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Race The Training Thread

A month, my last training session was on 18 December. And I paused for a week before that, and resumed, because I thought I was fine. Ugh. My FTP was essentially already at last season's peak (321 W, 2 W shy of the peak), a very promising start. The added volume worked its magic, I guess. I still have some phlegm accumulating in the back of my throat, so I think I might want to wait another week.

I'm trying to sleep more, 5 out of the last 7 days, I slept more. And I am trying to eat more healthily again after the small cookie-and-chocolate-and-craft-beer bender I was on in December ;)

Also, the bike I ordered has been delayed, they don't have it in the color/framesize combo I want. But the shop told me they can custom paint bikes, so I might get a yellow bike instead of a read one … well, depending on how much that runs and my minister of finance approves. Otherwise, I will just wait. Right now I can't ride a road bike outside anyway, there is still too much ice on the road.
 
Sounds like you will be motivated to make a fresh start then!

For sleep, I put the boys to sleep every night. For at least two of those nights each week I go with the intention of going straight through myself. 10 or 11 hours is like a total recharge!

Not many things in this life are free, enjoyable and good for you!

Sleep like a baby, ride like a boss!

Andy
 
I got myself a mountain bike. Time to get a new helmet, pedals, shoes, and kit...

It turns out that riding on snow is still pretty hard even with an MTB. Haha.
Congrats, what did you end up getting? By the way, if you are in need of MTB shoes, have a look at Velo Kicks who make very affordable, but high-quality cycling shoes. After GPLama sang their praises in one video, I got in touch with the owner and he told me they were working on a MTB shoe. I ordered mine the day they came out, and they are in transit as we speak. They only cost ¥16,200 plus shipping, which IMHO is a bargain.

Once I get hold of mine, I'll let you know if they are any good.
 
Specialized Chisel. I went to the shop and heard they had one in my size coming in a few weeks ago, so I went and bought it.
MTB riding does not seem to agree with my wrists, though...
 
MTB riding does not seem to agree with my wrists, though...
Welcome to the world of MTB grips. I prefer Ergon's ergonomic grips because of wrist issues. Once you get the angle of the "wing" dialed, it'll give you additional support and prevent your wrists from tilting too far.

Of course, perhaps you may prefer other grips, there are thin ones, thick ones made of a neoprene-like materials, some are flat, others are curved, etc. Take your pick.
 
Welcome to the world of MTB grips. I prefer Ergon's ergonomic grips because of wrist issues. Once you get the angle of the "wing" dialed, it'll give you additional support and prevent your wrists from tilting too far.

Of course, perhaps you may prefer other grips, there are thin ones, thick ones made of a neoprene-like materials, some are flat, others are curved, etc. Take your pick.
I would probably get on better with some nice fat ones that are very tacky.

I am trying to figure out what the neutral position for my handle bar should be. The shop owner put the markings on the bar smack in the middle of the window on the stem. But seeing as how the stem is at an angle, I wonder if the markings shouldn't actually be level with the ground instead.

Having the bar's bends angled more in inline with my arms might make them a bit more comfortable, but he suggested that that was the theoretical ideal.

I probably need to talk with my mountain biker friends about positioning the levers and shifters properly.
 
I just received my velokicks and my initial impressions are that they are a bargain. If they are as comfortable on the bike as they are in my living room, they are exceptionally comfortable. And they are cheap.
Sounds like you will be motivated to make a fresh start then!

For sleep, I put the boys to sleep every night. For at least two of those nights each week I go with the intention of going straight through myself. 10 or 11 hours is like a total recharge!

Not many things in this life are free, enjoyable and good for you!

Sleep like a baby, ride like a boss!
Sleep is my #1 goal for this year. It was already last year, and while I did make improvements, during December especially I wasn't getting consistently good sleep. Some nights I would sleep eight hours and still feel like I got hit by a truck. Last Saturday night, we went to bed early and slept about 10 hours put together and it felt great, though. My family stress is easing up a little (I am getting used to the thought of my mom having cancer), perhaps that's one of the factors.
 
Specialized Chisel. I went to the shop and heard they had one in my size coming in a few weeks ago, so I went and bought it.
MTB riding does not seem to agree with my wrists, though...
These give an extra hand position on mountain bikes. I got some for my son and he said they made it much more comfortable on longer (for him) rides. They did have them on Amazon but they seem to be out of stock at the moment.
 
Did the Tour de Zwift Stage 3 Ride today, Group A - a grueling "1050 m climb" reducing me to 5-10 km/hr for the 12.5km uphill battle. I'm glad that is over and will never be doing that map again. Was fun to come back down again though. After yesterday's 65km ride, I might take tomorrow off...but probably not.

Surprises
  • Mentally looking at the screen of your character climbing seems to take a toll out of me. Looking away and just reading an article while barely sub consciously keeping RPM where I wanted worked out much better.
  • Even at the end, I had enough gas in the tank to get in standing and boost W by 100+ for short periods of time

Not Surprising
  • I dislike climbing in the virtual environment more than I do in the real world. At least out in reality there is fun stuff. Its hard to keep motivated virtually climbing for more than an hour straight.
  • Lost 0.5 kg and now down 8.5 kg since August. But the well deserved Aooni I'm having now will probably cancel that out.
 
I just received my velokicks and my initial impressions are that they are a bargain. If they are as comfortable on the bike as they are in my living room, they are exceptionally comfortable. And they are cheap.
Sounds like you will be motivated to make a fresh start then!

For sleep, I put the boys to sleep every night. For at least two of those nights each week I go with the intention of going straight through myself. 10 or 11 hours is like a total recharge!

Not many things in this life are free, enjoyable and good for you!

Sleep like a baby, ride like a boss!
Sleep is my #1 goal for this year. It was already last year, and while I did make improvements, during December especially I wasn't getting consistently good sleep. Saturday night, we went to bed early and slept about 10 hours put together and it felt quite good. I've slept better, but my weakness is that it is really hard for me to build habits, especially with my work schedule (I have Zoom meetings at 21:00 since I have to accommodate co-workers living in very different time zones).
 
And by the way is anyone here is using TrainerRoad? I heard if you are an active user of TR you can share a 30 days trial code for new user, would like to try TR out since my Zwift is expiring! Do DM me the code if that is okay with you.

Mentally looking at the screen of your character climbing seems to take a toll out of me. Looking away and just reading an article while barely sub consciously keeping RPM where I wanted worked out much better.
LOL! This is exactly how I fell every time I'm in some climb in Zwift haha
 
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And by the way is anyone here is using TrainerRoad? I heard if you are an active user of TR you can share a 30 days trial code for new user, would like to try TR out since my Zwift is expiring! Do DM me the code if that is okay with you.


LOL! This is exactly how I fell every time I'm in some climb in Zwift haha

Are you doing the Tour de Zwift, @Ratchet21 ? I didn't do it last year because actually I didn't even know what it was, but it looks cool this year. I'm having fun with group events despite being the silent lurker and I'm halfway decent at hill climbs that aren't 1000m straight up, haha
 
Are you doing the Tour de Zwift, @Ratchet21 ? I didn't do it last year because actually I didn't even know what it was, but it looks cool this year. I'm having fun with group events despite being the silent lurker and I'm halfway decent at hill climbs that aren't 1000m straight up, haha
No I didn't! What is that? Should I check it out?
 
No I didn't! What is that? Should I check it out?

If you're on Zwift, definitely. Its a lot of fun doing group rides. They aren't all 1000m climbs, some are 20-30km rides with people all over the world. Not too late to join it, you just go to events in your Zwift browser or phone companion, and sign up for one of the Tour de Zwift rides, then ride with a few hundred to a few thousands of people. Its week 3 of 8 (modeled after the Tour de France) and each week, you need to complete one ride, either the A, B, C, D (women's only) sets, and there is a make up week. So you could get on week 3 now, and just make up 2 rides in about 7 weeks after doing one ride a week from now until week 8.
 
If you're on Zwift, definitely. Its a lot of fun doing group rides. They aren't all 1000m climbs, some are 20-30km rides with people all over the world. Not too late to join it, you just go to events in your Zwift browser or phone companion, and sign up for one of the Tour de Zwift rides, then ride with a few hundred to a few thousands of people. Its week 3 of 8 (modeled after the Tour de France) and each week, you need to complete one ride, either the A, B, C, D (women's only) sets, and there is a make up week. So you could get on week 3 now, and just make up 2 rides in about 7 weeks after doing one ride a week from now until week 8.
Wow that sounds fun! I'll check it out later!
 
Recently I've been doing x2 back to back FTP workouts each day on Zwift.

Each workout is varied and produces a TSS of around 60.

Today I pulled the plug on the second workout, the 10th workout in 5 days.

Tomorrow I'll take the first rest day in a month. Digging deep in the winter.

20210122_140042.jpg

Sunday is maintenance and the monthly local race at the trail.

So much time on Zwift, I wonder if I've still got the skills!

Andy
 
Take that rest Andy! You'll come back with more energy.
Cheers! Energy is never really a problem. I like to go deep into hard training in winter.

This year doing only intervals on the bike and strength work & endurance work with snow shoes.

Probably the hardest I've ever trained (in terms of intensity not volume) so I'll enjoy that rest day. Maybe another rest day next week when I turn 46😅

Andy
 
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