3 months in......

5 months or so ago I was approached by the Head Coach of Doncaster Triathlon Club as he needed to coach an athlete on a 1 to 1 basis for his BTF Level 3 coaching award. 

I was thrilled that he asked me. We sat down to discuss when the coaching would start and what form it would take. 

We decided that the coaching would start in December after my last race of 2014 at Leeds Abbey Dash. 

To start things off in November we gathered some baseline data on my current swim bike and run ability. 

In November my performances were as follows

Swim - 400m time - 6:22

Bike - 3 minute test result - 351W average and 3.68w/kg

Run - 5km - 23:37

Now we are three months into the coaching partnership it was time for some retests across all disciplines. 

The last three months have been heavily centred around my bike and run. Any swimming I managed was an added bonus as it wasn't part of the plan. 

The training has consisted of (work and life depending) a minimum of three bike sessions a week and a minimum of three run sessions a week with one strength and conditioning thrown in for good measure. I've found it tough to manage my time but feel my training has been fairly consistent. Yes I've missed sessions but life is life and sport is something we do for fun so there is no point berating ourselves for those missed sessions. 

My weeks now boil down to

Monday - strength and conditioning and bike

Tuesday - track and bonus swim if not coaching

Wednesday - bike

Thursday - run

Friday - rest day or catch up on missed sessions

Saturday - long run or bike

Sunday - bike or long run

Given I am only doing sprints this year. My long runs are a maximum of 90 minutes in duration which is a lot different than last year where the duration had to increase if I was going to make the finish line in Klagenfurt. 

But I think the consistency is helping with my belief in myself. Last year I was making my runs and bike rides longer to cope with the fact I was doing an ironman. This year however I can concentrate on quality sessions. 

We scheduled last week as a rest and test week. 

The plan was for me to complete tests across all three disciplines and have a running lactate test at Blizard Physio all within one week. 

Monday - this consisted of my usual strength and conditioning class at Blizard Physio. Afterwards I went to the DTC committee meeting. 

Tuesday - I had my lactate threshold run test at Blizard Physio and now have some new heart rates to run at. Not a major change from what I was doing but threshold running just became 4bpm harder. I then followed this up with a timed 400m and 200m at the pool in the DTC swim. 

Wednesday - time to see how much 4bpm hurt? In a word they do. My average pace for the 45 min run was 8:08/mi. Now I know that is not quick by some people's standards but let's look where I have come from. This was a steady run. One that was not meant to put any lasting strain on my body. 18 months ago my pace for that sort of run was around 11:00/mi. 12 months ago I had only just gone under 25 minutes for 5km and nearly threw up after. Here I was nearly replicating it on a steady run. 

Thursday - given I was racing (myself) on Saturday at parkrun Scunthorpe, this was a bonus rest day. 

Friday - ahead of my PB attempt at Scunthorpe I went for a warm up and some strides. 

Saturday - I drove over to Scunthorpe and arranged to meet a friend who was going to pace me around the course. I went for a warm up lap and some strides before making my way to the start line. The plan was simple. Run at 7:00/mi for the duration of the race to hopefully get me home in 21:XX. During my lactate at Blizard Towers I ran 5 mins at this pace and according to the data it should have been achievable. The first lap was tough but we got round in 11:02 which was on pace. About a third of the way into the second lap, my head told me I couldn't do it, that I couldn't cope with the pain. On the uphill section I was in a bad way and told my friend it was a waste of time. He nursed me home encouraging me all the way with an 11:46 second lap to get me home in a new PB time of 22:48. I was thrilled to bits that I PB'd but can't help thinking what might have been possible if my head hadn't got involved. 

Sunday - steady bike ahead of my 3 minute test on the Wattbike on Monday. 

Monday - strength and conditioning followed by 180 seconds of suffering. 

180 seconds doesn't sound a lot but when you are putting everything you have through those pedals in an all out effort. It just hurts. There were several guttural animalistic screams which escaped from me in that 180 seconds. I'm amazed a neighbour didn't call the police. 

So there we go. One rest and test week (well 8 days but who's counting) completed. 

The results are in. 

Swim - 400m time - 6:11 an 11 second improvement off about 6 swims since November. 

Bike - 3 minute test result - 388W average and 4.17w/kg a 37w (10.5%) improvement 

Run - 5km - 22:48 a 49 second improvement. 

I'm pleased as punch. If you'd told me 3 years ago that I would be capable of these sort of times I'd have called you a bare faced liar. But do you know what?

Anything is possible and I don't know what the future holds. But I can't wait to find out. 

Thanks for reading,

Michael

#shakeandbake 

My new love

Over the past couple of weeks I have found a new love................

Pacing.

What a joy it is. I have paced some of the members of Doncaster Triathlon Club to new PB's at parkrun.

The first week, the plan was to pace three members to sub 28 times. Knowing the course at Doncaster, I had to speed up on the tarmac section as I knew the grass section (complete with section reminiscent of a paddy field) would cause the pace to slow.

I tried to keep the mood upbeat and encourage the runners all the way round. After 1.3 miles, one of the runners had to pull out. So now there were just two ad they were keeping with me stride for stride. By the start of the third lap one of them had dropped from me by about 10m. A quick check of my watch and the average pace was 9:04/mi which meant we would just miss out on the sub 28. We picked it up for the last half a lap and they stayed with me.

They crossed the line in 27:19 and 27:30 respectively.

One of the runners said after "When you said only 3 more minutes of hard work... I wanted to tell you to f*ck off I am working hard"

There is something amazingly satisfying about helping people achieve new PB's

So on to another week and I had another parkrun PB attempt with someone. This runner wanted a sub 30:00

After two laps of Scunthorpe including some swearing and lots of encouragement, she crossed the line in 29:56.

I was so thrilled for this runner as they have been chasing this target for a long time. With a bit of motivation and help, they did it. Like I said it is amazingly satisfying helping someone achieve PB's.

So pacing is the new thing I really enjoy. Now I just need someone to pace me to a PB next weekend. LOL.

Michael

One month with my Wattbike

So one month ago. My Wattbike arrived. In that month I have completed around 17 hours of training on it. Here is the lowdown of the last month

I have upgraded my #mancave by moving a larger TV out to the garage and creating a motivation board. The board is blackboard paint and as such can be constantly altered.

I bought a smart Blu Ray player to enable me to watch the YouTube playlists I have created like  Motivation 2 I do find that the likes of Eric Thomas do help keep me motivated when I am on my Wattbike.

But enough about the peripheral things which make my sessions enjoyable and keep me focussed. What about the nitty gritty.

The Wattbike. I absolutely love it. It is superb. It is just like riding a bike, I love the fact it even freewheels like a bike. I can't believe I have ridden over 350 miles in a month indoors. And I haven't been bored once. Because of the fact the Wattbike is so consistent, it is really easy to monitor things like power across different sessions and know that it is accurate and repeatable.

The sessions I have been completing have been painful at times but have been getting easier as the month has gone on. Because the sessions I am completing are based on reaching a certain wattage at a certain rpm, I can only assume I am getting fitter as the sessions are becoming easier to complete. At the end of my first session I was a shadow of my former self (from a mere 90 minutes before)  (first Wattbike blogpost) but the last time I completed the same session I found it a bit easier. It really wasn't easy though as can be seen in this Vine, just a bit easier on my heart and lungs.  My legs were still jelly after the 9th rep of 3 minutes.



I have been completing three types of session.

An endurance session where I hold my FTP (functional threshold power) for periods of up to 45 minutes at 90 rpm.

A "threshold" session where I hold a wattage above my FTP for 9 periods of 3 minutes at 90 rpm with a 2 minute rest between reps, where I gulp down oxygen like it is the most important thing in the World.

A strength session where I hold a wattage above for my FTP for 9 periods of 2 minutes at 70 rpm with a 3 minute rest period between reps where my quivering legs get some feeling back.

Even though I have done each session a minimum of 4 times in the last month, I have not found it boring at all.

In fact I am thrilled that in December I completed more miles than I ever have done previously.

I am sure the next month will see my coach schedule another 3 minute test which will mean the wattages I need to reach will most likely increase. This means the sessions will get even harder.

One half of me is looking forward to this but the other half of me is petrified.

I am even starting to get used to being in my new TT position following my bike fit the other month.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

#operationwattbike

Last month I finally moved home. The reason for the move was so I could get a #paincave as having my bikes and turbo stored in the conservatory wasn’t an ideal situation. In the new house however there is a dedicated #paincave in the shape of a garage.

As I was getting a room to store my bikes and train in, it seemed a good idea to upgrade my turbo to a Wattbike. I have decided that a Wattbike will be of huge benefit as it will allow me train more consistently, means the sessions need only last as long as they need to (no traffic, traffic lights or breakdowns to contend with), is safer than riding on the road in winter, means I can train whatever the weather and it means I can monitor my improvements closely.

After moving and waiting patiently for delivery (entirely my fault as Wattbike could have delivered it within three days), my Wattbike finally arrived last Friday. Who says Christmas has to be on the 25^th December? My Christmas was on the 28^th November. I ripped open the box like a kid on Christmas day (cardboard flying everywhere) to be greeted by my new toy. After an hour of assembly (with the help of the clear instructions), it was their in all its shining glory. My new Wattbike (complete with 10%  off RRP due to being a Triathlon England member). Yes I have heard that people have a love hate relationship with their Wattbike but at that moment, I could not have been happier.

I set my Wattbike up to the same dimensions as #Rinnie, my TT bike. Much to the dismay of my patient wife who helped me take the necessary measurements. It is so easy to replicate, there are just four measurements you need. Bottom bracket to saddle nose (horizontal and vertical) and saddle nose to handlebars (horizontal and vertical). After you have those it is a doddle to dial in your actual riding position. This will be really useful as it means I will be training and racing in the same position.

Fast forward to last night, my first proper session on my Wattbike (after the obligatory playaround which obviously took place over the weekend). Let me set the scene, the #paincave was a balmy 3 degrees, the TV had been set up to play the London 2012 DVD and I had my session from my coach. After completing my 3 minute test last month, my coach worked out my zones and set last night’s session accordingly.

Taking clear photos while pedalling is hard

It sounded quite simple.

·         10 minutes easy pedalling at air resistance 2

·         20 reps of 20s seconds at 110rpm and 40 seconds of easy pedalling at air resistance 2

·         9 reps of 3 mins at 90rpm at air resistance 4 and magnetic resistance 2 followed by 2 mins easy pedalling at the same resistance

·         15 minutes of cool down

By the 6^th rep of 3 minutes I noticed steam rising from my body. I was literally steaming. That is a first.

The first 6 reps were comfortably uncomfortable whereas the last 3 reps were just plain disgusting. One of the other athletes who is trained by the same coach, refers to this session as a peeler because you have to peel yourself off the Wattbike at the end. I completely understand that now. When I finished the 9^th rep, my legs were jelly and I still had the 15 minute warm down to go. Having completed just one session on my Wattbike, I now understand how people have a love hate relationship with Wattbikes. They hurt but it is through this hurt that we know we are making progress.

My first #wattbikeselfie #broken

Surprisingly my left right pedal balance across the session was a 49/51 split, which I was pleased about. I need to have a look at my pedal shape on my computer at some point but when I remembered to look at it on the display it was definitely not the shape that I thought it would be. More of a figure 8, less of a peanut. That’s something for me to work on over the coming months.

Data overload

Here’s hoping that I make the improvement that I strive to make over the coming months. Thanks to Wattbike for answering all my queries in the run up to completing my order.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Getting (re)acquainted with #Rinnie

I bought #Rinnie last year for this season. She is a rather sublime Planet X Exocet 2 in matt black. After I bought her I had a bike fit but never truly settled in a comfortable position.

I spent most of this season tweaking my position to something I could withstand for a sprnt distance event. I thought my positioning was okay until at Brigg Triathlon when someone commented about my wandering left knee. There’s even a photo showing my left knee in another postcode to me and my bike.

After more tweaking ahead of Drax, I thought I had corrected my knee. Yay. However in doing so I lost all semblance of comfort that I had managed to obtain. Boo.

Enough was enough. After much deliberation, I decided I needed another bike fit. After spending many hours perusing the internet and asking for people’s recommendations. I decided to take a trip to Cannock to visit Bridgtown Bike and their level 3 fitter Mike Taylor.

Mike has fitted many top athletes including Chrissie Wellington and Tom Lowe and now he would be fitting me. I booked my appointment for a Saturday (yes they can fit in around your work) at 10am and made my way down to Cannock.

As soon as I sat down with Mike, I felt at ease and knew I had made the right decision. We talked about everything from my hip (the pin which I suspected was the root cause of my wandering knee) to my past life as a sedentary being. After about half an hour, Mike started to take some measurements starting with my feet, then loking at my cycling shoes and watching me walk and testing ankle flexibility before I was finally allowed to unveil my knee issue.

After cycling on the turbo, Mike immediately saw the problem (it wasn’t hard to miss) and said he knew how to fix it. HOORAY. Mike said e has to correct this problem about twice a year. Great trust my body. The problem was (drumroll please.........................) I have a wide stance.

A what?

A wide stance? Yes I know I have knocked knees but I didn’t know I had a wide stance and a high “Q Factor”.

Because of this, my feet when clipped to the bike and being forced out of their natural position and being forced inwards which was causing my knees to track outwards.

Mike fitted some spacers to my bike, between my pedals and cranks and told me to give them a go.He also had to fit some new pedals as the Look pedals on #Rinnie had the wrong fitting for the spacers.

After I got back on, my wandering knee was not wandering as much as it had been. Hooray.

Following some more iterations to my position including altering saddle, altering cleats lowering saddle, Mike then fitted some “shims” in my shoe underneath my insoles and for once I could feel where I was or was not applying pressure through the pedal stroke.

My knees now piston up and down rather than doing the Hokey Cokey. He gave me an exercise to do to relieve the tension in my back which has plagued me this season and resulted in numerous trips to the Physio to relieve the pain in my feet.

Mike then watched my pedal some more and was amazed at the differences he had made to my position and power output in the 3 hours. I felt so much more comfort on #Rinnie and didn’t have the aching quads I have become accustomed to.

My quads have been aching when pedalling because Mike theorises I have only been using a percentage of each (of the 4) quad muscle when pedalling because my knees have been tracking in and out rather than acting like pistons.

Because Mike paid attention to the unique biomechanics of me, I was so relieved and the level of service was second to none. During my previous fit, it was a bike fit by numbers and although I was fitted, I wasn’t comfy. Mike looked at everything from the ground up and I am hoping that the changes he made will allow some significant improvement in my bike splits next year. He was amazed I have managed to go so quick considering I had such a poor position. Brute force and ignorance does have its uses.

Now I just have to get used to this new position over the winter before the first triathlon of next year.

Mike said I can go back to Bridgtown in the spring for a follow up and he will further tweak my position to enable me to get the best out of my bike.

Considering that when I went to Bridgtown I had convinced myself I would have to trade #Rinnie in for a different bike as she wouldn’t fit me, I was pleased to be leaving with a bike which I finally feel comfortable on and only a small dent to the wallet (pedals, spacers and bike fit).

I can’t praise Mike enough. His demeanour was superb and he instantly made me feel at ease and he listened to me before using his vast knowledge (of biomechanics and cycling) to give me a bike fit which was personalised to me. Thanks Mike

Thanks for reading,

Michael