:00 E1
:05 1 x 6s RGSS (prefered leg), 1 x 6s HCLR,:1
:10 2 x 8s PG-4" RS (120rpm seated):3
:16 2 x 10s PG RS (120rpm seated):3
:22 2 x 8s PG+4" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 10s PG+4" RS (60 rpm) (seated):3
:35 1 x 40s PG-4" RS R/up (10:100, 15:125, 15:max)
:42 1 x 30s HCLR R/up (10, 10, 10) 100, 130, 150+
Man this one hurt. In the best possible way, I'm sure, but... man. Very tired afterwards. Probably the worst was the rolling starts from 120RPM, because it requires at least 5 hard seconds to get there, followed by the 8-10 seconds of actual effort! I felt okay actually doing them, but they left me pretty rooted for the rest of the session. I have to concede that I didn't quite make the 40 seconds in the PG-4 rampup - 35 seconds. In the 15second 'max' effort, I got up okay, but only lasted about 5 seconds or so before my cadence started dropping back, and I think the last number I saw before I slumped over was 118.
Otherwise it was a successful session. Got up to 145RPM in 6 seconds in 53x14, saw 192 (though the garmin only recorded 186 - must've been too fleeting!) in the HCLR, and hit 154-159 in the 8-10s PGish efforts. I did have a little trouble with the cadence sensor (have to fix it more tightly to the cranks because it moved slightly, giving erratic readings once or twice) but it was generally quite consistent.
Brief stats here.
29 June 2011
26 June 2011
DISC Session #10 with ABOC
Tonight was fun! And tough. I was still a little sore from yesterday, and tired thanks to catching up on sleep, but that only really affected me when I was sitting around and warming up.
We started off with Flying 100s, which I did on 99" and then 92", to get an idea for the difference. And the difference? Well, not much. Maximums of 56.3 at 120 on 99, 56.1 at 129 on 92. On first blush, looking at the shape of the graphs (by distance, not time) it might appear that the peak is rather more vertiginous for the 99" effort than for the 92" effort, but that's just an artefact of the total distance travelled - the actual entry plus 100m follows a very similar profile - peak speed just coming out of the first bend, speed drop of about 2km/hr for a sustained speed along the straight of about 54km/hr, and then the effort ends coming in to the next bend.
Even if you compare those two to my flying 200 of a bit over a week ago (which was on 92") the profile is similar (though top speed was a bit higher at 57.1) including the speed drop in the last 100m! Still, I don't feel like I'm jumping quite hard enough, even though I'm not trying to give it 100% at that point, because I have to last the distance. Say, maybe 95% for a F100, 90% for a F200. Not sure if that's what I should actually be doing though! Top speed of 56ish km/hr is too low though - even if I was not hitting the entry as hard so as to maintain speed, an average of 56km/hr only gives me a F200 time of 12.85s or so. Still getting tyre slip too - I've got some new tyres to put on which should hopefully be grippier, and just keep trying to get my position right accelerating out of the saddle.
I was pretty tired after that, and a bit concerned about the MACs and windout to come, but I was right when I said that I actually enjoy them - I was tired, but they didn't destroy me. I didn't do any of them perfectly though - I hit the roller on all of them, which may be okay, but it disrupts the rhythm. Especially coming around the bend to the point where the motorbike jumps and you have to respond to catch it. So I was a little slow there, though not too bad, but I did the same thing again coming around to the same point, where the bike accelerates again - except this time, I simply forgot that it was going to happen so I actually had to jump again rather than just accelerate in the slipstream. Which left me a little exposed. Not too bad, but stuff I need to work on. 62.2/143 and ?/141 (on 92") are reasonable results though - a good 4-5km/hr more than 3 weeks ago.
The windout was supposed to be on 82", but although I now have a 16T, my chain wasn't long enough to get it on, so I had to go for 86" on the 15T. Although again my form wasn't that great - touching the roller, not maintaining a very smooth line - I can't complain too much. I let the motorbike get away on the last straight, but I still managed a top of 60.5/149 and held my speed down the straight pretty well. Again, a good 5km/hr and 11RPM higher than 3 weeks ago.
So actually, now that I look properly at the stats and graphs and comparisons and so on, I'm quite happy with how things are going. It's a bit like losing weight, I guess, in that random variation (a brush of the roller, moment's inattention, whatever) can easily account for 2-3km/hr difference, and the improvement is incremental - and lower than the random variation. So you really need to step back a bit and say - hey, look, that's 5km/hr faster than only three weeks ago! Which is significant (though not as significant as it appears - 5 weeks ago I hit 59.1, only 1.4km/hr slower) as it confirms that yes, improvement is being made. Slowly, but it's real. The problem is that now I want to take all of my data, put it in a table and do actual statistical analysis of it. But I'm going to resist that because it's not even remotely worthwhile. This blog is already excessive analysis! Just so long as I record the information, reflect upon what I'm doing and use it for motivation. And let Carl know what I'm doing and how I feel about it, so that he can masterfully coach me towards perfection. Or, erm, something.
We started off with Flying 100s, which I did on 99" and then 92", to get an idea for the difference. And the difference? Well, not much. Maximums of 56.3 at 120 on 99, 56.1 at 129 on 92. On first blush, looking at the shape of the graphs (by distance, not time) it might appear that the peak is rather more vertiginous for the 99" effort than for the 92" effort, but that's just an artefact of the total distance travelled - the actual entry plus 100m follows a very similar profile - peak speed just coming out of the first bend, speed drop of about 2km/hr for a sustained speed along the straight of about 54km/hr, and then the effort ends coming in to the next bend.
Even if you compare those two to my flying 200 of a bit over a week ago (which was on 92") the profile is similar (though top speed was a bit higher at 57.1) including the speed drop in the last 100m! Still, I don't feel like I'm jumping quite hard enough, even though I'm not trying to give it 100% at that point, because I have to last the distance. Say, maybe 95% for a F100, 90% for a F200. Not sure if that's what I should actually be doing though! Top speed of 56ish km/hr is too low though - even if I was not hitting the entry as hard so as to maintain speed, an average of 56km/hr only gives me a F200 time of 12.85s or so. Still getting tyre slip too - I've got some new tyres to put on which should hopefully be grippier, and just keep trying to get my position right accelerating out of the saddle.
I was pretty tired after that, and a bit concerned about the MACs and windout to come, but I was right when I said that I actually enjoy them - I was tired, but they didn't destroy me. I didn't do any of them perfectly though - I hit the roller on all of them, which may be okay, but it disrupts the rhythm. Especially coming around the bend to the point where the motorbike jumps and you have to respond to catch it. So I was a little slow there, though not too bad, but I did the same thing again coming around to the same point, where the bike accelerates again - except this time, I simply forgot that it was going to happen so I actually had to jump again rather than just accelerate in the slipstream. Which left me a little exposed. Not too bad, but stuff I need to work on. 62.2/143 and ?/141 (on 92") are reasonable results though - a good 4-5km/hr more than 3 weeks ago.
The windout was supposed to be on 82", but although I now have a 16T, my chain wasn't long enough to get it on, so I had to go for 86" on the 15T. Although again my form wasn't that great - touching the roller, not maintaining a very smooth line - I can't complain too much. I let the motorbike get away on the last straight, but I still managed a top of 60.5/149 and held my speed down the straight pretty well. Again, a good 5km/hr and 11RPM higher than 3 weeks ago.
So actually, now that I look properly at the stats and graphs and comparisons and so on, I'm quite happy with how things are going. It's a bit like losing weight, I guess, in that random variation (a brush of the roller, moment's inattention, whatever) can easily account for 2-3km/hr difference, and the improvement is incremental - and lower than the random variation. So you really need to step back a bit and say - hey, look, that's 5km/hr faster than only three weeks ago! Which is significant (though not as significant as it appears - 5 weeks ago I hit 59.1, only 1.4km/hr slower) as it confirms that yes, improvement is being made. Slowly, but it's real. The problem is that now I want to take all of my data, put it in a table and do actual statistical analysis of it. But I'm going to resist that because it's not even remotely worthwhile. This blog is already excessive analysis! Just so long as I record the information, reflect upon what I'm doing and use it for motivation. And let Carl know what I'm doing and how I feel about it, so that he can masterfully coach me towards perfection. Or, erm, something.
25 June 2011
Back in da haus!
Back picking up heavy things and putting them down again. Heavy-ish things at least, and it's starting to get more noticeable - which is good, because my form still needs a fair bit of work. Especially after missing last week, as the pathways aren't exactly laid in... well, not even cake batter, really.
Anyway:
Rowing, skipping, warmups and so on.
Squats: 3x5x50kg
Press: 3x5x25kg
Deadlift: 1x5x60kg.
Anyway:
Rowing, skipping, warmups and so on.
Squats: 3x5x50kg
Press: 3x5x25kg
Deadlift: 1x5x60kg.
23 June 2011
Spin the black turtle!
Don't blame me, blame... well, me. This is one time it'd be handy to have a ghost-written blog.
Anyway, won't bother with the program, it was the same as Tuesday - except that this time, I did it in the right gears! Huzzah! There's hope for the boy yet.
Okay, I'll admit, I only did a 30 second PG rampup rather than 40 second, but at least that idiocy was due to end-of-session brain-fog rather than cool, calculated brainlessness. And I did it all-out, not at 40-second pace and just stopped after 30 seconds - I did it at precisely the level of suffering such that 32 seconds was out of the question. Which is kinda the way it's meant to be - so long as you can remember.
The HCLR rampup was interesting - it was 30 seconds, sure, but it was more MCLR, only getting up to 151RPM. Which just goes to show that my neural pathways weren't only cognitively shot by then!
Oh, it also goes to show that this track training malarky must be paying off, since a few months ago 120RPM would have been... well, not quite astounding, but still notable.
Other stats of note... well, all the PG+ efforts were ~150, except for one which slacked off to 146, the PG were slightly higher, and the other HCLRs were just slightly under 180, indicating that perhaps my neural pathways had roadworks right from the beginning.
Slightly more detailed brief stats here.
Anyway, won't bother with the program, it was the same as Tuesday - except that this time, I did it in the right gears! Huzzah! There's hope for the boy yet.
Okay, I'll admit, I only did a 30 second PG rampup rather than 40 second, but at least that idiocy was due to end-of-session brain-fog rather than cool, calculated brainlessness. And I did it all-out, not at 40-second pace and just stopped after 30 seconds - I did it at precisely the level of suffering such that 32 seconds was out of the question. Which is kinda the way it's meant to be - so long as you can remember.
The HCLR rampup was interesting - it was 30 seconds, sure, but it was more MCLR, only getting up to 151RPM. Which just goes to show that my neural pathways weren't only cognitively shot by then!
Oh, it also goes to show that this track training malarky must be paying off, since a few months ago 120RPM would have been... well, not quite astounding, but still notable.
Other stats of note... well, all the PG+ efforts were ~150, except for one which slacked off to 146, the PG were slightly higher, and the other HCLRs were just slightly under 180, indicating that perhaps my neural pathways had roadworks right from the beginning.
Slightly more detailed brief stats here.
21 June 2011
Spin and grind.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 5s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+4" RS (80rpm):3
:16 2 x 8s PG+4" RS (80rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 7s PG+4" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 8s PG RS (80 rpm) (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PGRS R/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:40 1 x 30s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:120, 10:150+)
I had a bit of a problem this week. Yes, you're right, this is not unusual. And yes, you're right, I shouldn't be allowed near any bike with an allen key in my hand. Anyway.
My first 'problem' was whether or not to stick with 53x17 as my PG, or jump up to 53x16 since I've recorded over 160RPM in 53x16. I figured in the end to stick with 53x17, as I've only just gotten there and we're doing PG+ efforts anyway.
The second problem was that when I jumped on the bike today, it started skipping in 53x17, jumping from that to 53x16 just for the fun of it. Then maybe back again. Yes, a simple adjustment (probably) but I've grown sick of 'simple' adjustments in spin sessions, so figured I'd just call 53x16 my PG after all, and go to 53x15 for the PG+4" efforts - that is, most of them. Even though 53/17 is 81.9", 39/12 is 85.4", 53/16 is 87.1" and 53/15 is 92.9". That is, instead of doing PG and PG+4 efforts, I was doing PG+5.2 and PG+11 efforts. Erm. Then, to make matters worse (and I've done the calculations to back this up) I did the PGRS 40s effort - the one that I did last time on 81.9" and almost survived to tell the tale - in 53/15. 92.9". I am, in fact, an idiot. A numby, even. And no, I didn't last 40 seconds.
Aside from all that, an observation of note is that I get no momentum assistance from my trainer - I stop pedalling, and even on the lowest resistance setting the back wheel stops after a few revolutions. This makes the long RS efforts much more difficult than they otherwise would be, because I have to expend a fair amount of energy (especially when I'm turning 11 more inches than I should be) to get to 80RPM just to start the exercise. Good training for a kilo, perhaps, but not quite what I'm aiming for. If I can get my gears precisely tuned such that I can trust them to go bang in to the right gear (and trust my fatigued brain to count the number of clicks) then I should be able to alleviate this to an extent by getting 80RPM in an easy gear and throw it in to the target gear at the last second. But then I'll be starting the effort not with 20 seconds of grinding in my legs already, but with a sudden deceleration instead.
Brief stats here.
:05 2 x 5s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+4" RS (80rpm):3
:16 2 x 8s PG+4" RS (80rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 7s PG+4" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 8s PG RS (80 rpm) (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PGRS R/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:40 1 x 30s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:120, 10:150+)
I had a bit of a problem this week. Yes, you're right, this is not unusual. And yes, you're right, I shouldn't be allowed near any bike with an allen key in my hand. Anyway.
My first 'problem' was whether or not to stick with 53x17 as my PG, or jump up to 53x16 since I've recorded over 160RPM in 53x16. I figured in the end to stick with 53x17, as I've only just gotten there and we're doing PG+ efforts anyway.
The second problem was that when I jumped on the bike today, it started skipping in 53x17, jumping from that to 53x16 just for the fun of it. Then maybe back again. Yes, a simple adjustment (probably) but I've grown sick of 'simple' adjustments in spin sessions, so figured I'd just call 53x16 my PG after all, and go to 53x15 for the PG+4" efforts - that is, most of them. Even though 53/17 is 81.9", 39/12 is 85.4", 53/16 is 87.1" and 53/15 is 92.9". That is, instead of doing PG and PG+4 efforts, I was doing PG+5.2 and PG+11 efforts. Erm. Then, to make matters worse (and I've done the calculations to back this up) I did the PGRS 40s effort - the one that I did last time on 81.9" and almost survived to tell the tale - in 53/15. 92.9". I am, in fact, an idiot. A numby, even. And no, I didn't last 40 seconds.
Aside from all that, an observation of note is that I get no momentum assistance from my trainer - I stop pedalling, and even on the lowest resistance setting the back wheel stops after a few revolutions. This makes the long RS efforts much more difficult than they otherwise would be, because I have to expend a fair amount of energy (especially when I'm turning 11 more inches than I should be) to get to 80RPM just to start the exercise. Good training for a kilo, perhaps, but not quite what I'm aiming for. If I can get my gears precisely tuned such that I can trust them to go bang in to the right gear (and trust my fatigued brain to count the number of clicks) then I should be able to alleviate this to an extent by getting 80RPM in an easy gear and throw it in to the target gear at the last second. But then I'll be starting the effort not with 20 seconds of grinding in my legs already, but with a sudden deceleration instead.
Brief stats here.
19 June 2011
DISC Ses... I mean, Spin at Home
I had intended to go to DISC tonight, but family needs won out, so I decided to do a re-run of the Spin session from last week - this time, actually on the trainer rather than by a river!
:00 E1
:05 2x5s HCLR
:10 2x8s 53x17 RS(80):3
:16 2x10s 39x12 RS(80):3
:22 2x12s 39x12 SS(seated/L,R):4
:30 2x6s 53x16 SS(seated/L,R):3
:36 1x40s 53x17 SS r/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:42 1x10s HCLR
Surprisingly enough, the results weren't even remotely similar! HCLRs gave 180 apiece, and the next two rolling starts gave 157/158 and 153/152. More interesting were the standing starts, which I did on my PG+3.5 and PG+5.2, respectively. Both times I cleared 160RPM, with 160/161 and 156/160 respectively. So that, perhaps, is an indication that I am, indeed, getting stronger!
Then came the horrible bit, the 40 second PG ramp-up. Again, I can't claim to have done it perfectly, because there's no way I can work that hard and keep my cadence constant. I was determined, though, to last the 40 seconds, and that I did manage. It was a bit touch and go - there's a bit of a divot in my graph where I drop from 126RPM down to 118 - but then I kicked it back up to my maximum of 134, held it there for probably 6-7 seconds, dropped down to 125ish over the next few, before collapsing in a wobbly heap on the bike.
I backed up with a final HCLR of 174 - a bit down perhaps, but frankly I'm amazed I managed to do it at all.
Main win for the session? Not talking myself out of being able to do the 40s rampup. Coming up to it I found myself thinking that I couldn't possibly push all the way through, that it was too long, that I'd quit 5, 10 seconds early, or I'd only get up to a maximum of 120 or some such. But I pushed through, poured sweat on the floor, scared the neighbours with my grunting, and got the motherfucker done. Yeah. I'm real bad-arse (somehow that doesn't sound quite as 'right' as 'bad-ass'. Oh well.)
Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2x5s HCLR
:10 2x8s 53x17 RS(80):3
:16 2x10s 39x12 RS(80):3
:22 2x12s 39x12 SS(seated/L,R):4
:30 2x6s 53x16 SS(seated/L,R):3
:36 1x40s 53x17 SS r/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:42 1x10s HCLR
Surprisingly enough, the results weren't even remotely similar! HCLRs gave 180 apiece, and the next two rolling starts gave 157/158 and 153/152. More interesting were the standing starts, which I did on my PG+3.5 and PG+5.2, respectively. Both times I cleared 160RPM, with 160/161 and 156/160 respectively. So that, perhaps, is an indication that I am, indeed, getting stronger!
Then came the horrible bit, the 40 second PG ramp-up. Again, I can't claim to have done it perfectly, because there's no way I can work that hard and keep my cadence constant. I was determined, though, to last the 40 seconds, and that I did manage. It was a bit touch and go - there's a bit of a divot in my graph where I drop from 126RPM down to 118 - but then I kicked it back up to my maximum of 134, held it there for probably 6-7 seconds, dropped down to 125ish over the next few, before collapsing in a wobbly heap on the bike.
I backed up with a final HCLR of 174 - a bit down perhaps, but frankly I'm amazed I managed to do it at all.
Main win for the session? Not talking myself out of being able to do the 40s rampup. Coming up to it I found myself thinking that I couldn't possibly push all the way through, that it was too long, that I'd quit 5, 10 seconds early, or I'd only get up to a maximum of 120 or some such. But I pushed through, poured sweat on the floor, scared the neighbours with my grunting, and got the motherfucker done. Yeah. I'm real bad-arse (somehow that doesn't sound quite as 'right' as 'bad-ass'. Oh well.)
Brief stats here.
18 June 2011
Blackburn Sprint Night at DISC
Well, I intended to race, really I did, but... well, having been away from home all week, my heart just wasn't in it and though I showed up and did my Flying 200, I couldn't bear hanging around for another two hours when I just wanted to be home with my family.
Another part of it was that the Flying 200 felt awful. Really bad. I did it on 92", which didn't quite feel right, but mostly because I just wasn't focussed on it - and so my jump, my form, and my ability to push the whole way just weren't there. So I didn't feel I was going to get much of a training effect out of the evening. Because, well, I'm a sprinter; there's no point going out there at 60%. And as Craig Colduck said:
I didn't check my time after the Flying 200, but I knew in myself that I wasn't on. My goal had been a sub-13 second. I felt like I'd just scraped in a sub-30 second!
Interestingly, I was right in a technical sense - I hadn't made my target. It may be argued that aiming for a 0.4second PB shouldn't be an initial training target in this sense, but no need to quibble. It turned out I rode 13.34 seconds - which is precisely (where 'precisely' in this, hand-timed, context means 'within 0.2s or so') what I rode at the come-n-try day 10 weeks or so ago. So I actually qualified to go home on the other half of Craig's advice:
One interesting thing to note from the stats is that I started my jump for the F200 from ~42.4km/hr, hit the 200m line at about 54.7, hit my top of 57.1 (@131RPM) some 20m later, and then dribbled all the way back down to 54.9 over the next 60m, popped back up to 55.7 and held there for another 60m or so, and then plummeted away after coming out of the bend (in fact, I almost sat up in the straight) to cross the line at about 52.7km/hr. This is all slightly approximate, of course, as I'm inferring from the graph rather than correlating with a GPS plot, but it's probably about right.
Another part of it was that the Flying 200 felt awful. Really bad. I did it on 92", which didn't quite feel right, but mostly because I just wasn't focussed on it - and so my jump, my form, and my ability to push the whole way just weren't there. So I didn't feel I was going to get much of a training effect out of the evening. Because, well, I'm a sprinter; there's no point going out there at 60%. And as Craig Colduck said:
If you don't make the target times or loads on the first effort or set, you warm down and go home. You aren't fresh enough to train at a level that will make you improve.
I didn't check my time after the Flying 200, but I knew in myself that I wasn't on. My goal had been a sub-13 second. I felt like I'd just scraped in a sub-30 second!
Interestingly, I was right in a technical sense - I hadn't made my target. It may be argued that aiming for a 0.4second PB shouldn't be an initial training target in this sense, but no need to quibble. It turned out I rode 13.34 seconds - which is precisely (where 'precisely' in this, hand-timed, context means 'within 0.2s or so') what I rode at the come-n-try day 10 weeks or so ago. So I actually qualified to go home on the other half of Craig's advice:
If you do a PB, you warm down and go home.So even if I'd wanted to, I couldn't possibly have stayed!
One interesting thing to note from the stats is that I started my jump for the F200 from ~42.4km/hr, hit the 200m line at about 54.7, hit my top of 57.1 (@131RPM) some 20m later, and then dribbled all the way back down to 54.9 over the next 60m, popped back up to 55.7 and held there for another 60m or so, and then plummeted away after coming out of the bend (in fact, I almost sat up in the straight) to cross the line at about 52.7km/hr. This is all slightly approximate, of course, as I'm inferring from the graph rather than correlating with a GPS plot, but it's probably about right.
15 June 2011
Spinning when you can't spin.
Just because you don't have a trainer, doesn't mean you can't do a spin session, right? Well, yeah, more or less. The results might not be comparable to 'normal' sessions, but even the HCLR exercises are doable with a bit of a downhill run-in.
:00 E1
:05 2x5s HCLR
:10 2x8s 53x17 RS(80):3
:16 2x10s 39x12 RS(80):3
:22 2x12s 39x12 SS(seated/L,R):4
:30 2x6s 53x16 SS(seated/L,R):3
:36 1x40s 53x17 SS r/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:42 1x10s HCLR
My training ground was the nice, flat, wide, quiet spot by the river mentioned yesterday, and the session went quite well really - well, except for one bit. The final rampup was bloody hard, and due to fatigue-induced inattention, I didn't go the full 40 seconds - more like 25-30. So, as punishment, I decided to recover for 6 minutes and do it again! For both efforts I didn't worry about getting a cadence and trying to hold it, but just accelerated from a standing start to as fast as I could, and held it as long as possible until I deteriorated to... well, I was going to say 10RPM below max, but really the first one I stopped before the time (and before I 'needed' to) where the second effort I just went as long as possible - 35 seconds that time. Not quite as long as required, and perhaps I'd have managed the extra five seconds if I didn't have to actually ride, or if I had someone yelling at (erm, encouraging!) me.
HCLRs worked well, with 174/170 for the first set - lower than on the trainer, but comparable-ish. It was a good workout for stability, too, because obviously having to actually ride the bike at the same time is harder than just being locked on to the trainer.
The remaining sets gave lower results than on the trainer, but that's probably not very surprising - not much wind resistance on the trainer! I was happy with what I did though - in the 11teens for each of the longer efforts, with a high of 123 on the first 39x12 rolling start, and a top of only 7RPM less from a standing start and an extra 2 seconds. The most interesting result was the 6 second 53x16 standing starts, which saw me get up to 30.1kmh/70RPM starting on the left, and 35.3/81RPM starting on the right - though given that I can't actually trackstand, there's probably enough variability in starting speed/stability and total time (even 1/2-1 second variation in duration can make a noticeable difference) to mitigate the interest in the difference between left and right.
The rampups are interesting. The first attempt, as well as being a bit short, has a perfectly spiky cadence profile, with a top of 121RPM and 48.3km/h. The second effort, by contrast, has a much flatter profile (when viewed by distance - the duration is too short to really see it by time) for cadence which suggests that I maintained the effort, rather than accelerating up to the maximum and then stopping. Curiously the top cadence of 126RPM gave a maximum speed of only 46.2km/h. Unfortunately I did them in opposite directions, and though there appeared to be no breeze at all, even a tiny amount combined with a tiny, unnoticeable difference in grade (say, -0.05 compared to +0.05) or difference in surface could have influenced the result. Still, I was much happier with the second effort, especially in terms of the endurance aspect.
Oh, and once the sun came out, it was a much lovlier day by the river than stuck inside on a trainer!
Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2x5s HCLR
:10 2x8s 53x17 RS(80):3
:16 2x10s 39x12 RS(80):3
:22 2x12s 39x12 SS(seated/L,R):4
:30 2x6s 53x16 SS(seated/L,R):3
:36 1x40s 53x17 SS r/up (10:100, 15:130, 15:max)
:42 1x10s HCLR
My training ground was the nice, flat, wide, quiet spot by the river mentioned yesterday, and the session went quite well really - well, except for one bit. The final rampup was bloody hard, and due to fatigue-induced inattention, I didn't go the full 40 seconds - more like 25-30. So, as punishment, I decided to recover for 6 minutes and do it again! For both efforts I didn't worry about getting a cadence and trying to hold it, but just accelerated from a standing start to as fast as I could, and held it as long as possible until I deteriorated to... well, I was going to say 10RPM below max, but really the first one I stopped before the time (and before I 'needed' to) where the second effort I just went as long as possible - 35 seconds that time. Not quite as long as required, and perhaps I'd have managed the extra five seconds if I didn't have to actually ride, or if I had someone yelling at (erm, encouraging!) me.
HCLRs worked well, with 174/170 for the first set - lower than on the trainer, but comparable-ish. It was a good workout for stability, too, because obviously having to actually ride the bike at the same time is harder than just being locked on to the trainer.
The remaining sets gave lower results than on the trainer, but that's probably not very surprising - not much wind resistance on the trainer! I was happy with what I did though - in the 11teens for each of the longer efforts, with a high of 123 on the first 39x12 rolling start, and a top of only 7RPM less from a standing start and an extra 2 seconds. The most interesting result was the 6 second 53x16 standing starts, which saw me get up to 30.1kmh/70RPM starting on the left, and 35.3/81RPM starting on the right - though given that I can't actually trackstand, there's probably enough variability in starting speed/stability and total time (even 1/2-1 second variation in duration can make a noticeable difference) to mitigate the interest in the difference between left and right.
The rampups are interesting. The first attempt, as well as being a bit short, has a perfectly spiky cadence profile, with a top of 121RPM and 48.3km/h. The second effort, by contrast, has a much flatter profile (when viewed by distance - the duration is too short to really see it by time) for cadence which suggests that I maintained the effort, rather than accelerating up to the maximum and then stopping. Curiously the top cadence of 126RPM gave a maximum speed of only 46.2km/h. Unfortunately I did them in opposite directions, and though there appeared to be no breeze at all, even a tiny amount combined with a tiny, unnoticeable difference in grade (say, -0.05 compared to +0.05) or difference in surface could have influenced the result. Still, I was much happier with the second effort, especially in terms of the endurance aspect.
Oh, and once the sun came out, it was a much lovlier day by the river than stuck inside on a trainer!
Brief stats here.
14 June 2011
Pootle
Well, today was meant to be Spin day, but since I'm in Geelong I've had to alter things a bit! So today was a nice lazy pootle down along the Barwon River, which was just plain horrible! Don't know why I made myself do such an awful thing. Oh well, tomorrow will be training - don't have my trainer with me, but there's a great spot along the river for doing standing starts and so on, so I'll still get a pretty good (that is, hard!) approximation in!
12 June 2011
Keirins!
Well, that was a fun sort of a DISC session! Hard, but fun...
Warmup: 1/2lap powerjump, Entry + 1/4 lap: 57.3/140
Happy with the entry speed, 140RPM is good, only on 86" though. Do that on 99" and I'll be cranking!
The first of the 'work' exercises were a pair of 3/4 lap powerjumps, with the rider in front jumping first. This started around the F200 line, from ~10km/hr and hence down on the blue. I was a bit tentative accelerating on the first one, starting behind Dino, and I never closed on him after his initial jump. Got up to 52.1/128, so not too bad I guess though I don't have anything else to compare it to yet! The second effort, starting from in front, was similar - 51.3/126 from about 15m shorter.
Then we got a bit scarier! Well, not too too much scarier, but a bit at least. I borrowed a 14T from Carl since mine still hasn't arrived, which put me on about 92" for some gate starts - this time standing. I started off by not tightening the cog enough, so that when I stood on the left pedal to clip in, I actually unwound it! So back out of the gate, fix that, and try to slot back in to the lineup.
Eventually I got going, and the first effort actually felt pretty good - I'd been watching the others, working on the countdown in my head, and it went off without a hitch. I'm not sure on the numbers - garmin tells me I hit 53.8/106, but that doesn't quite seem likely. On the other hand, strava tells me ~45/~90, which doesn't seem quite right either.
The next two efforts were 1/4 laps, and while the first of those felt pretty good (probably could have gone a bit harder out of the gate though) and gave 41.7/92, the second was off - I lost confidence in the count (though it turned out I was right!) and so was quite tentative out of the gate. Not only did that affect power, but balance, and I was all over the shop heading through the bend, and only managed 39.5/90.
Then it was time for keirins! Other than watching a few youtube videos, I'd never done these before so I was excited and a bit nervous. I went back to 86" for these, since I couldn't get 82". The first one was with Carl and Emily, and I slotted straight in to third position so as to keep an eye on what was going on and not have to worry about people coming from behind. As we approached the point where the motorbike pulled off, Carl had been laying back off Emily and went wide through a bend so, taking advantage of what he'd told me in the warmup, I moved up behind Emily so as to keep him up the track, in the wind, riding the greater distance. As we passed one lap to go, Carl pulled forward around Emily and I waited back, not wanting to take the long line through the bend and wanting to hide in the slipstream that little bit longer. By the time I pulled out heading in to the back straight, Carl had a good 15 metres on me and I thought I'd left things too late, but I kept on pulling him back and was in his draft coming out on to the final straight. I pulled out, pushed pushed pushed and... no idea. Call it a dead-heat! I hit 55.7/138, which is right in a good sort of a range.
The second keirin was all six of us, and once again I pulled in to third spot behind the bike. This time though, Carl swung off to drop back, hoping to ride for Emily. That left me in second spot, behind Neil, which wasn't where I wanted to be! I didn't want to swing up and drop all the way back though, and I was hoping that as we came up to time for the motorbike to pull off, one or two of those behind would come over the top and I could slot in. Carl did do that, but couldn't pull all the way through and, as the bike pulled off, Neil jumped straight off, as I suspected he might. I wasn't going to try to stick with him for 2.5 laps, so I hoped that someone else would come around. But no. Or, rather, not for another lap, by which time Neil was well away. Eventually Dino and Nic came around and I grabbed a wheel, but with just under a lap to go it fell apart a bit - Nic swung up, thinking it was over, I went past Dino and heard him asking if it was over or if we were still going, Neil was 60-odd metres in front... I crossed in second, but by that point it was all a bit confusing and academic, and there was no real sprint, reflected in the top of 51.3/126.
I was pretty spent by the end of all that! I'm glad to have had the practice at the keirin, as Carl has lined me up to race on Friday with the BBN sprint night, featuring keirins at the end, so perhaps I'll have a chance to know what I'm doing! I'll also ride a F200, which will be a chance to see how my speed compares to the only other F200 I've done at DISC, 13.34s. We shall see!
Brief stats here.
Warmup: 1/2lap powerjump, Entry + 1/4 lap: 57.3/140
Happy with the entry speed, 140RPM is good, only on 86" though. Do that on 99" and I'll be cranking!
The first of the 'work' exercises were a pair of 3/4 lap powerjumps, with the rider in front jumping first. This started around the F200 line, from ~10km/hr and hence down on the blue. I was a bit tentative accelerating on the first one, starting behind Dino, and I never closed on him after his initial jump. Got up to 52.1/128, so not too bad I guess though I don't have anything else to compare it to yet! The second effort, starting from in front, was similar - 51.3/126 from about 15m shorter.
Then we got a bit scarier! Well, not too too much scarier, but a bit at least. I borrowed a 14T from Carl since mine still hasn't arrived, which put me on about 92" for some gate starts - this time standing. I started off by not tightening the cog enough, so that when I stood on the left pedal to clip in, I actually unwound it! So back out of the gate, fix that, and try to slot back in to the lineup.
Eventually I got going, and the first effort actually felt pretty good - I'd been watching the others, working on the countdown in my head, and it went off without a hitch. I'm not sure on the numbers - garmin tells me I hit 53.8/106, but that doesn't quite seem likely. On the other hand, strava tells me ~45/~90, which doesn't seem quite right either.
The next two efforts were 1/4 laps, and while the first of those felt pretty good (probably could have gone a bit harder out of the gate though) and gave 41.7/92, the second was off - I lost confidence in the count (though it turned out I was right!) and so was quite tentative out of the gate. Not only did that affect power, but balance, and I was all over the shop heading through the bend, and only managed 39.5/90.
Then it was time for keirins! Other than watching a few youtube videos, I'd never done these before so I was excited and a bit nervous. I went back to 86" for these, since I couldn't get 82". The first one was with Carl and Emily, and I slotted straight in to third position so as to keep an eye on what was going on and not have to worry about people coming from behind. As we approached the point where the motorbike pulled off, Carl had been laying back off Emily and went wide through a bend so, taking advantage of what he'd told me in the warmup, I moved up behind Emily so as to keep him up the track, in the wind, riding the greater distance. As we passed one lap to go, Carl pulled forward around Emily and I waited back, not wanting to take the long line through the bend and wanting to hide in the slipstream that little bit longer. By the time I pulled out heading in to the back straight, Carl had a good 15 metres on me and I thought I'd left things too late, but I kept on pulling him back and was in his draft coming out on to the final straight. I pulled out, pushed pushed pushed and... no idea. Call it a dead-heat! I hit 55.7/138, which is right in a good sort of a range.
The second keirin was all six of us, and once again I pulled in to third spot behind the bike. This time though, Carl swung off to drop back, hoping to ride for Emily. That left me in second spot, behind Neil, which wasn't where I wanted to be! I didn't want to swing up and drop all the way back though, and I was hoping that as we came up to time for the motorbike to pull off, one or two of those behind would come over the top and I could slot in. Carl did do that, but couldn't pull all the way through and, as the bike pulled off, Neil jumped straight off, as I suspected he might. I wasn't going to try to stick with him for 2.5 laps, so I hoped that someone else would come around. But no. Or, rather, not for another lap, by which time Neil was well away. Eventually Dino and Nic came around and I grabbed a wheel, but with just under a lap to go it fell apart a bit - Nic swung up, thinking it was over, I went past Dino and heard him asking if it was over or if we were still going, Neil was 60-odd metres in front... I crossed in second, but by that point it was all a bit confusing and academic, and there was no real sprint, reflected in the top of 51.3/126.
I was pretty spent by the end of all that! I'm glad to have had the practice at the keirin, as Carl has lined me up to race on Friday with the BBN sprint night, featuring keirins at the end, so perhaps I'll have a chance to know what I'm doing! I'll also ride a F200, which will be a chance to see how my speed compares to the only other F200 I've done at DISC, 13.34s. We shall see!
Brief stats here.
11 June 2011
Metal
No post on Thursday/Friday? Whyever so? Well, turns out that it wasn't a cable snap, but a brifter snap - as best I can tell, anyway. Not happy, there's only maybe 3000kms on the SRAM Force. Ah well. Went to the powerhaus gym to lift things instead.
Not quite heavy things yet, though I could at least feel it a bit more this week. Work set on squats was only 45kgs, which isn't heavy enough to really make me work yet. I reckon I could probably do a 3-rep set at about 70kg at the moment, but that would be pointless and dangerous, as my form is still the most limiting factor. Twice today I shifted my weight forward on to my toes, which wouldn't be good if I was straining at the maximum weight I could lift! Slow and steady is best for now...
Otherwise I did some bench-press, 3 x 5 x 50kg, which is pretty basic. I was surprised at how easily I lifted it actually - not that I thought it would be my absolute maximum, but it felt just below the point where I actually needed to breathe properly and brace and so on. Which I still tried to do, of course, but it's actually a little bit more difficult in the bench without enough weight to brace against.
Finished off with deadlifts, which I've never done before. Again I had 50kg on the bar and tried to concentrate on correct form - the deadlift is one of those things that's incredibly simple but also surprisingly intricate and precise. Just the one set of 5 for that, and then completely ignored all of my form in picking the bar up to rack it back up. With any luck, I won't actually be nicknamed 'Turtle' from now on!
Not quite heavy things yet, though I could at least feel it a bit more this week. Work set on squats was only 45kgs, which isn't heavy enough to really make me work yet. I reckon I could probably do a 3-rep set at about 70kg at the moment, but that would be pointless and dangerous, as my form is still the most limiting factor. Twice today I shifted my weight forward on to my toes, which wouldn't be good if I was straining at the maximum weight I could lift! Slow and steady is best for now...
Otherwise I did some bench-press, 3 x 5 x 50kg, which is pretty basic. I was surprised at how easily I lifted it actually - not that I thought it would be my absolute maximum, but it felt just below the point where I actually needed to breathe properly and brace and so on. Which I still tried to do, of course, but it's actually a little bit more difficult in the bench without enough weight to brace against.
Finished off with deadlifts, which I've never done before. Again I had 50kg on the bar and tried to concentrate on correct form - the deadlift is one of those things that's incredibly simple but also surprisingly intricate and precise. Just the one set of 5 for that, and then completely ignored all of my form in picking the bar up to rack it back up. With any luck, I won't actually be nicknamed 'Turtle' from now on!
08 June 2011
Two-thirds Spin
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (181, 183)
:10 2 x 7s BGSS:3 (L,R) (118, 117)
:16 2 x 8s PG+4"SS:3 (L,R) (151, 159)
:22 2 x 8s PGSS:3 (L,R) (161... snap!)
Was there more? Yes. Did I get to it? No. After spending a lot of time working out the problem with the chain coming off, I thought I was set. Problem? Nothing to do with the front der., which is why fixing that didn't help. It was a lack of straightness/roundness in the chainring itself! So I swapped that out, and I haven't had problems with the chain coming off since. Which hopefully (but not certainly!) means that that issue is solved. Huzzah!
And then, two-thirds of the way through the session, my rear der cable snapped. I mean, come the fuck on. Not a happy camper. If I'd been a bit calmer about it, I might have realised that I could have continued the session - 39x12 is close enough to my PG to do the drill. Ah well. New program has me repeating the session on Thursday, anyway, so I'll get a chance to make amends!
Brief stats here.
:10 2 x 7s BGSS:3 (L,R) (118, 117)
:16 2 x 8s PG+4"SS:3 (L,R) (151, 159)
:22 2 x 8s PGSS:3 (L,R) (161... snap!)
Was there more? Yes. Did I get to it? No. After spending a lot of time working out the problem with the chain coming off, I thought I was set. Problem? Nothing to do with the front der., which is why fixing that didn't help. It was a lack of straightness/roundness in the chainring itself! So I swapped that out, and I haven't had problems with the chain coming off since. Which hopefully (but not certainly!) means that that issue is solved. Huzzah!
And then, two-thirds of the way through the session, my rear der cable snapped. I mean, come the fuck on. Not a happy camper. If I'd been a bit calmer about it, I might have realised that I could have continued the session - 39x12 is close enough to my PG to do the drill. Ah well. New program has me repeating the session on Thursday, anyway, so I'll get a chance to make amends!
Brief stats here.
05 June 2011
DISC Session #7 with ABOC
So the plan for tonight was for a solid session, with 3 x powerjumps and 2 x 375m MACs, with a 100m rider-only sprint at the end. Solid, but doable.
So what happens? 3 x powerjumps, 3 x MACs and a lazy 500m windout as a 'warmdown'. Bugger. By the third MAC I just felt that I couldn't go on, and trundled around at what felt like 80%.
Funny thing is, looking at my stats, though I was down it wasn't by much - top speeds of 58.6, 56.5 and 56.5. Lower than last week, true, but I also hit the roller - the entry speed was lower. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet! I didn't think I'd be able to last the 500m windout, but it was fine - and again, hit the roller on the back of the motorbike, this time on the finishing straight! Maybe it means that I'm getting better at putting in maximum effort, even when I think I'm done like a roast chook.
Mind you, looking at the video (which is the last two MACs and the windout) the acceleration on the second MAC was definitely worse - it's just that I managed to catch up to the same speed as on the second effort (first on the video.)
Nothing much to report from the powerjumps, first two against Dave, hit a top speed of 51.6. Third against Wayne, he was jumping from behind but he went so late (I was already entering the bend!) that I'd stopped looking, thinking that he was going on the next lap. He came up on my outside and I tried to jump and go with him, but couldn't catch him - only 3/4 of a bike length or so in it though.
Finished up by going to Nandos and eating half a chooken. Reward for effort!
Brief stats here. Oh, I should mention, in case anyone cares, that the first lap should be the warmup, and then each lap after that should be one effort each. Sometimes I forget to hit the lap button, but that's the general idea.
So what happens? 3 x powerjumps, 3 x MACs and a lazy 500m windout as a 'warmdown'. Bugger. By the third MAC I just felt that I couldn't go on, and trundled around at what felt like 80%.
Funny thing is, looking at my stats, though I was down it wasn't by much - top speeds of 58.6, 56.5 and 56.5. Lower than last week, true, but I also hit the roller - the entry speed was lower. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet! I didn't think I'd be able to last the 500m windout, but it was fine - and again, hit the roller on the back of the motorbike, this time on the finishing straight! Maybe it means that I'm getting better at putting in maximum effort, even when I think I'm done like a roast chook.
Mind you, looking at the video (which is the last two MACs and the windout) the acceleration on the second MAC was definitely worse - it's just that I managed to catch up to the same speed as on the second effort (first on the video.)
Nothing much to report from the powerjumps, first two against Dave, hit a top speed of 51.6. Third against Wayne, he was jumping from behind but he went so late (I was already entering the bend!) that I'd stopped looking, thinking that he was going on the next lap. He came up on my outside and I tried to jump and go with him, but couldn't catch him - only 3/4 of a bike length or so in it though.
Finished up by going to Nandos and eating half a chooken. Reward for effort!
Brief stats here. Oh, I should mention, in case anyone cares, that the first lap should be the warmup, and then each lap after that should be one effort each. Sometimes I forget to hit the lap button, but that's the general idea.
04 June 2011
Squatting in the Haus
ABOC Powerhaus, that's where I was this morning! And let me tell you, I absolutely carved it up - 40kg, you hear? Like to see anyone beat that!
Suffice to say it was mostly a familiarisation session, just getting used to the low-bar squat, which I've never done, and letting my muscles know what they're going to be in for. Shouldn't be much in the way of DOMS, but I've got some ROLS - Rapid Onset Ligament Soreness. Mostly my form was okay, but I was turning my knees in a bit on a few and that's left the ligament (ACL? Couldn't be bothered looking it up) on the outside of each knee a bit sore. Should be fine by tomorrow for DISC-y goodness though.
Oh:
Squat:
5x20kg
5x25kg
5x30kg
5x35kg
3x5x40kg
Press:
3x5x20kg
Plus 36kms ride there and back.
Suffice to say it was mostly a familiarisation session, just getting used to the low-bar squat, which I've never done, and letting my muscles know what they're going to be in for. Shouldn't be much in the way of DOMS, but I've got some ROLS - Rapid Onset Ligament Soreness. Mostly my form was okay, but I was turning my knees in a bit on a few and that's left the ligament (ACL? Couldn't be bothered looking it up) on the outside of each knee a bit sore. Should be fine by tomorrow for DISC-y goodness though.
Oh:
Squat:
5x20kg
5x25kg
5x30kg
5x35kg
3x5x40kg
Press:
3x5x20kg
Plus 36kms ride there and back.
02 June 2011
Just general Numby
I don't know why I specified that I'm a track numby, as clearly I'm just a general all-round kind of a numby! Headed off for hill sprints yesterday, but only managed to do two more or less properly - bloody chain kept coming off. I don't know. Seems that since I've switched to SRAM Force (and yes, installed it myself!) I've had heaps of trouble. And the cranks bear the brunt of it! Never had these problems with the Shimano stuff I've installed/adjusted - or not to this extent, anyway.
That said, I did get some work in, just no useful data, since the chain was coming off on the 4th or 5th pedal stroke. Still did 6 SS accelerations, at least. No way I was going to do the downhill sprints though - I've already experienced sitting on the top tube, cleats sliding down the road at 60km/hr desperately trying to slow down, steer and not hit the deck once, and I don't intend doing it again!
That said, I did get some work in, just no useful data, since the chain was coming off on the 4th or 5th pedal stroke. Still did 6 SS accelerations, at least. No way I was going to do the downhill sprints though - I've already experienced sitting on the top tube, cleats sliding down the road at 60km/hr desperately trying to slow down, steer and not hit the deck once, and I don't intend doing it again!
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