Training Log Archive: Dangerman

Post Script to Quantum Cycles drama:
Got the bike at 5:30pm on Friday.
The nice gentlemen had "released" my brakes for me saying that it would allow me to ride home. Funny, never really had any issues with the brakes....
During the ride today I had issues with the brakes. Namely, the front brake's lever travel got longer and longer. And there was liquid (presumably brake fluid) at the reservoir.
I'm on the verge of being angry again and that is too soon after being angry at my boat 2 months ago.

C • It's Time..... 2

Some big winds and a moderate swell greeted Shane, Robyn, Hugh and I at Cott. We decided to launch a few metres north of the main groyne. Despite there being no waves to speak of, 1 of us still manage to fall in!

From there on in I had one of the most enjoyable paddles for ages. The whole group reconvened at City and Scarborough and was within 30m of each other for the most part, sometimes on the same waves. And the waves were great!

Winds were gusting to 30 knots SSW and with the moderate swell, the majority of waves were 'catchable' with a bit of work. I was being more pro-active with my wave selection, trying to turn earlier onto waves and trying to catch anything that was nearby, no matter how small it was.

It worked. My fastest 1km split was......3:21 !!!!! That's 17.6km/h!! I remember it well. I caught a few small skates out form shore and then chanced upon a monster. It was actually the intersection of two waves and I managed to ride the 1st one so that I got on the next one. After I got all the momentum, I managed to catch a few more big ones. They just kept appearing in the right places and was able to catch them. Huge smile on my face after that sequence - max of 21kp/h too.

Given the distance, I was concerned with getting tired. I didn't have any food or water with me as I had had a mental block on the way out the door. No suncreen either :( Anyhow, back to the pacing. I eased it back a few notches or at least I tried to! It was so hard because every time I eased up, Hugh would be right behind me and Robyn on my right. And with all the great fun to be had on the waves, it was hard to just let them go. As Trigg approached, I started to feel some fatigue but it didn't seem to affect my speed too much and I was still catching the skates.

The landing was ok. I just missed a mini dumper by turning into and over it at the last second. After the car shuffle and despite being cold, I shuffled over to the IGA for a well deserved ice cream!

The classic PBGS ride again. Wonderful! I was early and had everything ready this time - it was a sign of how much I was looking forward to it.

I remembered to time the WNM climb. I managed 9:51 and, after initially putting in a good effort, I took it reasonably easy. Surprised with the time as I think it was quicker than an all out effort I did last year.
edit: Yep, 10:40 was my best time here. I'm very surprised and can't wait to go there again and give it a real good go.

Tooms was right, I did want to have some revenge but since he was 'cushioned' by BIGPete, I didn't push too hard and gave everyone a break when needed (not sure if they'd agree?).

We did the scorpion trail in the correct direction today and it was so much better. Everything made much more sense that way round. I think that I'll have to make that trail a one way only. We found a new trail deviating off halfway from the Dell to Gunjin and took that. Very new and overgrown so I barely had time to actually pedal.

Tooms wanted to do Lockwood and I didn't. A big wide road with a hill designed to tired me out so the finish sprint would be a bit closer ;-) I started up the hill and noticed that the HR was up a bit. I hadn't felt great all ride and it got a bit worse when I started to push. I could push but I couldn't hold it for as long. tRicky rode off the front, probably not even trying, and left us for dead. Maybe if I get a GF with a nice house and pool in Mt Pleasant, I could ride that well.

I was starting to hurt here and the last leg through Munda Biddi was a touch painful. I pushed and made it hurt but there wasn't much speed in the legs. The finishing sprint only had Tooms and me in it as the others had bailed (some dodgy excuses - 2 x I'm going for a long walk tonight, 1 x I'm stuffed, 1 x I'm following them).

I lead initially, he passed, I dropped off! He slowed. I lead the final hill and gave it all I had trying to reduce his sprint speed. I hit 185 at that point but Tooms got me well and truly. Nice work Tooms!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25069484

C • Oh dear. Poor girl will f... 6

Whore No More (WNM) - Splits

Yay! Back on the MTB. Ride back from shop into town to catch the train. It's awesome to be back on the MTB. I jumped a few curbs, scared a few pedestrians (probably cause I was wearing my suit and they thought "Oh no! A crazy man in a suit!") and had a huge smile on my face all the way to the train station where they made me wait 30minutes before I could get on.

The Quantum Cycles (North Perth) Drama.
5 weeks ago - please fix my bike
3 weeks ago - how's it going? We are having trouble getting parts.
2 weeks ago - any news? Oh, yes, still haven't got the parts, thanks for reminding us. I'll call you once they are in
1 week ago - any news? Oh yes, parts still not in. Look, I'll call them now and call you back with the result
6 days ago - any news? yep, they said the parts are on the way, we'll call you when they arrive
4 days ago - any news? yep, parts arrived yesterday. Bike will be ready in 1 day
now - still no call.

Once again, poor old consumer, by trying to do the right thing and letting the shop know my deadlines, gets poor service. I should have lied from the outset about my deadline and called them everyday to remind them to chase up the parts supplier. sigh.

To make myself clear, I am mostly disappointed by the lack of communication rather than the time it is taking. That is the thing that gets me most. They say "we'll call you and let you know tomorrow" 4 days goes past without a call and then I'm the one feeling like I'm bugging them, calling to make sure everything is on track.

C • Average............. 8

The drama continues.
Guess what the parts supplier means when the say "complete bushing kit"?
They mean, all the bushings for the bike except the two that are actually worn.
Wonders never cease.
I mean, really.
:-/

C • Ba-bow. 5

C • Do Cyclemania to mountain b... 1

Commute in from Innaloo. Parked the car there for my assault onto Ikea after work. Wish me luck - I don't deal with shopping well.

Still very sore when riding in :-(

Still hurting! I thought that I was hurting a bit more than I expected but then I realised what I had done over the past 6 days and it made a whole lot of sense.
Pain and soreness is still the same but my mood is heaps better. Funny that.

Managed to fit in a proper warm up (5@z1, 3@z2, 2@z3) followed by
2 x ((5 x 40/20) + 5min rest). Well, only managed 4 of the last set as I was at Ikea and wanted to get the shopping experience over and done with, you know, like a band-aid?

Finally bought my first bit of furniture for my apartment. It wasn't easy but I prevailed in the retail rat maze experiment that is Ikea. Now to another anxiety provoking experience - dinner with the family at an expensive restaurant. I hope my nerves hold out!

Slow pootle into work.
I didn't feel like pushing, didn't feel the need to push so I didn't push!

Awh man, my quads are killing me today. Not so much that I am limping, but enough to make every step hurt just a little bit. Icing them now in the hope they will improve.

Come on body, ADAPT!

Tried an experiment today. I applied ice to my quad and shin on my right leg only to see what difference it made. I was surprised by the results.
I would rate the peak pain on my left leg (the one without ice treatment) as a 4 when walking. The right leg treated with ice rates at a 1.

It's a shame I didn't rate the pain scores before applying the ice. I have a sneaking suspicion that the effect would be more pronounced as it is my right leg that has the poor technique and usually hurts more than the left.

Slipped in 4x((5x40/20)+5min rest) on the way to the club and in the process I made a pretty graph:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/24891319
click on the HR bit. Not as pretty as the running ones but a good effort nevertheless, especially considering it was on an undulating course.

I must determine my threshold though, so that I know at what effort to do these at. I have a feeling it is a little higher than 160 which is where I was getting to today. That ride I did up the coast chasing those roadies was more like 170-180. Maybe a Kings Park TT is in order.....

Forgot the watch this time which was sitting charged up on my desk.

I enjoyed this session a lot more than previous sessions. We paddled south to the North Beach jetty and then caught the skates back. Yes, skates! at 6am in the morning.

This was another reminder that I need to inject some fun back into my paddling as my motivation is waning. But how can I get excited about a 130km pain fest they call the Avon. Especially 5 months out?

I'll do one better Boltboi than forgetting my work clothes. I'll forget my bike! Yes, got to Bold Park, stopped the engine and took the keys out of the ignition before I realised it was going to be hard to ride into work without a bike.
Trusty iPhone to the rescue; found me a bus into town and off I went!

p.s. anyone in town that is going to the TT? Can I grab a lift?

C • yep 3

Yeeeha! New record, both for this year and all time.

I started off quick and managed to hold it. It hurt, but I knew that if I kept pushing off with the ball of my foot, I would keep up the pace. As I turned onto Empire, I kept up the pace. This was a weird feeling as I knew I was going quick; my heels were almost touching my bum and I was running, not jogging!

As the Valencia Hill approached, I calmed down and readied myself for a control ascent. I kept the pace so that my breathing was just laboured. To make it more interesting, at every 3rd power pole, I put in an interval till the next power pole (ended up doing only 2).

After a little rest on top of the hill, I was back into it. Here I kept alternating between just too fast and just too slow - on purpose I think. It was a good experience as I was learning what my threshold pace was here.

Durston approached. I just kept going! The pace slowed of course, but I maintained the same effort level and even did 1 interval similar to Valencia. I also looked back a few times and only on the last look, near the corner, did I see Wade. I also noticed that Durston has a nice little kick to it, right at the end.

Down the never ending chute to the finish now. I extended the stride, pushed off with the ball of my foot and hoped. As the last rise came, I broke into a sprint and crossed the line, puffing but not shattered. I was very hot though and couldn't do much about it for a while so I walked around trying to get in the way of some wind.

It's wonderful to be able to run rather than jog.

Splits (not as accurate as they are from my phone)
1000m 3:44
2030m 5:09
3010m 4:41
4000m 5:18
4920m 4:01

C • Fantastic Effort! 7

C • Good on you Martin! That's... 3

Tooms' Golf Course 5k TT - Splits

Awww, so sore! Legs felt very sore, like I had done a getting massive session. I canned the ride into work this morning. Soreness is probably related to the dehydration and hitting the wall on Saturday. Of course, the effort would do it too, however, I did more last week with less post session soreness.

Might be time to begin the tapper as I don't think my body is holding up too well to this extra training volume.

I swear I charged the Garmin 310XT up before I went on this ride. It died pretty much at the start too :-( A quick inspection once I got home revealed that the charger needs to be plugged in to work...

Since I didn't have a timing device to go by, I turned this into a fartlek type session with distance intervals. I would pick a landmark (of sorts) and sprint to it. Intervals varied from 30s to 2mins or so. Rest breaks were at least as long as the interval. 2 were spinning intervals, 2 were ones where I had to stand up continuously, and 1 was a flat tack attack up the hill on Ocean Reef road towards the Freeway. Altogether I did 8 intervals.

Legs didn't feel that great although they would have felt a lot worse if I had ridden into work this morning.