#OperationGetSexy - Gareth's log
- Thread starter gazareth
- Start date
It was the Abingdon Freewheeling Spring Cycling Festival today. Abingdon Freewheeling is the local cycling club and so there were a load of pre-organized group rides from the town market square. I signed up for a 2* mountain bike ride at 11am.
2* is apparently aimed at novice riders who have not ridden with a group before, so that seemed to fit me to a tee. The ride was fun but at a leisurely pace for most of it and didn't really push my fitness. We accelerated on the last few miles but I still felt very fresh at the end...
So much so that me and another guy from the group signed up for a 3* ride leaving the square at 1.15pm. After a short break which included a pork burrito, I headed out with a group of 4 other riders. This ride was harder - I felt fine for the first 4-5 miles but then a long stretch of bumpy trail with lots of thorns overhanging really sapped my legs. When we emerged from that trail, I found I had a puncture so we had to stop and fix that - by the time we started riding again, my legs had started to seize up so the return part of the route was way harder (it was also into the wind!). Thankfully we agreed as a group to ride a shorter route back - I'm not sure I could not have handled the proposed longer route.
Here's the basic ride numbers:
2* MTB ride
9.84 miles in 1:05:39 moving time (8.9mph average)
Avg HR 129, max 163
3* MTB ride
9.54 miles in 50:55 moving time (11.2mph average)
Avg HR 157, max 177
Twas good fun, but it was a struggle to walk up the stairs at home just now! Hopefully I'll get out for some more MTB rides this summer.
2* is apparently aimed at novice riders who have not ridden with a group before, so that seemed to fit me to a tee. The ride was fun but at a leisurely pace for most of it and didn't really push my fitness. We accelerated on the last few miles but I still felt very fresh at the end...
So much so that me and another guy from the group signed up for a 3* ride leaving the square at 1.15pm. After a short break which included a pork burrito, I headed out with a group of 4 other riders. This ride was harder - I felt fine for the first 4-5 miles but then a long stretch of bumpy trail with lots of thorns overhanging really sapped my legs. When we emerged from that trail, I found I had a puncture so we had to stop and fix that - by the time we started riding again, my legs had started to seize up so the return part of the route was way harder (it was also into the wind!). Thankfully we agreed as a group to ride a shorter route back - I'm not sure I could not have handled the proposed longer route.
Here's the basic ride numbers:
2* MTB ride
9.84 miles in 1:05:39 moving time (8.9mph average)
Avg HR 129, max 163
3* MTB ride
9.54 miles in 50:55 moving time (11.2mph average)
Avg HR 157, max 177
Twas good fun, but it was a struggle to walk up the stairs at home just now! Hopefully I'll get out for some more MTB rides this summer.
Training Tues 21st April
First lift in a week - oops
A: Front squat
5 x 60kg
Belt on
3 x 80
2 x 5 x 100
Solid enough. Would have been 3 x 5 with a bit more load but I'm keeping intensity/volume on the lower side until the 10K.
B: OH press
5/3/1 week 2
3 x 47.5kg
3 x 52.5
5 x 57.5
C1: JG inverted rows
3 x 10
C2: KB swing
3 x 10 x 28kg
First lift in a week - oops
A: Front squat
5 x 60kg
Belt on
3 x 80
2 x 5 x 100
Solid enough. Would have been 3 x 5 with a bit more load but I'm keeping intensity/volume on the lower side until the 10K.
B: OH press
5/3/1 week 2
3 x 47.5kg
3 x 52.5
5 x 57.5
C1: JG inverted rows
3 x 10
C2: KB swing
3 x 10 x 28kg
Training run
5.8 miles in 56:27 (9:36 mins/mile)
First mile in 9:16, second in 9:30, all subsequent between 9:40 and 9:50.
Avg HR 169 bpm, max 180
Nice and steady, felt pretty comfortable and could have done another mile or two without too much fuss I think. Average heart rate coming down nicely.
P.S. I'm auditioning to be a contestant on Pointless this weekend
5.8 miles in 56:27 (9:36 mins/mile)
First mile in 9:16, second in 9:30, all subsequent between 9:40 and 9:50.
Avg HR 169 bpm, max 180
Nice and steady, felt pretty comfortable and could have done another mile or two without too much fuss I think. Average heart rate coming down nicely.
P.S. I'm auditioning to be a contestant on Pointless this weekend
Training run
3.86 miles in 33:11 (8:34 mins/mile)
Splits: 8:21, 8:42, 8:40
Last 0.86 @ 8:36 pace
Avg HR 170, max 179
This was supposed to be 4 miles @ tempo (8:20). I didn't have any clean undershorts today so I ran in boxers + running shorts - this proved to be a mistake as I got some bad chafing from around 1.6 miles. I'm pretty sure I could have gone faster if I wasn't in such discomfort! I was able to focus on good form throughout - I was trying to stay upright, chest proud and head not leaning forward, with a relaxed stride pattern.
One more long run on Wednesday, then I'll do a mini-taper - the 10K is in two weeks today.
3.86 miles in 33:11 (8:34 mins/mile)
Splits: 8:21, 8:42, 8:40
Last 0.86 @ 8:36 pace
Avg HR 170, max 179
This was supposed to be 4 miles @ tempo (8:20). I didn't have any clean undershorts today so I ran in boxers + running shorts - this proved to be a mistake as I got some bad chafing from around 1.6 miles. I'm pretty sure I could have gone faster if I wasn't in such discomfort! I was able to focus on good form throughout - I was trying to stay upright, chest proud and head not leaning forward, with a relaxed stride pattern.
One more long run on Wednesday, then I'll do a mini-taper - the 10K is in two weeks today.
Training run - last long run before Town & Gown 10K
6.5 miles in 1:01:06 (9:23 mins/mile)
Avg HR 172, max 184
Got the miles in but it felt a bit sloppy. I was really tired by the end and had to talk myself out of stopping at the 6 mile mark.
6.5 miles in 1:01:06 (9:23 mins/mile)
Avg HR 172, max 184
Got the miles in but it felt a bit sloppy. I was really tired by the end and had to talk myself out of stopping at the 6 mile mark.
Post-rugby tour, peri-manflu recovery run
2.55 miles in 24:28 (9:35 mins/mile)
Avg HR 168, max 177
Tried to keep it easy and relaxed but it was still a little hard. I couldn't have run much faster, that's for sure. But still, after a week off and a weekend of the worst possible diet/drink, this was a necessary run. With the 10K on Sunday, I'm trying to decide whether I should leave it there for training or fit in a faster 2 mile run tomorrow or Friday.
I will resume lifting next week...
2.55 miles in 24:28 (9:35 mins/mile)
Avg HR 168, max 177
Tried to keep it easy and relaxed but it was still a little hard. I couldn't have run much faster, that's for sure. But still, after a week off and a weekend of the worst possible diet/drink, this was a necessary run. With the 10K on Sunday, I'm trying to decide whether I should leave it there for training or fit in a faster 2 mile run tomorrow or Friday.
I will resume lifting next week...
Training run - race pace
2.02 miles in 16:31 (8:11 mins/mile)
Splits: 8:08, 8:13
Avg HR 176, max 186
That's my final run before the Oxford Town & Gown 10K on Sunday. My aim is to go sub-52 minutes, which would require a pace of 8:22 or faster for 6.2 miles. I think I can do it, but it's going to hurt.
2.02 miles in 16:31 (8:11 mins/mile)
Splits: 8:08, 8:13
Avg HR 176, max 186
That's my final run before the Oxford Town & Gown 10K on Sunday. My aim is to go sub-52 minutes, which would require a pace of 8:22 or faster for 6.2 miles. I think I can do it, but it's going to hurt.
Oxford Town & Gown 10K 2015
Chip time 53:58
Mile splits:
8:21
8:35
8:30
8:40
9:08
9:11
Avg HR 180, max HR 202 (!)
So, a 10K PB (eight years on from my last one, and I've taken 39 seconds off my time), but I missed my goal by two minutes. I started well and felt great for the first 5-6km, even though I knew I was off the pace by about 20 seconds at the half-way point. I really started to tank around 6-7km and the whole stretch from 7-9.5km was pretty painful and slow. I found a burst of energy to run the last 600m pretty hard, including a flat-out sprint finish - I'm glad I did this and managed to get sub-54 at least.
I'm disappointed to miss my goal but still fairly pleased given that I've been ill this week. On reflection, I think I needed to spend more time doing tempo training - the furthest I've run at my target pace is 5K (all my quicker ~4 mile runs were slightly slower than target), so that's something to work on for next time.
Chip time 53:58
Mile splits:
8:21
8:35
8:30
8:40
9:08
9:11
Avg HR 180, max HR 202 (!)
So, a 10K PB (eight years on from my last one, and I've taken 39 seconds off my time), but I missed my goal by two minutes. I started well and felt great for the first 5-6km, even though I knew I was off the pace by about 20 seconds at the half-way point. I really started to tank around 6-7km and the whole stretch from 7-9.5km was pretty painful and slow. I found a burst of energy to run the last 600m pretty hard, including a flat-out sprint finish - I'm glad I did this and managed to get sub-54 at least.
I'm disappointed to miss my goal but still fairly pleased given that I've been ill this week. On reflection, I think I needed to spend more time doing tempo training - the furthest I've run at my target pace is 5K (all my quicker ~4 mile runs were slightly slower than target), so that's something to work on for next time.
We went on holiday to the Lakes for a week in mid-May and then we went to NYC for a long weekend (Weds-Sun) as I had to go to a conference. So, between the 10K race and today, my only proper exercise was a 3 mile run in Central Park. We did a lot of walking in the Lakes (32 miles in total) and a fair bit in NYC, so I mitigated my **** dietary choices somewhat!
I now have 18 weeks until the Oxford Half Marathon, so I need to get back into my running training to build towards that. My weight loss has also stalled over the six weeks or so, so I need to get my diet back in order and start lifting again.
Training run - Thurs 28th May - Central Park, NY
3 miles in 28:22 (9:24 mins/mile)
Avg HR 173
Training run - Sat 6th June
2.5 miles in 22:52 (8:56 mins/mile)
Avg HR 170
I now have 18 weeks until the Oxford Half Marathon, so I need to get back into my running training to build towards that. My weight loss has also stalled over the six weeks or so, so I need to get my diet back in order and start lifting again.
Training run - Thurs 28th May - Central Park, NY
3 miles in 28:22 (9:24 mins/mile)
Avg HR 173
Training run - Sat 6th June
2.5 miles in 22:52 (8:56 mins/mile)
Avg HR 170