So, where am I at then?

Well, two weeks and one day out from the first round of the sprint series, how am I sitting?

Interestingly enough, in the gym, very similarly to last year - which, as well as being interesting is rather sad. What a waste. 122.5 squat versus 130 last year, 62.5 bench versus 65 last year, 140 deadlift versus 155 last year, press 55 versus 55 last year, and powercleans 60 versus 75 last year. The main other difference is that this year those are all going up from having restarted low, whereas last year, most of those were reset, or just about to be.

Spin? Well, haven't been doing much of that. The only one I've done recently produced superior numbers to a similar session last year, but... not much to go on.

And I've still not been on the track, though I'll get out there this week. Maybe I might even have enough money to go to DISC if it's running next weekend, though I'm not sure what the point of that would be.

So I'll get out to Blackburn or Brunswick some time this coming week, do a few efforts, and try to get out at least one more time before the first round. And then, of course, however my strength/speed is, my tactical ability will have reduced from level 3 (out of 20) to level 1.

All I'm really hoping to get out of it is a reignition of the spark!

Some training

Right, internet has returned to my new life. Huzzah!

So I've been doing some training, in the gym and on the road bike. Not on the track. I still haven't ridden my track bike since February. But that will change shortly, with luck even before the 7th of October.

And the truth is I'm feeling okay. No, I'm not going to set the track sprinting world on fire, but when have I ever? It would have been good to be able to train, but life just hasn't been that way lately. I have a bit of time leading in to Round 1, then all Summer and then... onwards, I guess.

And you know what? I'm going to have fun doing it.

That is all.

No training

I know, you're shocked. And you have every right to be. But no, no training.

Okay, I've ridden my bike, and spun twice, but that's all. C-grade here I come! No. 6 weeks of training should get me back up to the bum-end of B-Grade, I'm sure. Yay.

Ah well. I've moved house and restarted my life, at least.

Spin #1... again

Well, what better place to get back on the spin than the start, huh? I'm not going to record them in detail here, because they're kinda boring. But, for this one, I'll give a baseline, 2 months from the first race...

Effort                                                      Max RPM
:00 E1                   
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1                                  186/190
:10 8s 61" (80)                                        174
:12 8s 66" RS(80)                                   176
:14 8s 68" RS(80)                                   175
:16 8s 73" RS(80)                                   164
:18 8s 82" RS(80)                                   167
:20 8s 87" RS(80)                                   163
:22 8s 93" RS(80)                                   160
:24 8s 100" RS(80)                                 151
:26 6s BGSS (53x13, 107" L)                 154
:28 6s BGSS (53x12, 116" R)                   -
:30 8s PG+8 (116")RS(40, seat)            139
:32 8s PG+8 (116")RS (40, seat)           131
:36 18s PG r/up (6:100, 6:130, 6:max)      -

 Which is a modified-according-to--my-gears-and-trainer version of this programme.

So my PG is 53x14, 100 (or 99.5) inches. Interestingly enough, last time I was actually doing spin properly, my PG was 53x15, 93". Significance? NFI, none probably.

BGSSes were meant to be seated but I forgot, so did them standing. First went fine, but when I put it up in to 53x12 for the second, my chain popped off again. Not surprising, really, since I've done no maintenance since it last happened! Will have to do it if I'm to continue spinning though... anyway, 154RPM, 79.7, also compares favourably to my results last year.

116"RSes, top of 139RPM... compared to a top of 135RPM in a 99" RS 10 months ago.

Curious. But all meaningless. Point is to spin, and see how my fitness improves. You'll notice that I didn't record a result for the final rampup - too busy hovering in the bathroom, waiting for something to happen.

Didn't though. Next step - back on the track.

Comment

This is ridiculous! Blogger won't even allow me to comment anonymously (and no, it's not waiting to be approved...) and yet it'll allow me to log in to post. Bizarre.

Anyway, as far as coming back to the track is concerned, if it were possible to run the sessions for free, I'd be there already, but it's not, so I'm not! Lots of life stuff going on, but I'm moving house in a couple of weeks, so once that's done (and I've recovered from paying the bond!) I should be able to start back. Just in time to remember what a track bike is for Round 1 of the SSS...

23 July

File this one under interesting interaction, unsolicited advice. A guy who I think is the owner or manager of the gym came up to me today, talking about my squat form - after my first warmup set with just the bar. This set I do super-slow and often hold at the bottom for a few seconds, just for general warming/stretching/balancing purposes. So anyway he comes up, starts chatting a little, and tells me that I need to be looking up - not at the ceiling, but at the far (~50m away) intersection of the wall and warehouse roofline. So we have a discussion about keeping a neutral neck, he suggests that my balance is too much on my toes and that that's because of looking forward/down as I do. So I take that on board, and because I'm a nice chap (and it's still an unloaded bar) I do my next warmup set looking more upwards. And the balance does actually feel slightly better, and I can feel it more in my quads than my hamstrings.

But of course that's not where I want to feel it, and a loaded bar (even at my current workset weights) balances vastly differently than an empty one. So I don't change for my worksets, and though he's wandering around still, he only briefly comes up a little later to ask if I tried it, and almost ruefully (but genuinely) comments "Still want to do it your way, that's fine!"

And it is.

S: 102.5 (Starting with the belt already for worksets, helps me to remember to do my valsalva properly more than anything else at this weight)
B: 57.5
D: 125

Plus an extra powerclean (I do these, by the way, partly to shake my legs out slightly, partly to remember how to do them, and mainly so as to get the bar back up on the rack to take off the last plates, as it's easier that way.)

Proper PC worksets start back again on Thursday.

19 July

Whoops! We'll just backdate this one, shall we?

S: 100
P: 50 (Plus a single at 60)
D: 120 (Plus a single PC at 60)