Merry Christmas

fluro

CHALLENGE WEEK (30HRS)

Photo
I have greatly changed my bike setup. I now have a pair of FSA vision tech aerobars and a forward seat post. This has enabled me to move forward around 5cm so that I am now only 3cm behind the BB and my drop at the front has increased to 15cm. This new position feels perfect and I feel like by making these adjustments I have just bought myself free speed.

My goal this week is to simple break 30hrs. I'm lucky in that I have a this week off due to school holidays. Looking forward to taking on this challenge both mentally and physically.


Monday: Day 1
Bike: (5hrs), 127km, av hr 123bpm
The first 2hr were painfully slow due to stop lights and walking over bridges (av sp was only 23.9kph)
Then I jumped on a main road and hit it for 40min (av sp 35.1kph, av hr 134bpm, power 248watts). My position with the new aerobars feels perfect. I'm forward and down lower. sitting on 36-38kph now feels very comfortable.
Run: (1hr), 12km, av hr 133bpm
getting quicker. Almost sub 5min/k's @ Aet -11bpm. fatigue could be keeping HR down. However, my legs felt pretty good after along ride this morning. Day 1 done.


Photo
Here are the stats from my 1st ride of the week. it was a good 5hrs. The 1st 2hrs were crazy slow due to bridges and traffic lights. I managed to put in a pretty good 40min TT at IM effort in the middle of this ride. I averaged 35.1kph (av hr 134bpm), which is 2bpm under my IM effort. overall I think the new position on the bike has made me jump up another level. The rest of the ride was spent doing fartlek effort up to mod-hard. As you can see by the dark blue line I have to make alot of stops due to traffic lights. Training in Japan is frustrating sometimes.

Tuesday
Bike: (3.5hrs), 89km, av hr 114bpm
Focus was on high cadence today. small chain ring only and to keep cadence up over 100rpm. It was getting tough after 3hrs.

Photo: Nutrition is so important during big weeks of training. As you can see I tend to enjoy Starbucks over here. Towards the end of every ride this week I'll be stopping off at Starbucks and loading up on as much food as I can. This will help me recover between sessions so I can continue to put in the big miles. After this meal I'm suing very close to home. I'll then rest for an hour and then consume a 2nd post training lunch.
Run: (32min), 6.1km, av hr 128bpm.
First sign of real fatigue. av hr is dropping again. legs felt good. Still feeling light on my feet. mental I'm okay, physically I'm fine. I think tomorrows sessions will begin to show there true colours.
Day 2 of challenge week over.

Wednesday
Run: (1:20), 15.3km, av hr 131bpm.

Photo
My longest run in 6mths. My feet held up really well. What is most important though I was able to maintain a very level HR profile and maintain my pace over the course of this 80minute run. This is a good indication that my running economy is good and I'm probably ready to start increasing my run volume through more frequency.

9min on 1moff, My pace for each 9min block was 5:09, (123bpm), 4:48 (132bpm ), 4;49 (133bpm ), 4:42 (138bpm), 5:04 (131bpm), 4:52 (135bpm), 4:59 (135bpm). Very happy. My Aet -10bpm pace is now well and truly under 5:00min/ks. I'm ahead of schedule. This was my longest ever run in 6mths. Even if I run an IM now at this pace it will mean of 30min PB for me. It will be interesting to see what my pace is at Aet (ie IMeffort).


Thursday
Bike: (5.5hrs), 145km, av hr 118bpm
Route 246 was good. It had plenty of rollers, Route 16 was flat. TT'd home back from Yokohoma (1hr@MSS). feeling strong again after a day off the bike yesterday.

Friday
Bike: (3:10), 79.5km, av hr 122bpm.
Did this as an easy aerobic ride with 50min of Steady efforts. easy Aerobic ride this morning. Body is holding up well, better then expected. It's becoming more of a mental challenge then a physical one now.

Run: (1:05), 12.9km, av hr 133bpm
I could of quite easily slept all afternoon, but decided to stick with the plan. Ended up being the most enjoyable run of the whole week. Legs feel super, feet are good too.


Saturday
Bike: (3hrs),76km, 107bpm
Aerobic ride. legs are quite fatigued now. Left knee is getting a little tender. Only 1 day to go

Run: (30min), 6.4km, av hr 136bpm
Continous run. No walk breaks, Got into a really good rythm. HR was right on Aet. Running very well at the moment.

Swim: (1hr), 2.5km
10-15min w/u
500 free +10 base
400 free + 10 base
300 free + 10base
Holding around 1:30's with bouy. Strength set
drill 20min


Sunday
Bike: (3.5hrs), W/T 75km, av hr 108bpm.
That was a huge mental challenge. My previous longest W/T session was 1.5hrs. I was devastated when I woke up to see it raining outside. I had to really buckle down on this one to break 30hrs of training for the week. I'm stoked. I ended up doing a mix of everything, single legs drill, steady state, progressive HR sets, high work.


Photo:
My heart dropped when I stepped outside at 6am this morning. I was sitting on 26.5hrs for the week so far and I only have 3.5hrs more to do. IT'S RAINING!!!!! I'm not a big fan of the W/T as I find it really boring and slow even with movies to watch. My only option was to buckle down and do over 3hrs on the W/T. This meant doubling my previous longest ever session on the trainer. Damn you Harris you are making me work hard for this. You will pay.



Run: (27:58 ), 6.1km, av hr 140bpm
No walks on this one. Just went straight into a lower steady to Aet pace run. Everything feels good. Feet felt 100%, no issues.
This was a really good way to finish off my Challenge week (30+hrs). it's now beer-0 clock





Swim 1:00
Bike 23:40
Run 4:55
Other 1:00

Total 30:35!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Summary
This was a huge mental and physical breakthrough for me doing this challenge week. There were plenty of times I just wanted to sleep in and or cut back on some of my sessions. However, I had a clear goal in my mind that was to break 30hrs of training in one week. I did it. I stuck to the plan and I'm really pleased with the way I never gave in to the tiredness, fatigue and rain that could of easily cut this week right back to around 20hrs.
By doing a week like this I feel as though I have passed a big personal test and I'm now ready to resume my consistent 18-22hrs weeks with more time being spent in and around the steady zone. Up until this point I feel as though I have spent the last 6months preparing myself to train. I feel like I am now ready to be able to handle the training neccassary to take me fitness to the next level.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone out there

Fluro

Week 2 of 3: Bike Focus 16/12/08

Love the kuota's


I had to buy the missus a new backpack for her trip home over Christmas. It's called the 'wife pleaser commando 8' This is the standard 40,000 litre pack that comes equipped with sound proofing. And yes she is tucked away in there somewhere. Can't you see the tuft of hair sticking out at the top.


More bikes from the expo

Goal this week.
Very simple goal this week. Do more than 20hrs of training. Why do I keep focusing on 20hrs, because, I firmly believe you need to get the minimum volume in each week before you can even consider pushing the pace. If I can start knocking out 18-22hr training weeks comfortable then I think I have my body well prepared to insert periods of higher intensity work. It's all about teaching your body to recover quickly. Do that and you'll be able to train better.

Monday
Run: (55min), 10.26km, 132bpm
easy to Aet run. Ran 2 x 1km at Aet (4:38, 4:49). finished off with some 2min at MSS.
Tuesday
Bike: (2:52), 74km, 115bpm
3:30am start. easy for the 1st 2hrs and then I picked it up to LS - MSS.
Comfortably holding around 36-38kph.

Wednesday
Bike: (2:30), 64.2km, 112bpm
4:00am start. easy to Aet ride. leg are a little fatigued. backing up two days in a row. Focused on keeping cadence up over 90rpm
Massage: (1hr). very tight calves
Run: (31min), 5.5km, 125bpm.
Easy recovery run. it's been a big two days on the bike.


Thursday
Bike: (45min), 20km, av hr 110bpm.
Windtrainer. Only had a small window to train today. Made the most of the time I had by hitting the windtrainer for some high cadence work. Boy time moves slowly on these things even with a movie to watch.

Friday
Bike: (1.5hrs), 40km, av hr 117bpm
Easy spin around the city. legs felt good. inserted a 20min TT building to mod-hard. Sitting around 38kph.
Run: (50min), 9.5km, av hr 130bpm
easy run to see Katrina off to th airport. Left Achilles is worrying me a little.

Saturday
Bike: (3.5hrs), 90km, av hr 122bpm
2hr easy
1hr lower steady
30min upper steady
Riding well but can feel the fatigue in my legs when I try to push
Swim: (1hr), 2.5km
300 free
4-50 (25 fast, 25 easy
200 (breath every 3)
150 (breath every 4)
100 (breath every 5)
50 (5 again)
50, 25, 25 max effort (31, 14.5, 14)
repeat this cycle twice. Those V02max efforts really hurt
Run: (30min), 5.5km, 131bpm.
10min easy
10min lower steady
4 x 200m strides (42sec)
Achilles starts out sore then gets better.


Sunday
Bike: (4hrs), 108km, 129bpm
Rode quite hard for around 2hrs
the rest was easy to lower steady.
Spent around 1.5hrs on the new aerobars. Position feels good and the bike is still quite stable
Run: (28:11), 5.5km, av hr 130bpm
I was literally crawling out the door. Feeling realty tired, but once I got going........
that was quick. I don't normally run this loop under 30min, so to go 28:11 with a 130bpm average (fatigue) I'm happy.
I great way to finish off a big week of training

Swim 1:00
Bike 15:05
Run 3:13
Other 1:00

Total 20:20
Summary
Very happy to break 20hrs for the first time ever in a normal working week. It is going to be interesting to see if I can up the ante and break 30hrs in my week off next week.

Week 1 of 3: Run Focus 9/12/2007

Monday
Run: (1hr), 11.7km, 140bpm
4 x 10min easy
1 x10min Aet
1 x 10min MSS
HR was a little higher then normal. Other then that feeling good. Feet okay

Tuesday
Bike: (2hrs), 52.6km, 119bpm
1hr easy
20min hard (fartlek style). Sitting on around 43-44kph. Pushing a bigger gear at a high cadence today. Strength work.

Wednesday
Bike: (1:50), 52km, 132bpm
Straight into a steady ride. insert periods of work up to mod-hard.
av hr only 5bpm under Aet
Run: (7km), 37:52, 132bpm
very easy recovery run. Plan is to run over an hr tomorrow morning.

Thursday
Run: (40min), 7km, 124bpm
Had a few toilet issues and had to cut the run short. Will try and head out again this afternoon.
Run: (40min), 7.3km, 132bpm
10min w/u
3 x km repeats with a 1k easy jog
1. 4:24 (138bpm)
2. 4:05 (145bpm)
3. 3:48 (154bpm).
Ran a bit quicker then expected. Pleased with the pace. left foot was burning a little towards the end. May need to stop doing these if it gets worse.

Friday
Bike: (1.5hrs), 40km, 124bpm
Straight into this ride. Aimed to keep everything in the 120-130bpm range. Pushed the pace for the last 30min at Aet 136-140bpm.
Legs felt great


Saturday
Run: (1:11), 13km, 139bpm
It feels great to get my LSD run back up over 1hr again. feet were getting a little sore right towards the end. pace was really good. felt like I held my form well.

Sunday
Bike: (3.5hrs), 91km, 115bpm
2 hrs sleep Friday night, bachelor party sat night. I'm cooked. rode easy for the 1st 2hr, did a little MSS (140-145bpm) on the way home. It's been a busy weekend. No the best training wise.

Swim 0
Bike 8.5
Run 4:10
Other 1:00

Total 14:00
Summary
The weekend was a complete right off with work and a party to attend to. Not much sleep at all and this really made my lack of training show. Everything during the week went really well. My running is coming along nicely.