Tsuga
Cruising
- Jan 17, 2023
- 32
- 45
At least you're getting the recovery out now as we move further into the Spring. At least where I am next weekend's weather looks much better than this weekend's.
Race The Training Thread
- Thread starter baribari
- Start date
Tsuga
Cruising
- Jan 17, 2023
- 32
- 45
Next week is race week! And yesterday was my 2nd to last day of intervals before racing. Last week I did standard 95%/106% Over Unders, but this week I switched to a new format.
I start with 2 minutes over at 110-115% before going straight into the 12 minute set. 2 minutes 80-85%, 1 minute 110-115% X 4. It's a bit of an experiment, so I hope it turns out well. So far I enjoy them a whole lot more. I can feel the recovery during the Under, and the Over wasn't too taxing. I'm glad I didn't make adjustments though, as Tuesday's workout felt too easy, but the fatigue going into Thursday put them just right. Had thought about adding extra but 3 x 14 minutes was plenty. Finished with 48 minutes at 220w. I always enjoy intervals with variety like this because that 110-115% makes 80-85% feel so good, and then finishing at ~68% feels even better.
It's a little intimidating going into this first weekend, because I hope I can do well enough to justify my travel to future races
I start with 2 minutes over at 110-115% before going straight into the 12 minute set. 2 minutes 80-85%, 1 minute 110-115% X 4. It's a bit of an experiment, so I hope it turns out well. So far I enjoy them a whole lot more. I can feel the recovery during the Under, and the Over wasn't too taxing. I'm glad I didn't make adjustments though, as Tuesday's workout felt too easy, but the fatigue going into Thursday put them just right. Had thought about adding extra but 3 x 14 minutes was plenty. Finished with 48 minutes at 220w. I always enjoy intervals with variety like this because that 110-115% makes 80-85% feel so good, and then finishing at ~68% feels even better.
It's a little intimidating going into this first weekend, because I hope I can do well enough to justify my travel to future races
Tsuga
Cruising
- Jan 17, 2023
- 32
- 45
Thanks for posting that, I had only scouted it out on Google Maps haha. It's honestly a bit wider in most spots than I had first thought, but like I had thought some of those "corners" are just silly. Bit of the ol "let's drop some spaghetti on the floor and trace it" route.
There are 144 people on the start list, so assuming the average bike is what... 1.7m long? And let's say there are small gaps here and there, you'll be 1/3rd of a km back on a 6km circuit coming out of that one turn into the parking lot sector. Sheesh. There could be people exiting the parking lot and hitting that downhill by the time you're getting into it haha. Talk about a crucial first lap (and really every lap after). It'll be an interesting one for sure.
OreoCookie
Maximum Pace
- Dec 2, 2017
- 2,479
- 2,094
Yeah, and I got close to last season's peak in terms of FTP anyway …
How often do you get sick? What do you do to avoid it?
- Thread starter
- #2,786
there will be blood
Tsuga
Cruising
- Jan 17, 2023
- 32
- 45
Yeah, and I got close to last season's peak in terms of FTP anyway …
How often do you get sick? What do you do to avoid it?
I've always been a bit lucky with sickness. I rarely get anything too serious, maybe a cold every other year. The last time I was off the bike due to illness was September 2021. A couple months after I got my covid booster I caught covid, go figure haha. My wife and I don't have kids and neither of us are extroverts, so we tend to avoid crowds.
I'm sure, I just hope it's not mine ha. My wife likes to make YouTube vidoes so I just hope the next one isn't about Japanese hospitals...
I'd fancy my chances on that course!
If it was a time trial!
What are the rules re. starting position these days? Back in the day people used to line up their race bike on the start grid and warm up on another bike! I assume they have something organized in terms of ranking and position these days.
Looks like a race to that first 180 degree bottleneck corner.
A good warm up and tunnel vision will be important!
Andy
Yeah, and I got close to last season's peak in terms of FTP anyway …
How often do you get sick? What do you do to avoid it?
I haven't been sick for 4 or 5 years. Maybe covid precautions contribute to that. Less nomikais and karaoke.
Generally, good hygiene, good sleep and a healthy diet?
Do you think you are lacking anything in your diet? I take a few supplements, vitamin C (cold prevention) , iron (to prevent deficiency as a vegetarian athlete) and calcium & magnesium and zinc for other minor ailments. A closet junky!
I always have an influenza vaccine after being hospitalized with influenza which developed into pneumonia 10 or so years ago.
I also think the "Hana ugai" nasal rinse is a great idea for keeping out pollen in the spring, but also keeping out pathogens all year round. Keeping pathogens out of your nasal tract and ultimately out of your body.
After that alcohol!
Andy
200km today.
Snow on the forecast tomorrow!
I doubled up.
Tomorrow's training today!
Maybe the first time ever to stop for lunch!
After 2 big training weeks I plugged in 3 rest days this week.
I hope to have the legs to show off on Sunday's group ride.
Some new wheels arrive tomorrow, so hopefully that will give me a boost too!
Andy
Snow on the forecast tomorrow!
I doubled up.
Tomorrow's training today!
Maybe the first time ever to stop for lunch!
After 2 big training weeks I plugged in 3 rest days this week.
I hope to have the legs to show off on Sunday's group ride.
Some new wheels arrive tomorrow, so hopefully that will give me a boost too!
Andy
- Thread starter
- #2,792
I don't remember *ever* being sick as long as I lived in Japan, until I moved into with my wife's family. Now I reliably get a cold every time the seasons change.
I don't think masking helped at all. I may have simply developed seasonal allergies, though.
Diet update... progress has slowed to a bit under a pound a week, though in part that is due to water weight from inflammation. I suspect I will drop a pound or two over the next few days as it subsides. The same thing happened a few weeks ago after a long ride and a lot of weight training.
I might have to go into maintenance mode for a week or two, since I've started skipping workouts due to fatigue. Not sure if it's just residual fatigue from that 155-km ride (300 TSS, lol) or accumulated fatigue from dieting plus training and life stress. That, or I should maybe cut the size of my deficit down. That has the downside of making the diet much longer, which has its own pitfalls.
I don't actually mind doing all the weighing and math, but achieving a deficit every day has become harder, especially if any alcohol is involved.
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I used to always get allergic reactions when staying at the inlaws. Old futons and tatami mats are a dust mite breeding heaven.
The worst I had was when staying at a mate's grandma's house before the JBCF Wajima RR. The old lady mustn't have been upstairs in years. I could barely breathe on the start line.
That was when I decided to have a comprehensive allergen test and start appropriate medication to live with it.
Game changer!
For alcohol, I recommend sho chu with O cal fizzy lemonade! Been on it since January!
Andy
OreoCookie
Maximum Pace
- Dec 2, 2017
- 2,479
- 2,094
I think my kids aka my precious walking petri dishes are definitely a big factor. Since having them, I usually get sick 1–3 times. Fortunately, I don’t feel too miserable, apart from the misery of not being able to ride when it is nice out. Or train. Or talk.
Another week of training done.
On the back of yesterday's 300km Milan - San Remo, I put in my entry for the 300km Tokyo-Itoigawa today.
I wrote a blog post here.
Check it out!
Cheers, Andy
ssskashiwazaki.jimdofree.com
On the back of yesterday's 300km Milan - San Remo, I put in my entry for the 300km Tokyo-Itoigawa today.
I wrote a blog post here.
Check it out!
Cheers, Andy
SOMETHING TO AIM AT!
狙うもの！ 今日は東京糸魚川にエントリーしました。 目指すべきもの！ I put in my entry for Tokyo-Itoigawa today. Something to aim at!
Tsuga
Cruising
- Jan 17, 2023
- 32
- 45
Sheesh, yeah, I saw it may be a wet one. I'll have the gloves on and running some low pressures thanks to tubeless tires. But... those concrete looking paving stones at the start / finish & manhole covers sprinkled throughout the course aren't known for being grippy haha.
I'm not sure how the start positioning works. I hope for some of my teammate's sake they do some kind of gridding system or call ups based on the first weekend's results. I'm more accustomed to front row call ups followed by the first come first served chaos.
There will definitely be some risk vs reward calculations going on. I want a good result and I'm confident in my fitness and bike handling, but I'm no MvDP. Lots of challenges to overcome on this course if I get a bad starting position or I'm unable to move up within the first few laps, especially if wet. More so on Saturday considering it's only a 10 lap race. But, that'll be the case for 90% of the field.
I'm expecting total chaos for the first 3-5 laps. Then I'll do some assessing to see where I've ended up.
OreoCookie
Maximum Pace
- Dec 2, 2017
- 2,479
- 2,094
Aero gains are real
- Thread starter
- #2,799
On another note, I found a KOM that I might be able to take from a friend of mine (college student with a vo2max probably near 80). I just need to shave off 4 seconds of my best time of.....34 seconds. I think if I carry *way* more speed into the start and do all the marginal gains, it might be just within reach.Aero gains are real
He only holds the KOM because I flagged the previous KOM, who was clearly on a motorcycle or something. Not even a top-level keirin rider could have gone *that* fast.
GrantT
Maximum Pace
- Oct 2, 2012
- 1,870
- 1,577
Yeah, I can imagine with a course new to the organisers as well as the racers, getting as much practice time in will be essential. Good for memorizing all the so-called features (obstacles) of that course.
For start positioning, I remember seeing most of the JPT guys hanging around in no particular order waiting to be called to the start, while the first few rows are set based on the top individual riders and the top team. Meanwhile, the elite riders all line up their bikes like salary men in line for lunch.
It does seem like a unique course though. Seems perfect for a cyclo-cross event..! Don't think there is another one like it on the calendar either.