Sports Science Testing

Last week I went for a test with The Endurance Coach in St Helens.  Despite some carpark-based shenanigans afterwards, it was a really rewarding and interesting session.

For those interested it involves wearing a gas analysis mask whilst doing a cycling ramp test where the power is gradually increased and you maintain your effort.

Here are my summary statistics – it turns out I’m relatively good at burning fat (50/50 fat vs carb at low power/intensity) and that lends itself to longer, endurance rides.  I do need to do some quicker rides as gradually, over time, I will get slower if I don’t.

• Max HR – 197 bpm (not bad for a 44 year old)
• Threshold HR – 187 bpm
• Threshold Power – 310 watts
• RQ1 HR – 172 bpm
• RQ1 Power – 250 watts
• VO2 max – 45.2 ml/min/kg
• Max Aerobic Power – 370 watts
• Aerobic Power/Weight Ratio – 4.93 watts/kg
• Max Sprint Power – 1077 watts
• Anaerobic Power/Weight Ratio – 14.34 watts/kg
• Average 10 sec power – 906 watts
• Power/Weight Ratio – 12.06 watts/kg

I’ve been given a training plan and I hope to return in 16 weeks to see what, if anything, has improved!

Who Stole My Legs…?

After our jolly japes in the mountains of Todmorden on Sunday I played football yesterday evening.  My legs felt fine and it was a good game.

Got on my bike this morning and although my legs were a bit stiff and achy, it’s mostly downhill so I didn’t notice too much.

However tonight on my way home was a different story.  My bike is a fixie so there’s no hiding place.  Jelly legs and no power going up the relatively mild hills of my commute.  And they don’t half ache now!

High Intensity Weekend

I guess it’s all relative.  To many faster, fitter, younger riders it probably won’t seem like much, but this weekend has been pretty high intensity for me.  And that’s on top of a week where I’ve probably overcooked things.  Last Saturday I tackled the Hopey New Year audax which was very tough in itself.  I took Sunday off and then played football on Monday – on a side with a man down.  Tuesday I took off and then did my normal commute (12.5 miles each way) on Wednesday.  Thursday it was football (again a man down) and Friday my commute.  Geordie Graeme from North Cheshire Clarion had mentioned a Saturday afternoon ride so myself and Paul turned up.  I thought it would be a good warm up for Sunday’s new format “training” club run, which I’d volunteered to lead.  As it was Paul and Graeme drove a pretty fast pace into the wind, and as we didn’t stop, I got my nutrition horribly wrong and was bonking badly with 4 or 5 miles to go, slowing the guys considerably.

Saturday route - NO CAFE STOP!!

707ft ascent

Saturday evening was all about trying to recover.  My “warmup” had really hit my legs so I was into an ice-bath when I got home and then on with the compression tights, much to the amusement of the family.

There has been some discussion about the NCC Sunday club runs recently.  They are billed as social and open to anyone, fitting nicely with the ethos of the club itself.  The trouble is, fitness-wise, I’ve felt myself going backwards as they don’t stretch me at all.  Last summer and autumn it was okay because there was always an audax or a sportive that helped keep the levels up.  But after November, and coupled with the white-off that was December, I’ve gone backwards at a rate of knots.  So we now have sister rides to the social rides – currently known as training rides.  Today was the first and I was leading.  We set off 15 minutes ahead of the social ride, on the same route, such that anybody struggling can be swept up by the social ride.

Sunday route - cake at Lavender Farm

616ft ascent

Including me there were 6 riders up for the inaugural ride, and off we went.  If anything the weather was worse and the wind slightly stronger, blowing West to East – so into our faces from the off.

The ride went very well indeed, with people taking turns on the front and keeping up a decent pace.  As we arrived at the cafe stop after 30 miles we were averaging 17.6mph.  Some coffee & walnut cake helped refill the tank and we set off back.  By now we were turning back into the wind and the heavens opened with cold, driving rain directly into our faces.  As opposed to Saturday where I bonked, today I got within a couple of miles of the end and my legs had decided enough was enough, and I gradually slipped off the back .  Anthony sportingly dropped back and pulled me back on but my legs were shot at the end.

Saturday HR profile - average 156bpm

Sunday HR profile - 162bpm average

HR Legend

The two HR profiles show the level of intensity I was working at on both days.  To put it all into context, in the 603 rides where I’ve collected data, these were 3rd and 8th highest average heart-rate, which I think is either a measure of how my fitness has tailed off, or it shows that whilst I’m pretty good at long distance and endurance, I’m not so good at high intensity.  Put it this way, I feel a long way off the 18.6mph average that Anthony and I did on the Manchester 100.  It’s probably a mixture of both if I think about it.  I’m just not used to these higher intensity rides and therefore struggle when we get towards the end of them.

And that is what the training rides are all about.  Hopefully these will develop my fitness and help increase my ability to work at a higher intensity for longer.  That said, I also think I need to realise that I’m not as young as I used to be, and not get frustrated when I can’t do everything I want to do, at the intensity that I want to do it.

My legs are aching now, and my right knee is very, very sore.  I think I’ll listen to my body now and have a couple of days off.  Hopefully everyone else enjoyed the training ride and it will be the first of many.

Ride Stats : Saturday 43.6 miles in 2hrs 38m @ 16.5mph, 2512kcals used

Ride Stats : Sunday 42.8 miles in 2hrs 30m @ 17mph, 2517kcals used

 

December’s a White-Off

No riding this weekend which coupled with the snow and ice earlier in December all adds up to a very poor month for cycling.  So far I’ve only managed 144 miles this month and if the weather stays as it is there may not be much more to go on top of that.

More disciplined people than me will doubtless spend hours on their turbo’s in the garage and I guess I should too, but it’s sooooo boring.

To top it all my regular games of football have been cancelled more often that not too, meaning  I’ve not been getting as much exercise as usual and I can feel my fitness drifting.  Of course I’ve adjusted my eating accordingly.  Oh, wait…

 

World Record Holder. Well, sort of…

Dedication, dedication
Dedication, that’s what you need
If you wanna be the best
If you wanna beat the rest
Oh-oh dedication’s what you need;

If you wanna be a record break-er, Oooooh

#Lejog Training Roundup – All the Stats

So I’ve finally finished my training for the LEJOG.  It’s been 20 weeks and I’ve been keeping track of all that I’ve done.

I started when the weather was freezing cold at the end of January, when getting out of bed in the dark on a Sunday morning at 6-30am was a real struggle.  I’ve been freezing cold (a lot), soaking wet (surprisingly not that much), hot and sweaty.  It’s been icy, windy, rainy, sunny and cloudy (a lot).

I’ve ridden around Greater Manchester, Cheshire (a lot), Lancashire, Yorkshire, Wales and flirted with Derbyshire.

I’ve been up hills and down dales, on mountainsides, in valleys, through villages, towns and cities.  I’ve seen wonderful scenery and beautiful countryside.

I’ve done long and lonely hours on my own and I’ve made some great new friends and ridden with great people, and some inspirational people.  I’ve enjoyed my own company and I’ve enjoyed their company.

I’ve fallen off, I’ve hurt my knee and I’ve seen countless idiotic drivers.  My knee has been sore, my fingers have bled and my legs have ached (a lot.)

I’ve absolutely loved it.

Here’s what I’ve done:

• 2,153 training miles (plus another 530 miles commuting making 2683 miles in total)
• over 142 hours of riding (nearly 6 days solid)
• 78,400ft of climbing.  That’s equivalent to 2.7 Mount Everests.
• I’ve averaged 15.6mph across those 2,153 miles
• 116,706 kcalories of energy burned.
• Gone from 189lbs to 172lbs and 24% bodyfat to just under 18%.  That’s at least a stone of unwanted fat gone

Weekly training mileage

The graph above shows the build up in mileage that I’ve tried to achieve to peak 3 weeks before the start, and then taper down.

More and more climbing!

Similarly you can see above the amount of climbing I’ve tried to build in on a weekly basis, and the following graph is my average heart-rate – which I think demonstrates that my fitness has improved over the time I’ve been training.

My fitness has been steadily improving

Is it enough?  I’ll tell you in a fortnight!  I was advised that 2000 miles of training would be the required amount and I’ve pleased that I’ve achieved that. Although I have a slight cold at the moment I feel very strong and fit, so I’m hoping that what I’ve done will stand me in good stead.

Cleaned, oiled and ready - the bike that is

Here are some five things I’ve learned

1. Having a goal is really important – in this case the LEJOG provided all the motivation
2. Structure works. Planning what you want to achieve, and how, means you can track your progress and build your confidence
3. Shake it up – the same routes and the same things get boring.  Put effort into making things fresh
4. Accept that some days will be hard for no reason, physically and/or mentally. For every 2 steps forward you may well take 1 back.  As long as you are moving forward it’s okay
5. JOIN A CLUB – there really is no substitute for joining a cycling club and riding with others – it makes things a lot easier and more fun

One final thing.  A very big thank-you to my family, who have put up with me disappearing most weekends for hours at a time without a single word of complaint.  They have been behind me every step of the way, coaxing, cajoling and encouraging.  Fantastic support, without which I wouldn’t have been able to do my training.

I’m ready.  Wish me luck.  Better still, sponsor me.

North Cheshire Clarion Sunday Club Run – 84 miles!

Today was my last long training ride after nearly 19 weeks of training.  The weather at home was rubbish – raining and a bit miserable.  By the time I got to the start point for the club run, however, it was merely overcast.  Six of us set off on the ride and the weather immediately brightened.  The route went South West into Wales and then turned back, and was meant to be between 70 and 75 miles.  A few slight diversions, and me and John hammering it past a turning (tip – don’t put people who don’t know the route on the front) meant we easily added 10 miles.

2192ft of climbing

The first coffee stop was a bit of a disaster – it was closed!

What do you mean CLOSED????

This was the first of the diversions to find somewhere else.  Unfortunaetly we found somewhere else closed and then a pub in a lovely location on the banks of the Dee, who made us coffee but we decided to pass on the £5 sandwiches.

Sunny day on the bank of the Dee

On the route back we called at the ice cream farm and I finally got my piece of fruitcake!  We were travelling fairly quickly, including a great sprint with Andy and Dave through Delamere which had my lungs bursting.  The rain held off until the very end when it started spitting but by then we were relatively close to the finish.  Overall a good 84 miles at a very brisk 16.3mph average.  3805kcals used.

My last long ride before day 1 of the lejog!

Nutrition and Refuelling for #Lejog

One of the guys on the ride with us, Rob Harris, is a Senior Tutor for Lifetime Health & Fitness, the largest provider of health and fitness training in the UK.  He’s been in the fitness industry for 16 years and has lectured for most of those.  He provided the following tips for us – which have proved really useful

Refuelling

To understand refuelling you need to understand how the body works and how we produce energy.

The body works in 2 ways AEROBICALLY and ANAEROBICALLY. This is with oxygen being used in the production of energy and without oxygen in energy production. This has nothing to do with being out of breath but more to do with speed of oxygen across the cell wall. Athletes such as Paula Radcliffe/Bradley Wiggins etc are able to work at a high intensity whilst still allowing oxygen to get across the cell wall to work AEROBICALLY

If you work for too long, too high you get a build up of lactic acid due to no oxygen being used to produce energy. Usually this will happen after about 2 minutes of “really going for it out of the saddle up hill”.

Anaerobic energy production uses CARBOHYDRATE   (waste product= lactic acid)

Aerobic energy production uses OXYGEN + FAT + CARBOHYDRATE   (waste products= CO2, water and heat)

Stores of Fuel

The body stores a lot of FAT (on some people it is more than others) and the average person has approximately 27000 calories of fat. We can only store approximately 1800calories of CARBOHYDRATE so it is vital that we replenish our CARBOHYDRATE store as often as is needed.

Most club runners will have enough stores to run for approximately 3 hours which is why at approximately 20-22 miles they hit “The wall”. In cycling we call it “BONKED” and this is when the body runs out of stores of CARBOHYDRATE.  Because the desire to continue is strong, the body looks for substances to replace the CARBOYDRATE and the substance it finds is PROTEIN. (Our own muscles are made of PROTEIN) So to burn FAT with OXYGEN it uses PROTEIN (This is the same as in famine)

THEREFORE

We should make sure we have enough CARBO stores before we start exercising……replenish these CARBO stores as often as possible (usually at least every hour)…….and then top these up after we have finished but add PROTEIN to aid with muscle and tissue repair.

Before a ride.

Make sure you have had CARBOHYDRATE before you start.

Breakfast-Bread and Jam/ Fruit such as bananas/croissants/weetabix/shredded wheat/pasta/rice.

During a Ride

Dried Fruit/Bananas/Energy Bars/Energy Gels/Kellogs breakfast bars/ Malt Loaf/Bread & Jam

I often taken out 4 slices of bread and jam wrapped in tin foil in my back pockets. (usually eat around 2 hours)

It is also worth considering a rehydration CARBOHYDRATE drink and a litre of this should be consumed every 2 hours or according to manufacturers guidelines.

After a Ride.

Recovery is crucial because this will set you up for your next session. You have a window of opportunity within an hour or so of completing your session when you should be refueling.

Recent research has shown it is essential to begin refuelling as soon as possible after exercise. We should look to take 25gms of CARBO + 40gms of PROTEIN immediately after exercise and this could be in the form of a recovery drink if you find food hard to digest.

(Following my long ride on a Sunday I eat 2 rounds of brown toast with a tin of sardines or tuna. Sardines are approximately 45gms, a small tin of tuna from sainsburys is 30gms of protein. I will then have more CARBOs for lunch and I also take a recovery CARBO/PROTEIN drink)

Then consume more CARBOS (little and often say 50gms every hour) for the next 3-4 hours.

In terms of hydration, when we store CARBOs for eventual energy use we need water. Use need approximately 1 litre of water when we burn 1000 calories so ideally we need to drink every 10-15 minutes when exercising.

CARBOS             PROTEIN

Fruit                    Meat

Bread                  Fish, Tuna, Sardines

Rice                    Eggs

Cereals             Cheese

Sugar                Humus

Potatoes         Seeds/Nuts/Grains.

Seeds/Nuts    Soya

My usual pre-ride breakfast is porridge – which hopefully I’ll be able to get at our various digs.  During the rides I’ll be using the following products

Ride nutrition

In terms of energy the Torq bar is probably best – but I like the least.  The Torq gel also contains guarana (caffeine) which is great for a quick boost.  The lucozade bars and power bars probably taste the nicest – although power bars have a tendency to melt in the warm weather.  After each ride I’ll be using the following recovery drinks

Science in Sports recovery shakes

These shakes include a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein and include both fast-release protein (whey), which is absorbed instantly by the muscles, and slow-release protein (casein) for continued repair.  I have a feeling recovery at the end of each day may be extremely important.

If by any chance any companies who make any of these products are reading this blog we’d be happy to take any free samples available!

94 Very Windy Miles

Sunday club run with 10 other riders from North Cheshire Clarion.  I was up at 6-20am, porridge and out by 7am on what was a very blustery and chilly early morning.  Rode the 25 miles to Stretton down the East Lancs road into a fierce headwind.  Met up with the club, and after Andy’s clipless moment (ouch!) we were off.

A couple of the guys from the club write cycling blogs which are interesting and informative reads.  Phil’s can be found here, and Mark’s can be found here.  To complete the set, the club blog can be found here!

The loop took us into the headwind and then down through Weaverham and round to our stop at Allostock, with the wind now behind us.

2010ft of climbing

North Cheshire Clarion Tea Stop - picture by Phil Jones

Carrot cake - helps you see in the dark

Suitably refreshed we set off north past Knutsford and through Tabley which then saw us turn back into the headwind and back up to Appleton and Stretton.  Mark won one of the sprints so honourable mention to him!

Setting off back home there were a few of us going through Warrington.  We met a guy called Dave Smith cycling on day 3 of his Land’s End to John o’ Groats ride, so we rode with him through Warrington.  This guy was an absolute inspiration.  He told me that his daughter had been treated for cancer and as a thank you he wanted to do something for the hospital in Somerset that had treated her.  So he’d raised £2,500 in sponsorship and set off on his LEJOG solo – his friend he should have been riding with had been taken ill.  Dave is 72 years old!  Best of luck to Dave.

As I turned onto the East Lancs I thought I’d do a bit of extra training so I hit the lap button on the Garmin and went for it.  Now I know I had a tailwind, but at that point I’d already done 77 miles and I had to stop and start at 3 sets of traffic lights and 2 roundabouts.  Anyway, I did 10.19 miles in 28m 35s at an average speed of 21.4mph – so very pleased with that.

Overall 94 miles in 5hrs 45mins.  Average speed 16.2mph and 4295kcals used.

Elvis and the Reindeer

Another Scorchio day, another training ride with the North Cheshire Clarion!  Sunday rides are slightly longer than Saturday – usually of the order of 40 miles, or 70 on the first Sunday of the month.  And they include a cafe stop!  I decided to ride to and from the start point, which is a good 25 miles each way from home.  So by the end I’d clocked up 95 miles, which I was very pleased with on top of the 70 yesterday.  No real aches and pains other than a stiff neck and a sore right foot – which is because of my natural tendency to put weight/force down on the outside of my foot.

Anyway, up at 6-30am and out by 7am the roads were clear and the temperature was already warm.  I rode from my home down through Warrington to the start at Stretton.  12 of us out today set off on a loop through Frodsham, Kelsall, round Quarry Bank, past Delamere and back up via Antrobus

The route had a few more hills on it this time.  And we indulged in a new game – race to the top of the hills!  This is great training – think interval training but on a bike.  Good fun if very exhausting, especially in the extremely pleasant and hot sun.

The cafe stop took us to a truck stop on the A54.  Which is where Elvis and the Reindeer comes in.

Guess who their favourite singer is?

Cake watchers will be keen to hear I had a ginger cake AND a small piece of fruit cake

Riding back afterwards was a bit harder due to the traffic being heavier.  After yesterday’s abuse on the East Lancs road I decided to use the cycle path as I was so politely advised to!  What a joke!  The cycle path has more kerbs and potholes than any road I’ve been on, with parts of it just gravel and other parts broken up by tree roots pushing the tarmac up.  Won’t be doing that again.

Overall, a very pleasing training weekend.  165 miles completed, some good hills and warm weather training combined.