Friday 20 December 2013

Track cycling at Calshott

A lot to tell you ...

Sorry it has been a while - the last fortnight has whizzed by. Life has been manic in the lead up to the festive period and I have been 'burning the candle at both ends'. As a result I have been a bit stressed, tired and obviously my training has suffered.

I have averaged more like 5-6 hours per week for the last fortnight, well below my goal. I haven't been to the pool for ages!

Fortunately I am now on holiday until the 6th January and just beginning to calm down and refocus for the weeks ahead. Yes there will be more food and drink than normal and yes I will want to spend the majority of my time with my lovely family enjoying all the festive fun. However, I also plan to have a bit of 'me time' and that will involve some training.

Today was the start of some of that 'me time'. I had some business to sort out in the morning but managed to have an hour in Gunwharf Quays for a bit of Christmas shopping. Thereafter I drove down to Calshott and met some of the guys from my triathlon club for a lesson in track cycling.

Our first impressions were a little unnerving as the steep high banks looked very intimidating and we wondered how we were going to cycle at speed, clipped in to a fixed-wheel bike without coming off. Our fear was unjustified and after only minimum training the 8 riders (including me) were taking the steep banks and fast speeds in our stride. I am pleased to report not one of us came off and the friendly and helpful instructor was impressed with our performance. We finished the lesson with a 1km (7 laps) time trial, which certainly got the blood bumping. The track is a bit of way off the beaten track but I thoroughly recommend making the journey - it was a real experience!

Calshott indoor track
So what else has been going on ...

Well I had a decent chat with Mike from ZigZag cycling who has been providing some assistance with my race plan. One interesting observation he made, which hit home, was that he thought I may sometimes get lost in the detail and miss the main objective of the week's training. During this early base period he recommends focusing either on a long run or long ride (a single discipline each week). Then I should make sure that I increase those longer sessions by approx. 10% each week. So one week I might do a 1:30 run and the next week 2:00 bike. The 3rd week is normally more of a easier week. Week 4 might then be a 1:45 run and week 5 a 2:30 ride. Once I have committed to these long runs / rides in my diary I can fix my other training around the key session.

I am certainly going to try to implement Mike's recommendations and have added a column to my training plan spreadsheet to clearly indicate either a long run or a long ride.

Swimming on Saturday (hope I remember how to swim) and then a long easy run (1:45) on Sunday.

Just upgraded to a premium membership on Strava - will check out the new functions and report back.

No comments:

Post a Comment

March update - not so cheery

This last week has not been so great... Very unlike me, but I have had a really bad cold, which I think I have mostly beaten, although I hav...