Update 31/12/2015

I've just finished the first half of Trainerroad's 'Sustained Power Build'. Before moving onto the second half, you are required to complete another FTP test.

Not going to lie... I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. They are painful... very painful!

Expecting an increase in power since I started the plan 4 weeks ago I added about 3% to the target power.

Before you complete the 20 min test you have to do an all out 5 min effort. Going into it hard but knowing I had to sustain it for 5 mins I started off at the target power of 297W... It wasn't long before I felt I could do more so starting building up the power... by the end of the 5 mins I was holding a very stable 350W. I started to become optimistic for the main 20 min effort.

The target was 275W... I started off at 290W. Once I had settled in I bumped it up further to 300W. 5 mins in and I was beginning to feel the burn. The 3rd quarter was the hardest by far... this is where your mind starts to play games with you... part of your brain is trying to convince you to give up... "you've gone off to hard", "you will never continue at this pace", "just back off for a bit"... the list of excuses become endless... your mind will come up will all sorts of reasons for giving up! This is where you need to use every trick in the book to keep control. Have the answers ready to retaliate with... "I can do this", "I haven't gone off to hard", "I will do this". Focus on breathing and relaxing your body. Deep breaths in... hard breaths out... the quicker and deeper you breathe, the more oxygen you can absorb. Relax every muscle in your body you do not need to use... your face, shoulders, arms and hands. Focus on a smooth pedal stroke. Before you know it, you feel like there is a new boost of energy... amd before you know it, you're into your final 5 mins. At this point I feel like I can start counting the minutes down. As soon as I feel my body tense I concentrate on relaxation. As soon as my mind questions my ability... I strike it down! 3 mins... 2 mins... 1 min... in the last minute something very odd happens. You start to increase in power... but it's not anymore difficult. Finishing off at over 340W I almost wonder if I could ave done more.... is it all about mind over matter?

My heart would disagree... at 194bmp... i'm not entirely sure it could take any more!!!

Below is the workout profile from Trainerroad. The blue blocks are the original target powers, the green line is the increase I was expecting and the yellow was the actual power output.

Following the test, Trainerroad calculated my new FTP at 287W. An increase of 12% in 4 weeks. As this is my first proper block of training where I have used a power meter I'm not entirely sure what to expect. The first test was completed after taking over two weeks off the bike and therefore I would expect my fitness levels to be remarkably lower... In fact, the fitness/freshness graph on Strava highlights that quite well.

So moving forward from here I'm doubtful I will get any massive increases in FTP. Maybe an extra 3-5% by the end of the 'Specialty Phase' in April if i'm lucky?

What I do know is, the next spout of intervals is going to hurt. Given that they are set on a % of FTP... They two have increased... Bugger!

With my body weight at 10st 12lb (12.6% body fat) it gives me a power to weight of 4.2W/kg. 

Update...

So i'm coming to the end of the second week of the sustained power build. The first week was a lot harder than expected... The TSS for the week was 702... actually less than the 8-900 i was doing in October... but the intensity was is lot higher now. I was certainly gratefull for the odd rest days TrainerRoad gives you. 

I have already started to notice a few weaknesses:

Sustained Power - I'm ok on the high intensity short intervals of 3-4 mins @ 105-110% FTP but as soon as I have a session that is hitting that hitting that sweet spot of 85% for 20 mins at a time... repeating 4 or so times... that's a real killer! But then that's what this is for... improving and pushing your sustained power zones. Or maybe its just mind power... how long can you sustain the pain until you give in!

Holding the TT Position - Something I was pretty rubbish at last year too. Last year i never really spent enough time on the TT bike so accept that might be a big part of the cause. I definitely lack core strength. Something I haven't really been working on these last few weeks. But I also think there is some fundamental positioning issue with the bike set-up. After speaking to others about it, i'm going to make some small adjustments to the seat position... moving it forward to open up the hip angle and to reduce some of the reach with my upper body. Just going to be a bit of trial and error for now... if its not sorted by February, I will bite the bullet and get a proper bike fit.

I've started to do a little bit of reading into monitoring performance, fitness, form and fatigue... very interesting stuff but certainly don't know anywhere near enough to blab about it on here... what i do know is though, Strava calculate it free on the premium account... here is mine for the last 6 months. 

The darker line is my fitness levels and the grey line is my form/freshness. The aim is to train to improve fitness then rest to peak up form/freshness. Every time you train hard the fitness rises and form drops. As you recover... the form rises and fitness will drop. This 'tapering' before an event gives you the optimum level of fitness & form. 

Fatigue is the opposite to form. I have not added this to the graph as it gets a bit messy... currently my fatigue levels are very high - as my form is very low.

The large increase in fitness earlier in the year was during the hill climb season and hard weekend rides i did following the competition season. The drop following that was when i went away on holiday for 2 weeks. Just goes to show how much fitness you loose when you stop like that!

Interestingly, this is the fastest rate I have ever increased in fitness. And similarly, this is the highest my fatigue has every been. I'm definitely due a rest. Next week is the last hard week before a complete rest week. This will provide enough time for my fatigue level to reduce before the next 3 week onslaught! 

Going to be really interesting to watch this develop further over this coming season!

Decoupling Test

So a few weeks ago I found out about Joe Friel's aerobic fitness test to assertain if you have a good 'base' fitness. The test involves a 'steady' consistent effort in the top end of your zone 2 power range. Analysing your heart rate following the test can identify your current level of fitness. This is something called 'decoupling'. 

I wanted to use his test to see if I was able to skip the base training in preparation for the Spring time trials. This would allow me to just straight into a more productive sustained power build plan with Trainerroad. I was hoping I would last in excess of 1.5 hours before decoupling began... If I was below, I would consider doing some extra base training.

The results were better than expected. By comparing the Power/HR ratios between the first and second half, you should see no more than a 5% increase. My result of a 2 hour effort was -2.9%. So in effect I actually found the second half easier. This may have been due to the fact I did no warm up. The first 30 mins would likely to have been higher as my body was warming up. Even if I ignore the first 30 mins I still end up with a negative figure... Joe Friel assumes that as a negative is less than 5%... It can only be a good thing... Sounds good to me. This was batter than I had expected. Looks like my steady commuted and long Sunday efforts have been well worth it.

Training begins next week with a 'Sustained Power Build'. 

Bring on the pain! ;)

The Beginning

The beginning to every training plan starts with the FTP test. It evaluates your current performance level so your next block of training can be accurately structured.

I've carried out a few over the last year (maybe not as many as I wish I had) and let me assure you... They are not easy!! They are designed to test you. To find out your limits. It's a great way to gauge your performance over time... It will also prove extremely useful when I approach race season as I can use this to estimate my required power output depending on the duration.

I completed my first FTP test today so I can begin my training next week. This is the first time I have used my new Vector 2S power meter so I was going in a little bit blind. Up until now I was using the virtual power that Trainnerroad estimate from your turbo trainer so I didn't really know what to expect... If they are not accurately comparable, all historical data up until this point is basically redundant. I'm going to see if I can find a way to overcome this issues as it would be really useful to know how much I have improved.

Any who... Here are the results from this test. 

My new FTP is 257 Watts (3.7W/kg). It doesn't really mean much at this point in time. What I was more amazed at was my maximum heart rate was 199 bpm!! The average for the last 5min of the 20min test was 191. Given that my Max up until today was 194 I find this remarkable. It now explains why I was in so much pain!! Lol

Long road ahead before I am anywhere near the national hill climb champs... I should imagine I need somewhere in the region of 6W/kg... At my current weight that would mean an FTP of 420W!!

Sacrifice

With every diet plan comes sacrifice... In my case it's going to be caffeine and sugar. It may not seem much to you but these are my lifelines! I'm a massive chocoholic and I'm severely addicted to caffeine. Even worse... I drink lots of sweet coffee! But a good quality diet is going to be critical for fuelling workouts, recovering and preventing illness. 

Caffeine - I need to make sure I'm able to get to sleep at about 8pm in order to get a minimum of 8 hours sleep. This means no caffeine from about 3pm. Being on holiday has made me realise how irritable I get without my constant flow of coffee! Ask LouLou! So given that I have already overcome most of the addiction (due to the lack of coffee in Thailand) I'm going to carry this on. I will have a coffee in the morning and then I will be sticking to decaf for the rest of the day... Even better still... Water!

Sugar - I need to hit my macronutrients as accurately as possible. If I'm using up 50% of my carb allowance in simple sugars like this I'm not going to be in any state for a workout! I'm unlikely to lose much weight either with sugar spikes throughout the day. Instead I plan to consume enough carbs (oats, rice, potato etc) in order to provide a steady release of energy. I will also be reverting to coffee without sugar for a while... I may even drop the evaporated milk and go black! Depends how desperate I get to shed a few extra lb's.

This new diet plan is going to require a substantial increase in carb intake which is not something I'm used to. I would normally eat high protein, low carb meals and (prob due to a sugar/energy deficit) eat lots of chocolate. I'm hoping if I can increase the carb content, I will not suffer with these sugar lows, resulting in no chocolate cravings... Fingers crossed!!

 

Once I have used My Fitness Pal for a while I should have a pretty good idea of food consumption, quantity and split in macronutrients... As soon as I do I will be sure to upload :)

Luckily for me my diet has been reasonably good over the last few years. I don't drink much alcohol and I don't eat much takeaways. We cook 95% of our meals with fresh goods and are generally very conscious about our meal plans. So I have already taken some big steps in dropping unhealthy foods from my diet... This is just the final step. You never know, in a few years time I may no longer be drinking coffee or eating chocolate through preference. My preferred choice may be herbal tea and dust... Anyone? Dust?

Sacrificing dietary luxuries is always going to be difficult. It's always easy to give up if you only think in the here and now with diets. The mind plays great tricks on you to get you to give in to temptation. Blame the rib woman and the talking snake! 

You might be having a hard day at work, you pass the vending machine and the boost bar is calling out to you... 'That will cheer me up... I will burn it off on the commute home'. Been there... Done that! I know it's easier said than done but you need to stay strong. You just have to keep thinking of the bigger picture. The bigger goal. Don't think about the here and now. 

Something body builders do when sticking to hardcore fat shredding, protein rich diets that leave little to be desired is to have a 'cheat' to look forward to. Looking forward to something helps keep you focused. A single planned relapse where you consciously feed the craving but knowing it has been both well earned and will revert back to normal following. Most people pick the same day every week so it becomes the routine. I used to do this when I went through a body building phase years ago... Pizza Friday's!!! It certainly helped keep me focused during the week. The rule that often gets discussed on forums (and the one LouLou an I will be trialing) is 10% of your weekly calorie intake in one meal... Whilst ensuring your total weekly intake stays below the target.

So for me, my daily calorie intake will be approx 3200. So I could save 10% of these calories each day and accumulate them for a single cheat meal of 2,240 calories. That would be one mahoosive meal!

I might see how that goes. Cutting 320 calories from each day (whilst already being 500 lower in order to loose weight) may prove detrimental to performance/power output. Also, a sudden surge of calories like that is just going to end up being stored as fat... Especially if it ends up being a Friday/Saturday evening takeaway... Let alone the sheer logistics of consuming that on top of the 2,880 daily calorie intake... 5,120 calories is a lot of food in one day! Maybe 4 or 5% would be more reasonable!

Training Progress Test

I have just listened to an interesting podcast with 'Training Bible' coach Rob Kelley. The podcast itself was about VO2 Max intervals however Rob briefly described the format of their training programs which are based on Joe Friel's book 'The Training Bible'. The training bible recommend building on each zone independently. Moving from one zone to another (not too dissimilar to Trainerroad). However, it seems as though they use a method of monitoring progress from tests by comparing HR & power. When 'decoupling' occurs at a pre determined set point you are ready to go into the next stage.

For example - base training phase:

You will want to optimise your zone 2 aerobic threshold during base training. Therefore, if you hold your power output at the top of your zone 2 (based on a % of your FTP) your HR should remain stable for as long as your aerobic fitness allows you too... The longer the duration, the higher your aerobic fitness. As soon as your HR begins to increase (becomes decoupled) you can get a measure of your base level training (aerobic fitness). Initially you may be able to last 50 mins in zone 2 before decoupling occurs. The training program of base training should increase this to 2 hours. At this stage you can move onto zone 3.

Personally I find this really interesting and useful. Before I begin my 28 week hill climb training plan in April, I am going to be completing a condensed training plan in preparation for the WTTA Hardrider series in March (starting 1st Dec). I was planning to miss the base phase and go straight into the build phase. I was anticipating that I will have a reasonable level of aerobic fitness already as I have not done a large amount of high intensity workouts over the last month or two. Instead I spent about 5-6 hours each week at zone 2 commuting (in effect - a very poorly structured base level training). Following this, I have been doing a 4 hour chaingang ride on Sunday's with the 'Pain Train' which has been developing FTP & endurance. Therefore, before I begin this condensed training plan, I am going to complete this 'aerobic test' to see where I am at. It may not change the plan as I am already short on time, but it should help me understand my current situation.

I'm hoping to last approx 1 hour 45 mins. If I last longer that would be great... If I am under 1 hour 30 min, I may be a little low on aerobic fitness to withstand the full Build & Speciality phase's without including some additional Base level work. 

I look forward to finding out and seeing if this test works :)

Weight Training

Is it a benefit for cycling? Or a waste of time?

Depends who you talk to, what you read or what you choose to believe. For me, it was more of the latter. I quite like working out down the gym... There is just something about it that is uplifting and motivational. I was therefore quite keen on slipping a few sessions in each week... Not only that, it would have been something different to have done instead of vomiting over my bike in the 'Pain Cave' whilst staring at the same old screen of numbers and targets! So I'm a little bit gutted to say the least, that I am no longer going to be incorporating it into my training. 

The decision came after being advised by a (very successful) club member after releasing my 2015/16 training plan. It was something I knew deep down but was looking for every bit of information on the Internet to help in my favour. 

So to put it simply (because I don't understand it much further than this), you have different muscle fibres that make up your muscles. Fast twitch & slow twitch. Slow twitch is what you use in cycling 98% of the time. Fast twitch is what you use for short duration sprinting. This is also what gets developed in the gym during strength training. Therefore, going down the gym is going to develop muscle fibres (and increase mass) in areas that will not be used during cycling... Why would I want to carry around muscles I will not use?

That's not to say it is completely useless... The pro's do it so it must be advantageous...right?

It has some benefits:

Develops more muscle mass and can target certain/specific areas to prevent injury

Marginal gains. It will still have a very small amount of advantage in certain disciplines (racing requiring some form of sprinting). Also, if you have already maximised your training on the bike or have no real weakness, the gym could be more beneficial as a form of cross training

If you are injured, it could allow you to work out without compromising the recovery of the injury.

Develop core strength.

Now I know I have big weaknesses in sustained power and VO2 Max that I need to address as a priority. I also struggle to hold a time trial position for an entire time trial. Therefore, I am going to gain more by utilising the core of my time doing intervals and remaining time working on core strength and flexibility. For this reason I will be cutting the gym from the training program. I will update the training and daily time plan to reflect this soon :)

2015/16 Training Plan

So working off the back of my review of last years training I came to the conclusion that it was far from optimum. It lacked knowledge, planning and purpose... Not this year!

My plan this year will be based on the structured plans offered by Trainerroad and will be predominantly based on an indoor trainer. Trainerroad use a traditional phased approach to training with the use of a pyramid based plan. 3 phases... Base, Build and Speciality. The theory is simple... You build the foundation with low intensity, long duration... You build on the foundations with an increase in intensity and reduction in duration... Finishing with a phase specifically tailored for your discipline.

The phases take a total of 28 weeks. 12 base weeks, 8 build weeks and 8 speciality weeks.

Now this is where the conundrum occurs... Where to peak the fitness/finish the plan?

March/April for the WTTA Hardrider Time Trial Series?

The summer for the main time trial season?

September/October for the hill climb season?

All of which I want to compete in.

I've decided I will prioritise the hill climbs as this is what I enjoy the most and where I would like to specialise my cycling ambitions.

Therefore training will not properly begin until the end of March. This sort of works really well as I will be able to complete a 'mini' training plan between now and then to maximise my potential in the Hardrider Series :) It should also give me an opportunity to understand my limits and training loads before committing to the main plan. This mini plan will consist of the final 8 weeks of 'Sustained Power' build phase followed by '40km TT' speciality phase. I feel like the last few months have not been very intense so already have a basic 'base' to build on.

Trainerroad offer various versions of each plan depending on the number of hours you can handle... Or TSS (training stress score) your body can handle. I will be hitting it hard and monitoring my body's response to see if it is too much or not. I'm going to begin taking daily resting heart rate readings to see if I am recovering properly. If your HR begins to go up, it can be a sign of overtraining... Will see how that goes :)

On top of this... One area I know I am weak on is peak power. Basically, my girly pins and buns just don't have enough meat on them! Now I'm going to go against most of the recommendations out there and increase this with weight lifting. I have access to a gym through work and it is easy to fit into my routine. At this point in time, there is no research out there to suggest weight training helps increase functional threshold power (FTP). I don't understand why not... If you can squat more weight, surely it allows you to develop a higher FTP? We will see... :) I will be completing 2 leg sessions a week durning the base and build phases and reducing to 1 session a week during the final phase (something Trainerroad advise in one of their blogs). One thing I am going to be keeping close tabs in is my body weight... As much as I want more power, I need to carry that up hills. Power to weight ratio is going to be very important!

Note: On the back of some advise from a successful club timetrialist I have decided to remove the above strength training from my training plan.

To keeps an eye on the progress I will carry out a weekly review on how the training went and any subsequent issues I had to overcome...

Hopefully I will be getting a power meter next week and starting the first weeks training week commencing 30th Dec.... Watch this space :) 

A busy time ahead...

I wanted to make sure I could fit all my goals in during the day so wrote out the timeline for a busy day.

4:00 - Alarm

4:05 - Record heart rate

4:10 - Make shake & coffee

4:30 - Begin workout & drink coffee

5:30 - Finish workout

5:35 - Drink shake/breakfast

5:45 - Get ready & changed for commute

6:00 - Commute

Work

16:00 - Finish work

16:05 - Get changed for the commute

16:15 - Cycle home

17:15 - Arrive home

17:20 - Drink shake and shower

17:30 - Make dinner & lunch

18:30 - Wash-up & prepare everything for tomorrow

18:45 - Shake

18:50 - Yoga, core & flexibility exercises

20:00 - Sleep

In order to be as efficient as possible in the morning I will be getting everything prepared in the evening. My energy drink will be made and on the bike. Shoes will be ready, bibs ready, laptop & software loaded and ready. Breakfast and coffee maker will be prepared and ready to go... All I should need to do is turn the coffee maker on, mix water with the breakfast mix and get changed/on the bike.

Will be interesting to see how this goes as it doesn't leave much room for error. Hopefully it should get more efficient as time goes on which should make it easier. I also have a few ideas in the back of my mind for making it more manageable although these would mean making greater changes to areas I would rather leave unchanged. Things like moving the Trainerroad plan around to fit in better with my Friday afternoons off or changing working hours etc.

... we will see how it goes first.

2015/16 Diet Plan

Generally speaking, my diet has been pretty good this year. I have only been ill once and my weight has remained reasonably stable all year. However, I still feel like I am about 5-7lb over an optimum 'race weight' (and maybe more if I have put on some holiday weight - will find out in a few days) so finding and testing this will be key this year. This is going to require a close calorie counted diet plan and constant monitoring of my % body fat... Something I hope to trail on some decent bathroom scales :)

I thought I knew quite a lot about nutrition and diets at the end of last year but LouLou has been getting into weight lifting and has done some additional research... This has opened up the door to something called 'macros'. Basically it's the correct % of Carb, Fat and Protein you should be consuming each day. This varies depending on level of exercise, weight gaining, weight maintaining or weight loss... Other factors will come into this like sex and body type etc but to cut a long story short, I'm going to be trailing mine at the following:

20% Protein

40% Carbs

40% Fats

Should I feel low on energy I may substitute less fat for more carbs.

Given that a normal daily calorie consumption should be 2500 cal and I will be using an additional 1200 cal through exercise I need to cosume 3700 cal a day to maintain a constant body weight. Given that I want to loose weight (approx 1lb a week) to get down and trail a 'race weight', I need to cut approx 500 cal a day bringing my total intake to 3200 cal.

This means I need to consume the following 'macronutrients':

155g Protein

325g Carbs

142g Fat

Now this may seem like a lot of effort or even difficult to manage but there is a great app out there that does all the counting for you... My Fitness Pal. LouLou has been using it and it works great... More on that once I have put it to the test :)

This should be roughly covered with the following diet plan:

Breakfast

Coffee (milk & sugar)

80g Oats

1 tbsp Peanut butter

Milk

Protein shake

Banana

Post workout

Protein shake

Homemade oat bar

Lunch

120g rice

chicken breast or tuna

1 cup kidney beans

2 tbsp Mayo

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Pre-workout

Protein shake

Homemade oat bar

Post workout

Protein shake

Dinner

Potion of fish/chicken

Salad 

Mayo

Portion of carbs (depending if there is a high intensity interval session in the morning)

Pudding

Yogurt (Greek) mixed with protein powder & some fruit

Wish me luck! :)

End of Season

So this year has gone really well... Finished off the WTTA Hardrider Hill Climb Series in a respectable 10th overall with most races finishing in the top 15. I wasn't too sure what to expect so it was more a case of setting the times ready for next season. I met some great athletes during the series and turned out to be great fun! Somehow it didn't even rain!

The training this year wasn't exactly great... There were a few half hearted attempts at some structured training plans earlier in the year where I was introduced to power (albeit virtual) and really got into researching proper training. 

I will use the excuse that my career at work with promotions and diy at home prevented that from continuing throughout the year but it was basically down to bad time management. Something I will learn for next year for sure.

Given the benefits of power measurement for both training and racing, I am finally going to be biting the bullet and getting a power meter in preparation for the winter training. More on that another time. 

I finished the hill climb season at the end of October and shortly after went on holiday (where I am currently). It's been a great oppertunity to review this years training, research next years and really begin to motivate myself. Just having these two weeks off is fuelling my need to get back on the bike. 

I have been writing down plans for next year and really feel like they are going to make a massive impact. It's going to be difficult to manage the time and I'm being very optimistic with training loads but it was never going to be easy.

Without going into detail, I am going to be focusing on a few areas:

Improve raw strength (gym)

Improve core strength and flexibility

Complete a base and speciality training phase in preparation for March WTTA series. 

Complete a full Trainerroad training package (Sweetspot Base, Short Power Build, VO2 Max speciality) in preparation for the Hill climb season.

In order to achieve this (along with work, diy and other life commitments) I'm going to have to sacrifice my mornings and weekend group rides. Weekends are going to be for DIY with intervals beginning at 5:00am. This will give me just enough time to wake, train, cycle to work, work, gym after (on selected days), cycle home, eat, yoga & core work, sleep & repeat. More specific details will follow once I get chance to load it all up :) 

Optimistic I know... And may be too much... But I will be monitoring my reaction to training (resting heart rate, power-heart rate comparison etc) so should get a pretty good idea of my ability to handle this level of training load :)

Plan... What plan?

So it's the end of August now... it's raining outside... summers been and gone (not that I remember having one!)... and i'm sat here reflecting on this years training plan.

Back at the end of the winter, I have to admit, I may jumped to the wrong conclusion on the whole winter 'base miles' training philosophy. I had criticised it because I felt pretty rubbish at the end of the winter. I wasn’t able to put in hard efforts. Interval sessions were difficult to get motivated for… all in all… it was a bit demoralising.

That being said, the theory behind the ‘base miles’ is to provide a strong & stable base level of fitness to develop on during the spring and summer. It develops your cardiovascular and circulatory system so that when you start putting hard efforts in, there is something there to work with, allowing you to train harder, for longer… and I have to admit… it has done just that!

This year has been great in terms of performance development. I’m not going to pretend I have stuck to my original ‘spring training plan’ but it’s been far more structured than the previous year.

There were a few key areas I can pick out from this year’s training.

• October-February – Base Miles
• March-April – Short 3 min Intervals
• May-June – 30 & 60 min Intervals
• June-July – Time trials & Strava ‘fun’
• August-October – Hills

The short intervals following the base miles may have been a bit of a mistake. I had opted for these in a panic following the winter training. The better option would have been to do the longer intervals first, working down to the 3-6 min intervals for the end of the season. Each stage of the training would have been a ‘base’ for the next stage until the hill climbs at the end of the season.

As it happens, the training I have done this year seems to have worked really well. I have reduced my 10m TT time from 25:46 to 24:04 (nearly broke the 24min barrier) and smashed plenty of PB’s & KOM’s on Strava. The first hilly TT was last week on Stouts Hill. Last year my time was 6:06… this year was 5:30 taking my first ever 1^st position! Feeling really strong at the moment… just in time for the hill climb season. I have entered all the races in the  WTTA Hardriders Hill Climb series. Can’t wait!

Commuting

I have been commuting by bike since December 2013 and I love it. It’s great for 3 very good reasons:

1. I get fit and stronger on a bike without wasting excess amounts of time.
2. I gain respect from my peers and extra Kudo’s on Strava for commuting during the harsher conditions. I also induce jealousy among my followers during the lovely summer months.
3. The money I save on fuel, tax, MOT’s and general vehicle wear/maintenance justifies the large expenditure that cycling requires.

It all started as a way of improving my fitness to help with my running. It’s evolved into a love of cycling.

My commute consist of a minimum of 8 miles each way though narrow lanes. I also have the choice of the A38 at no extra distance but I’m not a massive fan. The view through the lanes is better, there is less traffic and you get extra shelter in windier conditions. During the winter I have been known to push this distance out to 25 miles each way. I tend to keep it flat then so I can keep the speed up. Depending on my training requirements and weather, I also have the option of adding some great climbs in.

The 8 miles commute means I very rarely need to worry about warm or waterproof clothing. I can put a high enough effort in to stay warm even in the coldest/wettest conditions with nothing but normal tights, jersey, thermal base layer and a windproof base layer. I also have the preverbal hat, gloves and overshoes.

I chose to commute using a pannier over a rucksack. It makes bike selection more difficult as you need one with rack and mudguard mounts. I also wanted disk brakes which limited me to even less at the time. Some people I know get on really well with a rucksack; I just hate the feeling in the summer. Sweaty back, straps flapping around... panniers may not look cool, but they feel better when you’re riding. Others I know just have a large saddle bag so they can fit the essentials in. If you have the option to buy your lunch on site or you are vile enough to not wash when you get into work, you may not need to carry anything for 8 out of 10 commutes. I tend to take my own lunch in, wash when I get to work and frequently carry additional items such as batches of protein powder. I have even been known to transport laptops and workbooks backwards and forwards. On these rare occasions, I have used two panniers at the same time... I would never have managed that in a rucksack.

I read a statistic somewhere that it only rains for about 7% of the commuting time. I would have to agree this is probably about right. Even when rain is scheduled, the likely hood of it raining when you’re on the road is quite low. You will find you have a few days or weeks a year of consecutive rain... the rest of the year is just down to luck.

If there are a few suggestions I can make for anyone wanting to start commuting it would be the following:

Look at the weather the day before and mentally prepare yourself (if it looks bad)

Get the brightest/most expensive lights you can afford. They can never be too bright and you can never have too many.

Get all your kit ready the night before. You don’t want any excuses to not cycling when you wake up.

Keep warm. If you’re not warm, you won’t enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it!

Either have spare set of cycling clothes at work or make sure you have facilities to dry your kit. There is nothing worse than putting cold wet cycling gear on to start your journey home.

Make sure your bike is easily accessible. Again, you don’t want any excuse to not cycle in the morning. “ahh... I can’t be bothered to get the bike out the shed today” is a poor excuse, but it will get used!

Just get out and bloody well ride! Once you’re wet, you can’t get wetter. No matter how bad the weather is, if you get out and get to work you will buzzing with confidence and sense of achievement. It will be worth it in the end! Believe me! No matter what the weather!

General Diet Plan

I’m not going to pretend that I need to watch my figure. I’m 6ft tall and weigh in at 150lb’s at the moment. My BMI is 20 and I generally eat whatever I want and I very rarely fluctuate or put weight on.

This used to bother me back when I was weight lifting a few years back. I used to get demoralised that I could not sustain a larger weight which seemed to make developing muscle mass more difficult. Now I’m cycling it really does work in my favour. Especially on the hills.

Unfortunately, this often turns into ‘eating anything I want’. Cake, chocolate, pork pies, fast food... you name it, I eat it. The trouble comes when your body doesn't get enough nutrients to repair and build muscle. Your immune system drops and before you know it, your ill... or at very least, feel lethargic and lazy.

During the winter it didn’t really bother me. I was only clocking up long steady miles and the risk of becoming ill was quite low as I wasn’t really pushing my body to the limit.

Now I am in the pre-race season of intervals; which will be closely followed by racing, my body is kept right on the limit. I need to ensure that my body is looked after correctly. Diet and Nutrition is going to be essential to achieving the right amount of training. I am also slightly heavier than I want to be by about 7/8lb so I also need to reduce my weight over the next few weeks. My normal routine for shedding weight is cutting carbs out. Less energy causes your body to burn fat. You need to be careful though. You need energy to train and recover.

My general diet/routine is going to consist of the following:

Breakfast:

Porridge or Muesli. High in carbs, fibre and some dried fruit (sugar) this sets me up well in the morning. This usually means I can last until lunch until I eat again.

Lunch:

Egg noodles, tomato salsa, avocado, tuna in sunflower oil and egg. Small amount of carbs, lots of natural fats and lots of protein. Perfect to provide energy and aid recovery. Tastes bloody lovely and is easy to prepare each day as well. The salsa is made at the beginning of the week and the noodles take 4 mins to cook. I also take in some oranges.

Afternoon snack:

This will usually consist of a homemade flapjack.  No refined sugar. Made purely of oil and banana with some dried fruit. I often treat myself with some jam in the middle... (recipe to follow) I eat this just before I leave work. By the time I get home, I have enough energy inside to perform the necessary interval session when I get home.

Dinner:

This varies massively as LouLou is on the Slimming World diet a like variety. I get to have fat free high protein meals so this works massively in my favour. I would prefer a greater level of fat but this can be added with a drizzle of olive oil if needed. The main thing is the protein. Following a tough session on the turbo a good protein rich meal sets me up for a good recovery during the evening/night. I tend to cut all carbs from this meal if I can. No carbs after lunch means your body has no excess left in your body during the night. No excess energy means no fat storage.

Pudding:

I’m not really a pudding type of guy. I often have a little treat in the form of an ice cream to get my chocolate hit. If I’m feeling particularly strict, I will have full fat yogurt with some fresh fruit. I’m not going to pretend this happens very often... I should enforce this more really.

Additional protein:

I will consume a protein shake every morning when I arrive at work, after every training session and during any recover/foam rolling session to aid muscle repair/development. I use DiscountSuppliments.co.uk’s own brand of protein (Optimum Health) as it is one of the cheapest per serving on the market and tastes great.

I’m not going to pretend this will work for everyone; this is just what I do. I know LouLou has to have a different lunch every day or she gets bored. I ate tuna sandwiches every day for 20 years when I was at school. Also you need to work around your lifestyle and time everything correctly.

If your looking to lose weight or keep your weight stable I would highly recommend not eating carbs after 1pm. Also doing morning exercise without breakfast can kick start fat burning. Just remember to consume carbs and protein as soon as you finish as this will prevent your body from breaking down muscle mass as a source of energy.

You should be consuming protein as often as possible. Breakfast, lunch and dinner should be high in protein and following any exercise it is also essential. If you can’t eat due to work/time/money, protein shakes are a great supplement. I would highly recommend Discount Supplement’s own brand of ‘Optimum Health’ protein if you are on a budget. If you have a bit more cash to splash, Protein Works do some awesome flavours... Bannoffie Pie, Cherry Bakewell etc

Planet X AL30 Alloy Wheelset

20/24 stainless steel spoke arrangement and sealed cartridge bearings, these beauties weigh in at a combined weight of 1.6kg. Matching that of my carbon race wheels, I would be happy to use these for hill TT’s.

And let’s face it... on Taylor... they look sexy!

I purchased them mainly for training on. The rear wheel is going to take a reasonably large battering from the turbo training but they are unlikely to cover miles anywhere near to that of the general commuting machine.

I will keep this page updated as time goes on but so far I have been very impressed!

ProLite Rome 5 Spoke Carbon Wheelset

Fair play... they look awesome! They feel awesome and sound awesome! They are just awesome!

Weighing in at 1.6kg for the set they are quite reasonable for their weight. The front wheel, although not on the UCI registered/measured wheels that come within the cross sectional limits, has been calculated my gramp and I (using AutoCAD and a publishing program) to come well within the limits.

They come with easily maintainable sealed cartridge bearings (that I have not yet needed to service)

If you gave me £2k to spend on a wheelset would I spend it on these... hell no! I would probably buy something that is better value for money. Planet X would probably be on the list and I would probably get a disk rear wheel instead of the 5 spoke. Would I change what I currently have... probably not... I’m more than happy with them. The front wheel will probably stay for a very long time... I may swap the rear wheel out for a disk at some point.

Downsides I have noticed since owning them... they don’t run true. Now I’m not entirely sure how true a full carbon wheel should run, at this isn’t out my much. But it’s noticeable when you are braking that you get some minor snatching occurring. It has yet to cause problems but I have yet to do much descending. The U17/b3 will be the true test. If this was a normal ‘spoked’ wheel, I would true it up.

Swift Carbon Neurogen

I managed to pick up this black beauty from an NFTO pro racer from Bristol on eBay for an absolute steal. I had my eyes on a black ‘stealth’ looking time trial bike with as many ‘Aero’ technical designs as possible. This bike pretty much came with everything I could ever want (with exception to a disk rear wheel). I was looking at a Boardman, Planet X or Cannondale at the time and as soon as I saw this I put it way above its competition in terms of looks and spec’s.

I have named her Taylor

 Key design features that interest me:

Front brake integrated behind the front fork for improved airflow around the front profile

Rear brake integrated under the rear by bottom bracket

Bars look sexy as hell... lovely profile and great look with the way the arch over the front wheel and allow the drop/brakes to sit lower than the top of the headset. Reminds me of the TeamSKY bars

Adamo Attack saddle. I was looking at the Adamo range before finding this bike so this saved me the best part of £100.

 The bike came with a ProLite Rome Carbon wheelset which I will give a more detailed review another time. Although the rear wheel was not a full disk, the 5 spoke that it came with may suit me more for handling on some of the more extreme courses like the U17/b3

 The previous owner claimed that the bike had done no more than six 10m TT’s and some indoor trainer work. The wheelset itself had done less than 30 miles. 

 Since owning and using the bike for the last few months I can safely say I made a great call. The bike is awesome! Not that I have much to compare it with as this is my first TT bike.

 There are a few issues I would highlight that are not necessarily a result of this particular bike, more due to the design of the ‘aero’ designs:

 The brakes get covered in shit and are difficult to adjust. Especially the rear brake. I hate riding it in bad weather as I know the bottom is getting covered in spray etc. The access to this brake makes it difficult to open to change the wheel. Luckily, the tyres I use just squeeze through.

 The rear wheel is mounted from the rear. Unlike a normal road bike where the wheel mounts from underneath. I believe this is because the bike could be fitted with a fixed/track rear wheel. There are two adjusting plates on either side to apply tension. These need to be adjusted perfectly or the alignment of the rear wheel is out. One problem I encountered early on was these adjusters were not secured properly, the wheel went out of alignment during a ride and the brake rubbed on the rim. To make matters worse, the brake pad twisted and rubbed some of the ProLite detailing off the wheel... I wasn’t happy. I have since secured these items and I ensure the rear wheel is tight... very tight! I have not had this problem since.

 If you have to spend a considerable amount of time on the drop bars (brakes) your wrists start to ache and it makes braking difficult. After speaking to a few TT bike owners, it appears as though this is normal and something I need to get used to... great!

Apart from these issues, the bike has been running great. I have recently purchased a set of Planet X AL30 wheels for training and racing in windy conditions. As they are white, they give the bike an awesome look.

Time Trial Position

I will be honest… I’m not experienced at fitting a bike and I wouldn’t be able to ‘fine tune’ a riding position like a professional would… but I’m not going to pay £100 for someone to do it either…

I have always struggled to stay in the TT position for any length of time. I don’t think it is because my position is wrong… I just think it’s bloody hard. My shoulders and arms begin to ache after a while and I need to sit up and stretch a bit. Hopefully the interval sessions and additional hours spent on it will help.

In the meantime I bought some 60mm risers to raise the arm pads. They didn’t really help and I just ended up acting as a massive wind block

After looking at some of the faster club riders it is very apparent that their front end is very low. Their chins are almost level with their seat and their stomach/chest is basically flat. I have removed the 60mm risers and moved the bars forward slightly (probably outside of UCI specifications) and ended up with something like this…

(Picture to follow)

I have roughly calculated my flexibility (and with a little help from LouLou doing some Physiotherapy on me) I have established that when I am at the top of my pedal stroke, I have also reached the maximum flexibility (before I have to start adding additional force to get my knee further to my chest).

My knee is not in front of the foot when the crank arms are horizontal and my arms are approx 90 degrees to my torso (which I believe to be important).

I have spent a lot of time on the bike in this set-up and although I have to sit up on occasions (especially straight after an intense interval) I feel reasonably comfortable. I am hoping that this need to sit up will improve the more time I spend in it. Each time I can feel it ache over the shoulders and arms, the stronger I am getting in these areas.

I am also consciously 'tucking' my head into my body during training. One thing I noticed from my recent TT photo was my head sticking right up... need to get it low and into my body more. 

Spring Training Plan

The summer time trials are fast approaching and I’m in the mood… for killing myself on the Turbo Trainer! The interval sessions started last month and I’ve signed up to various TT’s during April:

BSCC 25m TT U17 – 5^th April

DRC 10m TT U7b – 11^th April

BSCC Mega Hilly U14/b3 – 26^th April

On top this off, the DRC evening 10’s start on the 2^nd April with the U7b short course.

I have signed up to the Strava CTS training plan with the general goal of improving my 30 min threshold. The general weekly plan consists of:

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – Endurance Miles

Wednesday – Interval Session

Thursday – Interval Session

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Interval Session and Endurance Miles

Sunday – Endurance Miles

I will be doing 4 week blocks of training followed by a rest week to recover. This was something that we used to do in athletics and seemed to work really well. The club 10’s during the summer are going to be used for training more than anything else and will replace the Thursday ‘Interval Session’. If the weather is in my favour, I will probably have a rest day before and have the odd stab at a PB.

My training sessions are basically going to consist of slow gentle commutes and hard intervals on the turbo trainer using the Trainerroad software for power. Sundays will be long steady rides to enjoy the summer weather and if time permits, (working around DIY and house duties) I will tag along to the DRC club rides whenever possible. If I am short for time, I will probably be out the door early and back just before LouLou wakes up.

As soon as this 4 week block of training is over with CTS/Strava, I will probably switch to the training sessions set-up on Trainerroad. Mainly out of convenience more than anything. CTS/Strava is great, but I have to manually create each workout on Trainerroad. By using their own, they are all set-up and ready to go.

Each 4 week block is going to be accompanied by a FTP test to both monitor progress and to establish intensities of the interval sessions.

One of my biggest weaknesses at the moment is leg strength. I have been toying with the idea of adding a gym session each week (which I have not yet ruled out) but there is a mixed opinion on the internet over the use and benefit of this type of training. So I have decided for the time being to carry out each of the interval sessions at a lower cadence. Normally my natural/comfortable cadence for big efforts is about 100rpm. This has allowed me to reach optimum performance with the minimal strength I currently have. If I was able to improve my leg strength by pushing a bigger gear at a lower cadence (85rpm) in training and still achieving the required power output for each interval, when I come to race at 100rpm, I should be able to do this in a bigger gear = go faster.

I currently don’t have any target times or goals for this summer. My main objective is to stick to plan and get the quality training under my belt. Once I have completed a few 10’s on the TT bike and carried out a few FTP tests I should have a pretty good idea of where I currently am, and what I am likely to achieve by the end of the summer. Towards the middle/end of the summer, this training is going to have to be modified to start preparing for the Hilly TT’s at the end of August & September. Not entirely sure how this will change… hill repeats are probably on the cards… might use Strava leaderboards to set goals and have a bit of fun at the same time.

Wish me luck!

POWWWWWWER!

It’s all about the power… right? That’s what everyone says... "If you’re serious about your training and you want to make the biggest gains… get a power meter".

Well I don’t have £700 to spend on such a device. If I had £700 to spend… I would probably buy a new bike. What I do have though is $8.25 a month for Trainerroad. This magical software converts the speed of the rear wheel on your indoor trainer and converts it into Watts of power. They have mapped the power curve of the trainer to produce a ‘virtual power’. Although the power could have as much as 30W error, the repeatability is within 1.5%... As a training tool, this is perfect.

So it all starts off with two 8 min max efforts to work out your Functional Threshold Power (FTP). This is the power you should be able to sustain for 1 hour.

This is my first FTP test:

As you can see, in the first of the 8 minute efforts I went off too hard… nothing like being optimistic right? ;) So I learnt from this and started the second at a lower power level and built it up over the 8 minute effort. 90% of the average of the two efforts gives you your FTP. Mine was 217 watts. 3.11W/Kg.

From this point on, you can utilise this FTP to structure interval levels of your workouts to get the optimum output.

For example:

This is a VO2 Max interval session (or Climbing Repeats as Strava like to call them)

As you can see, I was hitting the target power output and sustaining for the interval duration. Now let’s pretend I had no power meter whilst doing this interval. I would have gauged my power output based on perceived effort and heart rate. I would have waited until my heart rate reached the required/target value and then sustained that value for the remainder of the interval. I would more than likely have gone off to hard, had to have backed off and probably blown up before the end. If you look at what my heart rate actually did during this interval, you will notice it never stabilised. It was still rising right up until the end of each interval.

This is where the utilisation of a power meter helps structure workouts and allows perfect pacing during intervals. A well-structured and well-paced interval session is going to make far better gains.

I have to say… I may only be on the second week of using a 'virtual' power meter but I am more than impressed. A real power meter will definitely be on the top of my Christmas list (when they become more affordable). Until then, virtual power will have to suffice.