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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