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China Diary
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Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional West Moderators Posts: 16,724 Mod ✭✭✭✭
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pprendeville wrote: »
David McCann 3rd from left. That Taiwanese (not Chinese, big difference) guy rode The RAS in 2011. Really nice chap too but wasn't keen on the Irish weather. Frames are Taiwanese made. I'm no expert but to me the majority of carbon frames made nowadays are pretty decent. Granted Specialized and other big brands haven't excellent R&D but the cost of these are mad.
Irish/British same thing
Lovely frames them, I'd nearly be tempted to import one when (if) I get back on the rothar.
Some cracking roads there
Pollution is crazy!!!!0 -
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2013/14 - Week 29 (WT:Wk7/12)
Mon - Rest
Tues - TT42 - 4(3+2) SubT/Threshold
Wed - Rest
Turs - 2(4x30s VO2max/30s AR)
Fri - Rest
Sat - 3 x SuperThreshold Efforts
Sun - L1W4: Endurance #6
Very tough week this week. Tues wasn't to bad with intervals. Weather was good on Turs so I decided to go outdoors. The training plan had 14x30s VO2 max intervals but that was too much for me as I hadn't done any VO2 max training for a while so I broke it down into 2(4x30sec) intervals thinking it would be much easier. Did intervals on really steep hill and they nearly killed me. Lungs felt in bits from the blowout. These are real race pace intervals that simulate a breakaway attempt and are nasty but need doing more often than I like to. Second set was a bit easier but still tough. Got in a few sprints also which is something I must focus on in about 6 weeks.
Had a big spin planned Sat climbing wise but like last week my legs were having none of it. A long 14km climb up Miaofengshan had me suffering. Wore too much gear again which didn't help as temps rose to 25deg although windchill made it more bearable. Drank 6 bottles of water today which is unusual for me. Last climb near home had me on my knees. 16% for the last 200m was a killer but kept going to the top at about 8km/hr and hopefully it will all pay off later in the year when I start racing.
Listening to some Graham Street podcasts which are very enlightening in relation to training at or around FTP. Wish I had a power meter as I could be much more efficient when training outdoors. Next week will be an easy week before ramping it up again for the end of the winter training program.
Goals for the week
- Plenty of recovery, easy week this week
- Get back doing core, at least 1 session
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2013/14 - Week 31 (WT:Wk09/12)
Mon - L2W1: Injury Prevention/Rehab #2
Tues - TT45 - TrainerRoad 2x8min FTP Test (252W), Misc. Core #23
Wed – TT46: TRBirch Fat Burning, Misc Core #24
Turs – Rest
Fri - TrainerRoad 20min FTP Test (256W), Breakthough WO
Sat – Misc. Core #25
Sun – Planned KOM hunting
Last weeks general rest had me feeling well prepared for this weeks FTP tests. On reflection it was good to do the 2 different protocols, i.e. the 2x8mins and the 1x20mins. No doubt about it but the 20min one is hard, very hard. At 5mins in I was thinking I’d never get it done, 10mins and I’m telling myself I’m half way there already, 13mins and I’m wondering why I’m doing this to myself, 17mins and I decide to up the gas. Last 3 mins were blissful pain done in the knowledge it would reap its rewards later in the year. Originally the turbo was giving a higher power reading than trainer road by about 20-25W, then after calibration it was about 10-15W lower but at least the two tests gave me fairly consistent results so I’m happy enough with that. After doing some testing last year in Trinity I think the FTP is a bit on the low side but the only way I’ll know for sure is by getting a power meter, a bit down the line yet.
Been looking after my diet particularly well this week, which I’m very happy with. Timing of my nutrition and the actual contents (high carbs mainly after workouts supplemented with proteins/fats) while the rest of the time is mainly proteins/fats and less carbs. Not easy to get used to considering I love my porridge and rice. Got back into the core work as well. I had fallen off the track a bit with it and the first session back was an eye opener. Am feeling stronger already on the opposite arm/leg stretches. Try and practice them a few times daily to get a break from the study.
Have some KOMs targeted tomorrow thanks to this little site. Glad I came across it as it gives that extra bit of motivation going uphill on my own, always much easier when following a wheel but on my own mainly out here. Have that nice little climb with all the switchbacks (http://www.strava.com/segments/1431886) targeted as well as a few shorter segments. Will see what way the legs have recovered from yesterdays effort. Edit: This didn't quite go according to plan. I put a few courses onto the Garmin and off I went early this morning. Unfortunately I never switched on the direction prompts but could see the course highlighted (directions can be annoying if you go off course a little). Ended up going up the main climb the way I should have been descending it. Was wondering when the course was going to kick in. When I reached the top the Garmin beeped saying course completed as I had reached the end point
Legs hadn't recovered very well from Friday night so there were plenty of stops on the way up but the weather was magnificent and I got some nice snaps.
Also got a cheapish set of TransX clipon TT bars online during the week so I hope to practice using them. Big weakness of mine is the TTs and if I get the chance to do any short stage racing when I get back it's a great place to make up time in or at least not lose too much.
Goals for the week
- Continue with the good diet and pre-breakfast rides, 3 minimum which means getting up earlier
- Move onto L2W2 core workout by end of week
- Complete 1xTT style ride and 1xVO2 Max workout
The 3-wheelers are very popular among couriers and grandparents who pick up their grandkids from school.
Beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom all over the mountains at the moment. Lots of cyclists walking up the climb today and way dressed for freezing conditions.
Not sure what the tradition of tiying ribbons on the trees is. Must ask.
My legs were not happy with me today.
Super views from the top.
Dinner on the descent. Oily but delicious.
Dinner at home.0 -
pprendeville wrote: »You find it gets you race ready or training ready? Edit: that was a question btw.
I wasn't sure if it was a question
Training warm up only so far. It's always my turbo warm up and I've tried it on the road a few times but it's hard to hit the numbers so I have a different 20minute warm up for the road.0 -
2013/14 - Week 32 (WT:Wk10/12)
Mon - Rest
Tues - TT46: 15min Pre-brekkie Fat Burning, TT50: Trainroad Abbot VO2 Max Intervals, L2W1: Injury Prevention/Rehab
Wed – TT51: Pre-vrekkie FB, Misc. Core #25
Turs – TT52: Trainerroad Abbot VO2 Max Intervals
Fri - Rest
Sat – Rest
Sun – Rest
Mixed bag this week. Started off well although the weight was a bit on the high side of 65kg. Need to reduce portion sizes, what I'm eating is actually quite healthy but I'm just eating too much of it and a bit too late as well. Could only manage 1/2 an hour of the Abbot Trainerroad session on Tues. A really tough VO2 max workout. I tried it at 100% of the recommended power level which topped out at 3x2mins at about 330W with 1min breaks in between but I couldn't handle the pain and caved in. Came back again on Turs and reduced the effort level to 90% which was still around the 300W mark. Suffice to day there was a lot of suffering and sweating going on but I dug deep and finished it. Had a few KOMs targeted for a Saturday morning short spin but had family with me in Beijing for what was like a bnk holiday weekend. I was wrecked (had forgotten how much energy 3 kids take out me) and postponed to Sunday. Similar story again on Sunday so this weekends TSS was low, no harm done.
Went a bit overboard eating out though as we went to 2 of the nicest restaurants I know of here or anywhere for that matter. 4 Corners is a Vietnamese restaurant in one of the many hutongs in Beijing. They do the meanest homemade burgers and suffice to say I ate 1/2 of my wife's burger along with a load of homemade sweet potato chips and a noodle dish of my own. Then on Sunday we went to a place called The Rug and Bagel. Hadn't been before but I'll definitely be going back if I get the chance. All organic dishes which are hard to come by in Beijing. We got the scrambled eggs, onion rings, spaghetti bolognese, pizza and homemade cookies and I had large amounts of each. Weighing in at 66.4kg today so this week needs to be a lean week indeed.
Our eldest daughter is starting writing Chinese characters already so I'm sure she'll be writing better than me in no time. She's already fluent for her age which is a bit annoying for me.
Coming back from my wife's home yesterday I saw this fella hanging off telephone wires. I presume he was fixing them. It never surprises me what I see in this country. Nobody batted an eyelid. Bus journey turned into a bit of a nightmare with driver getting lost and adding 2 hours onto the journey so I spent a total of 12 hours on a bus yesterday. Kerry to Donegal would be a short trip for me at this stage.
The data on traineroad is great. Glad I found it. Training with power is much more productive than HR even though it may not be 100% accurate but by God are thise VO2 max workouts hard.
Students practicing their marching skills on campus.
we have this bizarre teacher who tells us all sort of mad things. She showed us some pictures of some place along the Adriatic sea recently and said any man that brought her there, she'd marry him. So any single men out there looking for a wife, give me your number and I'll hook you up.
Trying to keep up the healthy diet but need to reduce portions a bit.
Picked up this handy little thing for my sister who cycles to work on London. A thing that goes on your back and has indicators. Handy wireless remote control fits on handlebars to control the signals.
Goals for the week
- Drop under 65kg by start of next week
- Reduce food portion sizes
- Get out on the road at the weekend and use the Virtual Partner on a few KOMs0 -
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2013/14 - Week 33 (WT:Wk11/12)
Mon - Rest
Tues – TT53: Pre-Brekkie Fat Burning #4, TT54: TR Baird VO2 Max Intervals, Misc. Core #26
Wed – TT55: PB FB #6
Turs – TT56: PB FB #7, TT57: TR Lamarcke 4(10+2) Threshold, Misc. Core #27
Fri - TT58: PB FB #8
Sat – KOM Hunting
Sun – Rest
[Long post but I had plenty of time to pass on the bus journey]
Had a good 5 days off the bike so was really fresh for Tuesdays workout. Felt the best I’ve felt for a long time in terms of perceived effort. The warm up felt really easy despite going into Z4 HR/Z5 Power (which was the aim) which is unusual for me as I usually find the 1st few minutes going into Z3/4 fairly hard, especially the first mini-interval. Did 3 sets of 5x1min VO2 max intervals with 1 min rest in between. Varied the cadences between high and low and also did some fast spinning in the recovery. Doing the really hard VO2 max the previous week no doubt helped a lot so this workout which had a lower HR Training Stress score was theoretically easier but still an excellent workout.
Wed was an easy day with Thursday upping the ante again. Did a good 45mins before breakfast to try and shift the gut. This will happen slowly but surely hopefully. Being really good with the diet and down to 64.6kg today. Later in the day was another Trainerroad session which was really hard. 4 x(10mins threshold/2min active recovery). Varied the cadences and spent a lot of time in the drops. This is a really good workout for muscular endurance and my quads were really feeling it on the last interval. Really hot in the room even with the fan on full blast and sweating like mad. Got in some good core work as well throughout the day. These intervals are really tough but I can feel the benefits. I think 3 weeks ago I wouldn’t have been able to handle them so I’m making good progress. I’m sure if I was to race however it would be much different and I’d probably be hanging on.
Saturday was an interesting day on the bike. I was late going to bed on Fri night as I was looking on Taobao (淘宝, a Chinese online marketplace kind of like eBay) for rims and hubs so I can build a set of wheels when I get back to sell. I built a nice set of DT Swiss wheels last year using R415 rims and Ultegra hubs and they feel so smooth. Currently using Shimano RS20s here and they're not a bad wheel at all for training on but nowhere near as smooth as the DT Swiss/Ultegra combo. I eventually went with a set of 20/24 Kinlin XR300 rims and Bitex hubs (high end version of their hubs). The 30mm rims will make a nice aero wheel. I had met a Bitex rep at the Taipei Bike Show and they are a pretty impressive company. There are several other Taiwanese hub manufacturers including Powerway, Chosen and Novatec as well. The particular hubs I got, have a patent pending 6 Pawl design with high quality cartridge bearings and come in relatively light as well. Looking forward to building them up when I get back. Anyway, I had planned on targeting 2 KOMs this morning and although the air didn't look so good outside I said I'd give it a lash as I hadn't been out on the road for 2 weeks. Oddly enough I've got used to indoor training mainly due to the fact it is more efficient and I can see my power output on TrainerRoad and my power curve steadily increasing. I also have more time to study. Can't recommend the software highly enough. On the way my saddle came loose so I stopped to tighten it but forget to bring allen keys but didn't a fella pull up on a Mtn bike I had just passed and luckily he had a Tri-key that fitted. He asked me did I want to climb Xiangshan (my favourite hill for training on, had thought there were only 3 ways of climbing it). Apparently he knew of another way up. I told him in my broken Chinese that cyclists couldn't go up from that side but he wasn't listening so I dutifully followed him. Learned how to say Specialized in Chinese as he was saying he had a Specialized Roadbike (translates to 'lightning' 闪电⚡' as per the Specialized logo, Chinese is very interesting in the way it is translated, much more so than English I find). We tried to ascend from 2 different ways but there were security gates at both entrances and they were having no bikes. Gradients looked killer (15-20% easily for May 2km) so I wasn't too disappointed to be refused entry. So off back we headed and he was doing his own Mtn bike route and I went off on my own originally planned route. On the way, I stopped to take a pic of a few fellas loading tires onto their motorbikes. I have become accustomed to seeing bizarre things here in China and normally wouldn't take much notice of 10 car tires piled onto a motorbike but I think it might be interesting for those reading this and give you a flavour of how random things are here. This is probably these 2 fellas jobs, collecting tires. Other strange jobs include people collecting receipts outside Carrefour presumably for marketing companies or else they tot up the figures to see if there were mistakes and claim the refund. There were a few mechanic workshops on that strip of road and they were going into them all asking for used tires. As I was taking a picture I noticed I had a text from my wife saying her grandfather had passed away (yesterday just after midday). Nice man who must have been in his 80s.
As I was saying, on Saturday I had planned tackling a few KOMs which were held by a Chinese rider who seems pretty decent. I had loaded the courses onto my Garmin and now I wasn't sure should I just head back and get ready to leave for my wife's home or should I give one of them a lash in his memory. Decided on the latter and followed the Garmin directions. A useful feature I recently discovered on the Garmin is that you can download a KOM segment from Strava via this website and load it onto the Garmin and then using Virtual Partner you can see how far behind/ahead you are, the course will automatically start when you get to the start point. It gives you great motivation to push harder and you know exactly how hard to go in order to get the KOM. Like having a little Richie Porte on your handlebars as another boards user said. Have learned a lot about cadence efficiency recently and put it to good use on the climb. It was 4.1km long with an average gradient of x% which kicked up to about 16% for the last 200m. I decided to stay in the small ring for the whole climb and see how I got on. Attacked really hard at the beginning on the false flat which was about 500-600m and kept the cadence high, any hilly part I upped the cadence beforehand so I had good momentum going into it and mentally it wouldn't hurt as much. Nothing worse than hitting a steep slope, cadence flies down quickly, and having to shift up which kinda takes away the rhythm and puts the legs in the red. Built up a 15sec lead fairly quickly and this spurred me on while also keeping Grandad in mind. Heart was really pumping at the 1/2 way mark and I was starting to labour a bit, but anytime the road levelled out a bit I just kicked on and upped the cadence and focused my power into the pedals and not rocking my shoulders. I was breathing really heavy come 3km but as I only had the Virtual Partner screen on I couldn't see my HR but it must have been in the 180s or 95% of my VO2 max. At this stage I got a visit from the little devil on my shoulder telling me to slow down, relax, you're 30secs up and it's in the bag at this stage, and so I kicked on and tried to forget the pain and the -ve voice in my ear. Then came the last right hander and the big change in gradient. Head down, I spun away and got of the saddle for the last 100m to what was my Col du Tourmalet. Haven't had that burning sensation in my lungs for a while but it was there for those last 30secs which seemed a lot longer. Had to dismount immediately and hunch for about a minute. Actually, last time I was this bad was the hill climb in The Wexford 2 Day where I had to lie down in the grass afterwards. Pure torture but I came in over 30 secs up on the previous KOM so I was well chuffed with that and happy to have the memory of my wifes grandad when I think of that KOM (assuming it lasts). There is a shorter steeper 2.1km ascent to the same place which I will try next month and gauge my form which I think is much better now than it was this time last year when I was 6kg heavier and not doing the right intensity training at all. Really missing the racing and the likes of Snowtown on Sunday in Stamullen has me missing home big time, fortunately I can read about it on boards and Stickybottle. Ah well, not too long to go here now. Edit: Just uploaded my file to Strava now and didn't some other fella, who I'm convinced was following me and had a motorbike pacing him, rob my KOM which I had killed myself for. Still I managed to get another one which saves my blushes.
The funeral traditions here are completely different from back home. I'm sure they vary throughout China as well but here is a brief description of the funeral procedure in. Small village in Hebei Province, about 250km south of Beijing. China is a pre-dominantly non-denominational country although you see a lot of Buddha statues in cars and homes but the people wouldn't actually call themselves Buddhists. Even though they don't appear to believe in an afterlife they do have a holiday for honouring the dead called Qing Ming Jie ((清明节) which translate to Tomb Sweeping Day. Families visit the area where there ancestors/family members were buried and tidy up the place. By law, bodies are bound to be cremated after death in China. The ashes are placed in an urn and the urn is put in a little stone box rather like a coffin except smaller. Some fake money is put in as well just in case the dead need to get a taxi or buy a cup of tea on the way to wherever they're going (that's my guess, don't quote me to Chinese people on this). Going back a little, the day after a person dies the body is placed in something resembling a coffin except it looks a bit flashier and has a glass cover but the body is not visible. The coffin was inside one of what I can only call an outhouse, a building separate from the main living quarters and has a kitchen attached. Now when I say kitchen, it means it has a hearth inside for a fire and has so me cooking utensils. In reality the place is a ****hole but the ****hole used for cooking in. The room with the body would probably be used as a social room for playing majiang. My wife's home has a similar setup. Outside, people were gambling playing majiang (a Chinese board game, not sure how to play it). I suppose it might have been something like this at a wake in Ireland where the people stayed up all night and celebrated, as such, the persons life. People who come to pay their respects knelt down before the coffin including my wife and myself. There doesn't appear to be any shaking of hands or hugging as a way of comforting the relatives here. Chinese are not good at hugging (although I wouldn't be too big into it myself, I'm too hard for that.
I had a feeling there would be money involved at some stage like most social occasions like this (birthdays! new year! weddings etc) and I wasn't let down. Luckily I had a few bob with me but it wasn't til the 3rd day that this was needed. So on the 3rd day we had to get up around 6am but seeing as we have 3 kids we usually get away with this and as the girls were all sound asleep we weren't collected until 8am from my wife's home and brought to the grandfathers place. He was married and his wife (my wife's fathers mother) is still alive but there was no sign of her on arrival when we entered the majiang room where the body was. When we arrived I could here Chinese style music being being played like at our wedding which took place at my wife's home. I guessed there would be these massive cauldrons for cooking as well and surely enough there were 3 huge cauldrons in the yard and a few men preparing vegetables and tofu for the days meal to be given to all those present. They were shovelling in big massive chuks of coal and had an electric fan to blow in air to stoke the fire. Had a look at the barrels of water used for the cooking and it wasn't too clean looking. The water is fairly rank in the countryside with most of the rivers and streams seriously polluted and stinking. Most of the water comes from wells and isn't filtered. Kettles fill up with lime scale in a week but the people are rather uneducated about that sort of thing here. Boiling it is sufficient for them. At the entrance to the house were these paper houses, a plastic moulded bicycle (picture the 1mm plastic packing moulded around something) and several other things that represented important items in a persons life. These would all be burned later as a symbolic gesture. I had previously mistaken these paper houses for dolls houses and suggested we get some for our children so they could put their dolls in them. There was a table where a group of men were sitting down collecting money and recording the names of the people and how much they contributed, again a similar practice from our wedding except at our wedding the peoples names and how much they gave were shouted out in front of everyone. Money talks here and the more you give the more face you show (and possibly take from others, face is a huge concept here). I asked what was the money collection for and was told it all goes to the widow. Probably covers the cost of the food and entertainment also. Some of the people at the funeral were wearing these strange sheets while others had towels around their necks. The sheets were for the close relations and the white towels were for distant relations. Seeing as I wasn't a blood relation I wasn't allowed put on the towel and was given a bit of a scolding by a lady for having one on which my wife had given me. In reality it wasn't really a scolding but in China it sounds like one as Chinese can be very direct in their expressions, especially the older country folk.At about 10:30 the body was brought out followed by the women wearing the sheets and lots of wailing. Didn't sound very genuine and once the body was put into a van it all stopped. The body was taken away to be cremated. About an hour later the ashes were returned and the wailing started again and died down shortly afterwards. When the little stone coffin was brought in a fella came up with a bowl and smashed it off the coffin but it didn't break and so that brought a few laughs and he made sure not to make the same mistake twice and shattered the bowl the 2nd time. Not sure what that was for. All I know is there is still lots of superstition in the villages here. Following that, a load of fireworks went off but just the ones that make a loud bang. Deafening so they are. Lunch was promptly served and we all ate outdoors. An old bed frame was being used as a table for some of the guests. I had to leave around this time as I needed to get a bus back to Beijing and the last week I was here the driver got lost and it took me 7 hours to get back so I wasn't taking any chances this time round. A great insight into the differences in life here overall.
Goals for the week
- Finish off the 12 week winter training program
- Maintain the good diet and try my best to drop to close to 64kg
- 3 core sessions (getting lazy with these)
T-shirt painting on campus
Queue of machinery for hire.
In front of Minzu after getting back from Saturday's spin.
You only see signs like these in china and there's obviously someone from DNS translating.
Someone might want to check the translation of this brand in a Dublin Northside dictionary. BCMF might help with an alternative name.
This guy is always getting on the bus before it leaves trying to sell books. He just shoves a sign in peoples laps as I think he he can't speak and waits in front of you. I usually give him 5RMB for his persistence. On Saturday he gave me a dagongmei book which going by the cover is like one of Alan Shatter's latest releases and I immediately told him I'm married using Chinese but he just 1/2 smiled back at me.0 -
On the way to the funeral.
Items for burning with the body or at the burial site (not sure where but they are definitely burned somewhere)
Those are not Christmas decorations in case anyone is wondering.
Grubs up.
Good job the local hygiene inspector was passing by today. Hold on, this is China, hygiene isn't in the dictionary here.
Collecting money from the funeral attendees and recording names and how much. Free cigarettes in the box in from of the boy in the red and black top.
More coal for the fire.
The Wren Boys.
I slept on this once before. It's next on IKEAs range of tables come beds.
Washing up time.
Most of the tractors you see in the countryside here are smaller than the trailers.0 -
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2013/14 - Week 34 (WT:Wk12/12)
Mon – TT59: Prebreakfast Fatburning #9, TT60: PB FB #10, L2W1: Injury Prevention #4
Tues – TT61: Prebreakfast Fatburning #11, TT62: TrainerRoad Haeckel Intervals
Wed – TT63: Evening Fatburning #1
Turs – TT64: Trainerroad Ticker Intervals
Fri – TT65: Trainerroad Rattlesnake Fatburning #12
Sat – TT66: Prebreakfast Fatburning #13
Sun – Endurance ride outdoors
Will keep this post a bit shorter than last weeks J. Had a good solid week, nothing mental and was focusing on weightloss which is working. Was hitting under 65kg every days this week with an average of 64.5kg. Had a late dinner on Thursday evening with an Irish fella who has been out here 8 years and this put me off track slightly. Amazing how one day of overeating can mess things up. Weightloss is definitely all about following a pattern and being strict with myself.
Intervals were tough this week despite the training stress scores being fairly low. Was focusing on low cadence on Tuesday and Thursday was more about working just above threshold in the drops. Changed my bars this week and got a set of 3T Ergonova Teams which are much more suited to me as they have a shorter reach and less drop than the old bars so I’m more comfy now in the drops.
I finally finished off the Winter training plan today with an endurance spin with another Irish guy who knows all the climbs in the west of Beijing. Felt pretty wrecked today so we took it fairly handy apart from a 5km climb which averaged around 5%. Must get back to it again before heading home and see if I can do a good time on it. Has some lovely switchbacks and a great surface. Was reading online during the week about using honey as a substitute for gels so I brought some out with me today and guess what, it works a treat. I bought some travel shampoo bottles which I’ll use when racing and twill save me a few bob shur. Moving onto a build plan this week which will target race intensity. Looking forward to getting going on it.
Goals for the week
- Aim for FTP of 260+W in the 20min test
- Drop another few hundred grams
- 2 core workouts
Steamed egg, my main breakfast these days instead of porridge as it’s a good source of protein and healthy fats.
Here’s a more interesting dish with mushrooms, peas, carrots, sweet potato and salmon with some soy sauce at the bottom. All steamed. Really tasty dish.
Rickshaw. Quite common in the touristy spots of Beijing.
Easter Sunday mass at Nantang church.
A lively Fillipino choir at the mass. Really uplifting.
Lovely shrine to Our Lady.
Some Chinese sisters.
Beijing subway (not peaktime)
The new training plan from Trainerroad0 -
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He did up a plan for me about 7 weeks ago which I've been following well and rarely deviating from. To make a long story short, my carbohydrate intake was ridiculously high and I wasn't getting enough fats and proteins so I've reduced carbs and increased fats and proteins. Here's a breakdown:
- carbs: high glycemic load v low glycemic load
- fats: saturated (eggs, butter, beef, lamb, whole dairy), monounsaturated (olive oil, avocado, nuts) and polyunsaturated (fish, seeds, nuts, eggs)
- protein
Reducing carbs means kinda following the 80/20 rule. So when I eat carbs, 80% of the time they will be low GI carbs (sweet potato, porridge, basmati/wild rice, berries, all green and root veg). I only have high GI carbs after a workout so basically that's the time to treat myself if I want a glass of ovaltine, potatoes, rice, cereals, fruit juices, jams etc. On non-workout days I'm mainly eating a high protein/fat diet with eggs for breakfast, salads with olive oil, cold meats and lots of nuts for snacks. Also try to get in greens with all my main meals. Try to drink plenty of green tea also but don't overdo it. Friend has a big box of Lyons tea bags as well so I've robbed a few of those off him for emergencies when I'm missing home.
Diet before the plan
Sun 23 Feb 64.9kg
9:30 - Large bowl millet porridge w/1tbsp date honey. 7 large strawberries.
13:30 - 7 medium strawberries
13:45 - Large bowl beef stew from yesterday
14:00 - 2 red bean oat biscuits, 800ml rice tea,
16:20 - 840ml mix (mixture of 1 spoon mocha instant coffee, rice tea cube, 1 barley tea bag)
16:30 - 400ml mix (1 tbsp mocha, 1 tbsp ovaltine, 1/2tbsp chocolate powder)
18:15 - Nearly bonked on turbo trainer, 1 medium banana, 7 medium strawberries, 30g emmental cheese, 3 tbsp stewed potato&brocolli,
18:45 - 1 med banana on turbo trainer
19:30 post ride - 3 soft boiled eggs, 20g Illertaler Emmental cheese, 100ml full fat milk.
21:45 - starving so 1 medium bowl porridge (150ml water, 200ml full fat milk, 1 tbsp honey)
Mon 24 Feb 64.5kg
09:30 - 1 medium bowl organic white rice porridge, 1tbsp chocolate poweder, 100ml full fat milk, 420ml lady grey tea (50ml full fat milk)
11:30 - 1/2 small bowl organic white rice porridge, 1 medium orange
11:50 - 1 He Run Japanese style yoghurt, 200ml mixed with 50ml full fat milk.
2.4L Rice tea/barley tea mixture throughout the day
15:45 - 1 large bowl beef stew
16:25 - 1 handful walnuts
16:50 - 1 cup Lady Grey tea, 50ml ff milk
18:50 - cup oval time (3 spoons)
20:10 - 2 squares dark chocolate (Cote d'Oir)
Diet after the plan
20 Apr Endurance workout, 64.5kg
Breakfast: Porridge with strawberries, tea.
On the spin: banana, honey, nuts, 3 Chinese equivalents of fig rolls.
Post spin: Ovaltine, Rice, steamed eggs and cheese, tea.
Supper: homemade veg soup (potatoes, carrots and beef)
Snack: blueberries
21 Apr, 64.9kg
Breakfast: Lettuce, cheese, dressing, tea
Lunch: leftover soup from yesterday, loads green tea
Snacks: cashew and walnut mixture, few handfuls
Supper: 4 steamed eggs, steamed spinach, mushroom, onion, pasta sauce, pinch salt. 2 cups rooibos tea.
Big difference in the 'before' and 'after' with the 'before' way too focused on carbs. Despite having the same weight now I know I will drop to below 64 soon as I had a really consistent week last week with my diet and my weight was really low all week. Also, I don't get sugar cravings 1/2 as much anymore. I could go on and on as there was so much info in the report he gave me but that just about sums it up in a nutshell. Highly recommend it.0 -
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Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional West Moderators Posts: 16,724 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 15163
pprendeville wrote: »I've kinda got used to to doing turbo training sessions. The air quality is terrible here so it's safer for me to stay indoors and train although it's getting really hot now and the session I did today had me on the floor, 4x10min intervals at threshold power. Sweating like a pig, more mentally challenging than physical. Trainerroad is great though. Using virtual power which seems fairly accurate and is almost bang on with my Tacx Flow. I had done some testing in Trinity last year and have a good idea what my threshold power feels like and the virtual power seems spot on to be honest. Still, I'd love to have a good power meter. I just try to get out on a longer spin at the weekend and do the weekday stuff indoors although the turbo sessions are much more efficient IMO. Absolutely no junk miles.
As for the mushrooms, I woke up this morning after having the weirdest dream in which all the copper piping in the house was being robbed and I was trying to explain to the thief as to why he should give it back. The house was in Ireland but not Dublin and I had to think for a few seconds where I was when I woke up. Maybe the mushrooms are messing with my head or else doing Chinese everyday is driving me insane. Only another 100 hours of classes and I'm done.
Am a big fan of trainer road and sufferfest 0 -
2013/14 - Week 35 (Build: Wk02/09)
Mon - Rest
Tues - TT67: PB FB #14, TT68 - TR 20min FTP test
Wed - TT69: PB FB #15
Turs - TT70: TR Rogers PB FB #16, TT71 - TR Goethe 4x10mins FTP+
Fri - TT72: TR Whitney PB HIT #1, L2W1: Injury Prevention #5
Sat - Rest
Sun - TT73: TR Centennial
Summary
Been having a tough week this week. Life in Beijing is starting to catch up with me. Really tired from all the study and just communicating in Chinese is draining me. Find I have very little energy after finishing a class. Really looking forward to finishing up here and getting back home. I think were I to be working and not just constantly learning new stuff everyday life might be a little bit easier. Good 1st week on the Trainerroad build plan although I failed miserably in the FTP test going out too hard.
Tues - Trainerroad Rogers
The Tues session wasn't my best. Had been feeling pretty tired since the weekend despite 3 days off the bike. The Build training plan had a 2x8min FTP test to start off with despite doing one one about 3 weeks ago but I couldn't get it going for some reason so I tried the 20min test instead which is a straight 20mins of pure torture after a warmup. Mentally, I wasn't up for this at all and I caved after about 9mins. Pushed too hard averaging about 280W from the off when I should have been slowly building up to this level instead. Had some music on in the background as well which I thought would help me forget the pain but it was actually a distraction and I couldn't focus on anything. I should have focused on my breathing instead plus it's also a good time to get in a decade of the rosary for anyone so inclined as it just helps the time to pass a bit easier as I'm focused on something and not thinking about the pain as much. Anyway, this session wasn't to be so I quit at 9min and did some low intensity work. Tried to give it another go 4mins later but the legs were having none of it so 90secs later it was definitely end of the road. It's much harder to go from 280W to 260w than the other way around. The brain just seems to think that if I go lower then why not just take it really easy instead. Training indoors is 80% psychological and 20% physical IMO.
Turs - Trainerroad Whitney
Turs was a similar story. Still tired and didn't really want to suffer again but after reading all about RAS Muhain and The Gorey 3 Day and knowing I will need to work hard to be in any way competitive when I get back I knew it was days like these that will make or break me. Weather is heating up here a lot the last week and it must have been 25deg indoors today. Had the fan on full blast plus the AC but it didn't make much difference. I was roasting after 10mins and sweating like I was in a sauna. 1st 10mins and I was thinking to myself I'll do this interval and then take it handy. Legs felt pretty dead. Finished it just about and said I'd give the 2nd interval a shot and if I finished it I wouldn't bother with the bike at the weekend, it's like having an alter ego training on the turbo and this was my incentive to the negative side of my ego. The 2nd interval went ok so naturally I had to give the 3rd one a go. 10mins at 361W which is 3W above my threshold. My legs weren't hurting that much but the heat was killing me. I tried to break it up by standing on the pedals, them sitting and doing a higher cadence or going in the drops for a minute, just mixing it up. This made things hard as the rhythm was affected but at least it broke things up. Couldn't believe I had managed to finish this interval so obviously I had to try the last one in the hope that all of this work stands to me later in the year. This interval was a 10/10 in terms of effort and suffering but I somehow finished it off and was so happy to be spinning away at 100W after it. Feels like pure ecstasy not to have the burning in your legs after 40mins of Z5 effort. How the pros train like this is beyond me but I guess they have just become accustomed to it. Even A1/2 riders must go through some amount of pain to be at the level they're at so fair play to any A1 family man in particular. Cyclists must be some of the hardest training amateur athletes in any sporting discipline.
Sun - Trainerroad Centennial
Had a bit of a rest before a tough end to the week today with 90minutes on the turbo. Got a second fan which was a lifesaver. Makes a massive difference as it makes the session that much more bearable mentally. Wasn't feeling in great form for the first few intervals and decided i had to break them up. Recently, doing an 8min session at a constant output is just mentally draining and I keep wanting to throw in the towel. So today I broek down the 8min session into more manageable bits and to simulate a race situation where I'm not giving my legs and break or chance to get into a rythem, kinda like someone is attacking constantly and I'm doing me best to stay on the wheel:
1min high cadence at FTP
2mins out of the saddle building from FTP building for 15 second blocks from 256W to 280W, then a=maintaining for 30secs at 280 and then coming back down again.
1min high cadence again at FTP and repeat the step above until 8minutes.
Did a steadier 2nd last interval slowly building the power and near the end I was enjoying the pain in a sadistic way. Funny how the emotions change on a bike.
Have copped on as well that my top end power is quite pathetic. I can hit about 400W in a sprint before I go seriously into the red in terms of the pain buildup in my thighs and have to back off again to FTP so I'll have to work on that. The above method is strange in that it makes the intensity factor higher but it's the mixing it up factor that makes it easier to complete the interval.
Diet has been going well again this week. I'm trying to source organic food here as I got these red spots on my body this week which are a bit worrying. Not sure what the reason is but I'm hoping they will just disappear. Going to a doctor here is really complicated what with the language barrier and the Chinese have a much different outlook on sickness than us westerners. Many times I have been warned not to drink cold water or I will get diarrhea, avoid milk at all costs or the reason you have diarrhea is because today is cloudy, not because there are loads of flies on the food be use it's so hot and you don't bother to cover the food or put it in the fridge when you're done eating. Had some basa fish this week which tastes decent. Also making my own blended soup which ain't bad. Picked up some 85% dark chocolate in Carrefour as well as a snack in the evening. Supposed to be a good antioxidant and is my treat in the evening. Must be careful not to overindulge though.
Power (yellow)/HR (red) profile of todays session.
The pain cave with plenty of fans.
I loved this guys DIY belly top. Often watch the Chinese play ball and they're absolutely brutal but they play away al the same fair play to them.
Bit of a water party going on on campus this week. If only I was 10 years younger and a single man.
Found me a nice farmers market on Saturday and picked up lots of fresh veg, buffalo mozzarella, pigs liver and and a few other nice treats. The lady selling me eggs was very keen to point out what the hens staple diet was and was asking me did I want to sample the tasty maggots or whatever they were.
Despite our student building only having 6 floors the elevator was having none of it.
Walking the plank.
Interesting the way deliveries take place in China. A load of companies pull up on the side of the road and stay there the whole day. They send out a text to let you know your package is ready for collection.0 -
pprendeville wrote: »
Been having a tough week this week. Life in Beijing is starting to catch up with me. Really tired from all the study and just communicating in Chinese is draining me. Find I have very little energy after finishing a class. Really looking forward to finishing up here and getting back home. I think were I to be working and not just constantly learning new stuff everyday life might be a little bit easier.
Des Bishop was being interviewed the other day on FM104 or something similar and he's been in China learning Chinese for some TV series. He said it was much different than learning Irish and a lot more intense, in the Gaetacht if you don't know a word you can just say "how do you fridge?" - in China if you can't communicate you're isolated.
Fair play to you for getting stuck in - really enjoying the log - don't think you'll have those kind of experiences when you are back in Ireland - Life is all about building memories to look back on 0 -
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