Post Number 11: What's keeping me riding in the rain...

It's fair to say that the weather is pretty rubbish right now if you're a cyclist. It's also fair to say that I haven't been out on my bike nearly as much as I'd have liked! Not through lack of trying though - things (ie, work) just keep getting in the way! When I have had free time, I've been out riding despite the weather. Come rain or shine, I've been getting in the time I have available suffering in the saddle.

There's a big reason I'm prepared to suffer this year... (read on).

I'm going to be raising funds for a fantastic charity by riding across the Pyrenees close to the Spanish / French border. The route is called the 'Raid Pyrenean'. The tour company website (Marmot Tours) describes the Raid as "720km cycling challenge from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, France, in 100hrs with 11,000m of ascent!"

I think that pretty much says it all! It's going to be tough to get through... I've been riding bikes for years, but even so, riding over just one of the big Pyrenean climbs is hard work - let alone a few of them day after day!




To find out exactly what Cyclists Fighting Cancer are about, then 'like' their page on Facebook and scroll through some of the truly inspiring stories on there:

https://www.facebook.com/cyclistsfightingcancer

Have a hanky to hand - and also have your credit card to hand so that in your weakened emotional state you donate as much as you can afford to my ride Just Giving fundraising site:

https://www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/paulbaileyraid14

Every penny you donate will go to the charity (I'm paying all of the costs of the trip).

Thanks everyone, and I'll try a bit harder to update my blog with useful training content over the coming weeks!


Paul

Post Number 10: Rubber Cranks and 1RM's

Cycling Update

Eight days have rolled by since last I posted... Unfortunately, the days were pretty much the only thing rolling! A quick check of my Strava feed shows just 4.5 hours of training and a mere 80 miles... Not quite what I was intending! Overall, it looks like I am going to fail dismally on my cycling goal of clocking up 30 hours riding in January! Hitting if I'm lucky 21-24 hours. 

If I'm being honest, I am slightly disappointed by this. I've probably had more opportunities to get out than I have taken. I could have got up earlier on a number of days and added some hours. I could have ignored the decidedly damp environment and 'mtfu'd'! I have though, made the most of the rides that I have managed to do - so I have to be positive about that. There is no point beating myself up too much. Certainly though, I am going to 'try harder' in February!

Interestingly (to me at least), I did have an opportunity yesterday to see exactly how poor my cycling fitness still is... and it's fair to say I surprised myself! The following is an account of my experience on the Wrekinsport Reliability 2014:

The fantastic Wrekinsport Cycling Club organise a reliability ride that covers 60 miles. The route covers some fairly flat roads from Wellington Leisure Centre near Telford to Market Drayton, Audlem, Whitchurch, Wem and back to Wellington.

As I cycled into the leisure centre car park for the 'signing on', the first riders I bumped into were Andy Tennant (GB Team Pursuit squad member) and Jason Meyer (local hardman renowned for his relentless pace on every ride). I wasn't exactly filled with glee at the prospect of these two nutters setting the pace for my untrained legs to follow. However, the more stubborn side to my personality went into denial. 'It'll be ok' I thought. 'I've hung on in the past - today will be no different!'. I'm sure that at one point I even had the notion that I could probably get around the course without going too 'anaerobic' (you may remember that I'm trying not to go anaerobic so that I can get a higher volume of training in). It really does astound me that after all these years of suffering on wheels, I can still sell myself an idea that is blatantly not true! Not only that, I can even take the big-fat-kidding of myself to the next level...

The next level of denial started pretty soon into the ride. We started pedalling at 9.30am. At around 9.35, with 58 miles to go out of 60, I found myself a fair way off the front of the bunch, cruising at around 27mph. This could have been considered a 'lone attack'. Except I then remembered that I didn't know the route, so I waited for the group to catch me up. 'Don't be silly' I thought, 'You don't know the way and there's a long way to go'. Sound advice. Which I adhered to for around 2 more miles, before I hit the front again. 

At this point, the legs were feeling fantastic (20 mph tailwind may have had a role to play in this!). So I stoked the fire a bit and gained a small gap - hoping that 2 or 3 other riders would catch me up and that together we would ride a glorious ride to the finish at an average speed of 25mph. It didn't happen though. I still didn't know the way, so sat up again having used up calories I probably couldn't afford!

Things settled down on the ride for a few miles, until, at the 22 mile mark, a black shadow passed up the outside of the bunch. A quick check of the Garmin showed a speed of 29mph at that point. A normal reaction when you see someone floating up a bunch is to add just a bit of effort, so that when the rider goes 'off the front' and the elastic bunch gets stretched, you're not the rider to snap. So I pressed on the pedals and got to 32 mph. The black shadow (no prizes for guessing who) then duly rode off the front of the bunch. Still in my state of denial, I focused a bit more power through the cranks. 'Easy' I thought. A weird thing happened though - the carbon fibre cranks that have served me so well for the last 2 seasons... well, they turned to rubber. I seemed to lose all control of my pedalling style and absolutely no extra power was coming out the other end. This didn't seem right to me, so I took a moment behind a passing car to take stock of the situation. 

As the passing car sped up to overtake the newly formed lead group of four riders, I attempted to hang in it's slipstream - a bit of a cheat to bridge the ever growing gap - but acceptable in such circumstances. Once again, I diverted all my efforts into my legs. My brain stopped functioning, I got a 'pins and needles' in my arms where they were being starved of blood, the car in front even started to look like a 'ghost car' as the fog of complete exhaustion clouded over me. All of this happened to my body and yet there was no extra speed to show for it, in fact, I was slowing up a fair bit. The game was up!

The realisation that I hadn't 'made the cut' was a game changer for me. From that point on, all I wanted to do was survive to the end of the ride. Which, with the aid of a small bunch that formed at about 30 miles to go did actually happen! It's a shame that I didn't play the 'survival' game from mile 1... Perhaps next time! My group (dwindled down to just 2 riders by the finish), eventually finished somewhere around 15 minutes after the leaders. 

At the conclusion of the ride, it's fair to say that I was scraping the bottom of the calorie barrel. Even 2 bottles of sugar and a gel didn't last to the finish. Just as well then that the lovely Organisers from the Wrekinsport club were selling homemade lemon drizzle cake for just 50p! 2 slabs later and I was pedalling the 2.5 miles home to more tea and mackerel on toast (my top tip for a protein rich post exercise meal). More on nutrition strategies in the next blog!

Overall conclusion - well, I had good speed, just poor endurance. But for me, that's normal at this time of year. Strength training in winter tends to give you a speed advantage over other riders as you can 'muscle' the pedals round with that bit more force than someone who's just been clocking up big miles. Of course, nothing builds endurance and pedalling efficiency like long rides, so that's something I hope to see progression in over the next month or two.

Strength Training Update

This bit is a slightly shorter ramble! I didn't actually do that much strength training last week. I did though, complete my one rep max deadlift test. I managed 145kgs. As a fairly lanky ectomorph, I'm pretty happy with that!

This week, I'll be back on it - but starting on Tues not Monday (ran out of time today). I'll post on here a short video clip to show correct deadlift technique - mainly because a national cycling magazine has published an article about strength training for cyclists - and has managed to confuse a 'deadlift' for a 'bent over row'. Hopefully, at least just a few readers of that magazine will read this and not make the same error!

Cyclists Fighting Cancer

Finally, if you are reading this blog as a supporter of Cyclists Fighting Cancer, then thanks for clicking on Mike's email link and tuning in! This September, I'll be riding the Raid Pyrenean with Mike and around 18 other cyclists of varying abilities. I'll be using this blog to document my riding, offer training advice and give cycling tips - and I'm happy to answer questions, so please feel free to subscribe and share! The more people you share this blog with, the more people will become aware of the charity - especially as we get nearer to the event, when my 'coverage of the charity' will inevitably increase!

Stay Safe,

Paul

Post Number 9: You Lose Some, You Win Some

Well, it's fair to say that this week has been a typical example of how awkward my work / life / training balance can be! Trying to squeeze in 40 hours of teaching, plus something similar in Lego building and then add in the complicating factor of some stressful negotiations with an important client of ours is never going to be conducive to smashing out a few hours of aerobic, low intensity training on my bike (as was my goal).

You can see from my Strava stat's that I have only managed a dismal 41.8 miles in 3.5 hours of cycling! For the 'Stato's' amongst you, to save you getting a calculator out, that's an average speed of just under 12 mph!! 

I always knew that this week was going to be a difficult one from a training goal perspective... Therefore I did what any good fitness professional would do and I changed some of the variables in my training. Generally speaking, fitness programming works around four principles: Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type (FITT Principles). I couldn't do the time this week, so I upped the intensity instead. 'How so? You averaged under 12 mph!' I hear you say... Well, I put in a bit of extra effort in the strength training sessions and I also chose to ride up a big hill near where I live called 'The Wrekin'... twice. The Wrekin allegedly has the 'Highest ascent for it's circumference around it's base in the whole of Britain'. I'm not sure that's completely true, but it felt like it two days ago - particularly the second time up!

The Wrekin is an off-road climb to be done on a mountain bike. At times the gradients make you slow to near walking speed. Even once onto the false flat over the top there is still a sting in the tale that is 50:50 whether you'll make it up without pulling a foot out to avoid an embarrassing, slow speed 'topple'. It takes 13 minutes on a good day to get to the top. The day I went up was not a good day, weather-wise or state-of-training-wise! 

The Losses

So, I'm a little behind on one of my goals already (30 hours of cycling in January including a ride in North Wales and the Peak District). I could get down about this I guess, but, there have been a fair amount of 'out of my control' obstacles put in my way this week. As mentioned right at the start of my blog, I'm not going to worry about those sorts of things. I'm choosing to concentrate on getting the things in my control right. However, there are also some positives to reflect on too!! (One of the many advantages of setting a number of 'Process' goals).

The Wins

I've managed to up my loads in the 2 big strength exercises I do (Squat and Deadlift). I'm now lifting 10kgs more than over Christmas (see pic to the right for weights) and I feel like I can go on from that over the next couple of weeks too! Usually, you would expect to progress by around 2.5-7.5kgs every 5 weeks or so (that's a typical length of a strength training mesocycle). I guess my progression has been a bit quicker due to me getting more 'familier' with the 'skill' of lifting. Along with this increased strength has come slightly bigger quadriceps and glutes (approx 1 cm in circumference since the start of training in November). Coupled with an actual decrease in bodyweight of 1lb, that's all the proof I need that my body is changing for the better!

Perhaps though, the biggest positive to take from my training so far, is that I felt 'strong' riding up the Wrekin, despite DOMs in my legs limiting my riding intensity. I got to the top as comfortably as is possible up there - never pushing much harder than 7/10 effort. I was 3 minutes off my best time up the hill, but actually think I'm not too far off my best fitness of last year already and I definitely think I'll be challenging for the Strava KOM up there in the Summer! (This is another of my goals!).

The Week Ahead

So overall, I'm pleased with how things are progressing. This week I do have some extra time due to work being quiet, so I'll try my best to get in some long rides alongside the heavier weights sessions. I'm also going to have a go at a 2 Rep Max Deadlift Strength Test at the start of Monday's strength session. Mainly because my training partner, Pom, did one last week (watch Pom's self-glorifying video below!). I won't get very close to his mark, but I'm intrigued to know what I can do! Of course, I'll report back!

Don't try that at home folks...

Paul

Post Number 8: Ice, Over-reaching and Over-training

Well, I'm sitting here in compression socks, waiting impatiently for my dinner, feeling a little like a candle with just millimetres of wick left that is about to be extinguished sooner than intended... I don't get to do that many longer rides, so given the opportunity this morning to ride with no time limit with an old pal, Liam, I thought I'd make the most of it!

It was an early, but promising start, with a beautiful sunrise in my rear view mirror as I headed North. A blue sky rose up high in front of me, with just a few wispy white clouds around that marked just how high up the cold atmosphere went. The temperature on the car said -1 degrees. 'Lovely' I thought, 'Perfect cycling day!'.

And it was a perfect cycling day, with just a few ice patches to spice up some of the descents. Our route ventured into Wales with the intention of climbing over the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen. Unfortunately however, we never got there! Somebody mysteriously put a hill called 'Yr Ochr' in the way! 

If you've never ridden over this horrendous climb, then have a look on my Strava profile and give it a go. It's near Llangollen and is a sort of offroad / road combination that basically just goes straight over the local mountain. No messing around with hairpins like those soft Frenchy's etc use! My standard gear these days of 39x23 was hideously overgeared - especially when weight and fitness aren't what they ought to be! Consequently (I kid you not) each pedal stroke was a bit like doing a 1 rep max lunge! To say I had shaky legs over the top is an understatement! Whether you're a cyclist or not, at some point in your life, if you love fitness, you should try riding up a 'proper' hill without stopping!

I would certainly say I bit off more than I could chew this ride... To be technical, you'd probably call it 'Over-reaching'. Over-reaching is doing a bit more damage than is optimum in a training session, so that it impacts on your next few sessions. I certainly won't be doing my normal Monday strength training tomorrow - or if I do, it'll be adapted and less intense! Training effectively is a manipulation of your FITT Principles (Frequency of training, Intensity of training, Time spent training and Type of training). Push too hard in one of these area's and you'll have to compensate in another. In this instance, my intensity was too hard, therefore my frequency of training this week may well be reduced.   

Over-reaching in a one-off session isn't great, but it isn't the end of the world. Over-reaching repetitively however could certainly do some damage. You'd probably call that 'Over-training'. Over-training can lead to lots of physical ailments including reduction in performance, chronic injuries and an under-performing immune system. 

It's sometimes hard to spot when over-reaching or over-training occurs. Finding the balance between physical stressors that cause perfect fitness progression and those that go a bit too far is a real art. The most obvious advice is to listen to your body. Maybe take your resting pulse each morning and see if it's elevated the day after training (ie, have an easy day). Ultimately though, just be sensible. Don't go out and smash yourself up every time you train. If you feel tired, wait before training again. Training when you're tired isn't going to be beneficial anyway! Make sure that whatever you're doing has an objective, even if that objective is 'active recovery'.

Right, my amazing wife to be is about to dish up dinner, so I'm off to fill up before I chew my own leg off.

Paul

Post Number 7: The Answer...

Just in case you were wondering what the answer is to the question posed in Blog 6... The answer is that the stronger twin will get fatigued slowest, as he is lifting a lower percentage of his maximum. The task of squatting his own bodyweight is relatively easier! There's a lot of scientific evidence to back this up and it the theory works for individuals the majority of times... but the best way to find out whether it's true or not, is to give it a go yourself!

Today, it's fair to say I don't feel particularly strong. I have DOMs (DElayed Onset Muscle Soreness) from yesterday's deadlift and clean lifts, and my recovery bike ride (3 hours) was a little bit harder than it should have been. I intended to keep my heartrate below 170 (My max HR is 205) so that I didn't compound my fatigue too much, but some of the hills around here are so steep and unavoidable (I live at the top of a gorge), that just to get home, my HR went pretty high (180ish).

Fingers crossed I'll feel fresher tomorrow. As tomorrow is squat day, my favourite day!

Paul

Post Number 6: Stronger Together

Only a shortish blog tonight (although I realise I have a tendency to ramble!)... Mainly because I have zero energy left after training earlier. There's two main reasons why I have no energy - and they are the two culprits below left! 

You see, tonight I trained with my friends and colleagues Tom and Pom. No, they don't do a comedy double act despite their similar names (unless you include their current attempts at growing beards as comedy). As you can see from the pic' above, they're not cyclists... 'So why train with them?' I hear you ask.  Well, two reasons:

Reason 1

Training with mates is motivational. Not only does it push you to lift that extra weight or rep (or if you're on the bike, ride the extra mile), but it also gets you out and training in the first place. I can guarantee that tonight I wouldn't have made the training session without them pestering me on our 'group text'. Nor would I have lifted as much as I did, or focused on my technique. All in, they were good value to me tonight! (Thanks lads!).

Reason 2

Despite them being football and rugby players, the basic movements of their sports share many of the same features as cycling. Therefore, the exercises we do can benefit all of our sports. 

The primary movement in almost every sport, is often referred to as 'Triple Extension'. Triple extension, in a nutshell, involves the extension (opening up) of the ankle, knee and hip joints. If we want to generate as much power as possible, then we have to be able to extend the hip' knee and ankle as fast and efficiently as possible. That means practising this movement repeatedly to train our muscular timing and muscle fibre recruitment. If we can 'time'our muscle contractions to work together perfectly and 'recruit' as many muscle fibres as possible, then we will be able to generate an awful lot of force which we could use for jumping, sprinting, pushing opponents, or... pushing pedals around in circles. 

The Gluteals, Hamstrings, Quadriceps and muscles of the lower leg; Tibialis Anterior, Gastrocnemius and Soleus all have a role to play in Triple Extension, so tonight we used the Deadlift and Clean exercises to develop strength, fibre recruitment and muscular timing.

Training Triple Extension of course, can be done on the bike... but training muscular timing and recruitment is generally thought to work best when high forces are involved. High forces are possible on a bike of course (grind up a hill in a big gear at low revs per minute). But... tonight it was dark, wet and windy... and... the forces that I can generate with an Olympic bar on my back are an awful lot more than what is possible if I push pedals around - even up a big hill (push too hard and you'll either just lift your bum off the saddle or fall off!). 

Now some of you might be thinking 'Yeah, but is any of that going to cross over to cycling?'. Well, in my opinion, yes. That's why track cyclists do it. I hear your next question... 'Yeah but what about endurance cycling?'. Well, Think of this analogy:

There are two identical twins - they both weigh exactly the same and genetically are identical. However, one of the identical twins can squat a heavier weight (twice his bodyweight) than his brother (he can only lift 1.5 times his bodyweight). This is because the first twin has been doing strength training.

Question - If both twins were asked to do 100 bodyweight squats (an endurance activity if ever there was one and nowhere near either twin's maximum lift), who would get tired first? You can write your answers below as comments if you like! I'll give you my (and the strength and conditioning community's) answer in the next blog!

So, that was tonight. Oh yes, with one other thing. Tonight a young impressionable cyclist named 'Todd' trained with us. Fingers crossed, he has felt the benefits of group training tonight! I guess we'll see on Wednesday, when our next session is due! 

Our programme by the way, if you hadn't noticed is now in the top right hand corner of this blog. As it changes, I'll keep you updated!

Paul

Post Number 5: Statistics, We All Love Statistics!

I've been dreading this blog for a while... It's the one where I have to come clean about my current (lack of) fitness! Rather than bore you with all of the measurements I've taken, I'll keep it short and sweet with just the important ones.

Body Butter

Firstly, weight and bodyfat... Now don't get me wrong, I realise that I'm no pro' and that 4% bodyfat is unachievable for me. However, it's fair to say that in the last two or three years, a fair old amount of 'body' has appeared where it once wasn't! In short, I need to deal with it before it turns into a permanent lardy addition. 

The extra weight I'm currently carrying isn't going to slow me down massively (I'll talk more about this later). However, I'd like to be the best I can be, and if the marginal gain of losing some adipose tissue can be had, then I'll take it! I need to lose this weight (it's mainly bodyfat!) the right way though. I'm not going to 'diet' or do 'fat burning' rides on an empty stomach having consumed black coffee (many cyclist's preferred method of torture). I'm just going to 'eat clean' and limit the amount of 'empty kcals' such as alcohol and chocolate I consume. This, along with some natural weight loss that occurs during longer rides, should get things back into the realms of athleticism without impairing my ability to train hard because I have a kcal deficit and no energy. 

'Athletic weight' to me I reckon is 11 - 11,3 in imperial, which is around 70kgs. I'm currently at 11,11 (75kgs) having managed to come down from over 12 stones (79kgs at one point!). 

Of course, I also need to be careful that I don't lose any muscle mass from the wrong places (legs) as that might knock my power output down a bit (which would have a far greater effect on performance than losing a few lbs in weight). To keep a check on things, I'll calliper test myself to determine my fat levels in different areas. I'll also take some circumferential measurements as an additional guide as to how my body is changing. I'll log them all in a table and of course, publish them all for you to see in the next blog!

Watt Power?

Power to weight ratio is really important if you want to ride a bike as fast as possible. I've already talked about my weight, so let's focus now on the power I can produce. 

Firstly, there are many different 'types' of power a cyclist can produce including; 'Max Power' (max output over 6 seconds usually), 'Max Minute Power' (highest average power sustainable over a minute) and 'Functional Threshold Power' (average power that can be held for one hour). For more details on these have a look at www.wattbike.com - there is a real simple explanation of everything on there! Obviously, all types of power are important for a cyclist, but some are of higher value than others in certain disciplines. I've decided that  for what I'm doing, I'm interested in the more endurance based measurements.

The type of power we are good at generating is largely trainable, but there is also a strong genetic element to it. The old saying 'You can't turn a donkey into a racehorse' certainly applies in my case. My previous experiences in cycling have also told me that I'm not a particular specialist in any area either. So I'm going to be realistic in my expectations of what power outputs I'll be able to produce. 

I won't be training to pre-determined power values using a powermeter either. I don't like the idea of 'prescribed' training as it is often very difficult to get training intensities perfect for that particular day. I'd rather play it by ear and get 'in tune' with my body. For me, powermeters are a great way of reflecting on what you've done - not dictating your ride. Fail to reflect on your training, and there's a fair chance of not getting anywhere near your potential. Training is largely an evolution of ideas, implementation and the results you get from them, so make sure you have a coherent plan and reflect on it regularly!

Instead of powermeters I'll be relying on 'feel' and a few 'Hill tests' to check my fitness progress every so often. These tests will use my Garmin linked up with info off Strava (you may have noticed that I've added a Strava widget to my blog). Combining info from both of these, I can work out an important value called 'Watts per kg'. It's a number that is specific to the length of the climb you're riding up, but it's a value that is widely used in cycling and will allow me to see my ability over different types of terrain. I'll be using the 'Ferrari' method for determining this measure of power to weight. 

Last year, over climbs of 3-10 minutes duration, I was producing around 5.5-5.9 Watts per kg. Anything over 10 minutes though and that number dropped to horrendously low levels (less than 4 W/kg. This was probably due to two reasons: Firstly, my bodyweight will have meant that I was trying harder than I should have been right from the start of the climb - meaning that I will have been using and exhausting my anaerobic energy system (high energy but with lactic acid as a by-product) after the first five or six minutes. Secondly, my aerobic energy system and anaerobic thresholds, will not have been as efficient or high respectively as they could have been due to a severe lack of time on bike (I averaged around 3 hours riding a week last summer!). If I can use my anaerobic system more sparingly by using my aerobic energy system more effectively and perhaps also pushing my anaerobic threshold up higher so that when I am trying hard I can push myself that little bit more, then hopefully I should see my climb times tumble! 

My power to weight goal this year, is to up my Watts per kg on climbs lasting 10-30 minutes duration. To do this, I therefore need to sustain the power output that I can already achieve for longer by training my CV and muscular systems (particularly my aerobic energy system). If I can also reduce my dead weight by 5kgs too, then that could make a speed difference worth having. 

In numbers:

A weight loss of 5kgs could cut up to 1 min 20 seconds off a 20 minute duration climb. A sustainable power gain of 20 Watts could make a similar saving. They, therefore, are my objectives. If I achieve these, then my big goal of achieving 6.2 W/kg over the shorter climbs I have locally should be achievable.

Hope that wasn't too dull! All feedback gratefully received!

Paul