My return to fitness

RidleyRider

EmcD123 wrote: »

The kingfisher is there? That's not gone is it? I was going to go to the kingfisher nuig gym for the convenience of being so near to the track and lectures halls

I read somewhere it had gone but I could be wrong.

Alf Veedersane

It's the GMIT gym there just off the Dublin Rd that closed there the other week.

EmcD123

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It's the GMIT gym there just off the Dublin Rd that closed there the other week.

I knew about that. I freaked out there for a while haha. I'm actually really looking forward to having a proper gym to use

RidleyRider

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It's the GMIT gym there just off the Dublin Rd that closed there the other week.

Ah my apologies!

EmcD123

I've signed upn for the giro d'galway which is a 4stage cycling event of a 360km loop around galway county all for charity. The charity is jigsaw who work with mental health for 15-24 year olds so young people. Its a great cause,they're an excellent charity and well worth donating to.
http://www.idonate.ie/owensgiropage
That's the link to my fundraising page if anyone wants to support me in raising funds for this excellent charity.

EmcD123

Check out my 66.7 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/187774764

This is my second week cycling with the west coast wheelers group and this time it was very enjoyable. I started the clock late so its actually about 70km maybe 72km I'm not sure.
I stayed with the group this time for 60km. Couldn't stay anywhere near it last week and had to bail after 25km.
Road bike should be arriving this week so I won't be doing these longer cycles on my hybrid anymore

EmcD123

Have 2 sessions to post here now. Both cycles. I'm getting very good at cycling quickly now and am really enjoying. I finally ggotmy new road bike this week and I love it.
The plan is train hard on the bike for the giro then get back to running for the season. Get clipless pedals for Christmas and then do a lot of cycling sportives over summer.

So here's the first cycle which was done solo
Check out my 70.4 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/189342310

And today I did a 125km cycle with the club . it was around 25kmph average speed although I'd say it went up as high as 27 maybe 28 at times. Didn't get the strava recording as I fell and a cyclist went over my phone... Its not damaged but strava was knocked off

EmcD123

Check out my 69.9 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/193578765
Very very hard cycle,strained a muscle in my calf its very sore and I had to be collected because of it.

Did the parlrun again today after icing my leg didn't run a good time. Will upload the strava file soon

EmcD123

Here's my crappy 5km at the parkrun. Planning on really trying for a pb next week Check out my 5.2 km Run on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/194309846

And here's another group cycle I did today
Check out my 60.5 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/194310103

Im loving cycling and I just found out today that there's no real sprinting left in nuig since the coach has transferred so I don't know what I'm going to do now. All my sprint training over the last few years has been to eventually be coached by him in nuig....
Still I'm definitely going to keep the cycling going.

On Tuesday I'm either going to do strength work in the gym or on the rings depending on weather as I'm worried I'll lose that strength which is what's making a huge difference to my cycling ability

RidleyRider

The thing I found when I was competitive cycling was that I could run all day but couldn't sprint to warm myself.

If you're a serious sprinter then I'd say get into doing lots of explosive movements. Jumping, heavy squats, learn to olympic lift etc..

EmcD123

RidleyRider wrote: »

The thing I found when I was competitive cycling was that I could run all day but couldn't sprint to warm myself.

If you're a serious sprinter then I'd say get into doing lots of explosive movements. Jumping, heavy squats, learn to olympic lift etc..

Ya completely different muscles used unfortunately. I'm just falling in love with the sport and originally I started cycling for endurance training but I've kinda started into it now for a love of cycling itself. Especially after seeing the an post ras an mban on Saturday,it was the first time I'd seen cycling as a sport instead of a hobby that wasn't on television and it was really inspiring.
I don't even know if I'll be able to keep sprinting now anyway since all the coaches are gone in galway ,you can't get to a high level without a coach. I'm going to keep running anyway as I'm not allowed cycle once the winter months arrive so I have to see what happens then and start trying to figure out what it is I really want to do

EmcD123

RidleyRider wrote: »

The thing I found when I was competitive cycling was that I could run all day but couldn't sprint to warm myself.

If you're a serious sprinter then I'd say get into doing lots of explosive movements. Jumping, heavy squats, learn to olympic lift etc..

Ya completely different muscles used unfortunately. I'm just falling in love with the sport and originally I started cycling for endurance training but I've kinda started into it now for a love of cycling itself. Especially after seeing the an post ras an mban on Saturday,it was the first time I'd seen cycling as a sport instead of a hobby that wasn't on television and it was really inspiring.
I don't even know if I'll be able to keep sprinting now anyway since all the coaches are gone in galway ,you can't get to a high level without a coach. I'm going to keep running anyway as I'm not allowed cycle once the winter months arrive so I have to see what happens then and start trying to figure out what it is I really want to do

EmcD123

Wednesday

Deadlift 3x10 25kg
Military press 3x10 15kg
Very rusty at these so will ease my way back into it

Thursday
5 ring support holds until too much shaking
2x4 strict ring pullups
2x5 and 1x3 ring dips
Haven't been on ring in a long time so I'm going to try and do these three exercises twice a week for about 6 weeks then add other exercises to the routine as I don't have much time anymore to spend on each session

EmcD123

Check out my 44.8 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/196926969

A short cycle but I really tried to push it out for speed and getting spinning that big chainring. Savage headwind on the way out then as I was coming back around wind changed and I ended up coming back in a headwind as well. Spent about 90% of the time in the drops to escape as much of the wind as I could but it was hard.
Want to lower my handlebars though they feel waaaaay too high!!

RidleyRider

EmcD123 wrote: »

Check out my 44.8 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/196926969

A short cycle but I really tried to push it out for speed and getting spinning that big chainring. Savage headwind on the way out then as I was coming back around wind changed and I ended up coming back in a headwind as well. Spent about 90% of the time in the drops to escape as much of the wind as I could but it was hard.
Want to lower my handlebars though they feel waaaaay too high!!

Careful how you play with your position because if you lower them you'll end up in crippling agony after you get off if you lower them too much.

Go get a proper fitting done and speak to them about handlebar height. If you're looking to do more sportive type riding then get them as comfortable as possible. 6+ hours on a badly fitted bike is cruelty.

EmcD123

RidleyRider wrote: »

Careful how you play with your position because if you lower them you'll end up in crippling agony after you get off if you lower them too much.

Go get a proper fitting done and speak to them about handlebar height. If you're looking to do more sportive type riding then get them as comfortable as possible. 6+ hours on a badly fitted bike is cruelty.

I haven't had a bike fit yet but I'm planning one. Just trying to find out if there were any things on the bike that i didnt like fit wise and I could ask the fitter about them and get suggestions. At the moment the handlebars are level with the saddle ,that's how it came. I'm not going to adjust it myself there's too much that could go wrong.

EmcD123

Check out my 112.7 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/197485544

The title on strava says it all really. I was a good bit out of my depth today and was over enthusiastic on the big hill and it cost me towards the end

EmcD123

Tuesday
10 minutes spin bike warmup at 80rpm
4 sets of 15 ,12kg kettle bell sqauts
15 ,16kg kettle bell swings

2x5 deadlift 40kg

Thursday
3x5 dips and pullups.
Active and passive hangs x3
Pendulum/side swing hangs x3
1 arm hang x2
Close grip body twist hang x3
Hanging tuck in hang x3
Hanging tuck hang with body twist x3

1 leg bosu balancing x3
Rotation pushups on bosu 3x5
Exercise ball excercise-in plank position with feet on ball and pull knees under chest and roll out again 3x5

Saturday
Check out my 96.7 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/200017721
It was a group cycle but I spent a huge amount of time at the front or with no group shelter and also spend 80%of the cycle in the big chainring to build up strength for cycling.

EmcD123

I forgot to add the 3 1km intervals at around 3:45 pace per km on Friday

Today
Check out my 118.5 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/200521216
Legs were like lead after Saturday and I really suffered but I hung on and made it in the end

EmcD123

Ive lost my records for last week but you can believe me when I say I did 2 fairly gentle gym sessions.

And did 225km last weekend on the bike.

Giro is just 2 weeks away now and I'm basically ready for it. This will be my last weekend then I'm basically packing in the cycling till late January maybe February after which I'll come back with a vengeance

devidwishap

Well all person must be fitness conscious. It is good that you return again.

EmcD123

Did about 200km of cycling this weekend in total. Am supposed to "taper" off now and relax this week coming up to the giro/ I don't know how I'll manage a week without training....

I'm also impressed with myself that even though I've started all this cycling I've managed to keep on the added weight. I'm at my target of 60kg and am working on staying there

EmcD123

So the jigsaw giro d'galway cycle was this weekend. It was savage good craic,and absolutely amazing cycle. The catering,support cars,repairs,the garda escorts, emergency people and everyone else did a great job of getting us around. And the jersey are fantastic quality. A brilliant route was planned,lots of challenging hills,beautiful scenery and though the conditions were difficult,lots of strong crosswinds and heavy rain at times on Sunday the day was still amazing. I went with the 25kmph group this year as the faster group were constantly up around 40 which is just too fast for me over that distance.
I came off the bike 3 times. ,once a crosswind blew me and the bike straight off the road into a ditch ,chain slipped going up a hill and I didn't clip out right after crossing the finish line.
Check out my 204.4 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/208821560
Check out my 167.8 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/209398120

EmcD123

First training session since the giro d'galway
Went for a run at lunchtime around campus. Did about 6km at an easy enough pace,breaking the new shoes in

EmcD123

Havent trained in weeks. I feel like ****e (sorry about the language),getting weak,started to look really thin already. I cant get out running because its always raining ,can't afford a gym membership and just can't muster the motivation to get the weights out at 6 o clock in the evening when I get home from college. Assignments have me constantly working. Basically doing a working week.

And not allowed on the bike this week because I'm suffering from random bouts of vertigo.

..student life is soooooo much less fun that its made out to be....how anyone could have a life outside of their course is literally beyond me considering the amount of work we have to do

Alf Veedersane

You'll get into a rhythm for it. You'll find yourself finding time for a bit of training

EmcD123

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

You'll get into a rhythm for it. You'll find yourself finding time for a bit of training

I certainly hope I'll get into the rhythm. Its really tough to even just get half an hour in the day to train.

Went down to the track for the first time in months and trained with the lads at the club. Did 3x300m at a fair pace . would have done 4 but was hit pretty hard with vertigo after the third one. Forgot how much I missed the track until I was standing on it

Alf Veedersane

EmcD123 wrote: »

I certainly hope I'll get into the rhythm. Its really tough to even just get half an hour in the day to train.

Went down to the track for the first time in months and trained with the lads at the club. Did 3x300m at a fair pace . would have done 4 but was hit pretty hard with vertigo after the third one. Forgot how much I missed the track until I was standing on it

In the midst of the all-consuming finals, I used make sure I'd find an hour, at least once a week, to go training. It might not have imparted any more understanding of the finer points of quantum mechanics but it was a boost mentally. Kicking and punching the bejaysus out of pads had its place on any study schedule

EmcD123

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

In the midst of the all-consuming finals, I used make sure I'd find an hour, at least once a week, to go training. It might not have imparted any more understanding of the finer points of quantum mechanics but it was a boost mentally. Kicking and punching the bejaysus out of pads had its place on any study schedule

I tried doing that during leaving cert and it really helped that's for definite. I get very anxious and unfocused when I'm not training regularly

EmcD123

Track group session again Wednesday night.
4x200m with a massive break between each.
Getting back into it really quickly and am absolutely loving it as I got really fed up with sprinting and lost the enjoyment after all my injuries in the last 2 years but the love affair is back on track.

Bike has been sitting stationary in the house for ages. Weather is too unpredictable and roads are in terrible conditions these days so I'm not getting out