Selkirk MTB marathon review and thoughts

Went down on the Saturday afternoon and saw a lot of cars with road bikes heading in the opposite direction after the sportive. Event camping was  in Selkirk. After weeks of rain the weather forecast was true and good and after a cold clear night where the temp in the car got down to 1 degree C – the blue skies and May sun woke the riders up and set the tone of the rest of the day.

After the ride got off at ten o’clock with the Championship riders leading the field out it only took a little more than three and a quarter hours till the leading championship riders came back into the event village.

Go rohloff Go

Highlights of the race were the scenery in general and the sections of trail centre singletrack at Innerleithen, part of the renowned 7Stanes network. This part of the Scottish Borders is stunning, with rolling hills as far as the eye can see, gorse in full golden flower, and a superbly remote feeling. I do however have a gripe – being mid field some of the technical single track sections were really bogged down up to 20cm of mud and quite unrideable. Hate to think what the riders 300places back would have thought.

Feel that they could have had multi sections were another option was opened after the first 250 riders passed through … a minor gripe and just that i would have loved to ride it all instead of having to walk 3 sections.

always suspect something when a camera and puddle are this close together …

there was also a section where the 70km (actually 60km if I had another moan) came back to join the 45km lot and there was a hill that i didn’t see anyone ride – up to 22% according to the Garmin … again think the organisers should have picked a gentler route this late in the ride as it is the people on the 45km course that they really should encourage to come back and a 600m walk will not help them do that … Then a lovely descent – most people like me just riding down the side of the heather … a few of the full course 85km guys came flying past as well … then the water pic above – need to buy the Hires version for vanity reasons ….

Lastly the finish and another t-shirt which i said No to. The race must appeal to people that care about the environment and then they give out cheap horrible t-shirts that no-one with any fashion sense would wear out … they should copy the marathon and run events and give out small medals instead …

finished but hot

Must say that the greatest post finish bit was the routine …

1. WASH THE BIKE

2. WASH MYSELF

3. Get a physio

4. Eat … and Eat again. 4300calories leaves a dent.

ride profile

Software for your Heart Rate Monitor and GPS

To some of us geeky MAMILS (middle aged men in Lycra), one of the biggest pleasures, next to the ride or run itself, is quantifying the vast amount of data available to us about our performance.  The prevalence of GPS based and downloadable cycling computers, combined with various websites and programs have made it possible to catalog, view and analyze mountains of data; metrics from average pace to peak wattage vs. peak heart rate are now at your fingertips.  Here’s a quick overview of a couple of the more common sites and programs out there.

 STRAVA

 

my new favourite after a while playing with Endo … (see next)

Strava.com is the relative new kid on the block in terms of ride analysis.  Offering both free and frankly too expensive subscription services ($6 per month or $59 per year) will allow riders to directly upload rides from their GPS devices and track their performance.  Displaying a GPS track of the route you rode, along with an elevation profile and metrics such as distance, elevation gain, moving time, speed (max and average), average speed, average cadence and average power, you get a mass of information to sift through and analyse.

The coolest thing about Strava and it is something that Endomondo also does is social connection ….  You can link Strava to your Facebook page and twitter account and you can even challenge friends (or strangers for that matter) to competitions.  Strava has a unique feature that allows you to designate segments of your ride and run (climbs, TTs, crazy descents) that you can measure against every other person on Strava that has covered that route (or just a section) before and uploaded their ride.  It’s an excellent idea that promotes competition and growth amongst different riders all riding in the same area.

Here is a section of the Arran ride that someone has made into sections … woo hoo I did well without even knowing it.

For example, imagine your club has a friendly “climbing competition” up a particularly long, steep, or otherwise nasty climb.  Anyone who is a member of Strava who uploads a ride containing that climb will be ranked based upon speed, power, time and VAM (Vertical Ascent Meters) along with everyone else who has ridden that climb.  The best part of the whole thing is that once the climb is designated on Strava, the site software automatically finds that segment of your ride and analyzes it, compares it to everyone else, and posts it in ranking of fastest to slowest.  It’s an excellent tool to use to compare both your form compared to others around you, and to chart your own progress by comparing to your previous attempts.

PROS: Great community based concepts.  ”Segments” option for competing with your friends.  Excellent data presentation and layout. Standalone free iPhone app if you don’t have a dedicated gps hrm

CONS: Pay site is yet another expense (free site only 5 rides/month allowance)

ENDOMONDO

My old favourite social exercise site – allowed you to see your friends workouts and comment on them. Again it allows analysis of the ride or run and also keep a note of your PB’s.

The social interaction may be slightly better on Endo although I prefer the slightly better analysis on Strava …. Again there is a dedicated app for iPhone so you can use that on commutes when your gps or hem is at home. Both these sites are better with Garmin products and that is more to do with the disinterest on the part of Polar and suunto more than the development of either of these two platforms. At the moment I import the gpx track from file although this loses the hrm info from the exercise. At the moment you can import the average and max readings into the endo workout but it is not a true graph.

Alternatives for Me

Movescount for Suunto users

Good analysis but lacking social connections as there is no app and your friends can’t compare to you.

Polar Personal Trainer for Polar HRM users

Better analysis but even less social connections.

Turbo Interval on the bike

yesterday was supposed to be a run day in light of the upcoming duathlon but I couldn’t face it (as opposed to today when I am forced to face the sleet and cold later)

So the plan was this:

10min warm up then

4 MIN at +85% MHR

4 MIN recovery at 65% MHR

Repeat 4 times

Then cool down for 10 min

But was watching the iPad – a doccie about the Yom Kippur war with John Snow daddy and son and kind of lost track of timings ….

Here is the Garmin read out showing speed

speed on the trainer

The intervals are not so easy to see on this graph – esp the 2nd interval where I went for nearly 7.5 minutes ….

Here is the polar Heart rate Graph from Polar Personal Trainer which shows the intervals clearer. Normally I program the RCX5 so that it beeps to remind me and beeps when HR is too high (rare) or too low ….. Think I should stick to that is it is less forgetful than me doing it manually.

Polar RCX5 HR graph clearly showing intervals

not working today so off to the cinema at lunchtime – how decadent ….

Trouble shooting – weird Heart Rate spikes, dropouts and how to eliminate them

For those who train with heart rate monitors, you have probably encountered a session where your HR graph just doesn’t make sense. With my garmin it used to start fine then my HR would skyrocket up to the 180′s 190′s and I would be dead if I was there 200′s. With my Suunto – sometimes I would get no reading before it kicked into life …

Suunto no record then suddenly pop into life ...

After you finish your activity and get back to your computer, you’ll probably see something like this – a major HR spike a dropout or even a level no read situation, followed by more normal HR activity: Below is my reading from the Alloa Half Marathon on the weekend with flouro yellow highlights of bits that don’t make sense ….

Frustrated, you wonder if the battery needs changing but then the next time it is fine so you forget about it …but here is a reason why this might be happening.

I presume everyone can put their strap on correctly – that is the right way up and against the skin just under the ribcage …

So assuming that you’ve got it fitted right then let’s look at what typically causes the spike or dropout in HR

1) Are you wet yet?

During the winter months and in the case of Alloa on Sunday the air is often fairly cold, and fairly dry.  This means that you’re less likely to have moist perspiration on your skin (from heat) and even less likely to be generating any sweat right from the start of the workout.  This in turns lowers your belt’s conductivity ability to read your heart rate beats …..   Simply introducing any moisture at all will usually remedy the situation – at least until you begin sweating enough to let sweat do its job.

2) Synthetic quick dry shirts:

At Alloa I was wearing a synthetic shirt as opposed to my ‘normal’ nicer smelling Merino. An unfortunate side effect of synthetics is that they can dry out the body and the skin’s sweat making the belt so dry that it can’t ‘read’ the skin. Another issue is that synthetic material can build up static which can cause electrical interference with the HR belt.

3) Your mum is a gorilla:

I have heard some people of the hirsute variety have more errors ….. you need to be very hairy for this to affect the HR belt but if you are this way inclined … a) shave or groom b) stay swinging in the trees instead of running c) if female remain indoors and plait that hairy back …..

How to lick the problem:

It is pretty easy to fix

1) Sweat it: This first one is a bit obvious – but will explain why the problem often goes away after just a few minutes of activity.  Once you start sweating it improves conductivity.  This in turn makes the HR strap work …. but you still have the earlier misread ….

2) Lick it: This is the simplest option and what I do all the time. I just give the sensors a good gobbing – but hold onto your bogeys for the run.

HR gel

3) Heart Rate Gel: If you suck at licking, then you can instead use electrode gel to improve conductivity.  This is what’s typically used in medical environs for scans and using TENS machines …. it just ensures a good contact moisture seal between belt and skin. They are cheap as chips – about £5 for a big tube that will last years … If it is a dry very cold day and I remember then I use gel on the belt before heading out.

4) Shift the strap:

If you spot a dodgy reading then adjust the strap – a quick shift up and down normally gets the belt to rub against some sweat and the belt normal corrects pretty quickly. Some people shift the strap so it is half on back and front or even all on the back … i have not tried but it seems to work as an option.

5) Replace the batteries:

Finally, it could be as simple as old depleted batteries – most belts use CR2032 batteries so i always make sure I have a handful around ….

Polar RCX5 review

The Polar HRM arrived nearly a month ago now and I have had a good chance to use it in various sports.

Firstly unboxing showed a nice little box and neat packaging. When you first switch on RCX it asks you to input basic things like sex, age, height, weight as well as the amount you exercise per week. I fall into a higher (amateur) category of roughly 5-7 hrs / week.

The RCX typically comes in 3 configurations … a gps setup which includes the excellent G5 gps. This is a very nice waterproof unit which holds charge for 20 hrs which is far from what i have had the pleasure of exceeding. The unit comes with an armband although I must confess that one month later i have yet to use it. The unit is very wee and fits into the small key pocket at the front of my running shorts as well as the back pocket of my running tights. I even used it the other day on a ride and had it jammed into a small front pocket of my jacket pocket. Being hunched over I expected the reception and subsequent track to be slightly skittish but coming back i compared the track to the one recorded by my Garmin Edge 305 which is on my stem with an uninterupted view of the sky. The comparison revealed that the Garmin recorded the ride as 51.42km and the edge at 51.62km … that is a 200m discrepancy over a huge distance. thinks it something like 0.4% (better get my calculator out) I am sure a shoulder mount or bar mount would make it perfect (that is me judging the Edge to be perfect …)

Other configurations are the Run pack which comes with the S3+ stride sensor. I have not used this but have seen side by side comparisons to the Garmin unit and from what I gather they are pretty compareable. The Polar unti is much bigger and does everything the Garmin does … the only feature useful to me would be the stride count … but then i am a slight Chi runner and my footfall stride is roughly 83-85/min.

The other configuration i have seen is the bike pack which has a cadence and Speed Censor … the cadence sensor would be the most useful to me … if you have the GPS sensor then i think you dont need the speed sensor.
One point I would say is that it is a shame that it is not the one unit like many of the competitors now do. Times and Garmin do their combined ones. I still use my Garmin unit along with the edge indoors when on the turbo trainer and having this placed on the back wheel makes it very practical.

I think that all the above configurations come with a heart rate belt although it is also possible to buy the RCX5 unit as a standalone piece which is probably only something that athletes that already own a polar belt (although not all older belts can be seen by the RCX5) On the heart Belt itself – amazingly comfortable and using Garmin and Suunto for the past few years I must confess that Polar know what they are doing when they make the belts … so comfy and you never get a strange spike or weird reading that you sometimes get with the Garmin HR belts.
Polar also do sports bras for women which have the HR receiver built into them which should make them more comfy than a standard setup for some.

what works with what POLAR

Back to the RCX unit. There are two colours to choose from a black and a red … I chose red because everyone knows that red is faster.

The square design has been criticised by some but I think it is great … it is slightly larger than a normal watch but once exercising the display is clear and very easy to use.
You can customise the display to show what you want to see .. I have gone into this before HERE

Using the Unit
Strapping the RCX on I immediately noticed how comfortable the watch was – in fact the whole construction oozes class not something i have noticed in the build of any previous Polar, Garmin or Suunto with the possible exception of my Suunto Core

Going outside for a run you can leave the gps on a wall whilst you pre-stretch – and then it latches onto the signal very quickly – the chipset inside the unit is a SIRF6 which allows for quicker lock on. the given wisdom is that cold fixing (in an area you have not been in before) will take around a minute, and hot fixes (starting in an area where you finished your last run / ride) will take 10-20 sec. From experience this seem to hold true. Of course this is a gps so switching it on when inside your house will not be good … but a sky above you should be good enough for the fix.
A tip I learnt for cold or rainy weather is to switch on the gps and leave it in your window whilst you put shoes on and it is generally ready to go when you are.

The unit when setting it up can be set to auto-lap – this is something I use when running having the watch perform every 1km … i find this more useful as a pace guide and a very good nudge to the brain when i need to speed up.
the watch can be set to either follow a programme (which can be configured on polar personal trainer and downloaded) say if you were doing intervals with a 5min warm up, 10 min tempo and 3 fartleks then arm down. The watch also has a great audible warning which can be set to pace or HR. This can either be set to Loud, quieter or off. I find this more useful when doing a fat-burn ride or run when my natural instinct is to speed up and defeat the very purpose of the training.

Post exercise the RCX5 stores your last exercise in the data section fro you to review. By itself the RCX5 gives a good breakdown and review of data. You can look at individual training sessions or see a summary of the week which is useful if you need a motivator to get out the door for a run or cycle. One of the good features is that there is a very good heart rate zone breakdown as well as a neat thing were you can see what percentage of calories was in fat burn.

HR zone breakdown

Speaking of features there is something missing and that is a proper barometric altimeter. Most of the course I do aren’t that hilly and I put bike tracks into bikewithgps or other tracking websites which recomputes gps info and produces a ride profile. For those running in hilly location this lack of altimeter might be a problem but for me it is not a deal breaker.

I think the beauty of the Polar RCX5 is in the heart rate monitoring … a lot of people like myself would look at the lack of ANT+ support and the very annoying lack of integration with other platforms like map my run, bikely,endomondo and others and decide not to go with polar BUT (and it’s a big butt) polar does and has always done great heart rate monitors. The analysis that you can do post exercise is way better than polar and a bit better than the hrm software that my old suunto t6 used with movescount.

Once you have done the exercise you can upload the data using polar weblink which is a free download from their site. One word of advice make sure you click the RCX5 for PPT option as I inadvertently clicked the other option when downloading the update then tore my hair out trying to figure out what i had done)
With the Polar Personal Trainer software you can create programs as well as seeing very easily how your training load is…. This prevents you overtraining (however rare this is in my case)

Finally I would say that polar, although not integrating as well as Garmin does with ANT+, weblink does allow you to access the RCX5 and download the .hrm files and .gpx files (gps track) – it’s a shame it doesn’t use the .tcx format but i think that is a garmin proprietary format.

I may have highlighted some weaknesses in this review but I am happy with the unit and wouldn’t change it.

New HRM and new training schedule … but still the old legs

Still recovering slightly from the injury but I have started spinning again.

New routine is this.

bike in situ on the tacq trainer

1. Assembled the turbo trainer in the house ….

kitchen unit with iPad and movies on the unit ….

jugs of water close to hand

wooden floors so easier to clean up the sweat.

 

2. New HRM has arrived – a Polar RCX5 with gps

On polarpersonaltrainer website you can start following a program so I started an endurance ride one with sportives in the summer on my planned to do list ….

So here is a glimpse of it all – tomorrow night after a long day’s filming I come home and then start a 2 hr low HR ride … will let you know how this progresses in a few weeks …

my training plan (bike)

One thing I like about the site is that once your sessions are uploaded it works out a training load to avoid you overtraining. It is similar to Suunto’s Movescount Training Effect (I wrote a post about that here when i was using the T6 HRM). I started a training ride last night that said i had to do 30 minutes in Zone 2 HR which for me is only 127bpm max …. the summary is interesting showing the percentage of fat burn in the calorie expenditure … Basically long and slow burns fat …. will have to monitor this as would be great to drop 3-5kg for summer.

HR graph - not allowed any greens tonight mumma

 

 

Took the Plunge and went for a new Polar HRM

The RCX5 with GPS. The truth is I love Polar HRM and like their analysing software. The things I used to hate was their lack of ANT+ and the fact that using a MAC used to be a no go.

They have changed slowly and although the RCX5 is not as good as the RS800 – it has a look I prefer. I was umping and aching over the new Garmin 910xt and the 610 but I find them ugly (although this is a completely subjective fashionista statement)… I guess I am a square (fan).

Anyway review to come I am sure.

I love this Garmin Video

Virtual Partner:

Today’s record is tomorrow’s motivation

Virtual Partner™ can turn any training session into a virtual matchup. Letting you race your previous bests or challenge any activities uploaded to Garmin Connect™.

Train with Christophe Le Mevel this winter with pre-planned training activities available for download at garmin.com/wintertraining.

Watch this video from Timmelsjoch in Austria as Team Garmin’s Christophe Le Mével climbs using the Edge 800 cycling GPS.

http://www.garmin.com/wintertraining

 

first go on a turbo trainer

After the assembly (10min) and another 5min changing the tyre on the road bike – I got on and cycled – I think my legs are a bit tired from gym session earlier but I loved it. Going to be the way I watch movies in the future … iPad on table and spin baby spin

Garmin picks up sensor on rear wheel too ...

More info once I have had more practice / experience.

Sunday running

I must remember to be less social – giving friends an open invite to come around at Sunday ‘sometime’ meant that my plans for a sneaky Kitesurf session were scarpered when a 12:30pm early lunch was confirmed. Bugger there was no way that would work out for me to get down to the coast have a session and be back washed and ready to cook. The solution I am led to believe is not to ditch said friends but to make alternative plans.

So plan hatched was to get my arse in gear and get out for a run. I confess to having been a bit lazy since the Jedburgh half marathon and my sciatic nerve was twinging a bit (stiff arse for lack of a better word) so down for a normal run to glasgow green And along the river path heading east. It is a great run and as I entered glasgow green right next to west brewery I became aware of heavy footstep runner approaching from behind … I sped up and he still narrowed the gap within 400m and passed me. Phew, younger, taller, slimmer and wearing clothes more appropriate for summer than a violently windy autumnal nay even wintry stormy day. Still a good run and slowed down from the unsustainable 4:20/km pace and sauntered on. Legs felt crap and a bit dehydrated (better than hungover) but heart rate was a lowly 141bpm …. Aaas one of those days.

The run is a simple out and back – down the glasgow green path until the path stops at the construction fence (for the commonwealth games) then back. 12.9 ish on the garmin foot pod and 13.01 using google maps.

Rest of day fine, friends good, food nice (cooked a smoked mackerel risotto yumm) prosecco palatable.

Hope you all had a fine Sunday too …….

nice run this morning

180m morning hill – enough to puff me out a bit

Slow run this morning and gloomy outlook at winter

it’s been a strange week since the jedburgh half marathon my motivation to exercise has waned slightly in the intervening period – I’m finding it difficult to resolve myself to the fact that winter has once again set in. one of the plans to overcome this lack of enthusiasm is to buy myself a bike trainer for using indoor during the winter.

Part of me thinks that buying a garmin HR monitor is not the best option and I should spend my money more wisely one that gets me fitter and that I will be working out on every night here in the house.
I am no expert on bike trainers there is a fluid version which is a supposed to be quite realistic and then there is also a Lemond version which gets rid of the back wheel and prevents wear and tear on my beloved pinarello. The real expert on all things Roadie is desertroadie (occasional writer on the blog) so I will have to bother him soon to get his opinion on which is the best.

The actual truth is I will probably buy both as the foot pod calibration is once again out on the fr60 – my run this morning seemed to be a very slow 9.11km but mapping it later it seems to be at least 9.5km. My supposed quick fix at the running track to make it 100% accurate (was 25m over in 5km) has now made it worse …. Will get there eventually. The great thing – well another great thing on the list of great things about the garmin 910xt – is the fact that the gps can auto calibrate the foot pod whilst getting a good signal meaning that the foot pod is highly accurate at those time when gps gets sketchy. This dual gps / foot pod thing is also something the polar rcx5 does …. Which I bore myself saying – I would have bought had the belt been ant+ …. But that is a rant against suunto and polar I have been having for a while now.

Mulling over an interval session: in Mull

Off I went yesterday to the Isle of Mull. Filming a program for the Scottish Development international showcasing Scottish Food and Drink … the quality. We are over to Mull and the forecast for weather is dire and we are filming on a Salmon Farm and it looks like this will be in the p*ssing rain …. Aaargh.

Anyway on the bright side I am working with a cameraman I have not worked with before and he has just been doing a course on Chi running … so instead of speaking about Jib Arms tracks, Zeiss lenses and other practical issues we both agreed to take running kit.

9am - ooh the clouds are breaking up ... they weren't

6:30am I wake to amazing Thunder lightning and apocalyptic rain that makes old boys like Noah proud. Downstairs is a gym ….

there is one of these:

take one machine

which has one of these buttons.

This is the only time I dont mind running on a treadmill as you can be sure the speeds are accurate and the intervals are consistent …

So the routine is set JOG speed at 10km/h (6min/km) and RUN at 17km/h (3:30/km)….Press Start.

Once HR is steady hit the Speed interval button at the next full minute then keep going for a minute before you hit it again to go back to jog speed. On the 3rd one I felt rough as a badgers and was briefly distracted helping Dave the Cameraman get his machine going. I normally do 10 repeat intervals but this morning only managed 7 then cooled down and did a 15 min slow row to finish off.

Garmin trainer screen

Garmin online with a better summary

 

Garmin Online

The Shoot well surprisingly there was the odd break we we hurriedly shot the bejesus out of our location then hopped in car as heavens opened, managed to get on earlier ferry and drove back to Glasgow looking at Sleet hit the window. Winter is here nice. Tomorrow is all inside filming Hoooray ….

Today on the ferry back I drank a local to celebrate … not bad

the cramping route….

Here’s the endomondo workout from todays ride:

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/25963761

Subsy

40 miles later, and I think I’m finally getting somewhere…

…..as far as understanding my body anyway….

After Fridays bonk, I took yesterday off as a rest day.I usually rest on Sundays, but flipped the schedule this week.
I woke up late, and the sun was shining, the sky perfectly clear, and the temperature around 15c – just the kind of weather that inspires you to want to go for a long ride.

So, I had my usual pre-ride meal (if you can call it that) of a whey protein shake with some organic oats and a banana, waited an hour or so and set off.

I deliberately didn’t push hard. I didn’t want to bonk again (though this time I did take extra fuel with me, and also bought some energy gels from a LBS around 17 miles into the ride).
And throughout the ride my energy levels felt good. No real problem there.
However, after around 24 miles, I did start to feel my legs tighten a bit, get a bit heavier, less willing to push on. Tell tale early signs of the potential onset of cramp. This is now becoming a common feeling for me.
The energy gels I’d bought had a very small quantity of electrolytes in them so at around 28 miles I had one, and it seemed to help a little bit but the feelings were still there, and getting worse, albeit perhaps a little more slowly.

I’d intended to take a slightly longer route home but given how I was feeling thought that was probably not the best idea so headed on a more direct route, constantly managing this pre-cramping feeling.

At 32 miles, on a long straight heading back toward my village I happened upon another rider in the distance.
I’m not sure why but I decided to push a little harder to try to catch up.
I did catch up, and as I got closer, noticed it was a casual rider on an old MTB with slicks. Still he was setting a reasonable pace considering his bike. I acknowledged him as I overtook, and carried on, really feeling my legs getting tighter and tighter.

Around a minute later, maybe even less, I heard a clunk of gears from behind me, and was shocked to see the same guy rocket past me. I couldn’t reign him in – he pulled out ahead of me.
I rested in the saddle for a couple of minutes, had a few stretches out of the saddle (during which my right leg nearly locked up!) and prepared for another push, by which time he was maybe 80m to 90m ahead of me and still setting a reasonably quick pace.

I set off hard and, clawed back the distance. As I caught him I pulled along side and commented he was going pretty quick considering his bike.
He said he was on the way to the gym and he rides the 6 or so mile route every day. I didn’t feel so bad then!
We bid each other farewell as I pushed on harder for the last couple of miles home. He was either hurting, or likely just wanted to conserve some energy for the gym, as he didn’t follow.

When I got home it was a struggle just getting off the bike. Legs were very stiff.

I’m getting round to the conclusion that having sufficient energy is not my biggest problem. Far more problematic is my cramping. What I’m learning is that…

a) I’m likely not not sufficiently fueled before these long rides. Unfortunately since I’m still trying to lose weight (maybe 15lb to go) I’m avoiding the type of foods that are proven and typically recommended the night before (big pasta dishes, Chinese etc). I usually only have a small portion of oats, a banana and some whey protein in a shake around 60-90 mins before I set off. Any suggestions here given my weight loss goals?

b) I’m just not conditioned to longer distances yet. I need more, regular time in the saddle on long distance rides.

c) I’m probably not adequately hydrated BEFORE the ride. I drink nowhere near the level of water thats recommended daily for the average person

d) I definitely need to force myself to drink more fluids DURING the ride (today I returned from the 40 miler with one of my two 750ml bottles still completely full). Think I’ll try using time or distance alerts on the Garmin to remind me.

e) AFTER the ride, I’m still not drinking enough. Even now sitting here writing this I’m feeling a bit dehydrated. As soon as its posted I best go down a couple of litres.

f) Since I sweat a lot, replenishing electrolytes is key. When I make my magic powder mix (see: http://surfabike.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/subvert-beats-post-5-home-made-energy-drinks/) I’m deliberately upping the electrolyte quantity beyond whats found in typical sport drinks.

g) There may be a secret weapon in the form of pickle juice. Have a look at this very interesting socialtrailriders.org forum thread: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/racing-training/7700-worked-pickle-juice-stopped-my-leg-cramps-merged-2.html

Anyway, on the plus side, the route I took today was really nice, not too many busy roads, and Southwold turns out to be much nicer than I expected:

southwold beach me

southwold beach 2

Also, when I saw this road sign to a place called ‘Wangford’, I had to stop, chuckle, then take a pic:

Until next time…..

Subsy

Subvert Beats Post #4: Some new gear on the way, reviews to come

An early Christmas for Mr Ben????

Just ordered a few new bits and bobs for cycling

 

Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow Saddle White

Assos Chamois Cream

Lazer Genesis Road Race Helmet

Garmin Edge 500 (Black) with GSC 10 Cadence sensor

Reviews will follow in due course!

Longer run and bits Slooow and other bits fine

Nice run today – phoned the Barroommountaineer to come and join me and to drag him away from his ProTools misery ….

route on endomondo

I wanted to do a 1H30m run (part training for the Jedburgh Half Marathon) but had to do one slightly shorter as I had to get across town to my daughters class at Scottish Opera …. We started off alright but then getting back into Glasgow Green after 4km+ Findlay started slowing down. I went ahead then turned and retraced my steps once I got to the bridge … When I caught back up to Findlay I think I gave him a hard time as the pace had dropped to a bad 5m07/km – a full minute down on the solo km’s I had just done.

HR a bit off at beginning until strap properly wet (sweaty)

Then home shower – wolf down some soup and head out the door again.

Title	longer slower run
Sport	Running
Start Time	Oct 15, 2011 12:43 PM
Distance	14.86 km
Duration	1h:10m:43s
Avg Speed	4:46 min/km
Max Speed	3:52 min/km
Calories	1157 kcal
Heart Rate	138 / 150

Notes

with fin – left fin then caught back up to him on return and slower finish. HR reading a bit weird – think belt a bit dryROUTE BELOW

http://www.endomondo.com/routes/25865969

Subvert Beat Blog Post #3: Ooooo errrrr Missus, I bonked hard!

After Mondays 8.24 mile run, and Wednesdays 9.5 mile run, the knobbly knees were aching so I thought I should rest them a little.
I’d intended to do some intervals on the indoor trainer, but the weather was nice here today so I decided to go out on a real ride.
I used mapmyride.com to plan out an 18 mile loop, fueled with a whey protein / 40g organic oats / half pint skimmed milk shake around an hour before the ride, and half a banana about 10 minutes before. I packed a small banana into my jersey pocket for some mid ride fuel.

After a little slow paced warmup I felt really good and so lifted the pace to average between 17 and 18 mph. In another navigation mishap (really want a Garmin Edge 500 for the bike), I missed a planned turning and got lost again. Not one for ever backtracking, I just figured I’d find a new route. (A reminder – I’ve just moved to the area so have never been down these roads before, and to me, not having the appropriate Suffolk/Norfolk background, one pig farm looks just like the next!).

To cut a long story short, the planned 18 miler was extended by 10.5 miles. Still feeling pretty good, and maintaining a good pace – probably faster than I’d been before, I stopped briefly at around 17/18 miles in, and yammed my banana down, in an attempt to avoid bonking. Like with my runs this week I’d been focused on maintaining a fast and steady cadence, and it seemed to be paying off.
Off I went again exploring the area. Had to stop a few times to check Google Maps on my phone and make sure I was heading in the right general direction.
Other than this, the large number of junctions I had to negotiate, and a 4 mile stretch of what can only be described as a mudtrack (my aching spine!), the roads were pretty great for riding.

Then bang. Happy ride ended. Pain began. 23 or 24 miles in (I didnt care how far I’d come at the time – just how far I had left from home) I bonked. My legs seemingly suddenly had nothing left. My average pace of 17-18 mph was all of a sudden confined to between 12 and 15. I was gutted. The banana was supposed to stop this. Damnit! The last 5 or 6 miles were hell. I was starting to cramp up (electrolyte loss?) and I knew that my goal of a 17 mph+ run over a 25 mile+ distance was slipping
away. I knew I couldn’t push any harder without significant risk of having to stop. I did what I could. Down to the drop bars to make myself as aerodynamic as possible. Pushed my legs round as far as I could - constantly feeling on the edge of breaking down and them locking up.
I arrived home and drank and ate, and felt strength returning. Synced the Garmin and uploaded the workout to Endomdo. Average speed 16.9mph. So close! Probably if I hadn’t stopped the few times to check where I was, and there were fewer junctions on the route, and I’d avoided the mudtrack, I would have met my goal of a 17 mph average, but without a doubt my body failure was the real cause.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/25744981

Off to research flapjack recipes and electrolyte tablets….

Subvert Beat post 2: Running the wrong way (aka anyone found my nipples)

By BEN@ SubvertBeats

Earlier I wrote my first blog entry here at Kitesurf Bike Rambling. Titled ‘Running the right way’ it focused on the benefits of efficient running style. This is a brief follow up post describing yesterdays training run that I was planning on using to try and focus on improved running economy and running the right way.

I ended up running both the right way, and the wrong way simultaneously; I was pleased with the results of a more efficient running style. However, I had absolutely no idea where the hell I was running to!

I’ve just relocated to East Anglia, and am living in a peaceful village, with plenty of rural lanes that (discounting uneven surfaces) are great for running.

So yesterday, following an 8.24 mile run on Monday that I still felt a little tight from, I planned to head out on a short 3 or 4 mile recovery run.

Not knowing the lanes, I consulted Google maps and identified a route that looked around the right distance. All well so far.

I donned the running gear, laced up and headed out. Standing on my driveway waiting for the Garmin to acquire a satellite fix it started peeing down.

I don’t mind a bit of rain when running – I usually find it quite refreshing. Twenty seconds later and I was off, heading out of the village along the route I’d planned.

Got to the T-Junction at the end of the road. This is where it started to go wrong. The T-Junction I’d arrived at was supposed to be a crossroads that i’d head straight over!

Ah well, sod it….I knew there was a turning on the opposite side of the road a couple of hundred meters along, so went that way.

For me, the first couple of miles of a run are always some of the hardest. My joints seem stiff, I get a bit of knee pain, sometimes a little shin pain, and generally things don’t seem so smooth, and I was trying to ignore all of this and get into a groove whilst running along this B road, still thinking that I knew roughly where I was, the direction I was headed, and confident that I’d be able to find a turning and make a loop back home for a total of 3 or 4 miles.

Only the turning didn’t come as soon as I’d hoped. 3 miles in and I hit a T-Junction. The signs concerned me. Neither left nor right indicated my village. The sign to my village was pointing back the direction I’d come from, indicating 3 miles. Usually having a pretty keen sense of direction I still thought I could find a way back home without needing to double back on myself (for some reason I hate doing that; illogical I know), so I headed left.

By this time I was just getting into my stride, and starting to focus on my running style. The Garmin kept beeping at me – another mile down. And I was feeling pretty good, though getting slightly anxious about where the hell I was and how far away from home I now was.

After 5.5 miles I hit another junction whos signs indicated that a left turn was 4 miles back to my village, and a right turn was to some place I’d never heard of, so I headed left, and soon realised I was heading back toward the lane I’d started on. (Turns out that if I’d headed right at that last junction I could have made a nice loop back home without re-tracking down the same route I’d headed out on – note to self – road signs are sometimes best ignored!)

By this time I was drenched. I mean completely and utterly soaked. It hadn’t stopped raining for a second since I started out. Usually I sweat a lot, but this time the vast majority was rain water. I could feel my running jersey bouncing up and down with its weight (which though I didn’t realise it at the time, is likely the cause for my extreme nipple chafing, that is still aggravating me this morning)

I wish I’d weighed all my gear when I got back – I’m pretty sure there was several pounds worth of additional weight from the rain water absorbed into my clothing.

During the run I was probably passed by 20 or so cars, and the looks on all of the drivers faces amounted to them thinking ‘nutter’. Similarly I passed many a (very smelly) farm and got even funnier looks from some even funnier looking folk…

But I was loving it, especially heading back knowing that this would accidentally become my longest ever run. When I rejoined the road I’d run up before, safe in the knowledge that I was heading home, and just how far home was, I was able to increase the pace, and my fastest mile was actually between mile 8 and 9.

I’d been going for well over an hour without fuel or electrolyte replenishment though, so for these last couple of miles I was feeling it in my legs – or more accurately, I wasn’t feeling much in my legs anymore – they just seemed to be kind of moving on there own with the momentum of each stride driving the next.

Eventually, 9.5 miles after starting out, I arrived back home, and only when stopped realised how little I had left in my legs.

I was pleased that I’d run so far though, with relative ease due to being more economic with my style, and it gave me confidence that with some mid run fuel I’d be able to continue for much further – certainly that half marathon seems far more achievable than it did just a couple of weeks ago!

I’m off to buy some plasters. Theres no way I’m running that far again without adequate nipple protection. It’s just not worth it. Ouch.

 

Running in the dark and pissing rain

It takes some strength to get out of bed in the dark and to look outside at a cold and wet ‘not yet morning’ and then don the running gear.

I did that this morning – glugged down half a glass of water and headed outside into the rain. The original aim was to do a 12km run this morning but by the bottom of the road I had decided a shorter faster run was needed.

I’m going to be honest here.

I’m sick of running in the dark.

I’m sick of running in the cold.

I’m sick of wet feet and gear.

And that’s not to say I don’t enjoy it. Much to the contrary, the very thing that gets me out the door is knowing that no matter how much I “don’t feel like it,” a mile or two in, I always end up warming up, finding a groove and being all together content in my run. Every. Single. Time.

But let’s be honest: only running in darkness before and after work five days a week is hard. Not only for motivational reasons, but also running at night on the trails is different. While often magical, it slows you down.

All that being said, guess what people? The days are getting shorter so there is no choice.

Ran down and around Glasgow Green – the main roads actually have lights on them so was in no need of the small torch I had brought with me for the run. Was thinking that a run of 1H30 in the Jedburgh Half Marathon would be good – after this morning I think a time of 1H30 would be both good and impossible …. I ran a 4:18/km pace and I would need to do a 4:16/km pace in order to make that time on race day (for a full23km) My last (and if I may admit only half-marathon) some years back was run at 1H41 which is a 4:47/km pace so I hope I can at least trump that.

Race day and people running along always help with pace so at least that is on my side.