when it's so warm and sunny outside? Well, for a start, limited time. And otherwise? Well, we'll get to that in a second...
So I've started on spin for the season - hoorah! Or something. I skipped the PG Calibration and decided to just go with last year's setting - I'd soon find out if that was ridiculous or not.
Started out all well and good - couple of HCLRs, then the first BGSS. One or two 'clicks' during that, but no problems. Second BGSS - second stroke on the right leg, and bang - off comes the chain on the outside of the big ring. Set it back up, spin it around a few times under moderate pressure to make sure it's sitting snugly, and try again. Same result. Go through it again and switch back to the left leg leading - same result. Front der appears to be aligned, and unlike last time, I can't detect any wobble in the chainring. This is why I didn't want to go out and do hill sprints - in case this happened. It's not an uncommon occurrence, whether doing uphill sprints or maximum power downhill or flat sprints in 53x12 (once even in 53x14, if my memory serves me correctly) and I've skidded along the road, sitting on the top tube with cleats skidding along the ground at ~60km/hr once too often.
I'm stumped as to the cause - I doubt it's because I'm putting out 2500W. Possibly I'm putting out 1500W at 114kg, but that surely shouldn't be too much if the bike's set up correctly. So presumably it's something in my setup. Might have to book a 'fit' session with Carl when I have some dosh, see if we can work it out.
Anyway, I continued on, doing the PGRSes and the rampup, finishing with HCLRs. Well, one MCLR, anyway. Clearly once again I've lost endurance, but my experience is that that should be back as I progress along with spinning, so I'm not fussed with that.
Stats? I have none. I'd noticed, and then forgotten because I've been doing all of my riding outside and not bothering with cadence, that the battery in my cadence/speed sensor has died. Obviously GPS speed isn't much help indoors on the trainer! I'll get that sorted sooner or later.
Showing posts with label HCLR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HCLR. Show all posts
14 April 2012
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!
29 October 2011
My capacity for spinning is bounded...
So here we go, back to training again. And it was a bit of a horrible session really, but I coped better than I thought given my lack of training this week:
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):4
:18 2 x 8s PG RS(80) (93") seated:3
:24 24s PG RS(80) (93") r/up seated 8:100, 8:130, 8:max
:31 30s PGSS (93") seated unpaced
:38 21s PG+8 (99") RS (60) r/up 7:100, 7:130, 7:max
There was supposed to be a couple of HCLRs on the end of that, but I didn't last that long.
107" SSes were very good, especially given the layoff. 147/75.1 starting with the right, followed by 143 (or 159?)/75.8 on the left - happy with those!
93" RSes were also satisfying, hitting 157/71 and then ?/69.4 - almost high enough that I'd be resetting my PG again if it was recalibration time!
Then came the awful bits - the capacity work. The first 24 second effort wasn't too bad, ramping up over 130, hitting a top of about 138 and holding it fairly well the whole way through.
The next effort, 30 seconds unpaced (that is, going hard (if not quite a 100% sprint) from the beginning and holding it as long as possible) didn't quite last the distance - in fact, it lasted pretty much about 24 seconds! I held the speed up pretty well though, over 60km/hr for about the first 18 seconds or so, then fighting it down to about 55km/hr to 24ish seconds before grinding to a halt a couple of seconds later!
One last effort, 21 second rampup, I managed the distance though not the cadence targets - it was more like 100/110/129(max) and the last 7 second effort was rather peaky, rather than hitting and sustaining. And then I was done - I stayed there, trying to get myself in a state to be able to do the closing 10s HCLRs, but just couldn't manage it. If it weren't my first session back, I'd've pushed myself, but not this time. Next spin I'll complete!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):4
:18 2 x 8s PG RS(80) (93") seated:3
:24 24s PG RS(80) (93") r/up seated 8:100, 8:130, 8:max
:31 30s PGSS (93") seated unpaced
:38 21s PG+8 (99") RS (60) r/up 7:100, 7:130, 7:max
There was supposed to be a couple of HCLRs on the end of that, but I didn't last that long.
107" SSes were very good, especially given the layoff. 147/75.1 starting with the right, followed by 143 (or 159?)/75.8 on the left - happy with those!
93" RSes were also satisfying, hitting 157/71 and then ?/69.4 - almost high enough that I'd be resetting my PG again if it was recalibration time!
Then came the awful bits - the capacity work. The first 24 second effort wasn't too bad, ramping up over 130, hitting a top of about 138 and holding it fairly well the whole way through.
The next effort, 30 seconds unpaced (that is, going hard (if not quite a 100% sprint) from the beginning and holding it as long as possible) didn't quite last the distance - in fact, it lasted pretty much about 24 seconds! I held the speed up pretty well though, over 60km/hr for about the first 18 seconds or so, then fighting it down to about 55km/hr to 24ish seconds before grinding to a halt a couple of seconds later!
One last effort, 21 second rampup, I managed the distance though not the cadence targets - it was more like 100/110/129(max) and the last 7 second effort was rather peaky, rather than hitting and sustaining. And then I was done - I stayed there, trying to get myself in a state to be able to do the closing 10s HCLRs, but just couldn't manage it. If it weren't my first session back, I'd've pushed myself, but not this time. Next spin I'll complete!
12 October 2011
Spin Harder
I know that for many aeons I've held that spin is nothing to get excited about. And it's not, really, because it's not Real Life. Still, sometimes one needs something on those sunny spring afternoons of the soul...
Not that today's session was without its own share of controversy. And it started mildly enough - doing the same program as 2 days ago, I recorded just 182 in the second HCLR and 137/70.3 in the 106"SS. At this point I was wishing that I'd gone lift heavy things instead.
But I gritted the teeth and slapped the thighs and gave it everything for the 116"SSes. And recorded just 72.2 for the first one. Well, I thought, ain't nothin' to it but to do it and pulled out a 133/74.4. Excellent! But, thinks I, that's so close to 75, surely I can do better? And too right I did - 74.5, in fact. Hmm. Not quite what I had in mind. Curses! So I huffed and I puffed and I blew my way to 135/75.3km/hr. Woooo! First time above 75km/hr on the trainer, so I reckon that's worthy of being happy about. No, it's not a KKRM, but hey, it's what I got, oright?
This got me thinking though ("Oh no!" goes up the collective groan.) Last time I managed to go faster on the rolling starts, no? So... let's see what we can do! So as not to bore everyone to absolute tears, I managed a catching-my-breath 72, solid 74.8 and 75.1, before one final effort... and that's where the controversy begins!
See, Garmin Connect just shows max speed/cadence in a lap, which is handy. Golden Cheetah, on the other hand, gives the actual second-by-second values from the unit. According to Garmin Connect I hit 136/76.2. Woot! But Golden Cheetah gives a top of 123/71.97... and 135/70.00km/hr. Eh? So... well, actually, so what! Maybe we get excited about a photo finish for the gold medal. For a PB on a trainer? Not so much. Any way it adds up - is good.
Then for shits and giggles, 24 seconds of HCLR goodness, hitting a top of 203 (and this one does seem to be accurate!) in the last 12s effort. Noice.
Oh, and after much analysis and reflection I'm of the opinion that the problem with my squat can be traced back to having the bar too low on my back. I've been wondering about it for a bit as the weight gets heavier, and I know that I'm always trying to shove the bar as low as I can manage to, thinking that that's the way to do it. And at lighter weights, that's okay - but as the weight gets heavier, it wants to go further down my back. So I have to lean further forward to keep in balance, and rather than attempt to keep my chest up, I'm allowing my back to round to keep the weight on my back - and occasionally rolling it forward. To a position, in fact, probably closer to where it's meant to be - on the posterior delts. Not underneath them. Which is part of the reason I was hoping to get to the gym today - to test my theory. Watch this space come Friday...
Not that today's session was without its own share of controversy. And it started mildly enough - doing the same program as 2 days ago, I recorded just 182 in the second HCLR and 137/70.3 in the 106"SS. At this point I was wishing that I'd gone lift heavy things instead.
But I gritted the teeth and slapped the thighs and gave it everything for the 116"SSes. And recorded just 72.2 for the first one. Well, I thought, ain't nothin' to it but to do it and pulled out a 133/74.4. Excellent! But, thinks I, that's so close to 75, surely I can do better? And too right I did - 74.5, in fact. Hmm. Not quite what I had in mind. Curses! So I huffed and I puffed and I blew my way to 135/75.3km/hr. Woooo! First time above 75km/hr on the trainer, so I reckon that's worthy of being happy about. No, it's not a KKRM, but hey, it's what I got, oright?
This got me thinking though ("Oh no!" goes up the collective groan.) Last time I managed to go faster on the rolling starts, no? So... let's see what we can do! So as not to bore everyone to absolute tears, I managed a catching-my-breath 72, solid 74.8 and 75.1, before one final effort... and that's where the controversy begins!
See, Garmin Connect just shows max speed/cadence in a lap, which is handy. Golden Cheetah, on the other hand, gives the actual second-by-second values from the unit. According to Garmin Connect I hit 136/76.2. Woot! But Golden Cheetah gives a top of 123/71.97... and 135/70.00km/hr. Eh? So... well, actually, so what! Maybe we get excited about a photo finish for the gold medal. For a PB on a trainer? Not so much. Any way it adds up - is good.
Then for shits and giggles, 24 seconds of HCLR goodness, hitting a top of 203 (and this one does seem to be accurate!) in the last 12s effort. Noice.
Oh, and after much analysis and reflection I'm of the opinion that the problem with my squat can be traced back to having the bar too low on my back. I've been wondering about it for a bit as the weight gets heavier, and I know that I'm always trying to shove the bar as low as I can manage to, thinking that that's the way to do it. And at lighter weights, that's okay - but as the weight gets heavier, it wants to go further down my back. So I have to lean further forward to keep in balance, and rather than attempt to keep my chest up, I'm allowing my back to round to keep the weight on my back - and occasionally rolling it forward. To a position, in fact, probably closer to where it's meant to be - on the posterior delts. Not underneath them. Which is part of the reason I was hoping to get to the gym today - to test my theory. Watch this space come Friday...
10 October 2011
Surprise!
Right when you least expect it, a secret spin session gets snuck in while you're almost looking the other way... the essence of track sprint, really! But I wasn't about to be caught off-guard, oh no!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 44")
: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(20) (116") seated:3
:42 2 x 12s HCLR:2 (44")
Deceptively simple, no? And I do like a good strength workout. But that's not because they're easy - they're just a different kind of hard!
HCLRs: 186. Takes a little while for the neurons to start firing properly, to start spinning rather than stomping really quickly.
107"SSes... a bit ordinary really, 138/71 is a good few percent off my best. Not actually bad, as such, just not particularly good.
116" SSes... well, there's no immediate comparison, but back a few months ago doing these I was getting numbers around 117/61. Today's 4 efforts produced a very consistent 130-132/72.4-73.7 so again, numbers on the trainer clearly improved over the last 6-odd months. I wonder about the interpretation of such results in the current context though - should my BGSSes be faster (and only 6rpm less shpinny) than my PG+14SSes? Am I strong, but not powerful? Or is this exactly what Perko would do, only plus 20% or so? Email time...
Interestingly (perhaps) for once my RSes produced very similar results to my SSes in the same gear, and very marginally higher - a top of 131/74, and still accelerating (if only just) at the end of the 6 seconds - 7 or 8 second efforts would have seen me hit 75, I reckon (at least for the first three. The last one I might have hit 26 and then fallen off the bike, exhausted.)
12s HCLRs to finish off and by then my neurons were properly firing, and weren't so roasted as to have gone on holidays - top of 191, and held for 7 or 8 seconds at that 'suspiciously high cadence' as Golden Cheetah calls it for the duration of the interval.
So there we have it. Brief stats here. Satisfactory, but, well, it's spin, hard to get excited about it at the minute!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 44")
: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(20) (116") seated:3
:42 2 x 12s HCLR:2 (44")
Deceptively simple, no? And I do like a good strength workout. But that's not because they're easy - they're just a different kind of hard!
HCLRs: 186. Takes a little while for the neurons to start firing properly, to start spinning rather than stomping really quickly.
107"SSes... a bit ordinary really, 138/71 is a good few percent off my best. Not actually bad, as such, just not particularly good.
116" SSes... well, there's no immediate comparison, but back a few months ago doing these I was getting numbers around 117/61. Today's 4 efforts produced a very consistent 130-132/72.4-73.7 so again, numbers on the trainer clearly improved over the last 6-odd months. I wonder about the interpretation of such results in the current context though - should my BGSSes be faster (and only 6rpm less shpinny) than my PG+14SSes? Am I strong, but not powerful? Or is this exactly what Perko would do, only plus 20% or so? Email time...
Interestingly (perhaps) for once my RSes produced very similar results to my SSes in the same gear, and very marginally higher - a top of 131/74, and still accelerating (if only just) at the end of the 6 seconds - 7 or 8 second efforts would have seen me hit 75, I reckon (at least for the first three. The last one I might have hit 26 and then fallen off the bike, exhausted.)
12s HCLRs to finish off and by then my neurons were properly firing, and weren't so roasted as to have gone on holidays - top of 191, and held for 7 or 8 seconds at that 'suspiciously high cadence' as Golden Cheetah calls it for the duration of the interval.
So there we have it. Brief stats here. Satisfactory, but, well, it's spin, hard to get excited about it at the minute!
30 September 2011
Shpinny
Well, there was supposed to be a weights session in there somewhere, but it's school holidays and, well, I've hardly had time to scratch myself. So today (rather late itself!) was tapering spin time.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):3
:18 12s PGRS (93") r/up 4:80, 4:120, 4:max
:25 9s PG+4 (99") RS r/up 3:70, 3:115, 3:max
:32 8s PGSS (93") (preferred leg)
:39 7s PG-4RS (87") (80)
Numbers probably aren't terribly relevant for this, but I'll bung 'em up for completeness anyway.
HCLRs up to 187, 107"SSes up to 73.6 again, 93"RS 63.1/140, 99"RS 63.9/135, 93"SS 68.8/154, 87"RS 62.9/152.
So in other words, all still groovy, the body's still working, legs ticking over, and I'm feeling good for Round 1!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):3
:18 12s PGRS (93") r/up 4:80, 4:120, 4:max
:25 9s PG+4 (99") RS r/up 3:70, 3:115, 3:max
:32 8s PGSS (93") (preferred leg)
:39 7s PG-4RS (87") (80)
Numbers probably aren't terribly relevant for this, but I'll bung 'em up for completeness anyway.
HCLRs up to 187, 107"SSes up to 73.6 again, 93"RS 63.1/140, 99"RS 63.9/135, 93"SS 68.8/154, 87"RS 62.9/152.
So in other words, all still groovy, the body's still working, legs ticking over, and I'm feeling good for Round 1!
22 September 2011
Final 'winter' spin
Because tomorrow is the equinox, and hence the first day of Spring! Well, that and next week, the 'official' last winter spin, is a tapering spin. Anyway.
HCLRs. 180 and 191 on 39x23. Felt a little uncoordinated, since I haven't ridden for nearly a week, but otherwise okay.
Then.
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):3
:18 18s PGRS (93") r/up 6:80, 6:120, 6:max
:25 21s PG+4 (99") RS r/up 7:70, 7:115, 7:max
:32 30s PGSS (93") (preferred leg)
:39 30s PG-4RS (87") (40) r/up (5:80, 10:100, 5:130, 10:max)
6 measly efforts over 29 minutes. Easy! The vomit at the end was purely decorative.
SSes - noice. 73 and then 74.4km/hr at 144RPM on 107" - over 1km/hr better than my previous best of 73.6/165 on 93". Improvement is edemifying.
Then some absolute endurance efforts that put PBP to shame. Well, you know.
First one, 18s on 93"... it's kinda tough to even hit the cadence in 6 seconds, let alone actually hit it instantly and sit there for 6 seconds, but that's just life as a human. Max of 63.4/142 and held it there no problems, no dropoff at all.
21s on 99", I did get a bit of dropoff in the last few seconds, down from a high of 65/136. There was no intention of holding a manageable pace on this one though, just hit it as hard as possible and hold on as long as I could. Which is not, apparently, 21 seconds!
30s on 93" with a standing start... kinda like a 500m TT really! And as is more or less traditional in a TT, I went out way too hard and steadily dropped off - I mean really, it's almost a straight line from 62.9km/hr at 141 back down to 52 km/hr at the end. And did I cover 500m, even on the trainer? Well no, closer to 450m. What's that, a lap and a half at Blackburn? Future SSS opponents, take note - how much more info could you possibly ask for??
Then 30s rampup on 87" - I have to say, putting such a complicated pattern of 5 and 10 seconds at the end of such a session is cruel. At least for me, with noone to yell at me but myself. Anyway, max of 59.7 at 142, which tells you precisely very little about it. Actually it wasn't bad - I didn't hold that speed for the final 10 seconds, but it only decayed back to about 55, and stayed above 135RPM to the end. Then went and decorated the bathroom.
Oh, and by the way, how's that for good program design, hmm? All of the efforts (bar the HCLR, obviously) smack in the 130-140RPM zone. Even works for me on my dodgy trainer.
Brief stats here.
HCLRs. 180 and 191 on 39x23. Felt a little uncoordinated, since I haven't ridden for nearly a week, but otherwise okay.
Then.
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (107") SS (R,L):3
:18 18s PGRS (93") r/up 6:80, 6:120, 6:max
:25 21s PG+4 (99") RS r/up 7:70, 7:115, 7:max
:32 30s PGSS (93") (preferred leg)
:39 30s PG-4RS (87") (40) r/up (5:80, 10:100, 5:130, 10:max)
6 measly efforts over 29 minutes. Easy! The vomit at the end was purely decorative.
SSes - noice. 73 and then 74.4km/hr at 144RPM on 107" - over 1km/hr better than my previous best of 73.6/165 on 93". Improvement is edemifying.
Then some absolute endurance efforts that put PBP to shame. Well, you know.
First one, 18s on 93"... it's kinda tough to even hit the cadence in 6 seconds, let alone actually hit it instantly and sit there for 6 seconds, but that's just life as a human. Max of 63.4/142 and held it there no problems, no dropoff at all.
21s on 99", I did get a bit of dropoff in the last few seconds, down from a high of 65/136. There was no intention of holding a manageable pace on this one though, just hit it as hard as possible and hold on as long as I could. Which is not, apparently, 21 seconds!
30s on 93" with a standing start... kinda like a 500m TT really! And as is more or less traditional in a TT, I went out way too hard and steadily dropped off - I mean really, it's almost a straight line from 62.9km/hr at 141 back down to 52 km/hr at the end. And did I cover 500m, even on the trainer? Well no, closer to 450m. What's that, a lap and a half at Blackburn? Future SSS opponents, take note - how much more info could you possibly ask for??
Then 30s rampup on 87" - I have to say, putting such a complicated pattern of 5 and 10 seconds at the end of such a session is cruel. At least for me, with noone to yell at me but myself. Anyway, max of 59.7 at 142, which tells you precisely very little about it. Actually it wasn't bad - I didn't hold that speed for the final 10 seconds, but it only decayed back to about 55, and stayed above 135RPM to the end. Then went and decorated the bathroom.
Oh, and by the way, how's that for good program design, hmm? All of the efforts (bar the HCLR, obviously) smack in the 130-140RPM zone. Even works for me on my dodgy trainer.
Brief stats here.
15 September 2011
Spineroonie
Not sure what the official spelling of 'spineroonie' should be, but I'll go with that. This is Part One... because I've not done all of the spin session yet. Yes, that's right, I quit, and I didn't even vomit. What a sad, sad day for hard men everywhere.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (99") SS L,R:3
:16 12s PG (87") RS (80)
:22 14s PG (87") RS (80)
:28 18s PG+4 (93") RS (60)
:35 24s PG+8 (99") SS seated
:42 30s PG+8 (99") RS (40, seated)
Well, that was the idea, anyway. And no, my PG+ inches aren't quite perfect, but I've only got PG+6 and PG+12. What're ya going to do? Oh, right, get a better trainer...
So HCLRs on a slightly bigger gear, 44" (according to Sheldon) rather than 41". Max RPM of 186, so quite similar to 'normal'. SSes were good, up to 149/72.6, can't complain about that. PGRSes, slightly shorter than last week, and from a higher initial cadence, gave slightly better and more consistent results - 143/60.5 and 140/59.5. The final 'preliminary' was 11s longer and 8" harder than last week, so was rather in the category of 'the tough part' than the preliminary! The result was good though, solid and consistent 125/56 for essentially the whole interval was pleasing.
And then... 24s 99" SS lasted all of about 12s before the legs just wouldn't go anymore, and I didn't have the will to push them any more. I don't know if that was the better thing or not - if I'd kept going, I would have been lucky to finish with a cadence above 60 or so, which is not good quality. On the other hand, pushing through is kinda the point. So. Part one because, once my daughter is in bed, I'm going to try again - do another warmup with HCLRs, then attempt the last two exercises again. Okay, won't be as good as doing them at the time. And maybe if I were with the rest of the squad I'd've made it. Who knows? We do what we can, we try what we can't, and we see what happens. And last week I did them on only 93". Stay tuned...
Edit 1: I've just realised that I'm a numby. No, really. PG is the gear that you can't quite get to 160RPM in 8 seconds from 80RPM, isn't it? Not, in fact, the gear that you can get to 160RPM on. So my PG is actually now 53x15, 93", not 53x16, 87". Whoops. So I in fact have 93" PG, 99" PG+6, 107" PG+14, and 116" PG+23. Erm. Well I'm not doing the whole friggen thing again. And I'm NOT doing the last two on 107".
Edit 2: For all you funky mothers who've been desperately (or coolly) tapping on that refresh key, here it is.
HCLR: Doesn't really matter. Warmup.
99" 24s SS(seated): Max of 132/64.2, held above 130 until ~20s, then decayed ~10RPM over the next 4 seconds. Not bad, but need to push harder at the end - that's when the race is won, after all!
99" 30s RS (40, seated): Max of 116/56.3 - Maintained >54 until ~24s where I dropped to 52.5, slammed it all the way back up to a monsterific 54.1 and held it there to the end.
Comparison? Tough, because last week I was on 93" and only had a 7-minute break rather than 5 hours. But you know what I can compare it to? This. Four months ago, in a 6-second all-out sprint, I got to a maximum of 115RPM on 99". Now I'm doing that for 30 seconds, and for 6 seconds I'm doing 150RPM. Suck on that, previous me.
Brief stats are here and here.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1 (39x23 : 46")
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 (99") SS L,R:3
:16 12s PG (87") RS (80)
:22 14s PG (87") RS (80)
:28 18s PG+4 (93") RS (60)
:35 24s PG+8 (99") SS seated
:42 30s PG+8 (99") RS (40, seated)
Well, that was the idea, anyway. And no, my PG+ inches aren't quite perfect, but I've only got PG+6 and PG+12. What're ya going to do? Oh, right, get a better trainer...
So HCLRs on a slightly bigger gear, 44" (according to Sheldon) rather than 41". Max RPM of 186, so quite similar to 'normal'. SSes were good, up to 149/72.6, can't complain about that. PGRSes, slightly shorter than last week, and from a higher initial cadence, gave slightly better and more consistent results - 143/60.5 and 140/59.5. The final 'preliminary' was 11s longer and 8" harder than last week, so was rather in the category of 'the tough part' than the preliminary! The result was good though, solid and consistent 125/56 for essentially the whole interval was pleasing.
And then... 24s 99" SS lasted all of about 12s before the legs just wouldn't go anymore, and I didn't have the will to push them any more. I don't know if that was the better thing or not - if I'd kept going, I would have been lucky to finish with a cadence above 60 or so, which is not good quality. On the other hand, pushing through is kinda the point. So. Part one because, once my daughter is in bed, I'm going to try again - do another warmup with HCLRs, then attempt the last two exercises again. Okay, won't be as good as doing them at the time. And maybe if I were with the rest of the squad I'd've made it. Who knows? We do what we can, we try what we can't, and we see what happens. And last week I did them on only 93". Stay tuned...
Edit 1: I've just realised that I'm a numby. No, really. PG is the gear that you can't quite get to 160RPM in 8 seconds from 80RPM, isn't it? Not, in fact, the gear that you can get to 160RPM on. So my PG is actually now 53x15, 93", not 53x16, 87". Whoops. So I in fact have 93" PG, 99" PG+6, 107" PG+14, and 116" PG+23. Erm. Well I'm not doing the whole friggen thing again. And I'm NOT doing the last two on 107".
Edit 2: For all you funky mothers who've been desperately (or coolly) tapping on that refresh key, here it is.
HCLR: Doesn't really matter. Warmup.
99" 24s SS(seated): Max of 132/64.2, held above 130 until ~20s, then decayed ~10RPM over the next 4 seconds. Not bad, but need to push harder at the end - that's when the race is won, after all!
99" 30s RS (40, seated): Max of 116/56.3 - Maintained >54 until ~24s where I dropped to 52.5, slammed it all the way back up to a monsterific 54.1 and held it there to the end.
Comparison? Tough, because last week I was on 93" and only had a 7-minute break rather than 5 hours. But you know what I can compare it to? This. Four months ago, in a 6-second all-out sprint, I got to a maximum of 115RPM on 99". Now I'm doing that for 30 seconds, and for 6 seconds I'm doing 150RPM. Suck on that, previous me.
Brief stats are here and here.
09 September 2011
Is ABOC, is sickly.
There was a movie a while ago, called "John Tucker must Die" I'm pretty certain that Carl Brewer of ABOC was channelling that film...
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3 L,R
:16 14s PGRS (60 - seated)
:23 16s PGRS (60 - seated)
:30 7s PG-4 RS (100 seated)
:34 24s PG+8 SS (seated)
:41 30s PG+8 RS (40, seated)
I mean, really. That's just awful! Mind you, I suspect that next week will be even worse...
So anyway, 190RPM in the HCLRs, good effort. 146/70.3 for the 53x14 SS, which is not bad, if not my best. First 53x16 RS gave 143/60.5, while the second dropped back to just 136. 53x17 RS from 100 felt like a good effort, up to 152/60.7km/hr.
But all of that was just the preliminaries, really. The last two efforts were aimed to get as close to vomiting as possible without actually doing so. And, I'm excited to say, I managed to do just that! Well, so far anyway. Half an hour later and I'm still recovering!
My aim with these was to hit as hard as possible from the start to a cadence I thought I could manage and hold it there. And I did pretty well - max of 136/61.2 for the 24s effort, and held it around 60km/hr for about 21s before sliding down by 7 or 8 RPM over the last 3 seconds.
For the 30s effort I made an effort at a hard acceleration without going all-out. Only managed to get up to 121/54.5, and cadence was a little erratic, varying between 115-121, but I held it in that range for the whole 30 seconds, so I was happy with that. And hopefully by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have recovered!
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3 L,R
:16 14s PGRS (60 - seated)
:23 16s PGRS (60 - seated)
:30 7s PG-4 RS (100 seated)
:34 24s PG+8 SS (seated)
:41 30s PG+8 RS (40, seated)
I mean, really. That's just awful! Mind you, I suspect that next week will be even worse...
So anyway, 190RPM in the HCLRs, good effort. 146/70.3 for the 53x14 SS, which is not bad, if not my best. First 53x16 RS gave 143/60.5, while the second dropped back to just 136. 53x17 RS from 100 felt like a good effort, up to 152/60.7km/hr.
But all of that was just the preliminaries, really. The last two efforts were aimed to get as close to vomiting as possible without actually doing so. And, I'm excited to say, I managed to do just that! Well, so far anyway. Half an hour later and I'm still recovering!
My aim with these was to hit as hard as possible from the start to a cadence I thought I could manage and hold it there. And I did pretty well - max of 136/61.2 for the 24s effort, and held it around 60km/hr for about 21s before sliding down by 7 or 8 RPM over the last 3 seconds.
For the 30s effort I made an effort at a hard acceleration without going all-out. Only managed to get up to 121/54.5, and cadence was a little erratic, varying between 115-121, but I held it in that range for the whole 30 seconds, so I was happy with that. And hopefully by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have recovered!
23 August 2011
Rampups
I think there was a spin session in there somewhere, too. But all I remember is rampups.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s 53x15 RS (20rpm):3
:17 25s 53x16 r/up 5:100, 10:120, 10:140+
:22 25s 53x15 SS
:28 30s 53x15 SS seated
:35 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10:160+
:40 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10:160+
Okay, the SSes weren't rampups, but they were killers just the same! I decided to go as all-out as possible rather than measuring my effort, and only managed 20s each time. Disappointing, but I've been feeling the lack of endurance this last few weeks so it might take me a week or two to get it back again!
Otherwise HCLRs were good, up to 190 at the start, and followed that up with 163/73.1 in the efforts from 20RPM. The next rampup was held above 140 for the last 10s, with a max of 145/61.7. The SS efforts, as advertised, didn't quite go the distance, showing a top of only 146/65.6 - so clearly I didn't go absolutely 6-second all-out! Ah well. HCLR ramups I did fine, sprinting the last 10s to get up to 181 to round out the session.
After 6 straight days of training, I'm looking forward to the rest tomorrow!
Brief stats here.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s 53x15 RS (20rpm):3
:17 25s 53x16 r/up 5:100, 10:120, 10:140+
:22 25s 53x15 SS
:28 30s 53x15 SS seated
:35 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10:160+
:40 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10:160+
Okay, the SSes weren't rampups, but they were killers just the same! I decided to go as all-out as possible rather than measuring my effort, and only managed 20s each time. Disappointing, but I've been feeling the lack of endurance this last few weeks so it might take me a week or two to get it back again!
Otherwise HCLRs were good, up to 190 at the start, and followed that up with 163/73.1 in the efforts from 20RPM. The next rampup was held above 140 for the last 10s, with a max of 145/61.7. The SS efforts, as advertised, didn't quite go the distance, showing a top of only 146/65.6 - so clearly I didn't go absolutely 6-second all-out! Ah well. HCLR ramups I did fine, sprinting the last 10s to get up to 181 to round out the session.
After 6 straight days of training, I'm looking forward to the rest tomorrow!
Brief stats here.
19 August 2011
Oh that's right...
...I'm a cyclist, not a weightlifter! I'd almost forgotten - it's managed to be 10 days since I've done anything (serious) on the bike! Today was a truncated spin session - enough to get some training in, get the legs moving, without exhausting me given that it's a busy week! So this was the program, modified from this:
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s 53x14 RS (20rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s 53x15 RS (80rpm):3
:22 2 x 6s 53x14 SS:3
:28 1 x 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10: 160+
HCLRs topped out at 189, so nice numbers - that seems to be an upper limit for me at this stage of training. The 53x14 RSs don't have a direct comparison, but I'm happy with those numbers - 146/70.3 consistent across both feels good. The 53x15 RSes were again comparable, with a top of 147/66.4. Seems a bit disappointing again, but it's hard to say. The final SSes showed good improvement with 152/73.3 - just below my best of a couple of weeks ago in 53x15 of 165/73.6. Rounded out with a HCLR rampup with a top of 185, and staying at 180+ for the whole of the final 10 seconds.
Brief stats here.
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s 53x14 RS (20rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s 53x15 RS (80rpm):3
:22 2 x 6s 53x14 SS:3
:28 1 x 25s HCLR r/up 10:120, 5:140, 10: 160+
HCLRs topped out at 189, so nice numbers - that seems to be an upper limit for me at this stage of training. The 53x14 RSs don't have a direct comparison, but I'm happy with those numbers - 146/70.3 consistent across both feels good. The 53x15 RSes were again comparable, with a top of 147/66.4. Seems a bit disappointing again, but it's hard to say. The final SSes showed good improvement with 152/73.3 - just below my best of a couple of weeks ago in 53x15 of 165/73.6. Rounded out with a HCLR rampup with a top of 185, and staying at 180+ for the whole of the final 10 seconds.
Brief stats here.
04 August 2011
Stimp stimp stimp
Perhaps one day I'll get a bit more creative with my titles. Anyway, today was a repeat of Tuesday, and the results were a bit of a repeat too!
I didn't quite match the high of Tuesday in the SSes, but was more consistent, varying from 155/69.6 - 163/72.6, getting faster each time. The intervening RSes were also about 1km/hr slower, but the PGRSs were higher, both the seated variants giving a return of 69.3km/hr. Then to finish, the HCLR rampup was about identical!
Not much to be excited about, perhaps, but given that Thursday numbers tend to be a little down, I was happy with the result; perhaps the greater emphasis on strength, with only one longer effort (and only 20s at that) made recovery a bit easier.
Brief stats here.
I didn't quite match the high of Tuesday in the SSes, but was more consistent, varying from 155/69.6 - 163/72.6, getting faster each time. The intervening RSes were also about 1km/hr slower, but the PGRSs were higher, both the seated variants giving a return of 69.3km/hr. Then to finish, the HCLR rampup was about identical!
Not much to be excited about, perhaps, but given that Thursday numbers tend to be a little down, I was happy with the result; perhaps the greater emphasis on strength, with only one longer effort (and only 20s at that) made recovery a bit easier.
Brief stats here.
02 August 2011
Stomp stomp stomp stomp
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+8" RS (40, seated):3
:22 2 x 7s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 6s PG RS (80):3
:34 2 x 7s PG RS (80,seated):3
:40 1 x 20s HCLR r/up 5: 120, 5:140, 10: 160+
Well that was a fun session! I do like my strength work - even if I can't do it as well at home as at BBN. One caveat to the above - I did all PG+11, not PG+12/8. Why? Well, I have PG, PG+3.5, PG+5.2 and PG+11. And then PG+17.6. Though now that I sit down and think about it, why do -1 and +3 when you could be doing +5.6 and +3? What doesn't make you vomit makes you stronger...
Anyway, happy with the effort tonight, and the numbers hold up well too - the first SS was a bit low, at only 144/63.6, but the rest were higher - because I sat down earlier, at around 115-120RPM or so. I managed 159/71.2, which I was happy with, but I was determined to go higher - and I did, with 165/73.6! Always nice to challenge yourself successfully. Still need to translate that to the track more effectively though... the PGRSs were good, up to a high of 68.1 - cadence numbers are a bit dodgy, but the calculated figure for that speed and gear is up around 170, so we'll go with that!
After that a nice easy mad-all-out-sprint with no resistance for mid-180s, just as I'd recorded at the start of the evening. I'm tempted to try my luck in 39x23 on Thursday rather than 39x25, because I seem to go slightly faster with slightly higher resistance - it's a hypothesis to test, at any rate!
Brief stats here.
:10 2 x 7s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+8" RS (40, seated):3
:22 2 x 7s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 6s PG RS (80):3
:34 2 x 7s PG RS (80,seated):3
:40 1 x 20s HCLR r/up 5: 120, 5:140, 10: 160+
Well that was a fun session! I do like my strength work - even if I can't do it as well at home as at BBN. One caveat to the above - I did all PG+11, not PG+12/8. Why? Well, I have PG, PG+3.5, PG+5.2 and PG+11. And then PG+17.6. Though now that I sit down and think about it, why do -1 and +3 when you could be doing +5.6 and +3? What doesn't make you vomit makes you stronger...
Anyway, happy with the effort tonight, and the numbers hold up well too - the first SS was a bit low, at only 144/63.6, but the rest were higher - because I sat down earlier, at around 115-120RPM or so. I managed 159/71.2, which I was happy with, but I was determined to go higher - and I did, with 165/73.6! Always nice to challenge yourself successfully. Still need to translate that to the track more effectively though... the PGRSs were good, up to a high of 68.1 - cadence numbers are a bit dodgy, but the calculated figure for that speed and gear is up around 170, so we'll go with that!
After that a nice easy mad-all-out-sprint with no resistance for mid-180s, just as I'd recorded at the start of the evening. I'm tempted to try my luck in 39x23 on Thursday rather than 39x25, because I seem to go slightly faster with slightly higher resistance - it's a hypothesis to test, at any rate!
Brief stats here.
29 July 2011
Ti-red
Felt tired today - I think my recovery from Tuesday was sub-optimal, as I was starving on Wednesday and have felt a little lethargic. Trying to make up for that in eating today! I've also spent much of the week trying to get my speedplay cleats off my shoes, and have had to resort to trying to drill the screws out. Even that's taking some time! In the meantime I did the session today with two screws out at the back, and still it felt secure through the standing starts. If I don't get them out tomorrow, I may have to do Sundays DISC session in runners and flatties...
Anyway, numbers weren't too too bad in most areas despite tiredness - the first standing start was back down to the levels of the previous week, with a best of 142/64.4. The other seated standing starts (as it were) were more similar, one or two RPM down on Tuesday, topping out at 159/71.2. The RS was slightly higher, with a best of 159/66.3. The PGRS was also the same, while the final HCLR was about 10RPM lower in the final 'sprint'. So overall a solid session, and possibly an indication that the standing results from Tuesday were slightly anomalous - or possibly, an indication of what I can do when I get it right! The numbers continue, overall, to go up...
Brief stats here.
Anyway, numbers weren't too too bad in most areas despite tiredness - the first standing start was back down to the levels of the previous week, with a best of 142/64.4. The other seated standing starts (as it were) were more similar, one or two RPM down on Tuesday, topping out at 159/71.2. The RS was slightly higher, with a best of 159/66.3. The PGRS was also the same, while the final HCLR was about 10RPM lower in the final 'sprint'. So overall a solid session, and possibly an indication that the standing results from Tuesday were slightly anomalous - or possibly, an indication of what I can do when I get it right! The numbers continue, overall, to go up...
Brief stats here.
26 July 2011
Monster Mash
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+12" SS seated:3
:22 2 x 6s PG+6" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 7s PG+12" SS seated:3
:34 25s PG RS(80)
:42 1 x 35s HCLR r/up 10:110, 10:135, 15:max
A fairly similar program to last week, lots of strength work involving standing starts. I was quite happy with the session today, which felt generally stronger and more focussed than even the session at Blackburn.
Numbers were good - up to 154/68.5 for the first PG+12 SS, compared to a best of 146/65.2 last week. The PG+6 RS gave a high of 158/65.8 compared to 153/64.4 last week. Again, the seated SSs were higher than the standing versions, probably because of needing to sit down on my trainer due to stability issues and just plain getting to higher cadences, and the lighter flywheel meaning I just don't have to push as hard to get going. A top of 161/72.6 was pleasing, though.
The 25s PGRS effort I wasn't entirely sure what to do, so I just did it as a 5,10,10 rampup and hit a top of 138. HCLR rampup was good, just went all-out in the last ten seconds and hit, apparently, 195 - I wasn't looking at the time, and it seems like potentially a spike though garmin and golden cheetah both agree. At any rate, it was at least 184 which is what I hit in the warmup, so nice to hit those levels again at the end.
Brief stats here.
:10 2 x 6s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+12" SS seated:3
:22 2 x 6s PG+6" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 7s PG+12" SS seated:3
:34 25s PG RS(80)
:42 1 x 35s HCLR r/up 10:110, 10:135, 15:max
A fairly similar program to last week, lots of strength work involving standing starts. I was quite happy with the session today, which felt generally stronger and more focussed than even the session at Blackburn.
Numbers were good - up to 154/68.5 for the first PG+12 SS, compared to a best of 146/65.2 last week. The PG+6 RS gave a high of 158/65.8 compared to 153/64.4 last week. Again, the seated SSs were higher than the standing versions, probably because of needing to sit down on my trainer due to stability issues and just plain getting to higher cadences, and the lighter flywheel meaning I just don't have to push as hard to get going. A top of 161/72.6 was pleasing, though.
The 25s PGRS effort I wasn't entirely sure what to do, so I just did it as a 5,10,10 rampup and hit a top of 138. HCLR rampup was good, just went all-out in the last ten seconds and hit, apparently, 195 - I wasn't looking at the time, and it seems like potentially a spike though garmin and golden cheetah both agree. At any rate, it was at least 184 which is what I hit in the warmup, so nice to hit those levels again at the end.
Brief stats here.
22 July 2011
Vaguely interesting...
So, how'd the repeat go then? Well, what can I say - it was vaguely interesting, but no surprises - yellow figures are today's, obviously:
6s HCLR - 201 ... 180
6sHCLR - 198 ... 183
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7 ... 146/65.2
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57 ... 139/60.9
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4 ... 152/63.3
8s PG+6 RS#2 – ?/? ... 153/64.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57 ... 146/57.6
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2 ... 151/59.4
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8 ... 118/66.9
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4 ... 130/72.2
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8 ... 136/53.6
35s HCLR r/up - -/- ... 172
See what I mean? About as expected, in the sense that the numbers from today were consistently higher, more so in the standing start versus the rolling start. But look at the BGSSs - the difference between the first and second effort today is much greater than the difference between the first efforts Tuesday and today. The main change I made was in the transition from pushing hard to start off the effort to pedalling as fast and as smoothly as possible - the first I really just kept stomping. Both times I sat down after about 6 seconds, because it was getting too unstable to stand - unlike the KKRM, which didn't move too much, mine moved nearly a foot forward during the standing starts. Clearly I'm unweighting the rear wheel too much (as evidenced in DISC sessions) but that's a tough one to fix. I'm trying though.
I was about as rooted today, but didn't feel sick - I'm thinking diet is more the key there, though the extra power output presumably required to get the larger flywheel on the KKRM going could have played some role. I've been 20-30g carb the last two days, and will be ~30 again today, cramming them in after the session in an attempt to aid recovery - weights tomorrow and then DISC on Sunday. Want to make sure I get maximum value out of those sessions!
6s HCLR - 201 ... 180
6sHCLR - 198 ... 183
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7 ... 146/65.2
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57 ... 139/60.9
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4 ... 152/63.3
8s PG+6 RS#2 – ?/? ... 153/64.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57 ... 146/57.6
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2 ... 151/59.4
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8 ... 118/66.9
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4 ... 130/72.2
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8 ... 136/53.6
35s HCLR r/up - -/- ... 172
See what I mean? About as expected, in the sense that the numbers from today were consistently higher, more so in the standing start versus the rolling start. But look at the BGSSs - the difference between the first and second effort today is much greater than the difference between the first efforts Tuesday and today. The main change I made was in the transition from pushing hard to start off the effort to pedalling as fast and as smoothly as possible - the first I really just kept stomping. Both times I sat down after about 6 seconds, because it was getting too unstable to stand - unlike the KKRM, which didn't move too much, mine moved nearly a foot forward during the standing starts. Clearly I'm unweighting the rear wheel too much (as evidenced in DISC sessions) but that's a tough one to fix. I'm trying though.
I was about as rooted today, but didn't feel sick - I'm thinking diet is more the key there, though the extra power output presumably required to get the larger flywheel on the KKRM going could have played some role. I've been 20-30g carb the last two days, and will be ~30 again today, cramming them in after the session in an attempt to aid recovery - weights tomorrow and then DISC on Sunday. Want to make sure I get maximum value out of those sessions!
20 July 2011
Seldom Bucket
Well, finally, after all of my bravado, a bucket (or was that toilet?) was required after tonight's spin. Or, rather, during. Twice! Was it that hard? Was it the effect of being in a room with lots of other panting sweaty people? Was it the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine? Or, perhaps, was it the large bowl of ice cream I'd had an hour and a half earlier as a final hurrah to carbs and which was decidedly less pleasant on the way back up? It's hard to say, though Thursday's repeat back at home should give an indication.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+6 RS (60, seated):3
:22 2 x 12s PG RS (80, seated):4
:30 2 x 8s BGSS (L,R):3
:36 35s PG RS R/up, 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
:44 35s HCLR r/up 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
A little housekeeping first - we didn't quite keep to those times precisely. Towards the end of the first SS my bike fell off the trainer because the plastic end cap of my skewer broke off! When that happened, the speed sensor must have been knocked slightly because my speed readings from that point were erratic, and have been calculated from gear/cadence - the cadence reading was fine, despite the odd random spike. I was a minute late getting back from the toilet for the first BGSS, and so did it on my own and in my frazzled state only did 6 seconds, not 8. And I didn't make it for the final HCLR rampup, just finishing with a 10s HCLR instead. Finally, the difference in the trainers was notable, but perhaps not quite as much as I expected. Definitely harder to get going, definitely easier to keep going. I'll reserve further judgement until I do the session again on Thursday.
So all that said, how was it? Well, I was pretty happy really. There were extraneous issues as listed above, and I was slightly nervy getting out of the saddle for the first SS because I wasn't sure how the KKRM would behave. Still, I ended up with satisfactory numbers - the officially recorded value for the first HCLR was 201, but I saw 208 briefly and held above 200 for the last 2-3 seconds of the effort, so happy to have broken that barrier - though I suspect it's more the difference in trainers than a sudden increase in my ability over 1 week!
Numbers:
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8
Note that I didn't even manage 135RPM in the PG rampup! I was well rooted by then. I managed about 30 seconds at a reasonable cadence, and how much of the last 5 seconds you count probably depends upon how generous you're feeling! But cadence rather plummeted. I didn't quite do the second BGSS properly either - I was rolling with 2 seconds to go, suddenly remembered, slammed on the rear brake, tried to get my foot position sorted, and just went at the mark. I've no idea if I was fully stopped or which leg I ended up starting on, but I think it was my left again. Ah well.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+6 RS (60, seated):3
:22 2 x 12s PG RS (80, seated):4
:30 2 x 8s BGSS (L,R):3
:36 35s PG RS R/up, 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
:44 35s HCLR r/up 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
A little housekeeping first - we didn't quite keep to those times precisely. Towards the end of the first SS my bike fell off the trainer because the plastic end cap of my skewer broke off! When that happened, the speed sensor must have been knocked slightly because my speed readings from that point were erratic, and have been calculated from gear/cadence - the cadence reading was fine, despite the odd random spike. I was a minute late getting back from the toilet for the first BGSS, and so did it on my own and in my frazzled state only did 6 seconds, not 8. And I didn't make it for the final HCLR rampup, just finishing with a 10s HCLR instead. Finally, the difference in the trainers was notable, but perhaps not quite as much as I expected. Definitely harder to get going, definitely easier to keep going. I'll reserve further judgement until I do the session again on Thursday.
So all that said, how was it? Well, I was pretty happy really. There were extraneous issues as listed above, and I was slightly nervy getting out of the saddle for the first SS because I wasn't sure how the KKRM would behave. Still, I ended up with satisfactory numbers - the officially recorded value for the first HCLR was 201, but I saw 208 briefly and held above 200 for the last 2-3 seconds of the effort, so happy to have broken that barrier - though I suspect it's more the difference in trainers than a sudden increase in my ability over 1 week!
Numbers:
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8
Note that I didn't even manage 135RPM in the PG rampup! I was well rooted by then. I managed about 30 seconds at a reasonable cadence, and how much of the last 5 seconds you count probably depends upon how generous you're feeling! But cadence rather plummeted. I didn't quite do the second BGSS properly either - I was rolling with 2 seconds to go, suddenly remembered, slammed on the rear brake, tried to get my foot position sorted, and just went at the mark. I've no idea if I was fully stopped or which leg I ended up starting on, but I think it was my left again. Ah well.
14 July 2011
Bucket? Where's that bucket?!
Well, not quite, but gods, it was much harder today. Same program, but nothing like the same experience. HCLRs were 175/184, so okay, but almost everything else was 5-10RPM lower than Tuesday. The one exception was the second PG+8 RS, and that only because on Tuesday I pulled my foot out of the pedal!
It's interesting to postulate why - was it recovery, was it the lack of food (I trained at 17:30 or so and hadn't eaten since 11ish,) the lack of preparation since I only decided to do it rather than race tomorrow night at the last minute, the lack of a cycling jersey, or the addition of my HRM which I finally found and so distracted me? The full moon? Who knows. I know that I'm tired!
Brief stats here.
It's interesting to postulate why - was it recovery, was it the lack of food (I trained at 17:30 or so and hadn't eaten since 11ish,) the lack of preparation since I only decided to do it rather than race tomorrow night at the last minute, the lack of a cycling jersey, or the addition of my HRM which I finally found and so distracted me? The full moon? Who knows. I know that I'm tired!
Brief stats here.
12 July 2011
Bucket? Who needs a bucket?
This was supposed to be a bucket session, but it felt okay to me - I could even walk afterwards! Well, shortlyish afterwards, anyway. Perhaps I didn't go hard enough...
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+8" SS L,R:3
:16 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (40):3
:25 20s RG SS (race leg)
:32 20s RG RS (80) (10s reverse splits)
:39 30s PG+4" RS (10s reverse splits)
:45 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10, 10, 15) 100, 130, 150+
HCLRs were a bit better - 184 and 180 (Garmin reckons 201, but I'm quite sure that's not right!) The PG standing and rolling starts were good - best of 164 for the right-leg standing start, and 156/158 otherwise - last one was only 150 because my left foot pulled out of the pedal after about 5 seconds - not something I want to happen on a track bike! I'll have a good look at it before Friday, might just need adjusting.
The RG (53x14 versus 53x15) SS felt good - again, pulled out of the pedal after a few seconds, but slotted back in and kept going up to 25s to compensate - hit a high of 153 and slowly decayed, but still above 130RPM by the end of the 25 seconds, so happy with that. The 20s RS reverse split I had to guess at an effort level, and so worked up to between 115 and 120 for the first 10s, then above 130 for the second 10s. I managed that okay, but felt that I probably could have aimed a bit higher - perhaps I should try for ~125 and then ~135 for Thursday's session.
The 30s PG reverse split thingie I decided to try to continually increase effort, rather than trying to hold a level - so I went for 100 increasing to 110ish, then increasing to 120ish, then basically sprinting as hard as possible to as high as possible for the last 10s - as opposed to jumping as hard as possible and then holding. That saw me hit 146, which I'm pretty happy with. Jumping and holding is probably more race relevant, but continually pushing higher to muscle collapse is probably better training. But I still didn't need a bucket!
HCLR rampup again for the third segment I just tried to sprint as hard as possible, and got up to 174 and was possibly slightly smoother - it's hard to tell. With the lack of resistance, around 130 is almost the hardest point, because I end up bouncing around a bit if I don't make a big effort not to. After that, I probably bounce around just as much, but I'm working too hard to notice!
Overall a good session. Some good numbers (including 3 of 70km/hr+) and felt good even in the longer efforts - of course, none of them were 40s, which helps! Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+8" SS L,R:3
:16 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (40):3
:25 20s RG SS (race leg)
:32 20s RG RS (80) (10s reverse splits)
:39 30s PG+4" RS (10s reverse splits)
:45 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10, 10, 15) 100, 130, 150+
HCLRs were a bit better - 184 and 180 (Garmin reckons 201, but I'm quite sure that's not right!) The PG standing and rolling starts were good - best of 164 for the right-leg standing start, and 156/158 otherwise - last one was only 150 because my left foot pulled out of the pedal after about 5 seconds - not something I want to happen on a track bike! I'll have a good look at it before Friday, might just need adjusting.
The RG (53x14 versus 53x15) SS felt good - again, pulled out of the pedal after a few seconds, but slotted back in and kept going up to 25s to compensate - hit a high of 153 and slowly decayed, but still above 130RPM by the end of the 25 seconds, so happy with that. The 20s RS reverse split I had to guess at an effort level, and so worked up to between 115 and 120 for the first 10s, then above 130 for the second 10s. I managed that okay, but felt that I probably could have aimed a bit higher - perhaps I should try for ~125 and then ~135 for Thursday's session.
The 30s PG reverse split thingie I decided to try to continually increase effort, rather than trying to hold a level - so I went for 100 increasing to 110ish, then increasing to 120ish, then basically sprinting as hard as possible to as high as possible for the last 10s - as opposed to jumping as hard as possible and then holding. That saw me hit 146, which I'm pretty happy with. Jumping and holding is probably more race relevant, but continually pushing higher to muscle collapse is probably better training. But I still didn't need a bucket!
HCLR rampup again for the third segment I just tried to sprint as hard as possible, and got up to 174 and was possibly slightly smoother - it's hard to tell. With the lack of resistance, around 130 is almost the hardest point, because I end up bouncing around a bit if I don't make a big effort not to. After that, I probably bounce around just as much, but I'm working too hard to notice!
Overall a good session. Some good numbers (including 3 of 70km/hr+) and felt good even in the longer efforts - of course, none of them were 40s, which helps! Brief stats here.
08 July 2011
Solitary spin
Just the one this week - I almost managed to make a Tuesday or Wednesday session work so that I could fit both in, but I had a visiting sister who didn't quite fit in with my schedule. I managed to bundle her and two kids off for a shopping trip to at least get the one session in on Thursday. And, writing this on Friday, I'm tempted to do another one, so much fun did I have! And no, that's actually not sarcastic...
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (60rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s PG+8" RS (50rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 6s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 7s PG+8" SS (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PG RS R/up (10:90, 15:125, 15:max)
:40 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:130, 15:150+)
HCLRs were disappointing, 181 and 175, and felt rather uncoordinated doing them. Perhaps due to so long in between spin sessions? The PG+8 efforts were all actually PG+11 efforts (what's 3 inches between friends? As the bishop said to the choirgirl. Boom tish.) and felt quite solid - except for the second RS(60RPM) which I got out of the saddle for. And dragged the trainer about 15cm along the floor! Not surprisingly I only got up to 133RPM on that one...
For the standing starts I was really working on the countdown, getting my breathing set and synchronised, treating it as a genuine gate start. The numbers were better than the rolling starts (do I have better strength than power? Better low- than mid-range torque? Or did the extra focus of the standing starts versus rolling make the difference? Dunno!) in the mid-150s, but on the last one I was determined to break 160 and I managed it - 163RPM in 7 seconds in 53x15, ~92". Happy with that. As a demonstration of how comparable that is to actual track performance, I had a top speed of 71.6km/hr and covered about 150m in that 7 seconds. In reality I think I'd be lucky to get to 40km/hr and the 1/4 lap!
The PG rampup was okay - max of only 133, but again I made the 40 seconds. Okay, I may have started to shut down at 39 seconds. I'll be sure to do one more second of work next time. Actually no, scratch that, 41 seconds is just too long! HCLR rampup again I felt uncoordinated, but at least this time I had an excuse, and a top of 161 at the end of that session isn't too bad.
Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (60rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s PG+8" RS (50rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 6s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 7s PG+8" SS (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PG RS R/up (10:90, 15:125, 15:max)
:40 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:130, 15:150+)
HCLRs were disappointing, 181 and 175, and felt rather uncoordinated doing them. Perhaps due to so long in between spin sessions? The PG+8 efforts were all actually PG+11 efforts (what's 3 inches between friends? As the bishop said to the choirgirl. Boom tish.) and felt quite solid - except for the second RS(60RPM) which I got out of the saddle for. And dragged the trainer about 15cm along the floor! Not surprisingly I only got up to 133RPM on that one...
For the standing starts I was really working on the countdown, getting my breathing set and synchronised, treating it as a genuine gate start. The numbers were better than the rolling starts (do I have better strength than power? Better low- than mid-range torque? Or did the extra focus of the standing starts versus rolling make the difference? Dunno!) in the mid-150s, but on the last one I was determined to break 160 and I managed it - 163RPM in 7 seconds in 53x15, ~92". Happy with that. As a demonstration of how comparable that is to actual track performance, I had a top speed of 71.6km/hr and covered about 150m in that 7 seconds. In reality I think I'd be lucky to get to 40km/hr and the 1/4 lap!
The PG rampup was okay - max of only 133, but again I made the 40 seconds. Okay, I may have started to shut down at 39 seconds. I'll be sure to do one more second of work next time. Actually no, scratch that, 41 seconds is just too long! HCLR rampup again I felt uncoordinated, but at least this time I had an excuse, and a top of 161 at the end of that session isn't too bad.
Brief stats here.
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