I have no idea what I'm du-ing

pointer28

Tuesday 3/3/15


Bike - Trainer Road Unforgiven - 90 mins - TSS 114 IF .87

Pre-set, 4 x (15 secs @ 150%, 2 mins @ 90%, no RBI)
Main set 3 x (20 secs @ 150%, 15 mins ramping from 90 - 93%, 5 mins RBI)

Tuesday is meant to be a run day as I usually travel on a Tuesday and it's no problem to throw the running gear in the car and fit in a session along the way. This week I'm not travelling until tomorrow, which is meant to be a turbo session and I'm not packing a bike and turbo into the car to set up in my mother's sitting room, just ain't happenin', so today was that turbo session instead.

Session itself was tough, especially after yesterday's V02 Max torture. This was a similar idea, flood the muscles with a short, hard burst and then settle into a sustained effort for a solid 15 minutes. I'm sure it probably replicates starting a TT or something but either way it hurt, but in a different way to yesterday. The V02 Max stuff is just 2 mins of pain whereas this was more of a sustained ache and took real mental strength to keep going.

I do feel stronger though and honestly believe that I wouldn't have been able for this a few weeks ago, I think my FTP might be on the up as well, but rather than rush into a test, I'll give it one more week and then do one.

pointer28

Wednesday 4/3/15


Run - 15k with 1 x 3.2k, 3 min RBI & 3 x 1.6k, 2 min RBI @ T Pace

Avg T Pace - 4:16 mins/km


Away from home again today so threw my running gear in the car and managed to get this done in the Sunny South East, the sun didn't let me down but the wind was a pain in the ass.

There should have been 4 x 1.6k reps but I made a balls of setting up the workout on Garmin Connect and didn't realise it until halfway through my cool down when I thought "I should be closer to the car by now", which was a real pity as I was feeling great and well able for another rep. Unfortunately we can sometimes be too reliant on automation and switch our brains off because of this.

When doing threshold intervals I usually allow a RBI of 1 min per mile but as today was meant to be a decent ramp up of duration to 9.6 kms of work from 8k last week and 6.4k the week before I added 1 min to each RBI. I probably could have managed the 1 min per mile but no rush and there's a long year ahead.

Even with the brain fart, I still managed 8k of decent intervals, no HR again but effort felt right.

pointer28

Thursday 5/3/15


Run - 6.1k + 6 strides

Active recovery day so a nice trot on the canal with a few strides, nothing exciting.

Spent the afternoon giving my bike a good clean, as in taking apart the rear derailleur, de-gunking and re-greasing all the jockey wheels, giving the cassette a good scrub and cleaning the chain thoroughly. There was that much crap on the rear mech I'm surprised it was turning at all. My poor bike needs a really good overhaul this year, the bottom bracket needs replacing, the chain is looking worn and I could do with servicing the wheels too.

pointer28

Friday 6/3/15


Bike - 77k

I really felt like skipping this when I saw the forecast but decided to get it done for a few reasons:

1) The wind can blow on race day too you know;
2) It's Ireland, if I waited for the prefect weather I'd never ride my bike;
3) Suck It Up and get on with it.

The wind was a biatch yet again, solid headwind for the first half so head down and just keep spinning, while the second half was part tailwind which made me look like superman, 52 x 11 baby ;-) and part crosswind which couldn't decide between throwing me under a lorry or into the ditch. Luckily, I avoided both but it was sketchy at times.

I really should clean my bike more often, no scratchy, grinding sounds from the drivetrain and even though it's not quantifiable, everything just felt smoother and slicker.

I also discovered Strava, well I discovered it last year but never bothered doing anything with it until today. As I don't have a PM or even HR at this stage, I looked for a few segments that I can use as benchmarks for the future, I found two nice ones about 8k and 11k on decent roads, wide shoulder etc and used today to set a target for future performance tests. I probably didn't go hard enough for the first 8k segment so I gave it a bit more effort for the 11k and was really gasping at the end of it. Even though it was mostly a tailwind section and the time quite good because of that, the effort was definitely there and it means I'll have to work really hard to beat it, I hate setting meaningless overly soft PB's. I also discovered that somebody has measured both a 25k and a 10 mile out and back TT course with start and finish lines marked on the road and set them up as Strava segments so that will give me a better benchmark in the future and more balanced in terms of the wind too.

Dory Dory

^^^ +1 to all of that!

pointer28

Saturday 7/3/15

Run - 22k @ 5:36 mins/km

Surprisingly warm today meaning that I was slightly overdressed and too warm but other than that it was a good run, effort level felt very easy even though my legs were a little tired from yesterday, but no aches or pains.

pointer28

Sunday 8/3/15


Bike - Trainer Road Rogers - 75 mins - TSS 80 IF .80

Description

4x7-minute intervals @ 95% FTP with 7-minute recoveries at 50% FTP with emphasis on varied climbing cadences (60/80/100rpm) and standing climbing drills where riders stand for 20 pedalstrokes at the top of each minute during the intervals.

Goals

Improve muscular endurance during climbing and target high levels of muscle control during slower, high-force efforts; improve your ability to not only transition in & out of the saddle smoothly, but to do so while limiting fluctuations in power output; refine your body positioning when standing as well as improve pedaling technique when out of the saddle.


Didn't feel like anything this morning, stomach was doing somersaults and felt a head cold coming on so left it for a few hours to see how I felt. Got on the bike about 4pm thinking if I didn't feel good I'd quit. Luckily I felt great throughout and really enjoyed this workout. At times it felt too easy with the very long recoveries but I had to remind myself that today is an active recovery day and shouldn't be too hard. Glad now that I didn't rush into a decision to bin the workout or force myself to do it this morning when not feeling well.

I didn't hit the exact cadence numbers prescribed but still managed to do them outside of my comfort zone which is the most important point in my opinion, managed 62/80/91/63 for the four intervals, with my natural cadence being about 75. Standing drills are grand at a low cadence but really bloody hard at a high cadence!!

pointer28

Monday 9/3/15

Run - 8.2k + 6 strides

Bike - Trainer Road Charybdis - 60 mins - TSS 85 IF .92

Description

Charybdis is 2 sets of 3x3-minute VO2max repeats that begin at 90% FTP and very quickly ramp up to 120% FTP.

Recoveries between intervals are 3 minutes long and the rest between sets is 8 minutes long.

Goals

By working at very high percentages of pVO2max (power at peak oxygen uptake) which is well above FTP, riders can see tremendous improvements in both aerobic & anaerobic power - all in very little time.

Not only can VO2max repeats affect VO2max itself, they can have positive effects on muscle endurance and most importantly aerobic endurance which is especially important for riders working on a very limited amount of weekly training hours.


Run this morning in the rain, nothing exciting, wet and windy but legs felt good and effort felt easy. Would rather stay dry but lots to do today and a long drive this evening so no choice but to get wet.

Turbo this afternoon, another hateful V02 Max session but at least it's only an hour. Shocking to think that there was only a total of 18 minutes of quality in the hour and yet my legs hate me more than ever.

pointer28

Tuesday 10/3/15


Run - 22k with every 3rd km @ HM Pace

Straight out and back along the canal, intentionally chose a flat route so I could concentrate on an even pace. Haven't ran HM pace in a long time, mostly doing LT and M pace stuff lately so the pace felt a bit odd, but very doable. Straight from HM pace back to Easy pace so no recovery jogs but my breathing came back to normal very, very quickly every time and although I didn't have HR the effort felt moderate.

All in all a nice run, not a massive effort but not intended to be either, more of an endurance effort with a little bit of quality thrown in. I try to do this every 2nd week, throw some M or HM pace intervals into my long run which does a number of things for me. It increases my avg pace a little, it gives me a longish run at a moderate HR and it also breaks the monotony of a long run on your own.

This March weather is nuts though, I did this run yesterday in a tee shirt, no gilet or gloves for the first time in months and it was warm, sunny and glorious. This morning I'm sitting in the office looking out at a wet, windy miserable day and the dogs don't even want to go out in it. Good thing it's a turbo day ;-)

pointer28

Wednesday 11/3/15


Bike - Trainer Road Zeppelin - 90 mins - TSS 112 IF .86

Main set was 4 x 6 mins at 92% interspersed with 3 x 5 min over/unders of 25 secs at 130%/80% with 4 min recoveries. Legs were tired as this was 3 tough days in a row, but got it done and no pain, just tiredness.

Tomorrow is an easy day and as I'm working from home today I decided to get this done early and I'll do tomorrow's easy run later in the day to stretch out the rest period as much as possible. Another easy turbo on Friday and then a race simulation workout on Saturday with a day off on Sunday. I like this new format so far rather than the more usual 3 weeks hard, 1 week easy format.

pointer28

Thursday 12/3/15

Run - 5.8k @ 5:40 mins/km

Short active recovery run, dull as you know what but I suppose it's meant to be.


Friday 13/3/15

Bike - Trainer Road Langille - 75 mins - TSS 86 IF .83

3 x 10 minutes intervals at 95-99% FTP with 10 mins Tempo before the first interval and 8 mins Tempo after the last interval.


Saturday 14/3/15

Race Simulation - 80k Bike followed by 8k run (first 4k @ T Pace)

I'm guilty of always being far too soft on the bike, looking over hedges, watching the world go by and having a leisurely coffee break along the way. Nothing wrong with that every now and again but it's a sad fact that I've never actually cycled 80k without stopping, shocking I know. So, today was to be different, no stopping, keep a decent effort throughout and practice fuelling on the move. Box ticked for all three and while I can only go by RPE, I'm guessing it was in the 70-75% effort level, I forgot to make any decent food to bring with me so a couple of chocolate bars from Lidl had to do for this, they seemed to do the job but I never realised how hard it is to chew and swallow while working relatively hard so that's something else new I learned today. I'll really have to come up with something decent for the next one as I have one of these race simulation workouts every second Saturday for the forseeable future.

The run was a "soft" brick, ie not a race pace transition but rather 5 minutes to change into my running gear and put away my bike. The first hundred metres was comical, like a new born foal staggering down the street but that eventually subsided and I was happy to keep the pace to 4:18 mins/km for the first 4k and then run home easy for the next 4k. While the wobbliness subsided and the pace was good, my legs felt almost detached from my body for the whole run and it was kind of disconcerting, I wouldn't have fancied running on a technical trail as I'd say I would have tripped and snotted myself a dozen times.

All in all, a really good workout and learned lots of new stuff along the way such as pacing yourself for longer bike efforts and fuelling on the bike with the run in mind. It all worked out OK for a first effort and I'm sure I'll learn something else new the next time.

pointer28

Sunday 15/3/15

Day off, well deserved and needed, nice to put the feet up and read the newspaper, legs a bit sore from yesterday but nothing too unexpected.


Monday 16/3/15

Training Schedule

AM - 1 Hour Turbo - 20 Min Test
PM - 8km Easy Run

Real Life Schedule

Crap loads of driving, with lots of jobs to do along the way.

My great intentions were to get up at 6am to do my turbo and run when I got home but I woke at 6am and had absolutely no motivation, let alone the energy to do a test so I stayed in bed for another hour and cleared the workout schedule for the day.

So much work to do and so much stress that I think I made the right decision and I have a clear head and a rested body today to get back into it. TBH, attempting an FTP test when not in the best of shape is probably a pointless exercise anyway, and I feel that the extra rest day will be of greater benefit than a forced session.

pointer28

Tuesday 17/3/15


Run - 21.1k @ 5:33 mins/km

At present the powers that be are in the middle of turning a local 42k disused railway line into a greenway, which I think is a fantastic idea and much needed and welcomed.

Unfortunately, I'm moving home in two weeks and won't get to enjoy the benefits of said greenway. So anyway, running along the canal path today I spot a pointer sized gap in the hedge and decided to go exploring ninja stylee (like any good law-obiding Irishman). Bad idea, there's a reason it's not opened yet and that reason is that it ain't bloody finished. They have only put down the first layer of rough broken stone but haven't yet put on the top layer of finer, smooth gravel to make a nice running surface. Hence, this was 21k of horrible, rough ground watching every single step I made (twisted ankle waiting to happen) and very hard and sore on the legs too. I think the fact that it's completely flat made it worse as, at least with proper trail running, there's changes in gradient to work different muscle groups whereas this was just a constant assault on the calves for 2 hours or thereabouts.

Of course, I should have turned back sooner but stubbornness and nosiness took over and made me keep going. Calves are a bit tender but no damage done. Pity too, as it will be beautiful when it's ready but I couldn't even look at the scenery around me because the surface was so dodgy.

pointer28

Wednesday 18/3/15

Bike - 79k Easy

Schedule had a 90 min session of threshold intervals on the turbo but the day was so beautiful and there will be so many more days of bad weather where I'm forced to use the turbo that I decided to go for a spin outside instead.

Nothing exciting, 3 hours of easy spinning but there's definitely an increase in my average speed. I seem to be a cog higher all the time for the same easy effort.

If anything probably a tad over-dressed but it's hard to get right this time of the year as just because the sun is shining and it's a little warmer than of late, it's still only spring and very easy to catch a cold this time of year.

pointer28

Thursday 19/3/15

Run - 6.1k + 6 strides

Active recovery day, lovely warm and sunny day for it, would have been a lovely bike day if I hadn't already done 80k yesterday.


Friday 20/3/15

Run - 16.3k with 2 x 3.2k & 2 x 1.6k @ T Pace

Slightly cooler today but still quite pleasant. Run itself was great, effort felt exactly right, comfortably hard and breathing deeply but not gasping for air, a little easier than 10k effort but not quite as easy as HM effort.

I'm building up these T sessions progressively, starting a few weeks ago at 6 x 1 mile, then 1 x 2 mile & 4 x 1 mile and eventually leading to 3 x 2 miles. After that I'll take a look at it and either increase my paces or shorten my recoveries, plus I need to start putting in some longer Tempo run of 6k plus rather than just intervals all the time.

My last 5k plan before Christmas had a long (14 - 16k) Tempo run every second week at M pace and while it looked a lot on paper and felt tough starting off, it was surprisingly doable once you settled into a rhythm. Also a great confidence builder to knock out 16k of non-stop quality work.

pointer28

Saturday 21/3/15

Bike - 98k

Sunday 22/3/15

Bike - 39k

Haven't got near my turbo once this week and I couldn't care less, this weather is far too nice to be looking out the window at. Maybe I did the right thing and maybe I did the wrong thing, but we'll find our tomorrow either way. 20 minute test scheduled in the morning and I don't know if the week of easy riding will leave me refreshed and raring to go or the lack of intensity will leave me flat.

pointer28

Monday 23/3/15

Bike - Trainer Road 20 Minute Test - 60 mins - TSS 79 IF .89

New trainer so re-calibrating my virtual power on TR as the old trainer has a different power curve, unfortunately this means I can't compare my new FTP to the old one to know if I've improved, but at least I have something to work from in the future.

This is the first time I've ever done a 20 minute test, for some reason TR tends to favour the 2 x 8 min test in in's training plans and that's what I've always done, but I figured that everyone else seems to recommend the 20 min test and as it's longer TT style efforts that I'm interested in, maybe the 20 min test has more relevance.

Tough, tough workout and was crying for mercy at the end but managed to get there. I was afraid at the start that my legs would be flat after no intensity last week, and while they did feel a bit dead starting off, the long warm up and 5 min effort left them feeling in great shape by the time the 20 min effort started.

pointer28

Tuesday 24/3/15

Run - 22.2k with 5,4,3k @ M Pace, 2,1k @ HM Pace, 1k EBI

5k @ 4:36 mins/km
4k @ 4:38 mins/km
3k @ 4:38 mins/km
2k @ 4:29 mins/km
1k @ 4:29 mins/km

Target paces were 4:40 for the M Pace and 4:30 for the HM Pace. Crappy march weather made this a little tougher than it should have been, one minute I was cursing my gilet because I was too hot and the next minute I was glad of it when a hail shower came down. Windy day too, but managed decent shelter from the wind for a lot of it apart from the 3k rep which was completely exposed and the final 1k rep which was exposed and uphill, hit all the paces although the effort was probably a little high for those two reps. One km easy running pace between reps rather than full recovery jogs so legs quite fatigued by the end. Good session though and one that I think will stand to me.

Funnily enough I felt great after yesterday's FTP test and was cursing myself thinking that maybe I hadn't gone hard enough. The tiredness hit me in the afternoon though and i was quite sure I'd done enough.

catweazle

That's a solid looking session - nicely done!

mossym

aye, damn impressive session there. well done

sconhome

pointer28 wrote: »

Tuesday 24/3/15

Run - 22.2k with 5,4,3k @ M Pace, 2,1k @ HM Pace, 1k EBI

5k @ 4:36 mins/km
4k @ 4:38 mins/km
3k @ 4:38 mins/km
2k @ 4:29 mins/km
1k @ 4:29 mins/km
.

That's a solid run! Are you designing the sessions yourself or have you a coach working with you? I love progression runs and find they are great for running ability but also mental strength.

pointer28

No coach, not quite making them up myself but basing them on stuff I read in books/magazines or from podcasts.

I try and add some quality to every my long run every 2nd week and the LSR's just bore me to tears and feel like they're never going to end.

I have a couple of favourites:

5,4,3,2,1 as above
5 twenties - 20 Easy, 20 MP, 20 Easy, 20 MP, 20 Easy (minutes)
Every 3rd @ HM - Long run consisting of 2k E, 1k HM Pace until finish
14 or 16k @ MP
Pyramids etc.

I try to progress them as I go along, ie this session was tougher than the one I did a fortnight ago and the next one will be a long run with a solid 14k at MP in the middle.

While I'm not a coach and wouldn't dream of advising anyone else, I find it a fascinating science and love reading, listening to and learning about it. I suppose I'm self coaching and learning as I go along, made plenty of mistakes along the way too! I'm running less kms and less intensity than last year but running faster and more comfortably too. I also feel like I'm improving.

pointer28

Wednesday 25/3/15

Run - 8.1k + 6 strides

Gorgeous day for it in the sunny south east, singlet and sunglasses weather.


Thursday 26/3/15

Bike - 100k

Did the first 50k with a couple of friends which meant it was very slow as they're only getting back into it after the winter, but the second half was better and finished feeling strong. Completely different day to yesterday, cold, wet and miserable.

pointer28

Friday 27/3/15

Bike - Trainer Road Seneca Rocks - 75 mins - TSS 79 IF .80

The bones of this was 3 x 15 mins at 85% FTP, 5 mins RBI. First interval was done at 5-10 rpm lower than comfortable cadence, 2nd interval done at 5-10 rpm higher than comfortable and 3rd interval was changing cadence every minute from standing, lower, normal, higher repeated in a pyramid fashion. I also spent a good portion of the first two intervals riding in the drops to get used to the position as I dropped my stem a little last week.

Not a killer session by any means, but a nice bit of work done without wrecking the legs for tomorrow. The cadence and position drills helped a little with the relatively long intervals too (time goes by sooooooo slowly on the turbo).

While I changed turbo last week and therefore can't make a direct comparison of my new FTP, I'm certainly using bigger gears for what feels like a similar effort. Happy with my cycling in general this year, 100k yesterday and even though it was slow, it took nothing out of me, whereas last year every long ride was a struggle. I think the real difference is the 4 days cycling a week versus 3 days a week last year. Frequency, duration, intensity..............

In other news, had the opportunity to share transport and accommodation for The Pig Duathlon in June, but this was unfortunately scuppered half an hour ago, poxy ungrateful gits and their poxy stupid weddings. Don't they know I'm an athlete now ;-)

Solobally8

pointer28 wrote: »

Friday 27/3/15
but this was unfortunately scuppered half an hour ago, poxy ungrateful gits and their poxy stupid weddings. Don't they know I'm an athlete now ;-)

I know! People are so selfish! Having weddings/other social events on race days!

pointer28

Saturday 28/3/15

Run - 8k with 5k @ T Pace

Avg T Pace - 4:17 mins/km

Today was meant to be another race simulation day but with the house move next Friday and me being away from tomorrow until Wednesday, the plan had to be scrapped in favour of swearing and shouting at dismantling fitted wardrobes.

Managed to grab a window of opportunity in the afternoon so just did the first thing that popped into my head which was 5k at T pace.

pointer28

Sunday 29/3/15

Bike - Trainer Road Achtung Baby - 90 mins - TSS 106 - IF .84

I'm moving house later this week and had thought about doing a training plan, but decided against it in the end and will just fit in what I can, when I can and what I feel like, rather than sticking to anything too rigid. It's stressful enough without worrying about missing set sessions.

This was grand, thought it might be a bit easy at the start as the intervals are all quite short but by the time I got to the end of the 90 mins they were plenty hard enough.


Monday 30/3/15

Enforced day off, spent all day dragging furniture around and building wardrobes.


Tuesday 31/3/15

Run - 24.7k @ 5:38 mins/km

As luck would have it I happened to be in the vicinity of the new house and managed to squeeze in a long run today. Very windy out and a lumpy route so ignored the watch and just ran at easy effort the whole time. Wind was nuts, got blown sideways a couple of times passing gateways and running into it was pure torture. Got soaked at the end too just to add insult to injury,

All in all though, a great run and just what I needed. I think the constantly changing profile and the unfamiliar scenery made it a feel a lot easier than usual. Better than Prozac any day.

pointer28

Wednesday 1/4/15

Run - 8k + 6 strides

In Wexford again today so a quick out and back on the main road, horrible, dull road but needs must.


Thursday 2/4/15

Bike - 44k

Heading down to the new house today and knew training opportunities would be limited for the next few days so decided to cycle down and the GF could follow later in the car.

Got drenched and cold but at least I got something done.


Friday, Saturday and Sunday were complete write offs but I'm not stressing about it as I had other priorities and knew that getting any training done at all would be a struggle.


Monday 6/2/15

Run - 8.6k + 6 strides

Finally in the new house since Friday and this was my first chance to get out for a run. Glorious morning but my legs felt stiff after a few days off and took a long time to warm up did eventually felt alright after a few strides. Beautiful area for running in, endless quiet back roads with some nice hilly routes if needed.


Bike - 2 Hours - 53k

Could probably have done with a decent turbo session but it's pure torture in weather like today so I decided on a 2 hour spin instead just checking out the local routes.

Annoyed I didn't get to do the Rosslare 10k today, one of my favourite races and it's now 2 years in a row that I've missed it. While it would have been technically possible to do it, I have to be in Longford tonight and then go to Wexford again tomorrow so I would have wasted an awful lot of petrol and wouldn't have been in shape to run a good race anyway.

pointer28

Tuesday 7/2/15

Bike - Trainer Road Huffaker - 60 mins - TSS 81 IF .90

Up at 5am, in Wexford for 9am and back in Longford for 2pm so busy, busy morning and had to leave again at 4pm so just jumped on the turbo and did an hour. I figured a Vo2 session would be the best bang for buck as I didn't do any intensity yesterday and did very little last week too.

2 sets of 3 x 3 mins @ Vo2 Max with 3 mins between intervals and 8 mins between sets. Tough session but not as hard as I remember it being the last time I did it. This could be for a number of reasons;


1 - I'm mentally tougher than the first time I did it.
2 - My virtual FTP is wrong
3 - I'm not setting up the trainer consistently each time I use it.


I'd like to think that it's No.1 and that I've just learned to suffer better as the last time I did it was the first time I did any V02 Max intervals in months whereas now I've been doing them for a couple of weeks. It's more likely to be No. 2 or 3 though so I'll have to keep an eye on my set up in future and may even re-test if necessary. The fact is that Virtual Power is imperfect but then again so is RPE and HR has it's downside too, I'd love a real power meter but it's not happening anytime soon. Either way it was an hours worth of work and better than sitting on the couch.

In the old house I used to be able to open windows at each end of the house and create a wind on my back but the room I'm using in the new house has very little ventilation and I sweltered on the bike today so I bought a large fan in Argos this afternoon especially with the better weather in mind.

pointer28

Wednesday 8/4/15

Run - 24.2k with 8 x 3 mins @ T Pace

Avg T Pace - 4:11 mins/km

14k Easy Warm Up
8 x 3 mins @ T Pace, 2 mins @ Easy Pace
2k Easy Cool Down

Another beautiful day, slightly cool starting off but warmed up nicely and quite hot towards the end. Nice session, 14k of rolling roads to warm up followed by Fartlek surges on slightly fatigued legs and a short cool down at the end. T pace felt handy enough and probably needs re-examining as my goal T Pace is 4:18 and I averaged 4:11 running by feel rather than looking at my watch.

Chased by 4 or 5 different dogs which is a new experience coming from a town where people didn't let their dogs loose to wander the roads. Managed not to get bitten, and I don't really blame the dog as they just think they're doing the right thing and defending their territory but I do blame the owners for not having them securely fenced in.

On another note, Dear Garmin, you're website is a pile of sh1te.

Not only do they want me to buy a new Garmin (understandably enough), they also want me to buy a new computer. I have a Garmin 410 which has served me well for years and still does what I want it to do on a regular basis. Yesterday I tried to upload this workout and it told me that the workout creator is now only available on the modern GC so I changed over, it then told me that I have to download Garmin Express and when I tried to do this it told me that it's not compatible with Windows XP and that I have to upgrade my operating system. So, basically, both my watch and laptop are both working fine but Garmin have decided that I need to replace both for no good reason.

In fairness my laptop is about 7 years old but it still does what I want it to and I don't see the need to upgrade it until it dies or fails to do what I want of it. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a new 520 or Fenix 3 and an Edge 810 while you're at it, with a shiny new laptop thrown in for good measure but there's stuff like rent and bills to be paid and food to be bought.

I'll just have to get by using the manual lap function for now.