#OperationPodium

Reaching a goal but not being able to see it through to completion, for reasons outside your control, is not fun.  That's exactly what happened to me this year.  I qualified for the European championships in Turkey as a GB age grouper and was loving life.  But as my Uni year progressed, it became apparent that my exams would be just when the most critical stage of training would be taking place and I would potentially have a week or so between finishing exams and flying to Turkey to compete.  I'm not one to do things half-baked, so with a heavy heart I decided it was best if I didn't take up my place.

This obviously left a massive gap in my season.  I'd been expecting to be placing the Europeans as the highlight and purpose of my season, but now had nothing.  Until now I've been wallowing around like a sinking ship without a sail in a sea of mis-matched metaphors.  But now, I have a plan.  I've decided that if I can't go to the Euros, I'm going to put all my efforts into doing as well as possible at the races I can do.

This has led me to a rather rash goal.

I want to podium a race.  Depending on the size of the race, I would consider an AG podium.  But really, I want an overall podium.  I don't think this is too far outside the realms of possibility.  I think I should go sub-2:10 for an Olympic this year and whilst this isn't going to trouble Mr Brownlee, it's getting close to the pointy end of the field.  Similarly, at sprint distance I would also be pretty competitive.  In theory.

I've written this blog post to utilise the power of public peer pressure.  I've not only put the goal down on paper, I've broadcast it across the Internets.  I've got a number of races this year already and will be looking out for one or two more as well. I may even step up to 70.3 distance at the end of the season and see what the fuss is all about.  Maybe.  That little thought is one for another blog post I think....

Lets hope I can see this new goal all the way through to the end.  #OperationPodium.

Review - 3 Leg Cycling Turbo Training Video

Twitter is a wonderful thing. No one gets more than 140 characters and normal people get access to "celebs" (should it be your want). It's also a great way for companies to see what their customers think of their products.  I replied to someone asking which videos they should get for use on the turbo - 3LC or The Sufferfest.  I've always been an IWBMATTKYT kinda guy, so replied in support of The Sufferefest.  Later that night, I received a DM from 3LC offering me a chance to check out one of their videos, to see if my view could be swayed.

Cheeky promo video.....

So, I settled down on Thursday night with a pay-per-view copy of the sprinting session.  The pay-per-view is a cool little feature which means you can try the video for £2:99 before stumping up the £19:99 for your own copy.  The sprint session ties in nicely to my training plan, as I'm in need of some sessions which sharpen my speed.  I need to remember what it's like to sit at a HR well over threshold, as I just can't seem to push much harder at the moment.  This probably reflects a good winter of hard work, but without any real sharp stuff thrown in.

Doesn't everyone use a fee medical dictionary as  a wheel riser block?  

The "sprinting" session consisted of 3 or 4x 10 or 15sec sprints, with the remainder of that minute as a warm up.  Each set was followed by a 5min rest interval.  The final sprint includes a "lead out" of 3mins at 8-, 9- and finally 10/10 perceived exertion.  

The video takes an entirely different form to that of The Sufferfest.  The Sufferfest uses race footage and overlaid graphics to tell you what's going to happen.  3LC is essentially a recording of the esteemed Mr Cavendish and his fellow Isle of Man cyclists doing a spin/turbo session.  The banter is a high point and it's nice to see one of the top sprinters in the world grimace doing the same session as you.  My personal preference is for The Sufferfest.  I can put some loud, shouty music on  or listen to the decent soundtrack included and get on with it.  3LC is not dull, but the semi-artistic shots of turbos and the plethora of Cavendish victory photos would undoubtedly become tiresome after a few viewings.

If I'm honest, the session ended up being a little tame.  I'm used to sessions like The Sufferefest - Revolver, which is 15 x 1min on, 1min off.  This is a great session and it has had me feeling more than a little green in the past.  The longer sprint at the end of the 3LC video was the only time I felt properly broken as the sprints before that were so short, my HR barely had time to reach a good high level.  This was exacerbated by the fact there was such a long rest between each sprint and each set.  You can see this on my HR trace for the session and the breakdown of time spent in various HR zones.  You can see I was down to 65-70% of MHR between sets, which is pretty chilled out really.  This meant my HR had a long way to climb to reach the HR levels which I was hoping to work.  It's pretty difficult to increase your HR by 60bpm+ in 10-15secs! 

HR trace and zones for 3LC

76% of this video I spent essentially cruising.  Given this session is toted as a sprint session I thought I was in for a beating, but it just never really happened.  The final sprint, which included a 3min "lead out" was much more like it, and this got me working hard, but the sets before were leg ticklers in comparison to the offerings of The Sufferfest.

HR zones for The Sufferfest - Revolver

From the HR zones, you can see I spent only 3% at threshold HR in the 3LC video, but 17% in The Sufferfest video.  Nearly all of the threshold work in the 3LC video came during that final sprint.  It's worth bearing in mind I took this HR recording from a session I did last Jan, when I wasn't as fit and probably had a much lower threshold. There's a pretty good chance I spent much longer at either threshold or even VO2Max. 

There's also the price difference.  The Sufferfest only come as a digital format (MP4), but cost around £8:50.  The 3LC videos come as a DVD and cost £19:99.  I just can't justify that price.  I never use DVDs anymore and everything I watch is stored on my laptop, so the physical copy of the video has no real attraction.  For those using TV/DVD setups, maybe this could swing the argument one way or the other however.

So for me, this 3LC try-out hasn't changed anything.  I'm going to keep on Suffering.

www.3LC.tv

www.TheSufferfest.com

Thanks to 3LC for offering me the chance to try out their video.  It wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for others :-)

Richmond 13.1 Half Marathon Race Report

When I sat down and wrote my plan for racing and training this year, I noticed there was a distinct lack of races around the end of March.  I can't remember who suggested it first (it may have been me) but a Kingston Wheelers clubmate of mine and I ended up entering the Richmond 13.1 Half Marathon.  At the time this seemed like a good idea - and it was - but things didn't go exactly to plan.

March for me, was a nightmare.  There wasn't a single day or night where I didn't have to spend an inordinate amount of time working in my University's library.  A succession of deadlines for important coursework, presentations and data collection for my research project didn't just impede training but made it near impossible.   This meant my preparation for this race wasn't fantastic, but I thought I'd go for it anyway.

When I entered the race, going by my 10km PB, I thought I may just have been in with a shot to sneak in under 1:25.  The poor training leading up to this race made this pretty much impossible, but I thought  I'd go out at sub-1:25 pace and see if I could hold on....

Morning of the race didn't start well.  Given the technology at my disposal, I thought one of my alarms would be able to handle daylight savings time.  I was wrong.  I woke myself up half an hour after I'd planned and the frantic panic to get some breakfast and catch the first available bus began.  I made it to the race HQ with 10mins to spare and still needed to change my shoes, get my race number on and get over to the start line.  I made it with seconds to spare and snuck under the fencing next to the 1.25 pacer, meeting up with my clubmate in the process.

Before I knew it, we were off.  I was determined not to go out too fast and made a conscious effort to keep to around 1.25 pace.  During my training, I'd noticed if I start off a little slower than planned pace, I can build the pace up and finish strongly so was really hoping for a negative split at this race.  After a few miles, the 1.25 pacer was still in sight and I was feeling OK.  I'd settled into a good rhythm and was working well with a small group.

The route then turned down along the Thames and I was really beginning to enjoy myself.  It was a lovely sunny day in SW London and the route along the river was almost picturesque.  Then the footpath ended.  The surface turned into a mass of puddles, broken concrete and mud.  Wonderfully flat as it was, the surface was brutal on the legs and completely disrupted the rhythm I'd settled in to.  I think mentally more than anything, this was beginning to hurt.  Finishing that segment, I couldn't help noticing a 12mile marker facing the other direction.  The route doubled back on itself and I was going to have to do it all over again in a few miles.  Nuts.

Mile 8 was a tough one.  The route was now back on concentre but my lack of experience running longer distance was beginning to show.  I think more than anything it was my mental strength which failed me at this point as the pace stayed OK but my perceived effort was racking up.  My average pace was slipping but  I was still around 6:40 - 6:45 which I would have been quite happy with.  I took on board a gel, though it didn't seem to make any difference and the expected energy boost never came.

Soon after the 9mile marker, I entered that hateful river segment again.  Now,  calves that were starting to whither, I really struggled on the surface.  Leaping over puddles was no longer possible and a couple of times I came all too close to rolling my ankle.  This was hard.  This was hurting like a 10km but for so much longer.  The lack of training was also starting to make itself known and my lap paces were tumbling.  But then joy of joys, the tarmac returned.  Never before have I appreciated flat concrete like that.  My average pace had now slipped to 6:45 - 6:50, but I was OK with that, it was still a comfortable sub-1.30.

Then I came to the turnaround.  Flooding due to the high tides had forced a course alteration and this necessitated a 180 degree turn in the road just after the 12mile marker.  I wasn't even really aware of what was happening until I was nearly upon the marker, and I was moving too quickly.  The ice all over the path and my momentum sent me flying to the ground, smacking my head and winding myself on my HR belt.  I lay there for a minute as I tried to get some air into my lungs before I got back to my feet.  I struggled through the last mile, but knew a sub-1.30 was now out of the question.

I finished with a chip time of 1.30:56 and I'm gutted to be honest.  In no way is it a poor time - I should be pleased with it really - but given that I was on for a far faster time and this was only prevented by a single mistake is devastating.

Never mind.  There's always the next race.

During the race, whilst not on the floor, I was mostly singing...

18 - 24 Feb

Swim

 3 sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance: 8300 m

Run

 4 sessions

Time: 3:16.12

Distance: 27.5 miles

Run 1 - 4.9 miles, 31.56
Run 2 - 11.3 miles, 1:25.43

Run 3 - 4.9 miles, 34.21

Run 4 - 6.4 miles, 44.12

Cycling

 2 sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance:  miles

Bike 1 -  Turbo, 1:00.00
Bike 2 - 14 miles, 1:00.00 

Week Totals

9 sessions

Time: 7:16.12

Pretty decent week, with the only let down being the cancellation of a TT I had entered for Sunday.  I'd been laying off the bike work as I'd had some problems with saddle sores in the run up and wanted to be comfortable for the race.  Highlight of the week for me was resetting my CSS pace.  Went off way too quick, going through the first 100m in 1:15ish!  Struggled through to finish with a new 400m PB of 5:34 and a subsequent 200m PB of 2:38.  There's definitely more to come I think, sub-5:30 should be do-able with better pacing.

Very much looking forward to my next 10km at  Bushy Park this coming weekend.  I think I've got a sub-38:30 in me, maybe getting close to 38:15 if I can find myself in a good group to pace with.  Depending on how this race goes, I'll set my goal for my first half-marathon which I'm doing at the end of March.  I've only really entered for a bit of fun and the experience, so I'm tempted to just go out strong and see if I can hang on.  The race time calculators say I could do a sub 1:25, but this seems very ambitious indeed.  We'll have to see, I'll have a better idea after Bushy.