21st May 2009

Specialisation - Week 17 - Block 5

07:45am - Wakeup

• 8.5 Hours Sleep
• Sleep quailty 8
• Heart Rate 47 / 65
• Mood 7
• Weight not measured

Tired again this morning but heart rates looking better for recovery. Working in Leeds today and getting the train back to Crawley this afternoon. Should be just enough time to get my kit on and get over to Newchapel for the Surrey League Handicap.

07:45pm - Workout - 1 Hr EM inc x2 25 Min SS

Didn't make it in time to race this evening due a cancelled train from Leeds, Victoria Line closed and finally a road closed about 10 mins from the race start. Mightly pissed off I drove home and went straight out on my Trek for a beasting. Rode 25 mins just over SS heart rate along the sea front, followed by a 10 min EM and another 25 min SS into the wind. Felt strong channelling my frustration into powering into the wind.

14th May 2009

Specialisation - Week 16 - Block 4

07:00am - Wakeup

• 9 Hours sleep
• Sleep quality 8
• Heart Rate 47 / ?
• Mood 7
• Weight not measured

Really sleepy this morning, felt like I could sleep another 4-5 hours. Legs ok though, no aches or pains. Heart rate coming down steadily though didn't have time to measure standing this morning as I was late. Looking forward to Hove Park tomorrow night, am eating, resting and drinking plenty in preparation. God knows what the weather is going to do...

Might pop down there tonight for a couple of laps to get to grips with the course.

06:00pm - Workout - 1 Hour 30 Mins EM + x3 PI + 10 Min SS

Rode up to Hove Park for a recon of tomorrow nights course. Took the first 2 laps at full speed to get a judge on where to and not to push it. 3-4 laps afterwards to recover followed by a final PI lap. Had a couple more easy recovery laps before heading down to the sea front. The climb is going to be interesting, a series of tight bends lead into it at the base, followed by a long off camber left swinging round to the final section before the top. Taking it at speed is going to require some deft handling.

On the sea front EM pace to the Marina, then a 10 min SS back into the headwind as far as Adeliade Crescent. The PI's around Hove Park hurt a lot, came home and crashed out for a while before a feast at the Shakespeares.

25th March 2009

Specialization - Week 9 - Block 3

07:30am - Wakeup

• 7 hours sleep
• Sleep quality 8
• Heart Rate 54 / ??
• Weight not measured
• Mood 7
• Core exercises x10 30 Sec
  

Tired this morning, could do with a lie-in one day soon!

08:00pm - Workout - 1Hr 30Min x2 OU (x2 10Min SS, x2 5Min CR)

First Turbo session of the new period plan. Warmed up 10 mins then into 20 mins EM followed by x2 over under intervals - 10 mins steady state HR, 5 mins climbing repeat HR. Legs felt great, and last 6-7 mins was able to average 320W+! RPM was a lot lower on this session, whereas usually I'd be rolling along at 99-100, it felt more comfortable at 90-95. Strange.

Saddle however is still a major problem and is really beginning to fuck me off big time now. Fitted the new Arione but could still only manage 20mins at EM before starting to get pain / numbness. Even worse at higher efforts. Ignored the pain for the last 10 mins and actually got into a really good zone of concentration and cranked out some big watts, but can't be doing me any good. Got to get it sorted!!!!!!!!!!

Time	Int	Power	RPM	HR	KM/H
10Min	Warmup inc x1 1Min FP & x2 30Sec FP
20Min	EM	287	92	149	40.1
10Min	SS	286	85	153	39.9
5Min	CR	285	84	157	39.8
10Min	SS	283	90	152	39.3
5Min	CR	275	92	156	39.0
20Min	EM	283	91	153	39.7
10Min	Warmdown
		284	90	151	39.7

On review from a similar SS interval session one month ago, all stats are up, especially power, with an increase of 20W on average over the same session duration, though for less RPM. Not bad considering how much discomfort I was in.

12th March 2009

Preparation - Week 7 - Block 2

07:00am - Wakeup

• 7.5 hours sleep
• Sleep quality - 8
• Heart Rate 51 / 73
• No weight measured
• Mood - 7

Heart rates up a little this morning but not enough to consider skipping the interval today. Will ride to work instead of using the turbo, meeting the club tonight in the Farm after work.

07:30am - Workout - 1Hr 18Min EM inc x3 15Min SS

Trek with Rovals, weather overcast with north west headwind.

Great ride into work this morning. Split the SS intervals as follows:

• SS #1 - A27 Roundabout to Shaves Wood Lane
• SS #2 - A272 to base of Handcross Hill
• SS #3 - Base of Handcross Hill to Gleneagles court

Kept EM heart rate limit to 151 and SS limit to 159-161. Time checks for the ride:

• 30 mins - Shaves Wood Lane I think, maybe a bit further.
• 45 mins - A272
• 1 hour - 100m up Handcross Hill
• 1 hour 15 mins - Welcome to Crawley sign

Stats

• Average HR 151
• Average Speed 28.8Km/h
• Distance 38Km
• Duration 1Hr 18Mins
  

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24th February 2009

Preparation - Week 5 - Block 2

08:30am - Wakeup

• 8.5 hours sleep
  
• Heart Rate 48 / 77
• Weight 76.3kg

Needed the extra hour in bed this morning. Legs still feeling it, definately need to get into the pool today! Dehyrdated.

07:40pm - 1Hr 40Min EM with x3 15Min SS

Really tough workout tonight. Stupidly hadn't checked my saddle after adjusting it for racing at the weekend so rode the first hour with it slightly angled upwards. Pressure caused me to stop the workout to investigate. Managed to complete the workout but in a lot more discomfort than usual (repositioning can be seen by the spikes on the results). After sorting the saddle was able to concentrate and breath. Wasn't able to sustain high efforts due to the discomfort from the saddle.

Time	Int	Power	RPM	HR	KM/H
10Min	Warmup inc x1 1Min FP & x2 30Sec FP
12Min	EM	288	99	148	40.2
15Min	SS	280	99	152	39.8
12Min	EM	244	94	146	37.6
15Min	SS	249	97	150	37.8
12Min	EM	254	94	145	38.3
15Min	SS	250	94	151	38.1
10Min	Warmdown
		265	97	149	39

17th February 2009

Preparation - Week 4 - Block 1

06:45am - Wake up

• 8 Hours sleep
• Heart Rate 51 / 68
  
• Weight 76.6kg

Slept solid. No aches or pains from last nights turbo session. Large difference in standing heart rate this morning, down 9 bpm on yesterday. Must have been the lingering effects of Cardiff...

Looking forward to tonights session but need to work on concentration. At present can only concentrate for a few minutes to maintain a smooth power and cadence output. Hopefully replacing the saddle with the gel flow will help this.

06:30pm - Turbo Workout / 1Hr 30Min EM / x2 20Min SS

Bike - Trek 53/39 x 12/25

Time	Int	Power	RPM	HR	KM/H
10Min	Warmup inc x3 1Min FP
15Min	EM	270	96	147
20Min	SS	270	91	153
15Min	EM	232	90	148
20Min	SS	255	87	153
10Min	Warmdown
		257	92	149

SS Intensity - Heart rate upper limit 157 (90% of average HR + 4 bpm)
EM Intensity - Heart rate upper limit 154 (88% of average HR)



Fitted the slr gel flow and dropped saddle height 2cm. Made a huge difference to the workout, no problems at all and pedalling technique felt more natural and required almost no concentration. Could focus more on maintaining a smooth output of hr / rpm / watts. Wasn't feeling 100% before the workout so used the 35 yrs + hr limits for this workout.

First 15 min EM and first 20 min SS were very smooth, managed to keep a high cadence without having to adjust position on the bike. During the last interval and after 1 hour averaging 90+ rpm had to sit up and freewheel momentarily 3-4 times to relive pressure (can be seen as spikes on the results). Felt great on the drops for the last 2 intervals - completely different from the last workout where I had to sit up none-handed for long periods.

Power output was down on last weeks EM & SS session, though I imagine this can be explained by using the lower HR upper limits. Still need to work on staying just below interval hr intesity - seem to sit around -5 / -7 bpm from the upper limit.

Looking forward to the fitness test on Saturday and first race Sunday!

Notes
Bike dimensions:

A - 80.5cm - Saddle height (seat top to centre bb)
B - 11.5cm - Top of saddle to centre BB
C - 6cm -Seat height to top of stem
D - 58.5cm - Tip of seat to centre of handlebars

10th February 2009

Preparation - Week 3 - Block 1

07:30am - Wake up

• 8 Hours sleep
• Heart Rate 49 / 78
• Weight 76.3kg

Feel a little dehydrated. Legs ache slightly. Slept well.

07:00pm - Turbo Workout / 1 Hr 20 Min / EM inc x2 15 min SS

Time	Int	Power	RPM	HR	KM/H
10Min	Warmup inc x3 30Sec FP
15Min	EM	295	95	156
15Min	SS	282	93	161
15Min	EM	252	88	156
15Min	SS	271	91	162
10Min	Warmdown
		275	92	158

Notes
First interval session from the new training plan today. Warmup worked well using 30 second 100rpm+ bursts with 30 second gaps. Entering first Steady State period I really wondered whether I'd be able to maintain the intensity, but gradually got used to it over the next 2 intervals. At the end felt I could have continued beyond the pescribed workout. Concentrated on keeping heart rate in zones at expense of power and cadence - both these were fairly erratic in comparison.

Before session Dropped saddle height 5cm. Throughout whole workout had no knee or feet pains whatsoever. Only discomfort was felt on the pubic bone, had to be aliveated by sitting up on the saddle for extended periods. After discussing with Alan it seems my saddle aspect must be wrong. He also suggested replacing the saddle as it would be well worn by now. Will invest in a new Gel Flow tomorrow.