Day 407\ Numbers, numbers, numbers....

From below it's easy to see how far ahead i am from last year. In september i did 1022 minutes on the bike, 2475m of dislivello, 381km, 475mins in the gym and no recovery work. Last September i completed 392minutes on the bike, 86km and 152 minutes in the gym.

some more numbers.......

In october this year 614minutes on the bike, 1650m dislivello, 238km and 430 minutes in the Gym. Last year 575mins, 184km, 220 mins in the gym, 13min recovery, 140 other activity. Again AHEAD OF THE GAME.

Day 401/New stuff is obviously the answer...

Right on the weight front i made it down to 99.6kg. The cold weather and a large volume of cakes and carbohydrates, they are separate food groups, later and i'm back to 101.6kg. So need a couple of weeks of vegaramma.

Work in the gym is cranking along being back to what i would consider no longer totally embarrassing, 3x4 @ 90kg power clean, 3x6 @ 90kg front squat, 3x4 @ 150kg deadlift. So after a couple of months i'm probably only now at a decent starting point. Also my O/H squat has improved alot managing 3x6 @ 45kg so if i keep going i might be able to stick on a couple 20's by the spring.

the answer to my climbing....or just lose some terry

Went out on monday for the first time in a couple of weeks due to bad weather and felt like i'd never cycled before. Part of that was the pause the other the gym work. I had a crack at Pirio a couple of weeks ago and didn't quite manage it but wasn't too far from the break where the climb eases off.

My goal is to do Monte Madonna, Pirio and Rocolon in one cycle of about 3hrs, it's only 60km but it's about 1200m of climbing. I did pirio with one stop then Rocolon up the back road got to Via Monte Madonna and turned round because i could feel my legs were empty. Breakfast and some carbs the day before could of helped but probably not enough.

Also stopped the fat burners and am going to try and get in a couple of threshold runs @ 100rpm, did 2x20mins with 10min break and felt pretty good although 5 min from the head HR was starting to creep up.

Next summers wheels have been chosen the Pro-Lite Bracciano. €300 1482g hopefully they will help me sail up the hills. Would quite like to offload my polar cs200 which is doing my dome in and splash out on a Garmin 500 but we will see. Still best advice is to loose weight and lift more.

Day 387\ Bad weather .....

It's been a pretty constructive month all round and obviously when i compare it to this time last year i'm well ahead of the game.

vineyards in the autumn

will get round to publishing some numbers. But on a nice day it is beautiful out cycling with the vinyards changing colour and the farmers out working the land before the winter hits.

As a total fairweather cyclist it's not looking good for getting out so we'll just have to wait and see, do what i can get done. When i can get out will probably take the opportunity to go long and keep it in my legs.

Day 358\ Back to the numbers...

Here are my totals and averages for the last training year....

Weekly Averages By Month

Monthly Totals

Day 355\ back in the game....and the challenge of via pirio

Haven't written anything for a while but july in essence till about the 22nd of August i did very little kept ticking over on the bike but nothing particularly long or intense. Since the 22 of my main objective has been weight loss. I've been eating loads of salad and cold cuts and almost eliminated all carbs, in general i've managed about 5 days each week like this. The good news is that after about 2 weeks of nothing i'm now on the brink of getting under 100kg for the first time since 1996!!!!

last time i was less than 100kg donovan bailey was the 'cock of town'

This has been assisted by my return to the gym. I really missed the core and back work i had been doing when i wasn't able to get to the gym. I now have better access to facilities and will not only be able to do  the pre-hab and core work i want but also just work at getting strong again.

Goals

Current Weight 100.2kg Goal 97kg

Gym Goals
Front Squat 120kg
Deadlift      180kg
Pull Ups       20
Chins            12
DB Bench      55 ea


All things being equal strength is the difference plus if you consider last year i was 103.5kg when i did Lapinarello if i can get to 97 or a bit less plus maybe change the wheels on the bike that'll make a massive difference. I'm already miles ahead of where i was this time last year.

THE CHALLENGE OF VIA PIRIO
When i did Lapinarello i did feel a touch disappointed that i didn't do the long course because i felt so good. However this was dispelled when i had to get off my bike and take a break during a climb up Via Pirio. This is a climb of about 250 and about 20% climbing much shorter and less than the Salta Di Capra. Goal is to do it on my longer run before the bad weather sets in.

Training at the moment, is 2 sessions in the gym of about 40mins, 2 fat burners of about 1hr 20mins and a longer cycle of about 2hrs with some hills.

Day 293\ Lapinarello done....not quite

Right well yesterday i did 'Lapinarello' after 292 days of thinking about it.....well not quite. I did the medium course of 132km and 1350m of climbing, missing the mighty 'Monte Grappa' and another 72km. Therefore the challenge is still on 364 days to go till 'Lapinarello'....

Waiting in the streets of Treviso with 3208 other punters, il sogno di stefan, i was doing it for the kids, and the feeding station in Valdobiaddene.

As a challenge i have to say it was teh first i really enjoyed. The weather was perfect and i felt good. I'd learnt my lessons from the granfondo colli euganei and eat better in the days leading up to the race. Rather than trying to 'Carbo Load' i just basically had a cake at breakfast and a small bowl of pasta with lunch from about 4 days out so i wasn't altering to greatly my normal eating. Added to this i eat more moderately the morning of and the night before. My eating and drinking during was much better also. Consciously drinking every 15-20mins and eating from about 20mins in. The Bikefood bars really were worth the trouble.

The 2 week taper also went well. My last big cycle was 14 days before and 6 cycles all flat, minimal climbing. And the day before did 2x30mins flat with cake and coffee in the middle. I would change it only by including some hills on the 1st taper week and some short intense sprints in the second week, just to open the lungs up.

The trip did give a taste of what it's like to be in the peleton for about 30mins at least, with lots of support vehicles and graffiti on the road. On the down side it didn't have that, 'look inside an see what your made of' factor. Which is why i need to do the Monte Grappa next year.....

Day 290\ 2 days to go......& some numbers

2 days to go and i'm actually looking forward to it. last 2 weeks i've really throttled back on the riding and today i woke up feeling pretty fresh!!!!! I've had my shirt printed with the ilsognodistefanologo logo and we're all bike fooded up. The team now only Scherrit arrives this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll probably go for a final ride into the colli before heading to Treviso for registration. Sunday 06:45 we head off into the hills.

sweater and bike...all ready to go

Here are some numbers....

Of an original 13 positive responses, 1 have made it to the start line.

I have lost 3kgs

I have cycles a total of 3420km

Spending a total of 9156 minutes in the saddle and

climbing 11470 meters, 2630 more than Everest.

I have breathed 659, 232 litres of air

My legs have rotated 677, 544 times and

my heart has beaten 1,208,592 and i've burnt 105, 294,000 Calories

All this to cycle for 134km and climb 1400m!!!! 

Day 282\ Hypoxic Update....

Right finished my loading phase of hypoxia and i can't say i'm sorry about that by the end it is a bit of a pain in the knackers, but if you lay it out as an equation i.e. knacker pain v worthwhile. The worthwhilelyness of doing the whole thing far out weights the knackerpain and it is far more convenient than driving up to 6,500m for and hour or so. in the end the last 6 days of the protocol i did following the more conventional protocol of 6mins on 4mins off x 6 and i did 3 days on day off 2 days on day off day on. Which contributed to the knacker pain as it dragged it out a bit.

on track...

Certainly my weekend ride on sunday and the climb up the monte madonna suggest that training and the hypoxic stress are on track.

Day 279\ 13 days to go...

13 days to go. Yesterday was very pleasing. I managed 101km alone in 4hrs and 20mins with plenty of climbing maybe a bit less than 1000m and finished strong feeling good, speed of about 32km/h, 90rpm and a hr of about 132bpm. That is a significant improvement over previous rides, it is certainly the best ride i have done by myself. The weather was absoulutely beutiful, no clouds cool air and a light breeze. Magic. Could of bottled doing the last big climb but chose to do it and reaped the rewards. Don't even feel too tired today as i did after my previous two long rides, i may almost be looking forward to Lapinarello?

this is where i go cycling, Fontanafreddo

Day 276\ Heart rate down....

I have just completed a 45km ride with about 12km in town and a climb of about 520m, it's a fairly tough climb up the monte madonna above Teolo south west of Padova. The first climb into teolo, about 200m, i went really strongly without dropping down onto the small front ring and my HR didn't go above 154bpm plus my time to teolo was only 41mins and i didn't go above about 120bpm on the ride to the start of the climb.

heart rate.....

The climb from from teolo to the tope of monte madonna is quite tough and the last time i did it my heart rate was at 174 for most of the ride to the picnic area and for pretty much all of teh ride to the top. This time it didn't exceed 164 on the way to the pic nic area and didn't exceed 168 on the way to the top. What makes this more impressive is i still have 3 days of Hypoxic work to do and my body won't have fully adapted to it for at least 7 days after finishing. What makes it more impressive is i had quite a late night last night with some friends so my HR would of been elevated as a result of the alcohol intake. NICE.

Day271 \ Homemade Hypoxia.......

Right not long to go now infact 3 weeks today i will be pedaling round the Veneto in a state of exhaustion.... The pedalling has been a mix since i did the Granfondo Collieuganei and two weeks i managed to rattle out a big week of training although it probably has lost a bit of variety in my attempt to ramp up the Km's.

Last week i was off at summer camp by the beach and the roads were perfectly flat. Managed to rattle out 3 runs with the longest of 75km in 2hrs and 40mins. managed to average 90rpm and a speed of 28km/h the last 40mins was tough as it was straight into a headwind and my average speed dropped right off.

acute responses to hypoxia apparently.....

I have also started some hypoxic training, subjecting myself to between 15 and 30mins each evening. It's easy to build your own device only requiring some medical grade soda lime sponge and some yoghurt pots. You will also need a finger oximeter to measure your % saturated in you blood and hence estimate your altitude.

The benefits of Hypoxic training is essentially and improved capacity to deliver oxygen to the muscles. This can occur through several mechanisms.

• Improved blood chemistry
• Increases in Growth Hormone
• Changes in size and number of mitochondria
• alterations to enzyme activity

The protocol I'm using is pretty straight forward. General recommendations are to perform this type of training intermittently ie. 5mins on 5mins off , x6 however i'm going to perform the 30mins straight through using the following protocol.

• 2 Days 15mins @ 90%
• 2 Days 20mins @ 85%
• 2 Days 25mins @ 80%
• 8 Days 30mins @ 75%

I did a cycle before starting the programme and recorded the HR and will perform the same cycle after to see what changes have occured.

Day 267\ Couple of good Granfondo articles.....

Riding a granfondo

http://www.biciveneto.it/ridingagranfondo.html

and more specifically the 'Salto della Capra'

Monte Grappa

http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/03/climbing-jump-of-goat.html

Day263\ Supplement Review.....

Right you will be able to see from my photo below nutrition selection for the Granfondo Colli Euganei. They were as follows

nutritional mix....

Bananas- Plenty of carbs and +K easy to eat plus you can throw away the wrapper. Down side was the wrapper seems to have stained my sweater!!!!

Optonia Cereal Bars - Easy to eat and no problems digesting, bit dry however and can't through away the wrapper although some naughty people do.

Optonia Hydra recovery - Sold as recovery drink with 10g of protein per 100g but retails for a third of the price of other hydration solutions with BCAA's. Easily drinkable and doesn't repeat certainly seems to enhance perception of fatigue after long cycles.

Optonia Gel - Totally rank far to sweet which isn't suprising as it is totally comprised of Corn Sugar which not to put to fine a point on it is poison.

Nutrition Addicts Raspberry Fruit Bars - Although these were a bit pricey they were great, 100% natural, moist and easy to chew while riding, winner.

The r-pro recupero i used the other day and it was fine, interestingly the ingredients says 0g protein but there are 4-5 BCAA listed?

However bigger news on the nutrition font is that the lovely people at BIKEFOOD have kindly provided us with support for the ride in July. ROCK ON, organic supplements can't wait.

Day 262\ My 1st Granfondo

Right sunday i did it, my first Granfondo, well almost. I had decided to make a call on whether to do the medium course or the long course depending how i felt. I was pretty determined to do the full 144km and 1800m climbing. However the day provided a far greater service than just rattling up km's as it was fairly disastrous but a good learning experience.

What 800 cyclists look like...

Arrived late therefore no warmup. Ate too much and when combined with some anxiety the call of nature was more frequent than anticipated. Heart rate was elevate before the start and then went straight into a 4km climb and never settled for the duration.

Would of happily gone home at 20km just felt terrible and i'm pretty sure part of this was nutritional. Need to be more precise in timing and volume of carbs in the 3 days leading into the event and then during consuming fluids and food in particular more regularly. I reeached the first feeding station and my sides were aching like when i used to go out and do 2hrs without any food. However some bananas and a load of water later i did pick up. Filling my water bottle up with sugary peach tea also helped.

In summary lots to work on. Need to factor in trying to do a long run with race prep prior to Lapinarello.

Day 257\ Two days till my first Granfondo.....

Right 2 days till i cycle in my first Granfondo and i am nervous and excited. I am wondering if i should stick an L-plate on my back to help communicate to those around me my general ineptitude. I do think however my training has made a bit of a breakthrough the last 2 weeks.

the start

3 hrs is generally reckoned to be a bit of a landmark and on my 3rd 3hr cycle last week i finally felt i'd made some progress. I didn't fell destroyed when i got home and it was enjoyable for most of the run. Added to this my hr was much more controlled on the ascents plus for the first 90km of my 108km sunday cycle i felt good.

This week i've tapered right down,

Monday Rest
Tuesday 30 mins easy with 4x3mins at threshold
Wednesday 14 maximal test ( i had to do a medical certificate so i can compete)
Thursday 42km easy 93min (trying to stay about 120bpm @ 90rpm)
Friday Rest

Tomorrow i'll do about an hour on the bike then the race Sunday. The race distances are 104km or 144km. I'll make a call on which one to do on Sunday. I want to do the 'Lungo' because then i'll have  achieved 75% of the race distance for 'Lapinarello' and can concentrate on group riding climbing for the last 4 weeks of preparation.

One mistake i have made is pedaling too slow. I should of been working at 90 not 80, this would definitely of helped for cycling in groups and i was informed on Saturday that once your doing 200km of 'Agilita' then you can start working on 'forza'......

Day 255\ Recovery....

After last weekends adventure the importance of nutrition was hammered home again. After the longer runs i get straight into a tip top recovery smoothie as follows;

Recovery Smoothie

50g Porridge
25g Whey Protein
5g L-Glutamine
100g Plain Yogurt
Load of frozen berries
Fill up most of the spaces with juice

Whizz like crazy....DONE

After a long ride or a hard ride this is a saviour, good mix of carbs some protein, zinc fiber and a dash of glutamine to help the immune system (if that's what it does). All in an cold easily digestible snack.

After sundays marathon i went to a BBQ and was presented with steak, sausage and not much else. It was a total chore to eat it even though it was delicious. When the cakes came out an hour or so later i was all over it.

By the evening i was struggling and felt sick like my immune system was crumbling however i decided to get some carbs in with one of favorite pasta dishes pesto and trofie with tomatoes

recovery in a bowl.....

150-200g Trofie di Liguria
30-40g Pesto (Basil, Pine nuts and oil, not the pepper got knows what else we eat in the UK)
a handfull of cherry tomatoes or daterini chopped
splash of extra virgin olive oil
 parmigiano or grana grated over the top

Total winner halfway through the plate i felt better already.

Day 253\ riding in a group, numbers, lots of stuff...

Last week saw a big jump in my total Km's. The reason for this is yesterday i went out cycling with a the S.C. Berma cycling club. I had been hoping to do a lazy 40km's having done a 600m climb to the top of the Monte Madonna on saturday. My hopes were quickly shattered as the group spend off into the mountains by which point my only hope of making it home was to stay with them......however 108km and 4hrs and 15mins later i had done it.

that was me that was....

Riding in a group for the first time was fairly mental, mainly because you don't know what you should and shouldn't be paying attention to. Also if you don't stay within about 20cm of the bike in front you get swallowed up and end up last. If you don't know the rules people get cross, which is fine because they are all weedy snack cyclists who couldn't punch their way out a wet paper bag.

Day 249\ Helmets....

Eventually i succumbed to a pincer movement from my mum and my wife and bought a helmet...... and here it is below. Now i'm no expert but my main criteria was plenty of holes for air to get to my giant noggin while out pedaling, so although there was a specialized helmet that was more comfortable and almost half the price, it looked like it would of been as cool as a black dustbin. Hence the victor, the Bell sweep....

and the winner is....

Day 245\ Lots of new things.....

Right the last few weeks have been full of change and progress. On the training front i am edging towards  the 200km a week mark. I've manage 2 stints of 3 hrs, i only managed 70km on one but it was a slow ride just to spend time in the saddle. I've also been trying to get in 2 runs which include 2x20mins at threshold.

new things.....

Yesterday was pleasing as it was the first ride i've done where i actually felt i'd made progress. On the ride up the hill to Rovolon my HR was under threshold compared to when i did it for the first time a few weeks ago where it was coming out my mouth. Also on the second climb up to Castelnuovo my HR was much more controlled.

The bike has changed too. I was struggling getting my hands properly onto the brakes during descents so i took it back to the shop and they rotated the bars up slightly and the brake levers down a touch. This has made a huge difference as i can now brake during the descents........

Alongside this the shims for my Speedplay pedals arrived. After longer runs or hard climbs my left patella knee tendon would be sore and require icing because i was compensating on the LHS for a difference in leg length. Add to this my left ankle would play up from an old injury. To deal with the later i've tilted the shoes out 3 degrees using seperate shims. After yesterdays 66km these modifications seem to have done the trick nicely.

Day 227\ yet more NUMBERS.......

The numbers are in for april. And it was a good'un, most time on the bike, top for km's and similar for total load to march but much better for strain as the monotony was only 0.92. Am going to start recording m's climbed also. Need to be careful now to not jump up the km's too rapidly and look at boosting restoration.

Monthly totals below and weekly averages above

Day 225\ 190km in a week..

Last week i did 190km over 3 seperate cycles. Some of the scenery was absolutely beutiful, Arqua Petrarca, Castelnuovo, Rovolon. What i am finding is the need for food when i'm out. I can really feel my immune system struggling after a cycle of more than 2hrs. Which brings us to cyclists and their strange clothes......thats why i'm waiting for a jumper with pockets in the back to be delivered so i can carry around bananas and soreen bars!!!! I'm also going to look into ramping up the supplements in a couple of weeks, e.g Super Omegas, ZMA and a decent carb solution with BCAAs more on them when they are aquired.

A MB 190 Evo, more comfy than my 190km i imagine

Day 221\teamAP in summary......

My blog summarised......

go to www.wordle.net

Day 220\ The meaning of numbers....

Well firstly the test. The Conconi or 'step test' measures Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), the maximum rate at which an individual can utilise oxygen whilst breathing air at sea level, despite increases in power output (Withers, Gore, Gass & Hahn, 2000). It is effectively a measure of cardiovascular function and provides an indicator of endurance performance potential. It should be included for athletes whose events or training involves continuous strenuous activity (Winter et al., 2006). A wide variation in VO2max can be expected, typical values are 30-80ml∙kg-1 for 20-30year old men and 25-65 ml∙kg-1 for women. Values decrease after the age of 30 by approximately 1 ml∙kg-1 and is heavily genetically influenced (McArdle et al., 2000). VO2max can be a weak predictor of race performance due to importance of other metabolic and neural factors (Noakes, 2000). It is robust to changes in protocol, with no change reported with variations in time and velocity increases (Billat et al., 1996). Exercise mode has a significant (p<0.01) impact on VO2max and is reflective of the specific adaptations to training (Roels et al., 2005). Aside from biological variability small changes in ventilation and fraction of dry oxygen greatly impact on measurement on VO2max and hence the requirement for careful calibration.

meaning of numbers!!!

Now back in the day my VO2max was 57ml.min-1.kg-1 and up until 4 years ago the fitness test on my polar watch was coming out at 52ml.min-1.kg-1. Now this lab test is telling me i've dropped to 40!!! I think that is pish and was probably badly affected by the type of face mask they used. It covered the nose and the mouth and once i got onto the final couple of steps, my breathing pushed the mask off my face, moving the mask, breaking the seal and probably invalidating the result given that only small changes in ventilation can seriously impact on the result.

Day 212\ Fitness testing......and alot more numbers....

Right at last yesterday i did my fitness test, or test metaboloci as they are called here. It was what is know as a Conconi or 'Ramp Test'. Cononi interestingly used to live down the road in Ferrara and was a key protaginist in the use of performance enhancing substances in sport, nice work......

spinning the pedals at 200W

The results were as follows:

max hr: 171 bpm; max power 484W; VO2max 40.7 ml/min/kg

aerobic/anaerobic threshold 143bpm, pwer at threshold 283W

peak VO2max 41.8 ml/min/kg; max power 525W

2min recovery 123bpm

specific max power 4.79W/kg

specific aerobic threshold 2.8W/kg

Training Status Index

An Threshold/Max Hr 83.6% expected 92-94.5%

Max HR/Theoretical Max 94% expected 95-100%

An threshold VO2/VO2max 87.8% expected 86.5-88%

And all this will be discussed later

Day 208\ First ride & now all set...

Right the bike finally rolled it's wheels in anger..... it was great. I rode to Teolo monday. On the steed this would take me 100 mins and my heart rate would be about 135bpm. On the new bike it took 87mins and my heart rate was around 125bpm. The climb was alot easier with the road gears and also as the bike weights about 5kgs less than the old it's understandable why it was easier and faster. Also more comfortable however my longer run to Rovolon on wednesday i was getting some pins and needles in my left foot again and aching in my back the back was probably more to do with the new position on the bike. Other issue is pressure on the palms of my hands so a new acquisition will be gloves.

interesting image for google search 'first ride'

The speedplay pedals hadn't arrived last week when the bike was being put together so i had to do the first two rides without. No bad thing in hindsight as i gave me an opportunity to get used to the bike without the added trauma of being locked into it. Today however they arrived and have been fitted along with the cleets to the shiny Sidi shoes and a computer to measure my cadence and speed. Another long run tomorrow and i can't wait.

Day 200 \ The bike is here....

Right the bike is here, after 200 days of thinking and talking about this challenge looking at bikes blah blah, the blue mobile is in the house. I think it is fair to say it is a step forward from the steed that i have been using up to this point. I watched the bike being put together at the Berma workshop which was really quite enjoyable seeing what i had ordered several weeks ago taking shape.

from this to...

this in only a couple of hours...

So now i have about 118 days get my arse in gear..........

Day 192 \ Entry is in.....and some other numbers....

Right today the entry went in all €16.50 of it. Also i lost a weeks training on the new bike as it's going to arrive at the end of the month. This whole charade is becoming increasingly more real. I have also printed off an entry for the Granfondo Colli Euganei so i fully intend to enter this my local Granfondo at the end of May. I'll aim to do the shorter ride of 104km and 1200m climbing as part of my increase in training volume but also give me experience of what riding amongst a big group will be like and also start working on my nutritional strategy, i will then decide whether or not to do the Granfondo Eddy Merx in Belluno.

this is a data entry clerk apparently, nothing to do with entering a race

What is also making this charade i mean challenge more real are the costs........having just spent money on my entry fee this morning. As such they look like this

Set of bike lights                                          €24

Cheep pair of shorts                                     €22

Tyre Pump                                                     €8

Biomechanical Assesment & Metabolic Tests €200

Bike                                                               €1100

Pedals                                                           €140

Lapinarello Entry Fee                                    €16.50

Accomodation 3nights Treviso                       €150

This is not a cheep challenge. And i haven't looked at some proper shorts and riding gear, shoes, water bottles, spares, crash helmet, if i do Belluno the associated costs for that. This is not a cheep challenge.

Day 182\ BIG STEP FORWARD......

This week saw probably the biggest step forward, in that i did at last order a bike. Yip i did it. I had been told that a friend of a friend could do whatever i wanted for the same price as an off the peg bike. In typical italian fashion this turned out not to be the case. The friends friend is a third generation bike builder, the company was founded by his grandad in 1930 in Padova round the corner from our flat, and is called BERMA.

I was after a hand made steel frame so it fitted perfectly and also its comfort. However it transpires it is more expensive to have a steel frame made than aluminum or carbon fiber because there is little market for it over here. The next thing is to get bits that look exactly how you want is really difficult. i was wanting retro chrome accessories and brown saddle etc but now everything is black or white unless you spend a fortune. Plus the frame isn't made to fit, the bike is, so it's a stock frame with components adjusted to fit. the good side of that is unlike an off the peg bike i won't have to change anything and if i do it's included in the price. But maybe the best bit is the groupset is all Campagnolo Veloce. The reason this is good apparently is that off the peg bikes such as Bianchi and Specialized swap the cogs and chains and other not so visible parts to save money but it also affects efficiency and reliability.

So in summary it's sky blue with with some black wheels and a white saddle.

this is a big foot rather than big step.....

Another cracking week on the training front. First session in the 8's on intensity and even managed to shave of a few minutes on my long run to Teolo however a bit low overall on the intensity as the TRX sessions have been a bit pants but hey ho can re focus on those next week plus the weight loss has been a bit rubbish but now that Fritelle season is over i can concentrate more fully.

Day 176\ All good...

Right all good again last week. I've got into the rythm of doing an hour on the bike mondays plus cylcling to and from training tuesday and thursday with 4 and 6min intervals while at the club then the big ride at the weekend.

Last thursday i dropped the cycling and did a cracking session with the skipping rope, because a, i  enjoy it, b its very good for you and c, you can get some great intensity when you combine it with some bodyweight exercises.

skipping..back in the days of the old school yard

here's basically what i did

1min skipping, mixed steps supersetted with OH squats and core exercises x5

(15s 2 feet flat out (45+ contacts), 10 press ups, 3x ea sgl leg squats, 20 abs) x 8 non stop

that worked out of 29mins of top work and a max heart rate of 176bpm. I'm going to keep this work in the programme and progress it for the next 6 weeks.

Day 167\ Back to the numbers

 Right it's the end of the month which means the numbers are in and in a nutshell, i'm really pleased with my last 5 weeks training and the numbers are motivating. Above all by the end of next month i'll have done more than 1000km on the steed. Last week i eased back a bit on the training after a really cracking week the week before and this week i pushed on again particularly on today's longer run trying to keep my HR at around 140bpm.

Monthly Totals....times & distance on the bike

In terms of the total numbers it was a best for everything, except skiing time and restoration which was only 4 mins less.

Average Weekly Loads By Month

On the average weekly training loads it was also tip top all round. I just have to be carefull with the monotony rating particularly as i will need to be increasing the volume of work.

Day 157\ Music & Exercise...

Following on from Saturdays blog, i thought i'd look into the effects of music and exercise given my singular experience shows it clearly works. Plus the general consensus from the Sports Psychology teaching community is that if your a bit of a divvy and don't know what to do for your final project you'll get given an 'effect of music on exercise' project because it'll give good results and plenty to wright about.

always put ipod in secure place

Potteiger et al. (2000) found in a study of 27 active subjects that different types of music resulted in lower ratings of perceived exerction and that depending on type of music acted as a distractor during exercise. Music was also associated with increased vigour and reduced confusion in the study of Hayakawa et al. (2000). While Karageorghis et al. (2009) study on 30 subjects using treadmill walking concluded that 'motivational synchronous music can elicit an ergogenic effect and enhance in-task affect during an exhaustive endurance task.'

So all in all listening to music DURING and drinking chocolate milk AFTER...i'm all over it.

Potteiger J.A., Schroeder J.M. & Goff K.L.,  Influence of music on ratings of perceived exertion during 20minuntes of moderate intensity exercise. Perceptual Motor Skills (2000), Dec (91), 848-54


Hayakawa, Y., Miki, H., Takada, K. & Tanaka, K,. Effects of music on mood during bench stepping exercise. Perceptual Motor Skills (2000), Feb (90), 307-14


Karageorghis, C.I, Mouzourides, D.A., Priest, D., Sasso, T.A., Morrish, D.J. & Walley, C.L., Psychological and ergogenic effects of synchronus music during treadmill walking. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (2009). (31) 18-36.

Day 153\ Nailed it....

This week i have probably knocked out my best weeks training since i did my Boxing challenge a few years ago. The numbers on last week were

Total           Av.RPE      Weekly Load     Monotony    Strain
456mins      6.50          2942                 1.37            4021

plus my highest number of Kms at 91km. What's is interesting with the numbers is that this was the most training i've done by 19.7%, weekly load by 31.3% and with improved intensity Av. RPE of 6.5 v 5.79, and better than 2nd best week of 6.33 where i only worked for 288mins.  Because i'm working better in the Gym and finding the cycling easier (monday night cycle RPE 4 v's 6 in October)  there is less monotony. All in all the upshot is, more work, improved intensity, less monotony, less strain down 9.3%. Yip you read right, 20% more volume, 30% more load, 10% less strain.

the images for 'Nailed' were a bit more risque

Alongside this i did my longest time on a Bike 114mins today to Teolo. Nearly 14 mins more than before. The diference.....no music! Without the music i just pootle along, with it i turn the legs over in time to the tunes.....NIce.

Day 150\ Falling apart...

Right, the team part of Athletic Population would appear to be falling apart at this point. After the withdrawl of Smernicki in order to cruise round a German industrial estate in Lycra. Then followed little Hill, who has chosen to move house in order not to have to buy a bike. Now Head of Tour Ethics, Langton, is hanging in the balance due to back pain from his extraordinarily long back. Doesn't sound like anything some deadlifts couldn't fix.

literally falling apart

Day 148\ Back in the swing of it....

Back into the swing of things, the last 3 weeks training have made me feel like i am making some progress at least one of my two interval sessions i would rate as decent, and i need to start making the second session count. Rattling up any sort of distance is going to be difficult until i'm sorted out with a proper bike. However i'm out and about again and feeling the better for it.

a swing

Last week i also had my fitting done at Lab3cube in Padova so i have had the recommendations back and am waiting to see the video of myself on the bike. On the weight loss front i have managed to drop 3kg which is not bad going maybe 4 as i suspect my 103 however many weeks back was a little doctored. I'm feeling better having shed a few Kg's and see no reason why i can't sit happily at 95kg. My main goal for the rest of Feb is to make both interval sessions count and get down to 98kg. There i've said it.

Day 138\ Chocolate Milk & Recovery......

Now i'm in the habit of training and recording what i'm doing and the numbers are starting to rack up, i need to get in the habit of fueling better particularly during (mainly hydration but also carbs when i start riding longer) but more importantly immediately after sessions.

apparently does more than it says in the tin

For a while now there has been a movement towards chocolate milk as a bonafide 'ergogenic'. Yes you read correctly. Some of the research is flawed as the chocolate milk simply contains more calories than it's CHO sports drink rival. However the recently published paper by Gibson et al 2010 does provide us with one very interesting result.

Although performance markers were no different between the 2 groups doing intensified soccer training, as you would expect after only 4 days unless you were starving one of the groups, Creatine Kinase was reduced in the chocolate milk group. CK is an important enzyme in the production of energy and is used as a marker of muscle damage. It therefore makes sense that we would want to minimise it particularly if your training daily or taking part in contact sports, high intensity work or resistance work.

From my point of view it's yummy, cost effective and i don't need asking twice :-)

ref: Gilson SF, Saunders MJ, Moran CW, Corriere DF, Moore RW, Womack CJ, Todd MK. Effects of chocolate milk consumption on markers of muscle recovery during intensified soccer training. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010, 7:19

Day 137\ Monthly Numbers......

POsitive POSitive POSITIVE is the name of the game. I'm booked in at LAB3cube Padova next week to have my metabolic tests done and also be video'd on the bike and have a fitting, not that i necessarily need it after seeing Scherrit but it's part of the package. So quite excited by that now onto month by month numbers.

Month By Month

First lot of numbers are my training times and Km's cycled. When taken in isolation they don't really stack up to much but over time they will help with the balance of training, the percentage of training time made up of restoration v gym v bike. The massive spike of other activity in January is also what's known in training terms as 'a really smart skiing holiday'.

Day 134\ Numbers Numbers Numbers.......

Right it's a numbers game this training lark and training for cycling is the biggest numbers game of all. Last weeks numbers are in and i'm pleased to say it's my best weeks training since november and i'm feeling all the better for it. It looked like this

mon am gym 45mins pm 2x30mins bike
tues 27mins intervals bike and core
wed rest
thurs 30mins intervals bike and core
fri gym 45mins
sat 60 mins bike

Which when put in numbers is like this 288mins Av RPE 6.33 Daily Mean Load 199 Monotony 1.32 Strain 2348. Monotony was a bit high which made it the 3rd most 'Strainful' week. But that can be rectified with the bit between my teeth on the interval session, and a longer gentler ride to give more variation in intensity and duration thus less monotony and therfore strain.

Numbers Numbers Numbers

Month by month the numbers tomorrow.

Day 133\ One For the Future....

Thinking about other challenges and how to take Team AP forward after Lapinarello, so how about this...

The Engadin Ski Marathon

Day 129\ Short & Sweet...

Ok was tired yesterday after mondays double header, so kept it short and sweet and feeling well today, here's what i did.

Short & Sweet

Swiss Ball
Triset of Leg Extension/Mantis & Russian Twist 3x8

+4 x 20s Plank (varing rotation at shoulders and flex at knees)

5mins steady cycling

5x1min fast supersetted with 5 Overhead wall squats with a medicine ball between my back and the wall.

5x2 Chins + Bicep curls 30kg

2x8 triset from start

Done 25mins RPE 7

Day 128\ Back at it....

Right back from a week in the hills, and the big push started yesterday morning at 7am with 47mins in the gym on the TRX. Completing the session outlined here. Objective for the next 4 weeks is to get the numbers back to where they were before the whole lurgy, weather, christmas episode do some testing and get a bike, very important.

'Back at it' gives you a view from the hubble telescope!

Backed up yesterday mornings TRX session with cycling to and back from Tombelle where i was coaching some kiddies. It was cold but not unenjoyable although the run home was a bit of a drag. Quite nackered this morning. Some intervals tonight, bring them on.

Day 114\ A new start and some top advice.....

A new year and a 'New Start'. My last post i wrote about really getting bugger all done and that theme has continued over Christmas and new year. I managed one running session and one TRX session however, flight cancellations a further bought of illness or two, a diagnosis of mild Bird Flu later and i'm back home raring to go. Yesterday i got back on the bike and in glorious sunshine did 21km in an hour and felt great afterwards. However it did serve to reinforce a number of key points,

1. The need for appropriate kit
2. The need for a bike that fits and doesn't crush any important nerves!!!! 

Pop 'New Start' into google images and this is the result

While in London i managed to go and see my friend Scherrit aka 'The Bike Whisper' so he could have a look at me on a bike, as we are similar sizes it was his bike. I don't want to knock 'the steed' but this thing was like sitting in a bubble bath by comparison. The long and short of it was as follows'

• Sportive Bike (more comfy than out and out racer)
• Baby front cog (a sportive bike should have but compulsory for a bigger rider)
• Effective top top length of 575mm

Based on my desire to be comfortable on this ride and during the training hand built in steel could well be the winning specification. Also on the kit front were speedplay pedals. These are generally rated as the best around and are as you'd expect more expensive but i think they are worth it and i'll explain why.

From previous sporting experience injuries have occurred from contact, accidents or fatigue. Injuries in cycling also occur from fatigue but more as a result of repetitive strain type injury. Think about it, you aren't performing large, multidirectional open chain movements but a small closed chain movement. But you are performing it hundreds of thousands if not millions of times, so if you have a series of small errors in your setup or restriction on how your body wants to move naturally then you likely won't be able to feel it but after several months and a couple hundred thousand cycles it could potentially spoil your training and competitions, cycling really is all about 'the aggregation of marginal gains'. So for my money hand made frame with speedplays.

Other Tips

• Top quality shorts (makes sense really)
• Splodge of cream between the legs before longer cycles
• Longer cycles to be performed at 80rpm (including hills) and below aerobic threshold approx = 180-age +5
• Come out of sadle for 20-30 seconds every 12 to 15 mins to give your bits a rest
• Don't let your knees drop out to the side at the top of each stroke