next few weeks, I decided it was better to try & rest it now for a few days rather than making it worse in a non-priority race.
Sun: rest

tawfeeredux

Mon: rest
Tues: 3:15 incl. 1:15 race. Spin out to Mondello for race, 1 hour. Off with A2s, but A1s were let off only a few seconds after, so from less than half way through first lap we were a combined group chasing the A3s & 4s. Some big engines in A1 had it lined out at times. Legs felt heavy but gradually got into it & did a few turns at the front too. Was too far back at the last corner to be in contention for the sprint, but contrary to previous outings at Mondello I was able to get out of the saddle at the end & sustain a sprint until the finish line. Didn't pass anyone in doing so, but only one guy passed me rather than the usual herd. 1 hour spin back home after, incl. a full-on effort up Athgoe hill on the way.
Wed: 2:00 track league. Legs felt very tired after previous evening's efforts, so wasn't really in the mood for track. Had on a 51t chainring instead of the usual 50t - had seemed like a good idea the previous weekend when I switched it over, but with tired legs & a headwind on the finishing straight, it was a recipe for poor performance. Only got through two races before rain called a halt to proceedings, for once i was happy to see the clouds spilling.
Thurs: c.2:00 race. Club league. DMS over three laps of the Red Lane circuit with a turn at the end of last lap for finish up Ballysmutten lane. Only c.12 started in scratch, & the first couple of laps were a series of attacks & counter-attacks. Eventually, a group of six were clear, with everyone taking turns until we got towards the end of the 3rd lap. I attacked before the turnoff for Ballysmutten, paring the group down to 4. Attacked again just after the turn but couldn't drop the 3 remaining. Again on the second rise, & this time was left with just one on my wheel. Tried a couple more digs but couldn't shake him. With line in sight & the road about to level out, I had to give it one more go even though legs & lungs were in bits. Got a small gap, giving the legs a little boost, changed down & powered on to the line. First 11-pointer in the club league:).
Fri: rest. Got a timely leg massage from a club colleague in the afternoon before heading down to Clonmel for the Suir Valley 3 day.

Sat: 2:30 race. 1st stage - 107km taking in the Vee climb (1st cat) along the way as well as a 2nd & a 3rd cat climb, & a couple of hot spot sprints. Pace was fairly hot from the word go, but legs felt good & while I was badly positioned towards the back at the base of the first climb (the Vee), i was able to make up ground over the 8km of the climb. The descent was hard, rough road surface making it hard to get any sort of momentum going. The big guns started lining it out whenever a hot spot sprint came up, & somewhere around the mid-point of the stage, a 15 man break went clear.
Got in a break of 4 on the lead in to Kilworth, and when reeled back in at the start of the 2nd cat. climb, i attacked again. Was joined by Tighernach Murphy & Ryan Sherlock as well as an IOM rider & while able to stay with them to the top of the climb, found it difficult to take my turn when we got onto the flat again. We caught 2 of the original break & having taken my turn at the front, I was expecting 5 riders to roll past only for one of the 2 to leave a gap & by the time i realised it, the 3 powerhouses were gone. Waited for the remainder of the bunch (a split on the Vee climb had broken it down to about 35 riders) & tagged on. Helped with pace-making a few times, but lack of serious horsepower was obvious whenever the likes of Armstrong, McLaughlin, & particularly Irvine went to the front. On a few occasions Irvine just turned the boosters on & lined us out with an incredible show of power. I'd say most guys in the group sighed with relief whenever he sat up to let someone else have a go. Wasn't feeling too bad with 10km to go, but 3km later, the rear tyre punctured. Got a wheel change, but the group were gone. Went as hard as i could til the end but ended up about 2 mins down on the last of the 35 man group, 4:47 down on the stage winner & leaving me in 47th place on GC.

Sun: 2:00 race. 2nd stage - 93km with 3 2nd cat. climbs and a couple of hot spot sprints. Blisteringly fast stage. The pace up the 2nd KOH was unreal. Had planned to take it easy on the stage & save myself for the hill TT in the evening, but was practically full gas all day just to stay in bunch. Stage ended in a sprint finish in Clonmel town centre after another powerhouse, damien Shaw, broke clear with 2 others on the run in to the town.

3rd stage - Hill TT in the evening was a 1.1km route up a narrow, badly surfaced boreen on the outskirts of Clonmel. Set a time of 3:50 which i wasn't altogether happy with, feeling that i'd too much in the tank at the end, though it was a difficult event to judge the pace of. Mine was the fastest time for a while, until the top 20 riders started taking chunks out of it, McConvey from An Post setting the fastest time of 3:25. Ended up in 15th on the stage.

Mon: 2:30 race. 4th stage - 116km incl. 3 hot spot sprints & a 1st cat climb up Glen of Aherlow. Was feeling a bit frustrated after the previous two days, so decided i was going to give it a lash today. Attacked 5 times in total on the stage, though in truth none of them amounted to much, particularly the couple at the end when the legs seized up practically straight away. Again found myself poorly positioned at the back of the bunch approaching the base of the climb, but found gaps & motored up the hill. The bunch broke up big time on the climb, & at the top found myself in a group of 6, just behind the lead group of about 15-20. A few guys came down on the wet descent, leaving us with 3 riders trying to catch the bigger group ahead. A few other riders joined us & we pushed on. Then irvine rolls up the outside & I thought: " oh balls, handlebar tape again ". Felt strong enough though to take turns & we soon got back to leading group. From there to the end, took a few turns at the front, then had a few pops off the front, nearly coming a cropper on a wet roundabout when the bike twitched violently underneath me but then righted itself again almost immediately. Stage ended in a bunch sprint though as no-one was being let get away.

Ended up 38th on GC & while not getting any results, it was a great racing experience. Enjoyed the line-outs in a perverse sort of way, & climbed well for the most part.

velo.2010

tawfeeredux wrote: »

A few guys came down on the wet descent, leaving us with 3 riders trying to catch the bigger group ahead .......OUCH!..... nearly coming a cropper on a wet roundabout when the bike twitched violently underneath me but then righted itself again almost immediately.....nearly bigger OUCH!

What tyres do you use to keep you upright especially through wet/greasy roundabouts?

Beasty

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Wed: 2:00 track league. Legs felt very tired after previous evening's efforts, so wasn't really in the mood for track. Had on a 51t chainring instead of the usual 50t - had seemed like a good idea the previous weekend when I switched it over, but with tired legs & a headwind on the finishing straight, it was a recipe for poor performance. Only got through two races before rain called a halt to proceedings, for once i was happy to see the clouds spilling.

Didn't realise you were there otherwise I would have said hello - aiming to be back tomorrow weather permitting though (I may well be displaying one of my "yellow" jerseys;))

Changing to a 51 from a 50 almost exactly counters your switch from a 165mm to 170mm crank the previous week (it's actually the equivalnet of moving from a 50 to 51.5!), so it's interesting that you found it a bit of a struggle on Wednesday. What did you have on the back - a 15 or 14? I didn't find the headwind too bad, and actually picked up pace a bit every lap coming into the home straight. I'm still sussing out the best gearing for the track, but felt pretty comfortable with 90 gear inches on Wednesday (although I was in the "slow" group - I was up to 96 in the vets championships scratch race which also felt comfortable enough for that race, although it was a slightly calmer day)

BTW, cranks of more than 165mm are not normally allowed on indoor tracks so you might want to think if it's worth trying to get used to that length particularly if the proposed jam factory development gets off the ground

tawfeeredux

velo.2010 wrote: »

What tyres do you use to keep you upright especially through wet/greasy roundabouts?

Vittoria Open Corsas - really nice tyre.

Beasty wrote: »

Changing to a 51 from a 50 almost exactly counters your switch from a 165mm to 170mm crank the previous week (it's actually the equivalnet of moving from a 50 to 51.5!)....

Hadn't really thought about the impact on the gearing of the change in crank length - i know the rule of thumb is that a change of 1 tooth on the front amounts to roughly 2 inches gained, while a change of 1 tooth on the rear is roughly 4 inches gained. Are you saying that in changing from 165mm to 170mm crank, i was basically adding another inch to the gearing?

Beasty

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Are you saying that in changing from 165mm to 170mm crank, i was basically adding another inch to the gearing?

It's the equivalent of knocking an inch or so off, although I think your gear inches technically remain the same

Effectively you get extra leverage from longer cranks, making it easier to turn them (but you turn them further in a single revolution)

Moving from 165 to 170 is a 3% reduction in gearing. Moving from 50t to 51t is a 2% increase in gearing

tawfeeredux

Tues: 1:30 spin. Light recovery effort.
Wed: 2:30 track league. Our pursuit team were having another competitive outing as part of our prep for the upcoming nationals next weekend. With one change in personnel since our last outing, our form was a little bit ragged. Our pace was reasonably good, though most of us felt we could have gone faster. Having said that, the event this evening was only over 4km rather than the 8km in the nationals. Took it handy in the two events prior to the team pursuit, the points race & keirin. Had a go in the scratch race at the end, but missed the break & couldn't reel them back in, rolling in for 5th.
Thurs: 3:00 inc. c.2:00 race. Out to Brittas for round 18 of club league. had been picking up results lately in the club league & thought I might be able to make a late charge up the table with just a few rounds remaining. Things went a bit hairwire this evening though - went through three rear wheels, one speed/cadence sensor & a pair of legs. Report on the race thread.
Fri: 2:00 spin. Found out the previous evening at the club league that the venue for the national hill climb champs would be Kilmashogue Lane in Rathfarnham. So headed out to have a look. I knew I'd been out there once before a few years ago, knew it was a tough climb, but didn't remember the stinger at the finish. Went up at a decent pace, maybe 90% effort, but when I turned the bend to see the last ramp up to the finish, i cracked and stopped. First time in ages i've been defeated by a climb. Took a breather for a minute & went on. Gonna try & get out a few more times to sort out gearing, pacing, etc.
Sat: 0:20 spin. Just a light spin to check that bike was in good working order, having spent the morning cleaning & adjusting.
Sun: 2:00 race. Falling Leaves Classic in Gorey. This was one of my main targets for the year - having won the A4 race last year in infamous circumstances, i wanted to come back & win the A2/3 race. The change of venue wasn't part of the plan, but as it turns out the new circuit was a good challenging one, with a short but tough climb. Decided to go up the hill hard each time, hoping it would split the bunch in a similar way to what had happened at the Hammond memorial race in Roundwood earlier in the year. On a couple of occasions, splits did occur towards the end of the climb, but nothing like enough to put a whole chunk of the bunch out of contention. A break of 7/8 got away on the main road heading back towards the finish on, I think, the 2nd lap, & stayed away until the last lap when they were caught on the climb. I worked hard all through the race, possibly too hard, and while still up in the mix in the finishing straight, I hadn't the legs to contest the sprint & rolled in about 15th or so.

Beasty

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Having said that, the event this evening was only over 4km rather than the 8km in the nationals.

Team pursuits are run over 4km, not 8km. Presumably you mean 4 laps rather than 8 (although you would actually be doing just over 8 and a half laps at Sundrive)

tawfeeredux

Mon: 2:00 spin. Headed out to Kilmashogue again so see if I could get up it in one go. Did so, but the urge to stop on the last drag was as strong as before. Did it in 9:10 albeit with the aid of a brisk tailwind. Forgot to switch cassettes round on the rear wheel before heading out (did it with a 12-23), so still need to get out there with more appropriate gearing. Was reasonably happy with that time, til I came home & saw on Strava that the reigning champ had done 9:01 a few days previously. Then I see this evening that someone has posted a time of 8:35 on the same website.
Tues: 1:15 race. Mondello Park. Was feeling very tired all day & nearly didn't bother heading out to this one. Glad I did in the end as I picked up my first open race result in a while. Attacked with 3 corners to go on the second-last lap, two guys came with me & we managed to stay away for the last lap. Knew one of the guys was a stronger sprinter, so tried to shake him a couple of times at the back of the circuit - only with one corner to go did a little gap open up. I led into the final corner, but was overtaken in finishing straight. Picked up 2nd place though, so happy to get the points total moving again.
Wed: 1:30 track. Had signed up for the crit in Birr this evening, but decided to give it a miss as I figured our track team might get a chance to do some work in the track league. As it happened, weather was poor & racing was off, so the small turnout just used the track for an hour & half to do some training. Started off with a 16-lap workout, 4 laps at a steady pace, then 4 laps where we sprinted on each straight, then repeated that pattern over the remaining laps. Good workout for responding to repeated attacks in either a track scratch race or in an open race. Then a drill to work on weaving in & out of traffic on the track, then another to work on getting out of a 'boxed in' position in a track race (be aggressive). Few light laps then to warm down.
Thurs: 3:00 incl 1:30 race. Club league round 19 DMS. Was instructed to take it easy with the national track champs coming up on Saturday, said 'grand ya", & then proceeded to lead the scratch group out the first km or 2, went on one or two unsuccessful attacks, and eventually spent a lot of the last lap ploughing away at the front to try & pull back a breakaway. Didn't get the breakaway back, & didn't get in the points in the sprint for the minor places.
Fri: rest.
Sat: 6:00 track. National Track Champs - Team Sprint, Team Pursuit & Keirin. Ok, it wasn't 6 hours of racing but we signed on at 11:30 & didn't leave the track til 17:30, so a long day. I was on the LCRC 'B' team for the team sprint & the 'A' team for the pursuit. The keirin was a demo event as part of the process of getting it added as an official event to next year's championships.

First up was the team sprint. We were third last team off. Felt more nervous about this than any other race i'd done all year, probably because feckin it up would mean feckin it up for more than just myself. Team sprint basically involves 3 riders starting on one side of the track, the first rider leads the other two around for half a lap, then pulls up, the next rider leads the last rider for the next half lap, then pulls up, then the last rider does the last half lap to the finish line. As a more endurance-based rider, i was last man, meaning all I had to do was hang on to the two sprinters ahead of me & then try & carry that speed through to the finish. We worked well as a team & put in a time of 52:87, enough to put us at the top of the leaderboard & with just two teams left to go, meant we had taken the bronze medal . We knew the two teams left, Bray 'A' & LCRC 'A' would be battling it out for gold though. Bray 'A' team put in a very fast time of 50:08, but were pipped by LCRC 'A' with 49:78. Gold & bronze for the club in the first event.

Team pursuit was next & having medalled in the sprint, we were really looking forward to this event. Pursuit involves a team of 4 doing 8 & 3/4 laps of the track with the recorded time based on the third rider to cross the line. Some of the other teams had already put in good times, & we started off with the intention of matching their pace initially & then ramping it up in the closing laps. But, it didn't happen for us. One of the lads was struggling almost straight away & having dropped out before half way, it was up to the 3 guys left to finish off. While two of us were feeling strong, the third rider was soon struggling too & the pace had to drop off. We ended up with a disappointing time of 5:27 well outside medal contention. Kilcullen put in a very impressive display to win with 4:53.

Keirin was next. A few laps behind the derny with the pace steadily increasing, then a lap & a half of all out racing to the finish. Finished 3rd in the heat, enough to get me into a repercharge from where i qualified for a semi-final. Missed out on a place in the final by a matter of inches, then took 2nd in the 'B' final.

A good day's racing all in all. Picked up my first ever prize for anything at a national level. The whole event was really well run - electronic starting gates with the countdown clock & beeps, very cool!

Sun: 2:00 race. Brendan Campbell Memorial in Donore. Hard race over a nice circuit. Legs felt good, but back was a little achy from the beginning. Attacked on one of the early laps, then saw Greg Swinand coming up to join me & thought "this could be good!". About half a lap later though, was praying for the bunch to catch us as I was dying. Recovered for a couple of laps, but back was getting worse & pain was running down my leg. Struggled to keep the wheels coming out of bends. Hung onto to a clubmate's wheel for a lap or two & managed to keep a position in the top 20 or so. Missed the winning break though & ended up rolling in with the bunch. Smell of cow****e mousse de vache all over the gear at the end, lovely.

Tomorrow: rest (i is boll!xed).

tawfeeredux

Mon: rest
Tues: 1:15 race. Mondello Park. Last race in the series. A1s & 2s off together with A4s & 3s getting a 4 minute headstart. We didn't work well as a group to chase the group ahead. Same few guys doing all the work, then some guys getting frustrated & attacking. Joined a few attacks but none got very far. Despite the inconsistency of the chase, we were gradually eating into the handicap. Tried sitting in for a while prior to the catch. Did that for a couple of laps, it was boring. Got sucked back into the up & overs then & stayed towards the front for the rest of the race. Tried a few more breaks, one with the winner of last week's race, which was probably never going to be let out of sight. Bunch split up on last lap, bridged from second group to first group with a few corners to go & ended up 8th & 1st unplaced A2.
Wed: 1:00 spin. Headed out to Kilmashogue lane again for a go with a 15-25 cassette. Was late getting out of work so ended up driving out, did a 15 min warmup & then went up in 8:55. No wind to speak of. It was dark when I finished. I like climbing but this climb i do not like. I think my style of climbing has changed this year - I used to be more of grinder, with a lot of it out of the saddle. Since I've started racing, it's more high-cadence, in-the-saddle style, which i don't think suits this type of climb. Find it difficult to get out of saddle on the steep ramps here, & usually have to sit back down after a few revolutions. Need to work on this.
Thurs: 1:30 spin. Did a few of the local short climbs, focusing on climbing out of saddle all the way. None of them as steep as Kilmashogue, but a good workout.
Fri: rest
Sat: 2:30 spin. More climbing. Combination of seated & standing. Legs kinda heavy. Rest day yesterday didn't quite feel like that at work.
Sun: 4:00 spin. This was meant to be a club spin with a few riders out, but only two of us showed up, so it ended up being a harder workout than intended. Still a good effort though. Nothing too hilly, a few drags mostly. Parted ways after 3 hours & headed back to Naas on my own for a coffee break. Headed home via the dualcarriageway doing a TT-style effort all the way. Thoughts of a TT bike purchase gradually becoming more insistent.