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.