Rightzone Triathlon

New Ride – Cervelo P3 61cm

// May 8th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training

I’d toyed with the idea of moving from the Sigma Kronos for quite a while. The primary reason being that the Kronos, despite looking like a time trial bike, is actually 72 degrees. So I did it. I bit the bullet and got a 2010 Cervelo P3 which offer the ability to run a 78 degree setup. So was it worth it? Hell yeah! Ride 2 completed today and the result was a 20mph average for an average HR of only 130 – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84225729. Average wattage of 235 for an average HR of 130 is good figures. That translates to a 5hr38 Ironman bike split.

1st ride out and I was worried the position was a little too extreme but 2nd ride (not including the two turbos I’ve done) on the road and I managed to hold the time trial position for pretty much most of the 3hrs30 ride. Very encouraging. It normally takes me a month to get used to riding the time trial bike and I don’t think I ever really got fully comfortable on the Kronos. So now very excited about the possibilities at Challenge Copenhagen and of course Wales.

Powercranks for sale on Ebay

// March 19th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training

I’ve decided to sell my Powercranks. They have only done 300 miles and have been in my shed for years.

If you fancy buying them they are on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Powercranks-training-cranks-Shimano-Octalink-V1-/150579385849?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item230f3b15f9

Swimming Footage

// March 18th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training, Video

26 weeks to go

// March 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training

There’s 26 weeks to go till Ironman Wales. Swimming is ticking along at one swim per week, am still managing one gym session per week, 2 runs and 2 rides per week. The plan is to put in 12 quality weeks of training prior to Ironman Wales. That will include 2 x half ironmans, 1 x olympic distance race and 1 x ironman as prep for Wales. Yep that’s right folks……1 x ironman 4 weeks out.

Currently able to maintain swim solidly for an hour (if needed, run 7.05mins per mile at 138 HR and CP20 is 319 watts)

I think I’ll do some testing next week so I’ve got a good benchmark with there being 26 weeks to go. Here’s what I’m thinking. It’s gotta be treadmill I’m afraid for the running as there’s too many variables outdoors and naturally the turbo is a great place to test indoors. The Hampton Open Air pool will be the other test area.

1) Swim – In wetsuit – 1000m warmup then 20 mins for max number of lengths

2) Bike – Average HR of the following repeated twice-  no warmup, straight into 264 watts (85% of FTP) for 20 mins then 4 mins rest then straight into 259 watts for 20 mins again. Take the average HR of the two.

3) Run – Treadmill – Both previous Ironmans I’ve only been able to run @ a HR of around 132 (as opposed to 140 on the 5 hour bike). So I’m gonna go for 12.9 kph (or 7.5 mins per mile or a 3.15 mara). Target will be to be able to run 7.5 mins per mile at HR 132. So let’s get training the body to do that huh!

CP20 up 10 watts in 4 weeks

// March 9th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training

On the 26th Jan I did a CP20. I recorded 309 average watts on the garmin 310xt (average HR was 160)

On the 9th Jan I did a CP20 and recorded 319 average watts on the garmin 310xt (average HR was 158)

So some encouraging signs there. Reckon my FTP (or CP60 or average wattage I could hold for an hour) is 311 now. Given I’m a MacBook Pro kinda guy I’ve been using the excellent http://goldencheetah.org/ software to take my .tcx files from the Garmin for analysis. It’s similar to the highly regarded WKO+ software in terms of the analysis. The graph below is taken from the software.

What the graph attempts to do is work out functional threshold power by looking at all interval durations from rides over the last month. The software estimates my functional threshold power to be 311 which I think is probably a good shout. In a TT situation i reckon I could hold this for one hour……I’d be dead on my feet and not able to run….but that’s not the point.

So going back to the name of this blog. The original reason for the name some 9 years ago now was training is all about training in the Right zone. I’ve worked with HR as a way of identifying that zone for years but since getting the SRM cranks I’ve quickly come to realise that HR is a very poor indicator of effort in certain circumstances which include but are not limited to:

1) When it’s really hot

2) When you’re really tired

3) You’re stressed

4) You’re not warmed up

5) You’re fired up and excited

I’m really excited about the possibilities of improving my cycling this year by training smart. I’ll be implementing some regular 2 x 20s at 85% of FTP.

There’s why CUE LINK TO GREAT ARTICLE

Let’s get ready to “Surrey Rumble” – 123km

// March 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // Training

Aim for this ride was to ride steady. Ideally at Ironman race pace. What actually happened was very interesting. I teamed up with my good buddy Jon Heasman. He’s clearly stronger than me at the moment with Ironman Lanzarote round the corner and him gunning for Hawaii qualification there. I thought it would be nice to give him some company. Here’s what happened.

Garmin – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/71560205

Results - http://www.surreyrumble.co.uk/content/results_2011.htm

Jon was pushing. No doubt pushing out at least 10-15 more watts than I did as I sat on his wheel the entire way. I knew he was stronger, he knew he was stronger and I think we were both happy with the arrangement. However I would add that I did suffer quite a bit to stick with him. Suffering for 4 hours isn’t pleasant either but it was a great workout!

I don’t have the stats for the Hell of the Ashdown which is annoying (my watch died) but for the Surrey Rumble we averaged 241 watts for 4 hours 15 mins and we were the 3rd and 4th fastest on the day out of a big field. I was 3rd as it happens but that’s because I made Jon wait on the start line. I couldn’t have gone that fast on my own either of course. With a slight wrong turn in Cranleigh we ended up covering 76.5 miles at a shade under 19mph. Not bad and thanks for the ride Jon!

On the Monday I could have really done with some treatment from www.thetritouch.co.uk but I’ve got to wait another week as have one booked in for Tuesday 15th. Can’t wait Aurelie!

100 Consecutive days of running

// April 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Training

At some point I’ll post up exactly what run training I’ve done. But hey, I’ve gone through a major milestone. 100 consecutive days of running and an average per day run time of 55 mins! That’s only 25 mins per day more than the target (which was 30 mins per day). After the marathon we’ll slip back into just (sorry) 30 mins per day. As somebody pointed out that leaves only 265 days of running to complete the goal. Now that’s a proper running streak. None of this running 1 mile per day American stuff that is supposed to count as a running streak. I’ve got to say it’s a lot harder than I imagined. There have been a few occasions now where I’ve been tired, it’s been late and I’ve simply not wanted to go out. The challenge of the streak and the pressure of publically declaring it keeps me going though. I did convince myself the other night at 10pm at night that I was ill and needed a break. Then I put my kit on, stepped out the door and felt fine once I’d been running for a few minutes. The mind is a strange tool that sometimes seems a little disconnected from the body.

I’ve detailed some stats below. It’s pretty much got every step logged in it. I’ve been using the Garmin 310XT religiously and it’s a fantastic piece of kit / tech. Feel naked when I’m not wearing it.

Training Watches – The Garmin 310XT

// January 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Articles, Training

So I've comitted to running 30 mins every day for 365 days. How on earth am I going to stay motivated for that? I've bought the Garmin 310XT of course! I've always loved the bits of tech that have been developed for athletes to monitor their progress. Having used the Garmin 305 in the 2008 marathon I've been waiting for a watch that is waterproof (i.e. can be used for swimming) and the Garmin 405 was a little disappointing in that it did everything that I wanted, except it wasn't waterproof. The 310XT is a Heart Rate monitor, measures speed / distance AND it's waterproof. I paid £160 for a 2nd hand version on Ebay.

So for around £70 I spent my paper money on a Polar Edge which was pretty basic in that all it measured was a heartrate and I think it had a self lit screen! The Edge lasted for years and I was still using it in 2001 for the London Marathon.

When I got into triathlon more seriously in 2002 I realised that I wanted something a little more sophisticated. So I purchased a Polar S710. Apart from it falling apart in the last few years this watch was excellent. I loved downloading all the exercise files into the Polar software and pouring over the data, which even included a gradient profile.

I was bugged by the fact that the S710 didn't do distance and round about that time Timex brought out a groundbreaking watch called the Timex 50 Speed & Distance (there was a Timex 100 which allowed you to take 100 time splits). The main feature was that it measured speed and distance using GPS. The downside was that the GPS signal was picked up by a rather bulky receiver that strapped onto your arm. Never really did like the watch and probably didn't really justify the spend on it. It was pretty unrealiable in town or under trees but I did use it to pace my marathon PB!