Vander's Tour to Canberra

[Chookman]

Vander, this may be little comfort; however everyone was slower at Calga today! block headwind on the way out - not gusty or strong but enough to slow times significantly. I was a minute slower than my PB to the turn!

You need some rest - put your feet up for a few days, eat some crappy food and tell yourself it's not the end of the world! It sucks feeling run down; however it'll suck even more if you keep pushing to the point where you just don't want to get on the bike anymore.

[vander]

Feet are going up for now atleast until I get results. Thanks Chucky and Chook for the kind words. I am very happy with the progress, I know if I rest up even if I loose a bit I should get it back pretty fast.
TLL I felt good this morning , Didnt feel too bad racing just a little flat I was just slow. Less then 4 hours cycling last week, smallest week since starting cycling I think, although there was too much intensity. More easy time for me.

Thanks for all the nice words guys, really helps at the moment. I hate it when things dont go to plan

[vander]

Test results all good Not really sure what to do now as I still dont feel great still feel a little flat though better then before.

Good news is my hematocrit was 49% which I looked is almost at the limit. Haemoglobin was 167g/L which is also good, I think.

Now I think ill keep taking it easy for the rest of the week and try and ride my normal long rides on the weekend.

[Porridgewog]

Think yourself lucky...i went to docs for a check up as had a dizzy turn at the weekend and all was good,she then said as your 45 best get a full check...then announced she was going to check my prostrate ...anyway raced at eastern creek same night whilst standing on the pedals most of the race and found out my new Fuji flys....hit 61 on the sprint and took the win fairly convincingly i think........megga chuffed...."B" soon me thinks.

[Strange Rover]

Test results all good Not really sure what to do now as I still dont feel great still feel a little flat though better then before.

Good news is my hematocrit was 49% which I looked is almost at the limit. Haemoglobin was 167g/L which is also good, I think.

Now I think ill keep taking it easy for the rest of the week and try and ride my normal long rides on the weekend.

I wouldn't be doing your "normal" long rides on the weekend. I think with a few days rest in your system your legs will feel reasonably fresh and it will be easy for you to push reasonably hard...problem is your body probably still won't handle the load and you will go backwards again. If everything is back to normal, a few days rest, and you should be tearing the cranks off...but I don't think this will be the case...a few days rest, and you will feel better, and you will try to rip the cranks off and you will go backwards fatigue wise.

If I was you I would ride everyday and keep it below 200watts. Pedal all the time at less than 200. Uphill, downhill, flat whatever...always pedal. If you get to an incline, keep it at 200, keep changing down gears till you get in first gear and then ride the hill as slowely as possible...then pedal at 200 down the other side and then keep going.

200 watts may be too fast...170-180 may be closer...it's the pace that takes absolutely no concentration to maintain.

So ride say 60 to 90 minutes tomorrow, then the same again the next day, and then again, and then again. If everything progresses well you should feel better every day. With how much riding you have been doing you should easily handle 2 hours everyday 170-200 watts and feel good.

Do this for a while, I would imagine 2-3 weeks, and if everything is feeling good, drop some of the hours and bring back some intensity and keep building.

Don't know how long you have till your race, but I think it is a bit risky to take time off the bike to get some top end freshness only to overcook it again...I think this is what will most likely happen if you take time off and try to go back to your regular rides.

Now, I'm definitely not really qualified to give specific training advice...been riding for a few years and had lots and lots of trouble with overreaching and feeling like crap...and believing there was something wrong with me...I'm only now getting my head around what I have been doing wrong. I have a power meter also.

Sam

[Strange Rover]

Knew I had read something on this a while ago...wish I had followed this advice sooner...would have saved 6 months...

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2011/08/ ... sity-trap/

Also make sure you read the comments...especially by Wade...as he describes a bit of extra detail about what he actually did.

Sam

[rogan]

Think yourself lucky...i went to docs for a check up as had a dizzy turn at the weekend and all was good,she then said as your 45 best get a full check...then announced she was going to check my prostrate ...anyway raced at eastern creek same night whilst standing on the pedals most of the race and found out my new Fuji flys....hit 61 on the sprint and took the win fairly convincingly i think........megga chuffed...."B" soon me thinks.

Nice work mate! You'll be fine in B Grade I reckon. Been away coz I don't need racing for 3Peaks, but will try and get back for the couple of races that are left.

[Porridgewog]

Thanks for the moral support,how did "C"and "B" compare last time you were out and was the last lap mental?

[vander]

Thanks so much for that Strange Rover. I will definitely be following that for a couple of weeks. When I said my usual weekend rides I meant distance not intensity. I am going to ride them easy. I will keep the intensity down and probably drop the 20hours down to a more manageable 16 or so. I like the idea of ride everyday, sounds like exactly what I had wrong with me in the end I was doing a lot of tough rides, not many easy ones. I am pretty sure I did pick something up which exacerbated it is I felt virusey for a few days before this feeling like crap within a week my girlfriend got the same sickness. Very happy it wasnt anything major. Again thanks for that, next atleast 2 weeks ill try to cap at 200W.

Porridgewog you will be fine in B grade with a 61km/h sprint! Congrats on the win. As for the prostate exams I can wait a few years for them When I raced B grade out there last lap wasnt too hard average was a bit short of 44km/h but on that course being so flat sitting in is not much trouble.

[vander]

Ride today was about 2 hours.
Avg Power 119 (NP 127)
Avg Hr 130

Looking at a few other recovery rides it is usually more like
Avg Power 145 (NP 180)
Avg HR 120

Looking back I have not done enough real recovery a lot of my recovery sessions are around 180 avg power and over 200 normalised with avg hr 130-140 range which is not enough real recovery. Anyway but todays ride felt pretty average still hopefully after a few of these type rides I will be back feeling good. I know what to do now keep doing these rides till my HR comes down a bit more like 110 range.

[vander]

A little update. Been doing a few more 2 hour rides at lower powers and they are getting better every time. My HR is still a bit high but getting towards more normal levels, interestingly I have been getting negative decoupling on a few of the rides (though over 2 hours not sure how accurate it is) . I am also really focusing on getting my sleeping back together I have started taking sleeping tablets and for the next week I will be taking them every night at around the same time and going to sleep at around the same time. Next step is getting the diet back together, although recently I havent been eating too badly I think I have been eating a bit too much (possibly to do with the lack of energy), I still hope to hit 70kg by Canberra but it will be more of a task to do now as I have bounced back up to high 76s.

Most recent ride was a bit less then 2 hours
Avg HR 124
Avg Power 137 (NP 143)
I think -9% Decoupling.

As you can see getting a lot closer to normal. So this weekend I am going to try and longer ride (around 4 hours) and still take it easy on it. Next week I hope to resume some FTP type efforts but not at 100% I am thinking 20min efforts at around 80-85% of my old FTP (around 250W). Then hopefully after that week I can resume more normal training. I am still taking it one day at a time seeing how my body responds to every session first.

On another note the other day as I cant train hard I decided to do some leg weights and 2 days later my legs are still extremely sore, DOMS is a killer when you havent done weights in a long time.

Hoping I can still make B grade for Canberra.

[ft_critical]

Hoping I can still make B grade for Canberra.

Good to see you are making progress.

Not time to go for C grade with a mind to finish and learn from the experience? Then do better next year?

[vander]

Hoping I can still make B grade for Canberra.

Good to see you are making progress.

Not time to go for C grade with a mind to finish and learn from the experience? Then do better next year?

Shoot for the stars and you might reach the moon. Still hoping to make B grade just to be able to help my training partner who should definitely be B grade quality. However I am still pretty sure my grading is out of my hands. I am thinking when I get back to it I will start just racing A grade as I should be able to sit in to try and get me to be able to handle the extra bit of pace.

[ft_critical]

I am thinking when I get back to it I will start just racing A grade as I should be able to sit in to try and get me to be able to handle the extra bit of pace.

A collateral achievement being that we will be finally able to put this thread to rest

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36258&p=525826#p525826

[Porridgewog]

LOl about the thread.....D to A......im just moving to "B" at Eastern creek which would normally make Waratahs put me in "A" as they stuck me straight into "B" when the asked what grade i did on tues nights....so im in for the year stint....not that id ever think it was an honest acheviment as most guys starting in "D" are easily fast enough but just jump up quickly as they get race knowledge....on a note...Macarthurs points score up to Dec last year saw me reading DCB in the grade box but to be fair i was just in the bunch in "B" as they are nippy down there.

[vander]

I am thinking when I get back to it I will start just racing A grade as I should be able to sit in to try and get me to be able to handle the extra bit of pace.

A collateral achievement being that we will be finally able to put this thread to rest

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36258&p=525826#p525826

Not properly as I wont be competitive in A right away. I think it will take me atleast a month to get to the stage where I am not dieing just to hold on. Although I do have until August (when I bought my bike) or October (when I started racing) for the full year, I would hope by then I would be extremely competitive in A grade.

Porridgewog how long was that D to B over? I wouldnt expect that point score to be running for more then 10 or so weeks. That is awesome.

[vander]

Signed up for Orica Kermesse it will be my first open, except for a track open hardly the same thing, hopefully by the 31st ill be 100% again.

[Porridgewog]

Macarthur was a win in D,they put me to C next week,then won that on a break with 3 of us and took the sprint...they then put me straight into B the next week...diddnt think it was truly fair as loads of macarthur guys were winning and placing up to 20 points....think they just didnt want me to take the cash lol....won my 2nd "C" in a row on tues at eastern creek...putting myself up to "B"....so im prety happy with my sprinting now....the Fuji makes such a diffrence....

[Porridgewog]

One thing meant to ask...what gearing for a track bike would you suggest i would start at.....remember i have legs like Hoy lol

[vander]

One thing meant to ask...what gearing for a track bike would you suggest i would start at.....remember i have legs like Hoy lol

I have won everything up to A grade on the track on a 86" gearing. Saying that I have been on it cause I thought it was a 92. I would recommend anything a bit over 90 to start with. I have talked to a lot of people about it and they say you need a 48,49,50 for the front and a 14 and 15 for the back and you will be covered for everything. I have been on 48 -15 (thinking it was 48-14) and it was fine for Lidcombe in the wind (though I think I would go better up a gear) but its not enough for Dunc or really any other track. I do think training on a small gear can be good as it makes you spin.

Nice work. I am a believer in racing a bit higher as it will make you stronger. That is at your home club. Its always nice to go to another club and sit in a lower grade after doing a few races in a higher grade, actually getting to the sprint not totally smashed really helps your sprinting speed.

So excited for my long ride tomorrow now to have my tablets and go to bed

[vander]

First longer ride in what seems like forever again today. Took it nice and easy averaged just 22km/h rode for 4 hours I was hoping to get 100km but am not too unhappy. Was better again HR/power wise but still a long way from what I was before. On the hills I was about 3min slower (over a bit over 10min) for the same HR. Interestingly even at a HR of 175 (I know I shouldnt of been that high but I wasnt that high for long and was more riding on RPE then HR) I was not puffing at all and even breathing through my nose, usually at 175 my breathing is quite labored it shows something is still very much not right, thinking about another visit to the docs to rule out anything more sinister.

[vander]

Really want to race. Its hard to ride easy.

[foo on patrol]

Have you had a lung capacity test?

Foo

[vander]

Have you had a lung capacity test?

Foo

Yea had a few in the last 2 years. I have a high FVC (big lungs) but only average FEV1 (the amount that I can breathe out over 1sec) lower FEV1 probably residual of Asthma as a kid. These were pretty stable over a few tests last year.

[foo on patrol]

Ok I was querious because when I had mine first tested 4yrs ago, it showed my capacity was only 45%!
He thought I had chronic Asthma and put me on Ventolin but that made no difference after a month and he switched me to Spiriva and after a
month, my capacity had risen to 75% and after six weeks to 95%.

I was and still am not a smoker but had always been a shallow breather and am now wondering if, my lung capacity was impaired whilst racing.

Foo