Monday, 15 March 2010

Bits and Pieces

Things have been going along nicely since my last update, nothing ground breaking just steady progress.

I've done another 10 mile Tempo Time Trial and the time was almost exactly the same as before, just a few seconds quicker. But the plus side was that I had much better control of my heart rate and stayed within the 7 beat range much better (although not perfectly). Have also had a couple of quicker rides that have been hard work in the wind (and ice!) but again have been good and starting to build up some much needed confidence.

It's also been (inevitably) time for some new kit. In my defence it has been filling gaps where I felt I needed things in between the summer / winter stuff I already had. So then, the items were:

Giordana Windscreen long sleeve base layer *
This is fantastic. It’s a snug but very stretchy (and so comfortable) base layer than has a windproof front and arms. And its really does the job well. Keeps the wind out and keeps you nice and warm (on a cool day, not a freezing day). Not cheap I will admit but highly recommended.

* No, that is not me in the photo. Just so we are clear.


Pearl Izumi Cyclone gloves
These were hard to choose as I was pretty pedantic about what I wanted. I wanted something windproof (but for days I knew would be dry) that were a close fit and not bulky, so I could open energy bars with them on. I tried these and got them, and they have been fantastic. Completely wind proof, warm but without making your hands sweaty (a big plus). The fit is superb, not only can I open a bar with them on I can also get my keys out and get into the flat while wearing them. Also the gripped fingers, thumb and palm mean your water bottle will be safe in your hands. Highly, highly recommended. And they look much better in the flesh than in that photo!

Still on clothing its come time to replace something (because I killed them, not because they wore out, to be fair). As I am a fussy so and so who will buy any clothing he can find with the name "Pinarello" on it, or because something is the right colour to match everything else, I can think of no bigger compliment than I am replacing my fingerless mitts with another pair of the same fingerless mitts. They are the Specialized BG Gel gloves and they are so comfortable I just love them. The gel pads are in just the right places and absorb a lot of shocks. Not the cheapest you'll find but as I said they only fell apart after 2 years of use because I wore a lining glove under them and they didn't really fit. Sometimes it's great to have a descision that is a real no-brainer.

Onto training - here is something from my coach. I have previously mentioned the mental challenge of going out for an "easy" zone 1/2 ride. My coach's boss has a blog which addresses this specific point and explains why these sessions are absolutely vital. I found it interesting so I thought I'd share:

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2010/02/easy-means-easy.html

I hope you are enjoying your training and things are going well for you. Personally I need to start hitting the hills in a big way very soon...

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Weight

When people ask how I am burning fat at the moment they seem very interested to know the answer. Once I tell them "Don't drink, eat like an angel and training like a b*****d in exactly the right zones" they don't seem quite so interested any more. Ok ok, I concede this is a slightly mean answer, but it really isn't that far from the truth. I mean, if this was easy then everyone would do it wouldn't they?

Anyway. As always I have been doing my weekly weigh in and tracking the numbers. There was a small blip after I missed a weekend of training due to the chest infection but now things are back on track. But rather than simply show the changes since the last update I thought it would be much more interesting to compare the numbers to this time last year (pure luck I have this data, the monitoring last year wasn't great).


My memories of this time last year are that I was in decent shape (weight wise) so this is very encouraging. But what I am really interested in is what will happen over the coming months. As I have mentioned before my weight increased after The Fred Whitton due to my eating more as the long rides really increased in distance. So I'm really wondering what will happen this time. I will try to be a little more strict with my diet (I confess I did turn into a little bit of a dustbin last year) but obviously I'm going to need a lot more calories than now, I'm still on a deficit at the moment.

But it's going in the right direction for now so I'm happy with that.

Monday, 1 March 2010

About Training

If you've read my last few posts you'll know I'm not exactly over confident in my abilities at the moment. Partly this is because of how I have felt out on the road, but also its because I haven't really known where I am (training plan wise) in the grand scheme of things.

A few emails with my coach has put me straight on this. I'm still in the "base" phase, working on endurance and getting my body used to using fat as a fuel. The rides I've been doing (while slightly frutrating from a "performance" aspect) have been spot on in the grand plan, i.e. sticking to the zones. Next will come the building phase when I will start to mimic the main goals (races), so I'll be hitting the hills big time. At this point I think I'll be begging for a nice zone 2 ride :-)

From this though my coach said a couple of things I found very interesting. At least coming from the usual "flog myself to death everytime" school I found them interesting, so I thought I'd share them with you. I'm sure he won't mind!

"Your goal is to maximise your time in zone when set and understand what it truly 'feels' like here at this exact intensity so that if you had no heart rate monitor or power meter you could ride the whole sportive on 'feelings' and 'emotions' alone.

"Training is an art form in understanding what intensities, heart rate, power / watts, cadences, breathing, technique, relaxation feels like to you so that you know what to do when things don't go to plan and so that you can keep going... and going... and going... and be able to surge, attack, climb strong, time trial without fear and knowing exactly what the effort will take out of you going forwards to the finish line."

Its certainly an interesting thought to know your body that well to always know exactly what you're current effort is. And I love "training is an art form". While I probably won't achieve it much I'm going to repeat that to myself over and over...