Lanzarote WTC Training Camp -

Day 1 report A hot first day in Lanza, temps peaking at 28 deg on the fire mountains, and the Lanza wind didn't disappoint. 4 groups out Bren and Liam were tearing up the mountains, with Dermo and Rob hanging onto their wheels. Moley and Rose did a solid tour of Femes and Timmanfaya, as did the sub10 boys (sub 10% body fat crew)..... aka the Mountain Goats.... and finally, last but certainly not least, yours truly and his posse... Bren and Amanda Mannix, Helen, Gaby and Deirdre clocked a steady 2.5 hrs. all in all a steady day for most, as we accustom to the heat. The afternoon saw most head out for their second session of the day, either a run or a sea swim. Tomorrow we'll be upping the ante a little, target 3+ hours, and some more climbs, with a visit to the far side of the island to look at the surf. All capped off with a couple of beers and an Irish win in the Rugby.... off for food now check back tomorrow for day 2! connect.garmin.com/activity/156558722 Day 2 - Lanza report Hotter again today, with clear blue skies, and temps peaking at 32 degrees. 3 groups today, the mountain goats hit the North end of the Island for 100km of big hills (1600m of climbing), whilst the more sensible of us did a steady 80km - 3hrs 1000m of climbing. the "Ladies who Lunch" group decided to get lost in Arricefe (after conquering Timmanfaya for the second day in a row) but all made it back safe n sound and of course the day was rounded off by England beating Les Bleus in the rugby. 2 days down, 140km in the legs, and 1600m of climbing done so far. tomorrow a slightly easier day as we explore the south end of the island, then its off to hit the big mountains on tuesday for a 4hr epic. hope yer all enjoying the mild weather at home, and are all looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.....  connect.garmin.com/activity/156955555 Day 3 and the bodies are starting to get tired! what was supposed to be an easy day today, still ended up as 60km and 850m of ascent, there's just no escaping the hills over here. we rode over Femes (a nice climb, with a great 80kph descent) all the way into Playa Blanca, where we had an ice cream and a dip in the sea. other groups took it easier today, with a steady spin around the middle part of the island. Everyone seems to be saving themselves for the big mountain day tomorrow. once home a few did their sea swims, runs etc, and a quiet night tonight with some home made grub and perhaps a little vino... tomorrow is when the fun really starts as we head North to the hills, we are planning on climbing the Tabayesco which summits at the top of Haria. A classic climb by all accounts. so hope you all enjoyed your first day back to work today, good luck for tomorrow, tuesday is always the worst..... never mind we're having a ball app.strava.com/segments/627914 Day 4 - up them there hills Another tough day in the office today, most of the group hit the mountains and up the Tabayesco climb. around 100km and 1400m of climbing. So well done everyone. the sub10 boys did a couple of hours (with a 25% climb) and a hard run thats 4 days on the trot now, 300km ridden and just shy of 5000m of climbing! tomorrow a well earned rest day needed. 1hr of very light spinning in the afternoon maybe! we're all out tonight to celebrate sending the savages home (Liamo and Bren), we can all relax a bit more from tomorrow  connect.garmin.com/activity/157621789 Day 5 was a rest day, the hair was certainly let down on tuesday night, and plenty of sore heads on wednesday. having said that, a group (including the wife) got up at 7:30 (after 2hrs sleep) and ran a half marathon.... nutters! a few groups did cycle, 3 of us did a very easy flat 20km, yup we did find a flat road! Day 6 - More Hills and we welcomed back the famous Lanzarote Wind which has evaded us until now. 80km and 1100m of climbing today, the wind made it much tougher, and everyone finished up feeling the extra kick in the legs that a 40km headwind gives you! totals so far 6 days - 400km, 5000m climbing and 16hrs of cycling. Tomorrow is our last big day, the plan is 110km with 2 of the largest climbs on the Island, Mirador Del Haria, and Mirador Del Rio, The 2 big climbs from the Ironman Course. some very tired bodies here now, with some people having ridden almost 600km in the 6 days so far! Day 7 PLan for today was to do 4hrs in the hills, which everyone (except me and the ladies who lunch did) I was finished, and knew it on the first climb, so turned tail and headed for home. The rest did 4:10 and 1700m of climbing, in very high winds! By all accounts a very tough day in the hills. Day 8 - Final Day Plan again, easy spin for coffee, (there really is no such thing here!) 2:30 ride, 800m climbing, 37 degrees heat and high winds again made for a tough spin! so that's it my training camp is over! In the end i managed 8 days on the bike 20hrs of cycling Over 500km Over 6000m climbing most people did more, which is pretty awesome going! have to say it, the more times i visit this island, the more i fall in love with it! General consensus with the rest of the guys was that the camp was a great success, ideal accommodation, access to sea swims, and some of the toughest biking you can find! i'm now on a well earned rest for the week!

So much for a recovery week......

so this week was pretty much a recovery week, finished off with a tough weekend.

Mid week was very steady, 2 rest days, a couple of gym sessions and a couple of very light steady turbo sessions. I did however do the Anti-Turbo spin on Monday night on the fixie, where i was somewhat outgunned in the gearing department (cue a visit to the bike shop for a larger front sprocket for Trixie!)

i also got in the pool on thursday night for 30mins, the back felt good, so i'm gonna start building up the pool sessions from next week!

The weekend was an absolute cracker, best on the bike this year on saturday, as we all slogged our way up and over Slieve Mann, i rode reasonably well on the climb (for my standards), holding around threshold the whole way (173ish bpm) for 22mins.

The route form the summit back through aughavanah and aughrim was stunning and fast, so the average speed picked up nicely, all finished up with a manic sprint at Burkes... had to be done.

http://app.strava.com/rides/4491432

So yes i probably did overdo it on saturday to be able to post a decent time in the 10mile TT on sunday, i woke up feeling pretty cack to be honest, and really wasn't looking forward to 30mins of hell on the bike. Still i dusted off the TT bike, for her first outing on the road this year, put the deep section wheels on and was ready for the TT.

A couple of the "Big Guns" were out, Scotty "Too Hotty" Graham looking concerned as the Derminator rolled up on his P3, John Connaghan was also going to pressure the youngster. Needless to say youth prevailed, leaving us old boys in his wake....

I ended up 5th, 27:30, which was pretty cack to be honest, i have to be realistic, i've only really been training hard since Xmas, and wasn't expecting too much. I now know how much i have to do, the weather was ok, so on par was 3 mins down on last years 10TT time, then again that was 2 months later in the season, and i was on form from the IM training last year! Oh how much difference 12 months (and a few KG's extra can make)

one positive from the TT is that my CP20, or 20min Power was 5 watts higher than 4 weeks ago, so moving in the right direction.... :-)

Totals for the week:
Bike - 6hrs
Swim - 45mins very easy
Strength - 2hrs
Total = 8:45

Next week, Base 3, Week 1, target 12:30 total, 9:30 bike, 2hr strength and 1hr swim.....

Onwards and upwards!

Hills... Hills.... Hills....

This week i was mostly climbing hills....!

at least that's what it felt like. Great weeks training, with over 10hrs of cycling and a couple of hours of strength work. I got back to the weights (proper weights, not fannying around) this week, 2 sessions. Legs were pretty sore after the first session on Monday.

Did a 2x20min hard interval session on the turbo on Monday night, @85%FTP, then a great MTB spin which took us over the summit of Carrick, and down the NPS downhill route. Lots of mud and great fun.

Wednesday another turbo session, this time 5x6min intervals. Thursday a rest day, manic in work, swim coaching and the New Members evening didn't make for much rest but hey!

Friday a really light 50mins on the turbo then a weekend of climbing.

Saturdays spin was arguably one of the toughest spins I've done in a few years, starting with Kiliskey, Slaughter, Shay Elliott then the climb into Rathdrum, fortunately one of the group had a technical on the last climb, so we bailed the final climb to aghowle and picked up the pace on some well earned flat road from Rathdrum to Wicklow. 70km and 1000m of climbing!

Sunday i met up with Mark and Beth, for an MTB spin over Carrick, we stayed out for 2.5hrs. Stunning weather, icy in sections but a superb day on the hills.

All in all a really solid week on the bike. 2000m of climbing! legs are pretty sore now.

Rest n Test week next week, going to move my FTP test to wed night, so i can ride with the club again on saturday.

Back held out well this week, missed a couple of stretching sessions, but will make up for them next week, as i'll have more time. Going to try the "Anti-Turbo" spin tomorrow evening!

Miami Nice....

Forgive me father, its been 2 weeks since my last blog.....

last week i was travelling with work to Miami for a conference, a very hectic schedule with little to no time to train! i managed 2 gym sessions (in the same day, Wed), and a very short spin 30km on Saturday, before the effects of the Jet Lag took over to ruin my Sunday!

The week before was a solid one with 9.5hrs on the bike, and 11.5hrs overall.

The back is certainly getting better, i'm able to drive to work in the mornings with no pain now (mornings are always the worst, as everything tightens up overnight!). I'm going to hit the pool for a short swim session on Thursday this week, just 15mins to see how everything feels.

The rest of this week is back to the program, Base2 - Week 3, with a target of just over 12hrs on the bike.... will be interesting to see how close i can come to hitting that, and a couple of hours strength / conditioning work.

Its great to see the lighter mornings and evenings starting to take shape, felt like a real hint of spring this morning driving to work!

Signing off for now.... Gonon!

What have the Romans ever done for us.........

Week 4, and a rest'n'test week. Pretty much stuck to the plan, missed one bike at the weekend, as the weather was poxy. Mid week felt great, MTB on tuesday felt strong, solid spin and some great trails over Devils Glenn and Carrick.

The rest of the sessions were done on the Lemond Trainer... i'm enjoying the indoor sessions so much more since Santa delivered it. A couple of steady easy high cadence sessions mid week, and an FTP test at the weekend. Numbers were lower than i'd hoped, but at least now i have a benchmark to improve on!

CP5@300W, CP20@223W

You can see my pacing for both 5min and 20min intervals was way off, ideally HR and PWR lines should be parrallel, there is significant de-coupling here. Had i paced the first 5min interval better i might have also had a bit more in the legs for the 20min interval! Lesson learned for next time :-)
 
Finally i got my MRI scan done on Saturday, so am waiting for the results as i type!

Next week, Base2 Week 1 - 10.5hrs planned, lets hope the snow/ice doesn't interuprt the training too much!

Playing the waiting game...

So week 3 of 2012 down, and another solid week of training. The back hasnt hindered me too much this week, just working within my limits!

8.5 hrs on the bike, and 3hrs of strength/stretching and yoga, made for the best week of the year so far (doesnt really say much tho!)

For those who follow/understand the principles of TSS (Training Stress Score), i'm looking to hit around 500TSS per week for the bike, last week 412, so a little low.

also following the principle of periodisation, i'm on my first rest'n'test week this week. This weeks target is 6hrs on the bike, and an hour of strength/stretching. no yoga this week, and am having my MRI on saturday, so that should help me identify whats causing this nerve problem and set me on the right path to fix it!

Also planning on doing my first FTP (Functional Threshold Power, i.e. the power you can hold for a 1hr TT) test on saturday afternoon, havent done one of these in a long while, but with the new indoor trainer and my trusty Ergomo, i'll aim to get a benchmark as to where i am right now.... i'm guessing around 230-240 FTP!

The test itself is from Coggans Power book, and is a 20min all out TT in controlled conditions, then with a bit of simple maths, works out your FTP.

so for now, signing off, this time next week, i hope to have data galore - MRI and FTP!!!

so RSVP..... TTFN......

:-)

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.....

Week 2, and a mixed bag this week. Made the decision mid week to see the GP and get a referral for an MRI. Long overdue, but progress on the back just isnt moving fast enough. So MRI now booked for the 28th, and a months worth of strong painkillers to keep me from grumbling too much!

on the training front, managed few solid sessions, 4 spins adding up to 6.5hrs on the bike, a couple of strength and stretching sessions, and my first ever Yoga session!

have to say, really enjoyed it. Felt like a twat for the first few mins, then got into it! Could do most of the exercises, a few i was really restricted with, but am really hoping this will help address the muscle imbalanace issues that are impeeding recovery for my back!

Saturday's spin was a bit of a write off, and probably will be for the next few weeks, as the Yoga is on a Friday night, so will be aching and sore on saturdays for a while, but hey, if it leads to progress!

still trying to stick to a plan of sorts, which will get me to the Wicklow 200! Target for more solid hours this week, try and get the saddle time up to close to 10hrs, but we'll see!