I think Freddie Mercury's about right for today's effort! It's been a long time since I've been in the gym, so I wasn't exactly expecting miracles - squat was at just 120kgs, press at 50 and deadlift ended up at 150, after a bit of hemming and hawing.
Squats were tough, especially by the third set - my form felt rather scatty, just trying to remember how to do them! By the third set it was getting impossible to even set my back, and I stopped after just two reps - I could have muscled them up, I reckon, but they would have been ugly and not progressed me anywhere. I'll stay at 120 until I'm confident that I can hold my back all the way through, and then slowly progress back up.
Press at 50 felt good and I had no problems getting all 15 reps, though I notice that now that I've stopped pausing at the bottom, Mark Rippetoe is recommending stopping and whipping the hips instead. Whatever. I'll go with that which feels like it works best!
Deadlift on a 'normal' progression probably would have been 160, and I thought 140 would be a sensible stop for this return - it's been 4 weeks since I deadlifted! Instead I ended up deciding on 150, and made them, though it was really tough and I tried a reverse grip for the last rep. No idea if it helped or not, but I got it up! My back was a bit rounded, hips a bit high on this as well, but that's easier to fix than for the squat. Should be fine by the time I return to the dead in 2 weeks.
11 November 2011
09 November 2011
Lessons
Well, I've learned at least one! That is, sometimes you have to train at 9 at night, else you'll never get anything done.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):4
:18 4 x 7s BGSS (116") seated L,R,L,R:3
:30 4 x 6s BGRS (116") (20) seated:3
:42 2 x 12s HCLR:2
Which program looks deceptively similar to one just a moon or so ago... excellent! Chance for a direct comparison, no? Well... no. Or at least, not really. Last night I was training out on the verandah in a thunderstorm. Actually, the thunder had gone by then and it was just rain, but that's not quite so impressive. So humidity was high, and though nothing was wet, I suspect that affected the results. But for all that...
107" SSes, which I've been doing a bit of, hit a top of 149/76.9km/hr. Wow! Bestest result ever!!#*! Well, for a few minutes, anyway...
Going through the 116" SSes the numbers just kept on climbing, until I hit 142/80.2km/hr. 80.2! That's insane. I'm sure I'm getting stronger, and I've certainly had plenty of rest lately, but it's still suspicious. It's not a spike, because everything last night was high (from minute 10 to minute 39, the lowest result I had was my first one, at 76.5km/hr) but that just points towards lowered resistance due to humidity. So I'd expect that next time my numbers will be lower than this. If I hit 80 again, inside, on a 'normal' day, perhaps then I'll get a bit more excited. I'd be more excited about hitting 65 on the velo though!
Anyway, stats are here, for what they're worth!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):4
:18 4 x 7s BGSS (116") seated L,R,L,R:3
:30 4 x 6s BGRS (116") (20) seated:3
:42 2 x 12s HCLR:2
Which program looks deceptively similar to one just a moon or so ago... excellent! Chance for a direct comparison, no? Well... no. Or at least, not really. Last night I was training out on the verandah in a thunderstorm. Actually, the thunder had gone by then and it was just rain, but that's not quite so impressive. So humidity was high, and though nothing was wet, I suspect that affected the results. But for all that...
107" SSes, which I've been doing a bit of, hit a top of 149/76.9km/hr. Wow! Bestest result ever!!#*! Well, for a few minutes, anyway...
Going through the 116" SSes the numbers just kept on climbing, until I hit 142/80.2km/hr. 80.2! That's insane. I'm sure I'm getting stronger, and I've certainly had plenty of rest lately, but it's still suspicious. It's not a spike, because everything last night was high (from minute 10 to minute 39, the lowest result I had was my first one, at 76.5km/hr) but that just points towards lowered resistance due to humidity. So I'd expect that next time my numbers will be lower than this. If I hit 80 again, inside, on a 'normal' day, perhaps then I'll get a bit more excited. I'd be more excited about hitting 65 on the velo though!
Anyway, stats are here, for what they're worth!
07 November 2011
06 November 2011
SSS Round 2
I have almost no idea what to say about Round 2 at this point. On the one hand, I managed a PB at BBN of 13.567 for the Flying 200 - almost precisely what I managed a couple of days after Round 1, and half a second faster than my previous best. I'd forgotten to turn my Garmin on (hooray! shout all those who think I over-analyse) but presumably the pattern was similar to that run. My jump was okay, though the transition down the track was a little shaky and probably cost me a tenth or so. I didn't feel like my general sickness/fatigue/listlessness affected me too much, though my 'resting' heart rate (not straight out of bed, but just sitting around) was around 100 and I was very strained afterwards. Still, a good ride and room for improvement. Not sub-13 though (not that I was actually expecting that, but) so I BLAME COACH. Still owe him a porsche though, apparently.
So this time I was 5th out of 7 in B, rather than 6th out of 6, and 25 100ths faster than the slowest time in B, rather than 3 10ths slower than the second-slowest. I was (un?)lucky enough to get a bye, which meant that I only had two races in the heats. First up I was against Chris Dann, and he had the lead. I've trained a bit with him, including a couple of weeks ago at this very velodrome, and I thought I had an idea of what I needed to do to beat him, knowing full well that he was good enough to beat me if I did it poorly, or if he did something else. I was basically hoping to get to about 250m out and jump from there, from as near to next to him as I could manage.
And... well, that's about precisely what happened. Except that I dropped a bike length behind him - which turned it in to something more like a flying 200 following rider tries to pass than a powerjump, and the result was the same - he beat me, and again I basically gave up by about turn 3. Except that I could almost swear by the Garmin record that I actually hit my top speed of over 57km/hr about the time I crossed the pursuit line, only 20m or so from the finish. Which seems bizarre. In fact, the whole thing is a little odd - after jumping from 39-49 in 3 seconds, I then added 1 km/hr per second for the next 8 seconds. With no appreciable difference around the time I felt that I'd given up and stopped controlling my line. Which makes it seem likely that my head had given up, I'd lost focus (partly... mostly? because of being sick and without pizzazz. Or something) without properly informing my body, which for wont of some more definitive direction just kept on pushing until it stopped. But I'm certainly not good enough to win races with that level of commitment, certainly not against someone like Chris Dann.
My second race was against Jonathon Dent, an U17 rider I've never seen before but who qualified as much faster than me as I was to Chris. I had the lead this time, and as last round my plan was to get the pace up, keep it high and have a more steadily-increasing speed drag race rather than a jump from slower speeds. And again, I managed to do that, I controlled the race fairly well. As expected he came past me towards the end of the back straight - but I was prepared for that, and increased my speed, trying to keep him on my hip. I reacted though, rather than just accelerating 20m or so before turn 3, so instead I more or less held him on my shoulder, and coming out of turn 4 we were basically side by side. Not surprisingly, from there he took the win by a wheel or so. At least in that race my focus was much better, and even though the time between races was much shorter than between the F200 and my first race, I felt better.
But that was it for me for the day - not even a free 'win' to boost my tally to 9 points could help, and I was well out of the finals. I had intended to stay to watch the rest of my Splat! and aboc sprint squad team mates race their finals, but I was suddenly overcome very dispirited and demoralised, and so unsociably departed to go home and curl up in bed.
Time to shake off this cold-y flu-y thing, get back on the keto, get back in the bluddy gym and perhaps spend more time on the velo than on the trainer, get more bike handling and power-transferring at speed training in. Just as I'm about to start work again and find my time disappearing. Ah well. Ain'tn't nobody gonna pay me to ride my bike!
So this time I was 5th out of 7 in B, rather than 6th out of 6, and 25 100ths faster than the slowest time in B, rather than 3 10ths slower than the second-slowest. I was (un?)lucky enough to get a bye, which meant that I only had two races in the heats. First up I was against Chris Dann, and he had the lead. I've trained a bit with him, including a couple of weeks ago at this very velodrome, and I thought I had an idea of what I needed to do to beat him, knowing full well that he was good enough to beat me if I did it poorly, or if he did something else. I was basically hoping to get to about 250m out and jump from there, from as near to next to him as I could manage.
And... well, that's about precisely what happened. Except that I dropped a bike length behind him - which turned it in to something more like a flying 200 following rider tries to pass than a powerjump, and the result was the same - he beat me, and again I basically gave up by about turn 3. Except that I could almost swear by the Garmin record that I actually hit my top speed of over 57km/hr about the time I crossed the pursuit line, only 20m or so from the finish. Which seems bizarre. In fact, the whole thing is a little odd - after jumping from 39-49 in 3 seconds, I then added 1 km/hr per second for the next 8 seconds. With no appreciable difference around the time I felt that I'd given up and stopped controlling my line. Which makes it seem likely that my head had given up, I'd lost focus (partly... mostly? because of being sick and without pizzazz. Or something) without properly informing my body, which for wont of some more definitive direction just kept on pushing until it stopped. But I'm certainly not good enough to win races with that level of commitment, certainly not against someone like Chris Dann.
My second race was against Jonathon Dent, an U17 rider I've never seen before but who qualified as much faster than me as I was to Chris. I had the lead this time, and as last round my plan was to get the pace up, keep it high and have a more steadily-increasing speed drag race rather than a jump from slower speeds. And again, I managed to do that, I controlled the race fairly well. As expected he came past me towards the end of the back straight - but I was prepared for that, and increased my speed, trying to keep him on my hip. I reacted though, rather than just accelerating 20m or so before turn 3, so instead I more or less held him on my shoulder, and coming out of turn 4 we were basically side by side. Not surprisingly, from there he took the win by a wheel or so. At least in that race my focus was much better, and even though the time between races was much shorter than between the F200 and my first race, I felt better.
But that was it for me for the day - not even a free 'win' to boost my tally to 9 points could help, and I was well out of the finals. I had intended to stay to watch the rest of my Splat! and aboc sprint squad team mates race their finals, but I was suddenly overcome very dispirited and demoralised, and so unsociably departed to go home and curl up in bed.
Time to shake off this cold-y flu-y thing, get back on the keto, get back in the bluddy gym and perhaps spend more time on the velo than on the trainer, get more bike handling and power-transferring at speed training in. Just as I'm about to start work again and find my time disappearing. Ah well. Ain'tn't nobody gonna pay me to ride my bike!
04 November 2011
Bleugh
Now I sick. Maybe why I feel crap yesterday. I blame Coach. Just because. Hope be better Sunday.
03 November 2011
Tapering
Me no like coach. Coach say to me, he say "You no go gym. You taper."
I say "..."
I say "But me have to go gym or I turn in to boy-man squat 27.5kg 5RM!"
Coach say "You go gym, you get DOMS, you not recover, you ride bad. You no go gym."
I say "But how I taper from nothing?"
He say "You not get stronger, you not get faster. You rest."
I say "..."
I say "Yes Coach."
I rest. I rest more than even coach tell me to. I ride today, sprint, and feel crap. I blame coach.
I ride sub-13 on Sunday or Coach, he in big trouble.
I say "..."
I say "But me have to go gym or I turn in to boy-man squat 27.5kg 5RM!"
Coach say "You go gym, you get DOMS, you not recover, you ride bad. You no go gym."
I say "But how I taper from nothing?"
He say "You not get stronger, you not get faster. You rest."
I say "..."
I say "Yes Coach."
I rest. I rest more than even coach tell me to. I ride today, sprint, and feel crap. I blame coach.
I ride sub-13 on Sunday or Coach, he in big trouble.
30 October 2011
ABOC Summer #2 with DISC
Or something like that. After yesterdays spinning 'warmup' I felt in a reasonable place for a bit of sprinting action. First up we did some powerjumps on (for me) 86", 2 x 3/4 lap. I lead out the first one with Dino, jumped at the 200 line from mid-30s and sprinted to the line unchallenged. Second one I was in second position and followed Dino's jump down the back straight. Here I was in a good sort of position to go around him, but I just haven't been able to get that move right, and I came out of his draft and just sat there, finishing a bike length back - right where I started!
After that we went up to race gear, 99", and did a motorpaced entry + 150m. I jumped poorly, but still managed to hit 61.4 coming out of turn 2, but couldn't quite hold that down the back straight, dropping back to about 57 which I held to the end.
Partnered Flying 200s, and I lead out the first against Craig. The jump again was ordinary, and I rather dove down in to the lane before the 200 line rather than smoothly coming down and still up around the red line at that point. I actually accelerated down the back straight this time, up to around 57 from 55, and held that to the line pretty well. The next one was similar, following Craig this time, except that I was meant to lay off coming out of turn two, take height, run down in to the slipstream and around. Again I got it wrong, not taking enough space and rather diving back down behind him leaving me with not much of a run. So I pulled back out too sharply, got stuck on his hip and couldn't pull past. Marginally closer than with Dino, but not much!
We finished with another 1.5 lap match sprint, and I was up against Jarrod this time. I was behind him, and had plenty of height when he went with about a lap to go. I was half intending to practice the laying off again, but I just plain had too much speed and muscled around him instead. So not quite the right sort of practice.
One thing that's become enormously more apparent as I've gotten stronger in the gym and on the trainer is that that's not really being transferred to the track very well. I'm almost scared jumping for a flying 200 because my bike handling just isn't good enough, especially at DISC. Or, at least, I've convinced myself that this is so. And I did hit the fence with my foot winding up for the second 200. I don't have a power meter, but I reckon if I did it'd show that I was down a good 10% at least in my jumps compared to on the trainer, and quite possibly more (I mean, I've never trained with power, so I can't really quantify. But you get the idea.) Simply because I'm lacking in confidence and skill. More training I guess! And at least BBN isn't quite so slippery...
After that we went up to race gear, 99", and did a motorpaced entry + 150m. I jumped poorly, but still managed to hit 61.4 coming out of turn 2, but couldn't quite hold that down the back straight, dropping back to about 57 which I held to the end.
Partnered Flying 200s, and I lead out the first against Craig. The jump again was ordinary, and I rather dove down in to the lane before the 200 line rather than smoothly coming down and still up around the red line at that point. I actually accelerated down the back straight this time, up to around 57 from 55, and held that to the line pretty well. The next one was similar, following Craig this time, except that I was meant to lay off coming out of turn two, take height, run down in to the slipstream and around. Again I got it wrong, not taking enough space and rather diving back down behind him leaving me with not much of a run. So I pulled back out too sharply, got stuck on his hip and couldn't pull past. Marginally closer than with Dino, but not much!
We finished with another 1.5 lap match sprint, and I was up against Jarrod this time. I was behind him, and had plenty of height when he went with about a lap to go. I was half intending to practice the laying off again, but I just plain had too much speed and muscled around him instead. So not quite the right sort of practice.
One thing that's become enormously more apparent as I've gotten stronger in the gym and on the trainer is that that's not really being transferred to the track very well. I'm almost scared jumping for a flying 200 because my bike handling just isn't good enough, especially at DISC. Or, at least, I've convinced myself that this is so. And I did hit the fence with my foot winding up for the second 200. I don't have a power meter, but I reckon if I did it'd show that I was down a good 10% at least in my jumps compared to on the trainer, and quite possibly more (I mean, I've never trained with power, so I can't really quantify. But you get the idea.) Simply because I'm lacking in confidence and skill. More training I guess! And at least BBN isn't quite so slippery...
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