Soldato
good stuff! keep at it 
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Ok, here's the figures:
FTP: 266 watts
Weight: 83kg
Watts/kg: 3.2
It's lower than i expected, my max ftp in the summer was around 355 so that's quite a drop.
It's not really a disappointment though, i just didnt know what to expect. Looking back to this time last year, i'm certain that i'm considerably stronger now than i was a year ago. It's probably a good thing to get a result like this just as a reminder that i do need to keep working hard and following the plan.
It's good to have some real numbers to track progress (the next test is in 4 weeks time). I should have done a test before i started but i didnt get time.
So, that's the end of the 'Base1' phase. Next is 'Base2'.
Still has a big focus on long duration, steady endurance rides but with some harder workouts now included.
This is the plan for the next week:
Monday: 1 hour, steady. Zone1.
Tuesday: 30mins zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 2 hours, zone2(190-200W)
Thursday: 2 hours, isolated leg intervals
Friday: 1.5 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2.5 hours, zone2
Sunday: 3.5 hours, zone2
It's my on-call week again this week, so a lot of turbo time
FTP: 266 watts
Weight: 83kg
Watts/kg: 3.2
It's lower than i expected, my max ftp in the summer was around 355 so that's quite a drop.
It's not really a disappointment though, i just didnt know what to expect. Looking back to this time last year, i'm certain that i'm considerably stronger now than i was a year ago. It's probably a good thing to get a result like this just as a reminder that i do need to keep working hard and following the plan.
It's good to have some real numbers to track progress (the next test is in 4 weeks time). I should have done a test before i started but i didnt get time.
So, that's the end of the 'Base1' phase. Next is 'Base2'.
Still has a big focus on long duration, steady endurance rides but with some harder workouts now included.
This is the plan for the next week:
Monday: 1 hour, steady. Zone1.
Tuesday: 30mins zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 2 hours, zone2(190-200W)
Thursday: 2 hours, isolated leg intervals
Friday: 1.5 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2.5 hours, zone2
Sunday: 3.5 hours, zone2
It's my on-call week again this week, so a lot of turbo time
Not a great week last week, quite a few hours short of what i'd planned. Mainly due to being on-call and also quite busy.
This week is similar to last week with slightly longer durations:
Monday: 30 mins, steady. Zone1.
Tuesday: 1 hour zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 3 hours, zone2
Thursday: 3 hours, zone2
Friday: 2 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2 hours, zone2 + 1 hour isolated leg intervals
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
Might add in a little bit more to try and complete the festive500. I wont bother with it if i'm a long way off but if i'm getting close i might chuck in a few more hours.
This week is similar to last week with slightly longer durations:
Monday: 30 mins, steady. Zone1.
Tuesday: 1 hour zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 3 hours, zone2
Thursday: 3 hours, zone2
Friday: 2 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2 hours, zone2 + 1 hour isolated leg intervals
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
Might add in a little bit more to try and complete the festive500. I wont bother with it if i'm a long way off but if i'm getting close i might chuck in a few more hours.
Good week last week. Lots of motivation, ended up doing a couple more hours than planned. Even managed a few hours on christmas day. Not quite enough to complete the festive500 though.
So, this week:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 1.5 hours zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 4 hours, zone2
Thursday: 3 hours, zone2
Friday: 2.5 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2 hours, zone2 + 1 hour isolated leg intervals
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
So, this week:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 1.5 hours zone3, TT cadence, aero position(road bike)
Wednesday: 4 hours, zone2
Thursday: 3 hours, zone2
Friday: 2.5 hours, hilly ride, seated and low cadence on climbs
Saturday: 2 hours, zone2 + 1 hour isolated leg intervals
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
That was a pretty good week!
Managed to get everything done despite a couple of mechanical issues: broke a spoke on my powertap wheel on Thursday then got a puncture on Friday - at 11pm in the dark and rain.
Next week will be a recovery week with FTP test. Exactly the same as the last recovery week:
Monday: no bike
Tuesday: 1 hour, high cadence, zone1-2
Wednesday: 2 hours, high cadence, zone1-2
Thursday: 1 hour, individual leg intervals
Friday: 1 hour, very easy, low zone1 HR
Saturday: 1 hour, FTP test
Sunday: 3 hours, zone2
Managed to get everything done despite a couple of mechanical issues: broke a spoke on my powertap wheel on Thursday then got a puncture on Friday - at 11pm in the dark and rain
. Next week will be a recovery week with FTP test. Exactly the same as the last recovery week:
Monday: no bike
Tuesday: 1 hour, high cadence, zone1-2
Wednesday: 2 hours, high cadence, zone1-2
Thursday: 1 hour, individual leg intervals
Friday: 1 hour, very easy, low zone1 HR
Saturday: 1 hour, FTP test
Sunday: 3 hours, zone2
Not a great week last week.
One of the guys at work asked me to cover his on call. I thought that would be a great idea as it was a recovery week for me and it means he will do my on-call next time (which is a big week on the bike for me). Ended up getting called out and not able to get out all weekend.
Also didnt get my powertap wheel back until tuesday, so missed the FTP test i was supposed to do on saturday. Did it on tuesday evening and really struggled.
FTP is up slightly to 271W.
This week:
Monday: No bike
Tuesday: FTP test
Wednesday: 3 hours, zone2
Thursday: 1.5 hours, isolated leg intervals
Friday: 2.5 hours, zone2
Saturday: 2.5 hours, seated hills
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
One of the guys at work asked me to cover his on call. I thought that would be a great idea as it was a recovery week for me and it means he will do my on-call next time (which is a big week on the bike for me). Ended up getting called out and not able to get out all weekend.
Also didnt get my powertap wheel back until tuesday, so missed the FTP test i was supposed to do on saturday. Did it on tuesday evening and really struggled.
FTP is up slightly to 271W.
This week:
Monday: No bike
Tuesday: FTP test
Wednesday: 3 hours, zone2
Thursday: 1.5 hours, isolated leg intervals
Friday: 2.5 hours, zone2
Saturday: 2.5 hours, seated hills
Sunday: 4 hours, zone2
Quick update:
This was originally intended as a log of my winter training. I didnt expect anybody would find it particularly interesting but it would be useful for me to look back on when planning next winter.
However, it seems some of you weirdos are actually wasting your lives reading it
(or maybe one very strange person reading it several times a day )
So, to reward you all for reading this crap, i have decided to extend it to include reports of races through the summer, which may be more interesting*
If a passing mod could to something which reflects this. Like "Touch's training and racing log" but feel free to be more creative. Everyone else seems to have managed to think up a funny title
*Interestingness not guaranteed
This was originally intended as a log of my winter training. I didnt expect anybody would find it particularly interesting but it would be useful for me to look back on when planning next winter.
However, it seems some of you weirdos are actually wasting your lives reading it
(or maybe one very strange person reading it several times a day )So, to reward you all for reading this crap, i have decided to extend it to include reports of races through the summer, which may be more interesting*
If a passing mod could to something which reflects this. Like "Touch's training and racing log" but feel free to be more creative. Everyone else seems to have managed to think up a funny title
*Interestingness not guaranteed
Last edited:
Busy week last week, missed Friday's ride.
Plan for this week is:
Monday - off
Tuesday - 1.5hours cruise intervals (8 mins at zone4-5, 3 mins rest)
Wednesday - 3.5hours zone2
Thursday - 2hours individual leg intervals
Friday - 3hours zone2
Saturday - 3hours hills
Sunday - 4hours zone2
Plan for this week is:
Monday - off
Tuesday - 1.5hours cruise intervals (8 mins at zone4-5, 3 mins rest)
Wednesday - 3.5hours zone2
Thursday - 2hours individual leg intervals
Friday - 3hours zone2
Saturday - 3hours hills
Sunday - 4hours zone2
Another week done.
I was riding along Loch Ness on saturday, a route that i ride a lot. I saw a couple of people in a car stopped at the side of the road taking photos (which is fairly common). I'v lived up here all my life so the scenery doesnt really have such an impact on me anymore but a lot of people come here just to see this stuff. So i'm going to try to take 1 photo each week of one of my rides for you all to see.
So, the first is from that ride on Saturday. It was getting dark by the time i thought of doing this so it's rubbish quality but i'll try and get better ones in future.
(this isnt Loch Ness btw)
And my training for next week, which will be the biggest week of the year at 19 hours:
Monday - off
Tuesday - 2hours cruise intervals (8 mins at zone4-5, 3 mins rest)
Wednesday - 5hours zone2
Thursday - 2hours individual leg intervals + 2 hours zone2
Friday - off
Saturday - 4hours hills
Sunday - 4hours zone2
I was riding along Loch Ness on saturday, a route that i ride a lot. I saw a couple of people in a car stopped at the side of the road taking photos (which is fairly common). I'v lived up here all my life so the scenery doesnt really have such an impact on me anymore but a lot of people come here just to see this stuff. So i'm going to try to take 1 photo each week of one of my rides for you all to see.
So, the first is from that ride on Saturday. It was getting dark by the time i thought of doing this so it's rubbish quality but i'll try and get better ones in future.
(this isnt Loch Ness btw)
And my training for next week, which will be the biggest week of the year at 19 hours:
Monday - off
Tuesday - 2hours cruise intervals (8 mins at zone4-5, 3 mins rest)
Wednesday - 5hours zone2
Thursday - 2hours individual leg intervals + 2 hours zone2
Friday - off
Saturday - 4hours hills
Sunday - 4hours zone2
(slightly) better picture this week. This time it is actually Loch Ness, taken on Saturday's hilly ride:
So, that's the end of my 'Base' phase. Next week is a rest week which follows the same pattern as all of the other rest weeks, with the usual FTP test on the Saturday. Then i move onto the 'Build' phase.
So, that's the end of my 'Base' phase. Next week is a rest week which follows the same pattern as all of the other rest weeks, with the usual FTP test on the Saturday. Then i move onto the 'Build' phase.
Nice little picture of Loch Ceo Glais, in the hills above Loch Ness, taken on Sunday's ride:
So, last week was a recovery week. Still being a bit lazy through the week and not doing all of the hours planned. Gives me time to get stuff done around the house though and means i have more time for the bike on the proper training weeks, so i guess it's not all bad.
Did my FTP test on Saturday. 283w, so still going in the right direction.
Previous results are:
14-12-2013: 266w
11-01-2014: 271w (+5)
08-02-2014: 283w (+12)
Pretty happy with that. If i can keep up this progress, i should reach my target of 350+ by the summer.
This is also the end of the 3 base training blocks. The next phase is 2 blocks of 'Build'.
Focus moves from long, steady miles to shorter, harder workouts.
This is the plan for next week:
Mon: off
Tue: 2.5 hours - 8min intervals at 300w, 2 mins rest
Wed: 3hours - zone2, steady ride
Thur: 2 hours - "jumps": short, high cadence efforts. 20 reps per set, 1 min rest. 5 mins rest between sets
Fri: 1hour - Cornering. Quiet street with 90 degree bends. Practice different speeds, lean angles and lines.
Sat: 3.5hours - zone2, steady
Sun: 4 hours - group ride.
So, last week was a recovery week. Still being a bit lazy through the week and not doing all of the hours planned. Gives me time to get stuff done around the house though and means i have more time for the bike on the proper training weeks, so i guess it's not all bad.
Did my FTP test on Saturday. 283w, so still going in the right direction.
Previous results are:
14-12-2013: 266w
11-01-2014: 271w (+5)
08-02-2014: 283w (+12)
Pretty happy with that. If i can keep up this progress, i should reach my target of 350+ by the summer.
This is also the end of the 3 base training blocks. The next phase is 2 blocks of 'Build'.
Focus moves from long, steady miles to shorter, harder workouts.
This is the plan for next week:
Mon: off
Tue: 2.5 hours - 8min intervals at 300w, 2 mins rest
Wed: 3hours - zone2, steady ride
Thur: 2 hours - "jumps": short, high cadence efforts. 20 reps per set, 1 min rest. 5 mins rest between sets
Fri: 1hour - Cornering. Quiet street with 90 degree bends. Practice different speeds, lean angles and lines.
Sat: 3.5hours - zone2, steady
Sun: 4 hours - group ride.
Bad week last week. Huge lack of motivation, only did around half of what i'd planned.
There isnt much of a plan for the next couple of weeks, i'm off to tenerife on saturday
Wednesday/Thursday will be spent getting things sorted and packing, friday will be an early night before a 3am start on saturday.
I should be able to make up for lost time with a full week of riding tho.
There isnt much of a plan for the next couple of weeks, i'm off to tenerife on saturday
Wednesday/Thursday will be spent getting things sorted and packing, friday will be an early night before a 3am start on saturday.
I should be able to make up for lost time with a full week of riding tho.
Back from Tenerife! Had a great time. Great weather (30degrees!), great climbs, great views.
We did the big climb one day: 20.4 miles at 6% average! Almost 3 hours of solid climbing.
Cycling is not as popular on tenerife as it is on Mallorca (in fact, probably not even as popular as it is back home). There was not a huge amount of cyclists around, but quite a few pro teams. If you see another cyclist, there's probably around a 25% chance he'll be a pro team rider.
We saw katusha a few times. Rodriguez was there but we dont know if we passed him or not (a couple of times when we passed them they had buffs pulled right up over their faces to keep warm - these long descents can get quite cold). A lone katusha rider passed us on a hill one day and i chased him a bit (crap video here) I was doing around 420-430 watts and just about holding pace with him.
We passed 9-10 Astana riders doing hill reps. Stopped at the bottom for 10-15 mins and watched them come down one at a time, turn round, then climb up again. Didnt recognise any of them.
Passed a group of 4-5 Movistar riders and possibly a Belkin rider also.
This week is now a rest week, follows the usual rest week pattern.
FTP test on Saturday. Expecting a good improvement based on the numbers from last week (had my powertap with me) but i cant do the same on the turbo as i can on the road, so we'll see what happens.
We did the big climb one day: 20.4 miles at 6% average! Almost 3 hours of solid climbing.
Cycling is not as popular on tenerife as it is on Mallorca (in fact, probably not even as popular as it is back home). There was not a huge amount of cyclists around, but quite a few pro teams. If you see another cyclist, there's probably around a 25% chance he'll be a pro team rider.
We saw katusha a few times. Rodriguez was there but we dont know if we passed him or not (a couple of times when we passed them they had buffs pulled right up over their faces to keep warm - these long descents can get quite cold). A lone katusha rider passed us on a hill one day and i chased him a bit (crap video here) I was doing around 420-430 watts and just about holding pace with him.
We passed 9-10 Astana riders doing hill reps. Stopped at the bottom for 10-15 mins and watched them come down one at a time, turn round, then climb up again. Didnt recognise any of them.
Passed a group of 4-5 Movistar riders and possibly a Belkin rider also.
This week is now a rest week, follows the usual rest week pattern.
FTP test on Saturday. Expecting a good improvement based on the numbers from last week (had my powertap with me) but i cant do the same on the turbo as i can on the road, so we'll see what happens.
Man of Honour
20.4 miles of 6%. Sounds horrific
Rest week is over
Did my FTP test on Saturday, new FTP is 295w. (3.55w/kg)
FTP Log:
14-12-2013: 266w
11-01-2014: 271w (+5)
08-02-2014: 283w (+12)
08-03-2014: 295w (+12)
So i'm going in the right direction. Progressing a little too slow just now to get to my 350w target by summer. Not too worried about it at the moment though, i expect to improve faster when i start doing the evening chaingangs (when the clocks go back) and racing.
Speaking of racing, my first race is next sunday!
Entries closed yesterday, so i'v only just got the start list today. It's going to be a hard race. 6 elite riders and a handful of Cat1s as well. AFAIK, the Scotland team for the commonwealth games has not been finalised yet, so lots of people will be trying to get noticed. I dont feel fully ready for it yet, so i'm expecting to get dropped fairly early but it's hard to gauge where i am for the first race - not many people will be fully race-fit at this time of year.
This is the plan for the rest of the week:
Monday: off
Tuesday: TT bike - 30mins warmup, 1 hour just below race pace, 30mins cooldown
Wednesday: 3hours Zone2 steady ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours - intervals of 30secs max effort sprints, 5 mins rest
Friday: 1 hour - cornering practice
Saturday: 3 hours zone2 steady.
Sunday: RACE!
Did my FTP test on Saturday, new FTP is 295w. (3.55w/kg)
FTP Log:
14-12-2013: 266w
11-01-2014: 271w (+5)
08-02-2014: 283w (+12)
08-03-2014: 295w (+12)
So i'm going in the right direction. Progressing a little too slow just now to get to my 350w target by summer. Not too worried about it at the moment though, i expect to improve faster when i start doing the evening chaingangs (when the clocks go back) and racing.
Speaking of racing, my first race is next sunday!
Entries closed yesterday, so i'v only just got the start list today. It's going to be a hard race. 6 elite riders and a handful of Cat1s as well. AFAIK, the Scotland team for the commonwealth games has not been finalised yet, so lots of people will be trying to get noticed. I dont feel fully ready for it yet, so i'm expecting to get dropped fairly early but it's hard to gauge where i am for the first race - not many people will be fully race-fit at this time of year.
This is the plan for the rest of the week:
Monday: off
Tuesday: TT bike - 30mins warmup, 1 hour just below race pace, 30mins cooldown
Wednesday: 3hours Zone2 steady ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours - intervals of 30secs max effort sprints, 5 mins rest
Friday: 1 hour - cornering practice
Saturday: 3 hours zone2 steady.
Sunday: RACE!
Well, my prediction turned out to be annoyingly accurate.
Unfortunately, it doesnt make for a very exciting race report - no heroic tales of lone breakaways or epic sprints.
Right from the start i was struggling to keep up with each surge in speed. It was a fast race but i felt comfortable in the bunch when the speeds were consistent. The problem is that each time it accelerates and i drop further towards the back of the bunch where the changes in pace were more extreme and i was off the back and chasing back on after each one.
Eventually, after 2-3 hard kicks in a row, and a few others dropping off in front of me who i had to come round, i had quite a gap back to the bunch - maybe 40-50 metres.
I worked with one other guy and we came close to getting back but never quite made it. Eventually he dropped off and i chased on my own for a bit, feeling good riding at a fast but steady speed - no chance of catching the bunch though.
I think that's a good sign, at least i know what went wrong and how to fix it - lots of sprint training!
This week is pretty much the same as last week, but without the race:
Monday: off
Tuesday: TT bike - 30mins warmup, 1 hour just below race pace, 30mins cooldown
Wednesday: 3hours Zone2 steady ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours - intervals of 30secs max effort sprints, 5 mins rest
Friday: 1 hour - cornering practice
Saturday: 3 hours zone2 steady.
Sunday: 4 hours at any speed you want.
Caporegime
Does cornering practise basically mean "How far can I lean before I fall off?"
Hopefully it's more "How far can i lean without falling off", but yeah...it's something i need to work on.
Week3 of 'build1' phase. Same as the previous 2 weeks:
Monday: off
Tuesday: TT bike - 30mins warmup, 1 hour just below race pace, 30mins cooldown
Wednesday: 3hours Zone2 steady ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours - intervals of 30secs max effort sprints, 5 mins rest
Friday: 1 hour - cornering practice
Saturday: 3 hours zone2 steady.
Sunday: 4 hours at any speed you want.
Cut short a couple of days last week as i didnt have a lot of time. Need to try harder this week to fit everything in.
Monday: off
Tuesday: TT bike - 30mins warmup, 1 hour just below race pace, 30mins cooldown
Wednesday: 3hours Zone2 steady ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours - intervals of 30secs max effort sprints, 5 mins rest
Friday: 1 hour - cornering practice
Saturday: 3 hours zone2 steady.
Sunday: 4 hours at any speed you want.
Cut short a couple of days last week as i didnt have a lot of time. Need to try harder this week to fit everything in.
That was better!
Did everything i needed to do last week.
Lots of fun yesterday doing a course recce for a race in a couple of weeks. There was 12 of us out, so we split up into 2 teams and did some mini road races.
Next week is a rest week. Doing a 10 mile TT on saturday, so might miss the FTP test this week. I'll have my powermeter on the TT bike though.
Monday: 2 hours, high cadence, zone1-2
Tuesday: 1 hour, high cadence, zone1-2
Wednesday: no bike
Thursday: 1 hour, individual leg intervals
Friday: 1 hour, very easy, low zone1 HR
Saturday: 1 hour, 10 mile TT
Sunday: 3 hours, zone2
Did everything i needed to do last week.
Lots of fun yesterday doing a course recce for a race in a couple of weeks. There was 12 of us out, so we split up into 2 teams and did some mini road races.
Next week is a rest week. Doing a 10 mile TT on saturday, so might miss the FTP test this week. I'll have my powermeter on the TT bike though.
Monday: 2 hours, high cadence, zone1-2
Tuesday: 1 hour, high cadence, zone1-2
Wednesday: no bike
Thursday: 1 hour, individual leg intervals
Friday: 1 hour, very easy, low zone1 HR
Saturday: 1 hour, 10 mile TT
Sunday: 3 hours, zone2