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Semi serious answer Nath: fatigue IS fitness. If you've over-reached your body to make gains then you will by definition be tired. You have to then lose fitness to gain form. The key is to lose fitness on your terms by resting just enough (tapering) rather than letting your body do it for you (over training).
Chill out. Spin the legs. Relax in the bunch. Sprint like a demon 😀
BASTARD !!
(just bought "fast after 50" 😳 🙄 )
😳 ❓ 😕 😯
- you'll be needing it one of these years 🙁 ➡ ❗
I think the Bible is being revamped this year- I may have to buy it despite having the old version on ebook and the MTB one 🙂
I'm not a good ambassador of its sound advice mind you 😉 😀
Legs and mental state, with a cold. that's trying to seep through I did throw up a little bit last night after posting. My heart rate also didn't go anywhere near as high as it normally does either. I'm hoping that subconsciously I know I've got to save the legs for Saturday and so didn't give it my all...
In terms of training I've had rest days, some are just simple commutes, I think all 3 are needed here to show this:
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[img] 
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Last nights race on Zwift isn't included on those yet..
Cheers for the links & advice.
You seemed to have trained 21 out of 22 days running in there !
I'm amazed you're not sat on the sofa looking longingly at the bike with me !
Now you sound like Kryton 😀
"Why am I slow, I can't work it out?"
3 pages of rational training advice later.......
"Oh, by the way, I did do thirty sets of Z6 intervals before I raced and I have a cold and have been racing this other series on a Friday and TTing in my lunch break and helping a friend from work run some spin classes and there was this night time CX race I fancied and TrainerRoad told me I had to skip rest this week so I smashed out a 23mph club run on Thursday!"
😀 😀
Or a bit like Weeksy too:
"I've rested.......!!!!!"
".......once this year!!" 😀
No no...
The blanks & Fridays (and wherever you see 13/15 miles) are rest days, they're just gentle commutes into work. I've been sticking to the plan I posted a couple of pages back.
How fast were you riding on the rest days 😉
Z2s mainly - my mio computer acts as the heart rate police. Soon as I go near 144bpm it starts bleeping at me to ease off 😆
That's not to say there are brief moments were I've gone well over 144... but that's usually just due to traffic conditions. I also wear a pollution mask so keeping below 144 is a challenge when you're being suffocated! 😆
Here's my rest days:
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See I do rest! 😆
Btw circles:
Yellow = outside
Orange = Zwift
I have been following this thread for a while now and finally signed up for BC membership and entered the OTRT crit at Abingdon. I have no idea if I am fit enough and riding in the bunch is going to be a new experience, somewhat nervous now .....
Well done Tom.... I emailed them regarding an entry without BC licence, but not heard anything back from them.
Good luck Tom.
Which race have you entered 4th or 2/3/4?
@CH if you do it which would you enter?
@weeksy CH has been racing on a provisional licence at hillingdon
Tempted to enter Round 3 & 4 as it's only an hour away in the car.
Even a provisional is £23.. but Hillingdon want £10 for a payment for a licence on the day.. I guess a BC licence can't hurt.. but not got round to it at the moment. May do so on Payday i guess.
Still waiting on the recovery of calf and to see if the percieved potential gains on training actually exist and whether i'll IMO have some sort of a chance of doing at least 1-2 laps 🙂
This for example is my only outdoor ride on the road i can think of for last year.
https://www.strava.com/activities/799248468
Some of the segments put me at a decent pace... But i'm looking at some others thinking "hell, that's just not quick enough"... Of course, you never know until you're out there, but i would hate to do all the prep, planning, just to find i'm done on the warm up lap 🙂
I have just entered 4th cat only and think I will try and stay near the back or on the side of the bunch until I get my bearings and accept that I will get dropped at some point, I don't have a power meter so don't know my FTP ect so it could be a real eye opener
@weeksy - ah sorry I thought the provisional was free with a silver membership, my bad.
@tomvet - try and stick in the middle, you have to work harder at the back. I didn't have a power meter for my first 3 races, and wont have one from mid feb as mine is going back (rented), all my data before that came off a smart turbo trainer and zwift. 😆
I have been following this thread for a while now and finally signed up for BC membership and entered the OTRT crit at Abingdon. I have no idea if I am fit enough and riding in the bunch is going to be a new experience, somewhat nervous now .....
Don't worry - i don't think anyone really knows whether they're fit enough. Did my 1st race last weekend (Wooly Mamil 4th Cat) and was bricking it for the week leading up the race. Ended up finishing 16th.
2nd the advice to try and stick in the middle, if you go straight to the back you'll get spat out before you know whats happened
Awesome! Well done JD.
Good luck Tom! Let us know what it's like- I may head up for the final round.
@nath - Rest day in zone 2? That's not a rest day! Rest days for me are either zone 1 (active recovery) or nothing at all but zone 2 is endurance. I won't get the heart rate above say 110 on a rest day. At 144 I'd be verging on tempo. Its obviously very individual basing it on heart rate, but your rest days don't sound like real [b]rest[/b] days?
@mtbtomo - my MHR is 198, so 144 isn't that intense? But yeah I should probably do more Z1.
@CH let me know if you do, I'll join 😆
What do you think of this?! http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/rapha-x-cinelli-bar-tape/product/CBT01XXGRYXXX
entered the OTRT crit at Abingdon.
I'm still considering that one. 9am start though on an early Feb morning though 😕
Edit... 1 place left... someone please take it!
@Nath re Bar tape- I think hiding in the women's bunch is taking the camouflage idea a bit far 😀
On the 4th.
I will try and stay near the back or on the side of the bunch until I get my bearings and accept that I will get dropped at some point,
@tomvet Say hi to me at the back, then stay in front of me. Then you won't get dropped - I don't do getting dropped and will provide words of "encouragement".
Just enjoy it.
EDIT: Except you've entered Abingdon - my old home and not IWS. Just hang on and try and hold a wheel.
On the 4th.
You can thank me on the 4th as i'm dropped / spew everywhere.
I've no fitness and carrying a cold but figure I'll never learn how much slower I am until I race a few.
Excited and nervous!!
With no minor Zwift celebs in tow tomorrow, the morning should be more relaxed!
I've had a Race week (taper) rather than a Build week so I should be a tad fresher.....
My bike fit should be better too (well the bars are central in the stem if nothing else 😀 ) and I'm going to mantra myself into RELAXING THOSE SHOULDERS 😉
What with the 50 free Watts from my new helmet, we should be cruising 😀
........until 'someone' gets impatient/cold/coerced into smashing the bunch to smithereens 😀
Tie a rope to him!
@nath, as above, take 1-2 days of actual rest per week. If you really have to ride, then z1 rather than z2 (especially if using Friel's zones as some coaches would count his z2 as low tempo).
I wouldn't panic about 1 bad session though, major changes to training plan should come from trend data not one offs
GL to all racing at the weekend
Hahaha weeksy & CH! I'm being good tomorrow, no soloing.
@fifeandy - thanks! I'm not too worried at this stage, will see what tomorrow brings!
Took the missus out for dinner this evening, it's all looking good for 3rd&4th round of Abingdon 😆
That moment when you go to pack your bag and realise everything is still dirty in the wash basket. 😆
Took the missus out for dinner this evening, it's all looking good for 3rd&4th round of Abingdon
I may well join you for that.
Edit... I mean rounds 3 & 4, not dinner.
That moment when you go to pack your bag and realise everything is still dirty in the wash basket
I hope she never got pudding when you took her out !
Cor! The sun is bright this morning!! If only I had a nice tinted visor 😀
Murphy did good today 😆
PICS !
PICS NOW !!
That was epic!!! It probably wasn't the taper, the adjustments to the bike or the fact my hip is fixed- it was blatantly those free watts from the helmet 🙂
281w, 2:02 fastest lap and held the bunch right to the sprint!!! Progress 🙂
Fantastic stuff!
I like that you made friends with a guy wearing the same helmet, you know what they say 😆
281w is epic!
My weighted average was 260.
I was totally in disguise today, like a ninja with a bit of pink 😈
It was very windy on certain sections. Accidentally found myself on the front for a couple of laps, and shut down 2/3 attacks leading the pack (I need to learn to break off lol). The last lap was very intense from the moment we crossed the line someone attacked. I managed to keep myself in the top 15-20 on the final lap. On the last corner I had a gap! I started sprinting very early (on th corner) and I think (and hope) I managed to sneak into the top 10, no idea where though. My sprint finish was 1,000w - as much as I could muster as I was going into it with a lot less energy than I had planned and had to maintain it for longer too... Good race today 🙂
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/846964675
What's odd that even switching to a 52/36 my cadence is still the same as the 50/34.
Well done at CH and thanks for the tips TiRed!
How did your race go?
Well done Nath! Sorry I rushed off- trying to feed and walk all the dogs and still have time to get changed for this stupid meal 🙁
I loved that comment you got at the lockers 🙂
My weighted was 294!!!!
Yes that was funny- although he taught me about switching the visor upside down which was dead handy- I wonder if it's in the instructions lol 😀
You were on the outside of the Bus Stops (??) with 2 to go and I had enough momentum to get right up to you. I had half a plan to try and lead you out (LOL!!) or at least give you a free ride for half a lap and then two guys shut the door on me and I was on the bricks 😀
That was funny when we caught you and that other guy and I was like "Lapped rider ahead!!!!" Then I spotted the kit and thought, nah, false alarm 😀
Which comment?
It's epic that your sticking in the bunch now, thanks for thinking of me haha.
I wasn't up for letting him get away, no one lets me, not on my watch! I think he wanted me to overtake and do my turn, but I wasn't up for that I was trying to have a lazy day haha. Wheelton tried it too, with one team mate trying to hold the bunch up as the other kicked off, I went after him and brought reenforcements lol.
Told you, I was a ninja today!
Awesome! Mixing it properly 🙂
When he said well done for doing so much work 😀
Any of you planning to do any races at Redbridge so I can come along and spectate?
Ah haha, didn't quite hear him 😆
Hope we get places for next Saturday now - be gutted if we don't! Still turning up to watch mind you.
@epicsteve - not heard of Redbridge to be honest, think I'm more likely to do Abingdon than that one as after a quick google it's north east London? Bit of a trek from Ealing.
Yes, I'll turn up regardless. Feels like home now 🙂
It was kind of Lucy to wash my eye out! I'm not saying whether shades would have kept the grit out in the first place 😀
Haha yeah, they make good flapjacks and a mean cup of tea too!
How's your eye doing?
I spirit levelled my saddle for this race, I've now got a wee bit of pain in the knees. I think I need to lower my saddle by a few MM to compensate??
Yeah fine now thanks! I hadn't noticed until we stopped lol
As per our discussion earlier- definitely don't ask me about bike fit mate!!!!! 😀
That's dedication for you! 😈
Haha forgot about that.
How epic is this, why don't we have this in the UK?!?!
P.s. Scouring through peoples strava's look what I found:
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The link to Murphy's pic: https://www.strava.com/activities/846974622
On strava fly bys I was 5th I think, the race finishes at crica 14:10.
What do you think!?!
Lol! I think my shoulders look less relaxed 😀 I think I'm on the drops though ❓
Actually just realised your on two of those pics, I think you're in the drops on both yeah!
I've just looked at our warm up data - you put out [b]1,445w[/b] on our sprint off the line. No wonder you kept up with me I only went up to 939w!! haha.
I've watched the strava flyby thing a few times now, it's leading me to believe I got 5th. But I genuinely think I was more like 9th/10th if I got points at all. I wasn't doing the usual counting as I had my head focused on the line in front...
Tasty! Could have done with that at the end 😀
I'm sure you are 4th on the flyby no?
And I'm about 29th.....
How many points do you need before you can move up?
Are you going to when you can or hang in D to learn your craft more?
What's needed to win instead of top 10? Luck, skill, sprint or something else?
Are D riders forced to move up? If so, when/why?
Second thoughts- yes 5th I reckon. There was two on top of each other.....
@CH I was zoomed in to the max with a post it note marking the line earlier haha.
@weeksy - was that post for the Zwift thread? Cat D belongs in there haha.
It's 12 points to move up to 3rds, and you're forced up.
To win is all about positioning on the last lap and then having the power for the sprint (or should I say having the energy in the bank)!
Waiting for these guys to update their pages in the hope they got a line pic:
http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-
http://www.hughesartandphotos.com/Photos/Cycling/Cycling-20162017/IWS-2016-2017/Imperial-Winter-Series-7
I counted 5? photographers today - who are these people!?
2 Questions, if I may:
What's the guy doing with his arm back ?
[url= http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-b3FSVdp/A ]http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-b3FSVdp/A[/url]
And, "stealth with a hint of pink", you say nath ? Bold ! 😆
[url= http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-m39X899/A ]http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-m39X899/A[/url]
Can't see the links Scaredypants 🙁
About the 'best' one of me...
http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-Jt7zNFv/A
links corrected
and: logos, valves, lawn needs raking
Eww, isn't [i]your[/i] visor light-reactive ? Perhaps we could have a whip-round 😀 😳
@scaredypants
Arm - signalling for folks to move over as we're approaching the ladies
And erm that's not me 😆
I don't think there's any pic of me on Dave's collection.
Both of us....
http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-v4JZNmj/A
Oh didn't see that one, in fact still can't other than through your link lol.
I'm too ninja for myself it seems 😆
Line photo: http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-Tvr25b3/A
As I thought, way back in 8th-12th
Well done both of you. Nobody off the back today (except me - I was called in by the com 🙁 ). CH you've finished in the bunch, it just gets harder from now!
The E12/3 race was a much more brutal affair. The wind broke up the bunch, plenty of attacks, including three by myself, one with seven laps to go, [url= http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-gq8GHQ2/A ]another on six[/url], but all chased back. Finished mid-pack again, but we lapped some groups twice!
Thanks @TiRed.
How come you got called in?
Did you see the finish?
I stood watching your race for a bit, before I had to leave, it was confusing to watch and now I know why 😆
Thanks TiRed! It's annoying how tantalisingly close the guys sprinting it out looked 😀
Wow! Your race sounds exciting as usual. Wish I could have stayed and watched.....
BC insurance, apparently. I may need to be an accredited commissaire to be allowed to ride. I am planning on that as my next qualification after Level 3 Coach. It was good to watch, but I wasn't actually focussed on the finish, just avoiding being run over by people sprinting off line!
In my race my sufferscore increased from about 58 to 80. Worked a lot harder in this one, with an average HR of 161. Still some way of my Thrshold (about 174 bpm).
Wow! That's impressive stuff really! 30 odd miles, 26.5mph and cruising @ Z3 😀
Have BC rules changed recently then?!
That's impressive TiRed - looks like skipping the amateur race will help the real one!
I'm really split on Abingdon round 3, I think I'll definitely do round 4. But I wanted to do an FTP around Hillingdon on the 18th, but the lure of racing is strong! 😆
You can always find your ftp from a race. In fact, I believe they are more realistic. Just attack on lap 1 and hold it for 50 minutes 😈 . And yes, a 50 minute Z3 warm up won't help my race, but we don't all race for points and a second cat license.
Haha I ain't doing a 50 min ftp test 😆
Nath- you could get to Hillingdon and get too many interruptions to do a clean test anyway....
And your indoor and outdoor FTP's can be different so it won't help you for Zwift. I guess it will help your ZADA case but then a day out at a big hill would be better still.
If you don't fancy 50 then sit in for 25 minutes and launch an attack with 25mins to go instead 😀
Nope!
Tired, E123s are up: http://www.hughesartandphotos.com/Photos/Cycling/Cycling-20162017/IWS-2016-2017/Imperial-Winter-Series-7/IWS7-2016-7-Men-E123/
Nath- do you think the photographers covered a race each??
No, Dave's has both races.
I just don't think Hughe's pics are up yet.
There were LOADs of photographers out on Saturday though, but I only know of those two websites... e.g. http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/Cycling/Cycling-Circuits-/Imperial-Winter-Series-2801201/i-J92SQwG/A
Edit, just seen a post on Hughe's facebook:
Hughes Art and Photos
2 hrs ·
Pics from the Men's E123 race at round 7 of the Imperial Winter Series at Hillingdon yesterday. Other race photos will be posted later.
Ah, I thought those E123 pics on Dave's are from last week...
They're all bundled together on this weeks.
BTW how vain are we 😆
Any news on the 18th yet? *cough* http://www.flowerbx.com/