I'm on a diet...the first real one I've ever done. I've been on health kicks before now, but this is the first time I've done a proper count-the-calories diet with the express goal of losing weight. I'm currently 72.5kg (160lbs in ancient notation, though this is the only imperial value you'll see, as I do everything in metric), and I'd really like to be 66-68kg.
I appreciate to most people this sounds insane...after all, I'm a fairly lean build, and (despite some unfortunate health report 13 years ago, conducted just after a monster feed-up in an Italian) I can hardly be called fat. To my more athletic friends, however, their immediate response is "what's your goal?".
It's a good question, as I do indeed have one. After taking almost a complete year off sport and exercise in 2012, to concentrate on letting my shoulder recover after it's argument with a car, and to give myself time to go through my IAM motorcycle training, I've spent 2013 getting some of my core fitness back (mainly in the gym, using the static bikes there). The shoulder is still not 100%, and running is not comfortable with it, so I've decided to focus fully on cycling...it's the discipline I enjoy most after all, and in terms of natural ability it's certainly the one I get the biggest return on during training. Cycling is, at it's heart, a deeply scientific sport, and it can be boiled down to some very simple mathematics and physics...namely your weight, and the power you can output. There are other factors (aerodynamics, for example), but ultimately if you can have a high power-to-weight ratio, then it will pay dividends.
My plan over autumn/winter/early spring is to put myself through two 10-week training blocks. These are structured training plans, with 4-6 sessions per week with a focus on increasing my power output. To complement that, I'm calorie-counting to 1750 calories a day, plus exercise. This should (if I have my basal metabolic rate correct) see a weight-drop of ~0.3-0.5 kilos a week. I have, as my weapon of choice for this structured training, a Wattbike, which is an insane piece of kit in terms of measurement. It's installed in the smallest bedroom of the house (which will now be referred to as the torture chamber), plugged up to a laptop, and will provide startlingly accurate records for me to monitor my training. The static bikes they have in the gym are terrrible, by comparison (for starters they don't provide resistance over 500w, and the foot straps may as well be tourniquets. Also, we've broken them twice through overworking them).
The first, and probably most fundamental, session was done yesterday...a 20-minute Power Test, where the goal is to get the highest possible output Wattage over 20 minutes. Simple (yet horrendously painful). In total 4 of us went through it (I'll use imaginary names here, apart from my own). You then take that average power, multiply it by 0.95 (an approximation of the power you could maintain over an hour), divide it by your weight in kilos, and you have your magic power/weight ratio.
Person A - power 315w - Weight 68kg - p/w ratio 4.4
Person B - power 291w - Weight 70kg - p/w ratio 3.95
Person C - power 286w - Weight 65kg - p/w ratio 4.2
Person D (me) - power 296w - Weight 72.5kg - p/w ratio 3.85
So while I had the second highest power output, once my weight was factored in I plummet to the bottom of the standings. These are numbers that can be used to compare against pro-athletes using this sort of chart (we were doing a FT-test...stands for Functional Threshold). You can see I'm sitting in the middle of Cat-3 (cycle racing is separately into categories, and you can progress by scoring points...the power values shown on that chart are typical values for competing cyclists at varying levels). Assuming I'm not going to turn professional at any point, I'm not going to be physically capable of hitting the upper levels of that table, however I think it's reasonable to aim for 4.5 as a good ratio...
...which means I really need to lose weight. Person A above is a British age-group triathlete, and is vicious on the bike. If I wanted to match him at my current weight I would need to be outputting 340 watts (just in case you are in doubt, that is a huge target). If I can shed 4-5 kilos, I take 20 watts off that target immediately.
...so, the training starts tonight. And the diet continues... I'm hoping that as the training increases (and my calorie allowance goes up as well) then it will become a little less hard, I'm not used to feeling hungry (I've also dropped sugar from my tea, which hurt, but it was 200 calories a day that I'd rather have in the format of solid food).
Comments
Can I just say good luck and because it bears repeating: But you don't.
Also, log that shit on Fitocracy.
Fitocracy has a number of issues for me. Firstly, they overspam the 'PAY FOR ONE OF OUR GODDAM FITNESS INSTRUCTORS!!!' emails, while all it really provides is an exercise log... I have more logging options than I care to mention (I tend to use Garmin Connect as it supports my cycle computer rather well... I also use Wattbike Expert Monitor, as it uniquely supports the Wattbike, and can export to Garmin Connect)
I'm using MyFitnessPal as a calorie counter... It's got the best database for food items of all similar applications, though it's exercise calculations are miles off (example would be it trying to give me 1150 calories for a 1 hour bike ride, while the Garmin, with heart rate and other data offered only 600. If you trust these tools blindly you could easily undo any good work you do...)
I suspect, in all honesty, that I am not the target market for the more general fitness tools. I have quite a few friends on Strava, which is cycling - specific, and supports Garmin file formats, but for me to use it, it's gonna have to upload direct from device, I can't use my phone as a tracker as it always rapes the battery...
I'll add to the good luck wishes. I'm on myfitnesspal too as minty_altoid if you want to link. I'm assuming you're not babychaos?
Only at weekends.
Just sent you an invite from the badly spelt babykaos.
Well, this is simply fantastic. Inspirational, even! If you need someone to be a chase car or make you tea at the end of a long ride then you have my number.
Wait, they send emails? Can't say I've noticed.
I've had 4 so far this week (GMail now, for my convenience, chucks them in spam), including my "LAST CHANCE TO JOIN A FITNESS GROUP LED BY A TRAINER".
It's basically a way of convincing people they need a virtual coach...unless you are serious about training, with specific goals, you can find pretty much any training program you want online for free. What a virtual coach cannot provide is motivation, only you can provide that (alternately, nothing beats a face-to-face training partner, it's far too easy to lie and cheat yourself to an email coach).
Weird, I've had one email since 2012 and I log in to the site 2-3 times a week. Clearly there's a 'don't untick this ticked checkbox that you should tick if you do not want us to not send you emails' question that you misread :P
Week 1
In terms of diet it was a tricky one, with a team breakfast scheduled on Thursday, Friday Pieday, and also a Spiky tournament weekend, where Sweeneys were also providing the food, ending up with pie for 3 days on the trot!.
Training wise, there were 4 scheduled sessions, plus a power test session on Monday, which resulted in a 4-day block Monday-Thursday, then 2 days recovery before an endurance session on Sunday.
Calorie Intake
Missed target on the recovery days (which were also pie-days, so always tricky). Hit overall weekly target, mainly due to the extra calories allowed from exercise.
Weight Loss - 0.8kg
Training Sessions
Monday - 20-Minute Power Test
Tuesday - 1 hour of Hill Reps
Wednesday - 1 hour of Hill Threshold
Thursday - 1 Hour Lunchtime Circuit
Sunday - 2 Hour Endurance Ride
The Week Ahead
Hopefully an easier week for a controlled diet, with no extra scheduled carb-overloads. Training wise the sessions are more endurance based, with ~1½ hour sessions on Tuesday and Friday, an outdoor ride on Thursday (hopefully), and a longer endurance session on the Sunday.
Christ on a bike!
Or Pete.
If Pete was Christ, we'd all be utterly, utterly fucked.
Week 2
This was a more settled week in terms of diet, and apart from really mucking up on Tuesday (a tough endurance session in the evening, and I didn't catch up enough calories, so spent all of Wednesday with low-blood sugar).
Four scheduled sessions, though with an hour longer in the saddle compared to last week, including the vicious Blender, which is a real-leg breaker. The sessions are definitely stretching me, however the legs themselves feel OK, which is good, as I need the recovery days to work so I can hit the sessions hard.
Calorie Intake
Crept slightly over on Wednesday...this was due to under-cooking it on Tuesday, and suffering low blood sugar (lesson to self...being over 1,000 calories under target for the day is not a clever idea). Saturday was super-close, and involved me working out how many calories in each Aero Bubble as we watched Blackadder II in the evening at the Hexagon.
Weight Loss - 1.0kg
I spent a bit of time this week actually learning about the mechanisms of weight-loss. It's surprising how many people believe that some sort of matter-energy conversion is going on. I was aware of the various metabolic pathways of the human body, and I'd always assuming that you basically pissed/crapped it out (which would marry with the requirement to be well hydrated to allow fat-burning). One thing that did surprise me was how much weight is lost via exhaling CO2 (approximately 100 grams a night!)
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 Hour 40 of Endurance Intervals
Thursday - 1 Hour Lunchtime Circuit
Friday - 1 Hour 15 Endurance Intervals
Sunday - 2½ Hour Endurance Ride
The Week Ahead
Very tough week coming up, with 4 sessions back-to-back across the week. It's supposed to be hard, as the week after is the first "recovery" week. Food-wise I'm doing a couple of tweaks to try to limit my snacking (for example, I'm going to try Graze Boxes to try and hold off the snack-attack mid-afternoon). I actually expected to be a bit lighter when I weighted in this morning, however I think that re-fuelling after the long Sunday ride (ate ~2,500 calories on Sunday, along with a large amount of re-hydration, which is still probably sitting in the stomach).
Week 3
Well that was tough...my legs feel like they've been put through a mangle...even rolling into work this morning was pretty taxing! 5 sessions, and the "medium intensity" sessions didn't quite work out as planned, as one was in the work gym, where the bike power readings turn out to be waaay off (bike read 240w, my heart rate was about what I need to push 280w), and the short group ride on Thursdays was (as always) a brutal series of sprints up hills.
The fatigue really showed on Sundays long endurance session...normally I've been able to hold power in the last half-hour by pushing harder, which is seen by the increase in heart rate, but constant power. This week, I simply didn't have it in the legs, and heart rate and power both dropped off (indicating that the leg muscles were cooked). This is to be expected, and there were notes in the training plan that fatigue should be a factor in this session.
Calorie Intake
The upside of the increase in training volume is that I hit target every day (even if it was by 4 measly calories on Friday! I managed to avoid any excessive deficits throughout the week, though you can see as the training block extends (Tuesday to Friday) my appetite increased as well.
Weight Loss - 1.1kg
First weigh-in under 70kg! My weight fluctuates by about 1½kg a day, based on fluid and food intake, so the next mini-goal will be holding sub-70kg all day. Pretty happy that the weight drop-off has been fairly steady and gradual so far...it's a good sign that the combination of intake control and training program are working. There is very little visible sign that I've dropped anything so far, which might mean I'm OK to aim a little bit lower (if I can keep this sustained weight-loss on for the entire 10 weeks, I'll end up at the ~63kg mark). I'll make a call on this when I reach my initial goal.
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 hour 20 Threshold Intervals
Wednesday - 1 hour Incremental Sprints + Time Trialling - heart rate only
Thursday - 1 hour Lunchtime Circuit
Friday - 1 hour Race Simulation
Sunday - 2 hours 30 Endurance Ride
The Week Ahead
A "recovery" week, after the big sessions last week. Recovery is a subjective term, however, and what it actually entails is 3 light days (2 full rest, one gentle spin session), and then 2 high intensity workouts towards the end of the week, and a 2 hour endurance ride on Sunday.
Food challenges abound this week...a work baking day (I've challenged myself to make chocolate eclairs!), and I'm away at a wargaming event at the weekend, away from an easily controllable food environment, so I need to be prepared and organised to keep the intake at the correct level.
Shitting hell. That is all.
Week 4
A "recovery" week, though it was more a rest in terms of intensity, rather than hours on the bike. There were only 2 high intensity sessions, and I turned one of those into a power test (same as I did at the beginning of the schedule). The diet also relaxed a little bit, and I need to clamp back down on that this week.
The power test went well...and benefited from the weight loss as well. My initial results were;
Average 296W at 72.5kg over 20 minutes (equates to FTP of 281W, and 3.8w/kg)
My new results are;
Average 309W at 69kg over 20 minutes (equates to FTP of 294W, and 4.25w/kg)
To say I'm chuffed with that is a bit of an under-statement, and to put the cherry on the cake, my heart rate throughout the test was lower, which suggests there is more to give. I'll be using these new numbers to re-tune my target training zones from this week onwards.
Calorie Intake
Over-ate on Friday after the power test...and also, I've noticed that doing a big session on Sunday afternoon causes me to eat a lot on Sunday evening, which is really hurting my weigh-in (I baked a loaf of bread on Sunday evening, and then ate half of it!)
Weight Loss - 0.5kg
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 Hour Recovery Ride
Thursday - 1 Hour Lunchtime Circuit
Friday - 20 minute power test
Saturday - 1 Hour 20 Recovery Ride
Sunday - 2 Hour Endurance Ride
The Week Ahead
Poshcon on Friday to Sunday means another challenge to diet control, but as I'm in the house, that should be a little easier. The intensity ramps back up again, with 3 hard mid-week sessions, and a longer endurance ride at the weekend (which may be moved to Monday, due to Poshcon, and Gill coming home on Sunday as well).
I'll also be working at the new, higher levels, and I need to write out my Power Zone sheet (basically a reminder of what effort I should be committing to at each power level, which is then taped next to the Wattbike).
Week 5
In terms of consistency not a great week for me. 3 hard sessions mid-week, then quite a long break, and a weekend of Poshcon, which had a big impacton calories on the Saturday. Missed my first scheduled session (catching up on it today, one day late).
The training sessions felt OK, even with the new increased power targets. I could politely say that Wednesdays session was done "to failure", as on the last part of the last effort rep I completely died, and the "sprints" were at the power the baseline effort should have been.
Calorie Intake
Turns out a Saturday of snacking, followed by a meal of roast lamb with the trimmings will take you over your calorie limit! On the plus side, I really didn't feel hungry on Sunday, and even with a chinese takeaway came comfortably under limits, means that taking the week as a whole I hit targets.
Weight Loss - 0.6kg
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 hour of Threshold/VO2 Max Sprints
Wednesday - 1 hour Warm-Up and Main Session of Simulation Race Circuits
Thursday - 1 hour Lunchtime Session - new PB on course!
Sunday - Session missed (catchup on Monday)
The Week Ahead
It was already hard, but with a catch-up session to do it's going to be brutal...4 high-intensity sessions during the week, book-ended with long endurance rides on Monday and Sunday. it's a critical week in the training cycle, so need to really focus on getting the most out of the sessions to see iprovements in power and endurance.
Week 6
Over halfway there...and it was a horrible week, with about 350km of cycling to contend with (partly my own fault, due to the catchup session). The diet continues to be patchy, and I really need to increase my vigilance on what I eat... I've noted that bread-based calories seem to stick significantly heavier on me than the equivalent salad/meat/vegetable based ones I've been working on, so for the next fortnight I'm back to nil-by-bread (which is a slight issue when you're experimenting with baking...)
This was down as a week focusing on endurance, so it's long intervals with medium/high power (typically aiming at threshold and just above, with some high-resistance work to increase fatigue). This is the stuff I'm weakest at, so definitely where I feel it the most...
Calorie Intake
While I'm still under target, the weight loss is slowing down. As I said above, I think this is partly the composition of the diet, and I'm going to experiment on removing/reducing bread from the diet, as well as trying to go over to granary/wholewheat when it is ingested.
I was actually down over 1kg towards the end of the week, however the weekend saw me put back on a fair bit of weight, which will be partly the volume I eat on Sunday (big training day), and partly (I suspect) the bread from baking.
Weight Loss - 0.3kg
Training Sessions
Monday - 2 hour 30 Endurance Session
Tuesday - 1 hour Tempo Session
Wednesday - 1 hour 20 Endurance Intervals
Thursday - 1 hour Lunchtime Session
Friday - 1 hour 20 Endurance intervals
Sunday - 2 hour 20 Endurance Session
The Week Ahead
The next week is all about short, powerful sessions...much less time on the bike, but I'll be targetting high powers in the sessions. As I've said several times, I need to put a real focus on the diet, and bring the weight loss under control again. The legs, put bluntly, feel pretty fucked right now, and Im already looking forward to Week 8, which is a recovery week.
The weekend will be a challenge, as I'm at Rivermead taking part in a 40K event, and I have a 3 hour endurance session to fit in on Sunday (and I really don't want to roll it over into the recovery week...), so that will be a late night on the bike, as well as a challenging environment for controlled eating.
The downside to learning to bake wonderful breads and cakes...
Week 7
The last week in the intensity training block, this had me taking on high-intensity, short rep interval sessions, including probably the scariest Sufferfest video, 'A Very Dark Place'. It quick simply asks you to push yourself well beyond the bodies capacity to process oxygen (aka your VO2max) 5 times, for 4 minutes each time, with 3 minutes rest in-between. For me, this meant I needed to hit an average power of 310-350 watts in each interval, which I did, though I was good for nothiing afterwards...in each interval I held approximately 110% effort above VO2max. It's sessions like this that really train power into your muscles, so I was really pleased to achieve the goals.
At the weekend I was at a Wargaming event at Rivermead, and this meant that the diet would be challenged. I handled this by taking along my own food (a couscous and chicken cold pot on Saturday, and a Pasta and sausage warm concoction on Sunday), and this worked really well.
Sunday evening was the longest endurance session yet, at 3 hours. It went by rather easily as I watched 'The Dark Knight Rises', and had enough in the legs to increase effort in the last 10 minutes...
Calorie Intake
I crept over on Friday and Saturday...Friday due to pie, and a lot of carb-hunger after a high intensity evening session, and Saturday mainly due to combining a no-exercise and long day on my feet. I did, however, manage a no-bread week, and felt a lot better for it (difficult to quantify, however I didn't feel as bloated). it's theoretically possible I have a very, very mild gluten intolerance, but it's not something I'll worry about...I've only noticed the effect now, in a period of extremely close weight monitoring.
I've now lost enough weight that this morning, MyFitnessPal insisted on changing my calorie goals, so I'm now down to a target of 1680 calories a day, which is a little depressing (it's the equivalent of a low-fat yoghurt a day).
You can see Sunday was very low...this was because I did my endurance set quite late on (finished about 8pm), and so didn't really have a chance to eat back before fatigue put me in bed. Should be interesting to see if I hit low blood-sugar today, or if I'm now better adapted to fat metabolism.
Weight Loss - 0.7kg
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 hour Cadence Control/Tempo Session
Wednesday - 1 hour pro VO2max Intervals
Thursday - 1 hour extremely windy Lunchtime Session
Friday - 1 hour Threshold/VO2max Intervals
Sunday - 3 Hour Endurance Session
The Week Ahead
A Recovery week, which is a much-needed thing. The first haf of the week will be light on sessions, with gentle recovery rides to allow the leg muscles to rebuild. I've scheduled in a power test session on Friday, and that will be used to set targets for the final 2 weeks.
Diet-wise, it will be a little trickier, as I have new, lower targets to hit, and I'll also have less exercise calories to eat back as well. I'd like to be at 67kg for Fridays power test, as that gives me a chance of hitting 4.5w/kg.
I've also started planning next years events and challenges. I've signed up for London Revolution, which is a 2-day sportive around (shockingly) London, and Race to the Stones, which is a walking endurance event (walk along the Ridgeway for 100km in 24 hours). It's something a bit different for me to try. I've also been looking at various sportives and long distance time-trials for a suitable place to attempt my sub-5 hour 100-mile personal goal. At the end of March I should be doing a long weekend in the Lake District doing the Fred Whitton route, considered the toughest cycling route in England (it damn near broke me 2 years ago, and succeeded last year). Finally, I've booked onto a cycling training camp in Andalucia in early April, to do a bit of early work on the tan lines!
I don't have the words. Utterly flabberghasted.
Week 8
Turned out to be more than a Recovery Week than initially planned. The early part of the week was very low intensity, however a couple of planned sessions in the week failed to materialise after getting knocked off my bike by another cyclist on Thursday evening. I was coming out of work, he was cycling on the pavement towards the blind entrance of work, and piled into the side of me. Damage was a black eye, and a heavily bruised knee. Oh, and a broken bike (front fork has a hairline crack, which is the end of a carbon bike really). Cycling with the bruise was virtually impossible, so Friday through to Sunday had to be written off.
I've just cycled into work today (Monday), and the weekend of direct application of Ibuprofen, and rest, seems to have worked, so I'll do a spin up this evening, and then re-join the training plan on Tuesday.
Calorie Intake
All over the shop. Wednesday was the team baking day, and we had a lot of extremely nice stuff. Fortunately I really didn't feel hungry the next day, and managed to recover it. On Saturday I baked some bread, and that stayed with me throughout Sunday as well, so again it was an over/under pattern. Missing 2 training sessions didn't help at all either, as they would have added about ~1800 calories to the weekly allowance.
Weight Loss - 0.3kg
Training Sessions
Tuesday - 1 hour Recovery Ride
Thursday - 1 hour Lunchtime Session
Friday - Session Missed (power test, no catch up)
Sunday - Session Missed (Endurance ride, reduced catchup on Monday)
The Week Ahead
The final two weeks of the training plan, and they are both high volume, high intensity. I had hoped to be coming into them with new power targets, but the disruption last week has put that to rest, so instead I'll work on existing power targets. My weight is currently 67.3kg, down from 72.5kg when I started, and I'd like to get it down to ~66kg by the end, which would be a 9% weight-loss, close to target.
I'm all inspired by this. I've got my trainers and running shorts out and will be popping out for a run tonight. I'll see if I can get to campus and back without dying.
It's been a definite learning experience for me...while I've done the "beast yourself" part of this before, the diet control has been a real eye-opener. Put simply, my diet was both awful, and far too large for my size and exercise levels.
Sticking to a training plan has been hard too, but has paid real dividends. I can now see the benefit of having a coach as well, as a set plan is all fine and dandy until you hit an obstacle (such as some muppet pavement-cyclist smacking you for 6) and need to adjust. Hopefully I'm doing the right thing by not trying too hard to catch up, and instead re-joining the schedule ASAP.
That said, I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of free-form training over the latter part of December, while I determine what I'm doing January - March...
Well, I didn't get out last night but I did get my running stuff ready. Tomorrow morning is a likely.
Week "9"
Sort of didn't happen. Despite my confidence about a quick return to training, it was fairly obvious on Monday night that I wasn't going to be able to cycle at any sort of effort...I did a medium intensity session on the Wattbike, and the next day the knee was extremely painful, to the point where my short, easy rides to and from work were a real challenge (as in...I was typically doing the last mile one-legged).
My only choice has been full rest. I've been sorting out the insurance on the bike, and it's not off with the assessors. As I was packing it up I found a serious chunk of damage on the down-tube, and I suspect what happened was in the crash my knee got caught between that and the other cyclist, punching a hole through the carbon, and causing a bone-bruise on the upper end of my tibia, where it goes under the knee-cap. I've been applying Arnica and Ibuprofen in an attempt to speed up any damage repair.
So...apart from the short rides into work I've done no training, and effectively missed week 9. After a weekend of full rest, this morning riding in the knee felt OK. Not great, but OK. Rather than jump straight back on I'm going to rest again tonight, and see how it feels tomorrow, before maybe attempting to start week 9 this week.
Calorie Intake
With no exercise acting as a crutch, this week has been extremely tough, and I've had to be very strict on what I can eat. Generally I've done OK, though I have a nagging worry that with no training there will be a conversion from active to inactive tissue going on.
Weight Loss - 0.8kg
Training Sessions
Monday - Recovery / Knee Assessment Ride
The Week Ahead
Tuesday will be the decision day...can I handle an hour on the bike pushing effort? If I can, then I will start at week 9 again, with slightly revised goals (as a general rule of thumb one week of missed training take three weeks to catch up on), otherwise I'll go into another holding week, though I need to think about doing some light sessions, or I'll lose a lot of the benefits I've gained.
I also have an upcoming "discussion" with the insurers over my bike, as it's on for a like-for-like replacement, and having gone through their options, they don't really have something in the price bracket. When I was going through the bike spec apparently I was the first person they've had to be able to detail full spec from memory, and I've made it pretty clear what I consider "same spec" (high modulus carbon frame, Ultegra or equivalent groupset), so we shall see how that goes. If they can't, there are definitely people who can. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have a new ride, and I'll be back on training as well...
Week 9 - 2nd Attempt
After the frustration of the injury, this week went much better. Cycling into work on Monday and Tuesday presented no pain, just a little stiffness, so I went to restart the Week 9 training schedule...Tuesday's session was a little sore, but a pre-session dose of Ibuprofen gel, and post-session Arnica, an ice-pack and a support to sleep in meant that the next day it was fine...so I simply repeated that process throughout the week. It's now at the point that I don't need to give it any special treatment. Huge relief!
Bike-wise, I had confirmation on Tuesday that the Focus was a write-off, with un-repairable damage to most of the frame components. A brief discussion with the insurance handlers confirmed I was not going to be able to get a like-for-like replacement from their stock (they could do the frame or the groupset, but not both), and we agreed on a cash settlement...so I went shopping! I also had some budget for an upgrade, so I was looking at £2k bikes. I had a few options, however one of my training partners pointed me towards a local bike-fitter and custom-bike specialist, and I'm very glad he did! I went over on Saturday, and was offered a Pinarello Dogma (which probably doesn't mean much if you're not a cyclist, but it's the frameset Sky Procycling (and Movistar) use, it's a serious bit of kit) with high-spec groupset (ex-demo) and a decent pair of climbing wheels. I think he showed me some other stuff as well, but...well, it's Dogma. It would be the same if someone showed you a Ferrari, and then went "we have this Skoda as well"...
Took it out for a ride with the tri-club yesterday, and it is a fast bit of kit... It's only when you ride something truely world class that you understand the weaknesses on other bikes. In this case it's down to how stiff the frame is. My old bike had some flex in the frame, and when you pedalled the bottom bracket would bend, taking some of your power away. The Dogma stays absolutely in shape, and as a result every Newton of pressure you put on the pedal is directed straight into the back wheel...it felt like I had a couple of extra gears on hills, and was able to cruise at 26-27mph on flats. I got back into Reading with a HUGE grin on my face!
Calorie Intake
Generally good, though Saturday I fell off the wagon, due to some leftover food that Gill had lying around from a party on Thursday night (turns out Lemon Megingue Pie has shedloads of calories!). I'm getting pretty close to target now (this morning's weigh-in was 65.7kg), so I need to start planning my "exit strategy" from the diet, and get myself onto a steady state weight maintenance.
Weight Loss - 0.7kg
Training
Tuesday - 1 hour Anaerobic Capacity Sprints
Wednesday - 1 hour Progressive Sets
Thursday - 1 hour pro VO2Max Intervals
Friday - 1 hour Tempo Session
Sunday - 40-Mile Group Ride (with a bit of go-wild at the end)
The Week Ahead
It's the final week, and I'm going into it with a lot of confidence based on Sundays group ride...I was flying up hills, putting out a strong pace on the flats, and finished with plenty left in the tank (even after a balls-out print up the Purley Rise hill from Pangbourne!). I've got 3 hard sessions to do, and a final power test at the weekend. I'd love to set a new PB in that...if I could crank out an average of 315w over the 20 minutes that would be superb, though definitely right on my limit!
Weight-wise, I'm eyeing up 65kg now...it would be a fantastic final goal, and would give me a bit of leeway of Christmas (comedy stat...worked out that it you take into account my own weight-loss, and the lighter new bike, in September I was effectively carrying a spare bike around with me in extra weight).
I'm carrying a spare bike.
Spare motorbike.
Grats mate, this is awesome stuff.
Week 10
(and the epilogue)
I am done...11 weeks of strict (well, mostly strict) diet, and a pretty intensive training plan. Done. Final tests were on Saturday, with a tough week beforehand...
I did my final weigh-in on Saturday morning....64.6kg was a more than satisfactory result and clears my 10% weight-loss goal. In the afternoon was the power test, and I overcooked it initially...at 10 minutes in I was red-lining on heart rate, and struggling to hold on. I eentually came out with an average power of 323 watts (though if you look at the log below, I was averaging about 327 watts at 10 minutes). This is still 28 watts higher than I started, and very nearly the 10% that was my ultimate goal.
So, my final p/w ratio? I started at 3.85w/kg 11 weeks ago...
(323 * 0.95) / 64.6 = 4.72w/kg
This is a huge increase...and while at a fundamental level it merely means that I can push harder for 20 minutes on the bike, this has a great correlation to overall performance. I linked to this chart at the beginning, and you can see that I've moved up a fair bit!
Calorie Intake
The diet stopped on Saturday afternoon...I'll have a couple of weeks off, and then start again in January.
Here is a plot of the weight loss over the last 3 months...all pretty regular and constant, which is the ideal.
Training
Tuesday - 1 hour VO2Max Intervals
Wednesday - 1 hour 40 Endurance intervals
Thursday - 1 hour Incremental Intervals
Saturday - 20 minute Power Test
The Week Ahead
Rest, eat, enjoy. I've got a couple of weeks off, and then it all begins again in the New Year.
In terms of cycling fitness, I've never been in better shape. I intend to enjoy it, get some rides in with the rest of the cycling nutters I know, and enjoy being way lighter than I used to. In the New Year I'll be focusing on endurance, and getting more power out of the weight I have. It's been a real blast doing this, I've learnt loads, and the improvement I've pulled off has been exceptional (even by my own standards!)
Congrats mate, that is a simply awesome achievement. Next time you want to do something mahoosive, you'll know what the upper limit of your training is, which is superb.
Honestly, I could do far more. I've actually been looking through this, and comparing it to the training I was doing for JOGLE in 2010. Back then I was doing 10-12 hours a week training, on average, while this has been only 6-7 hours a week, just far more focused and specific. As such, I could feasibly do more. Mentally, I'm capable of it, and physically, I can absorb more hours.
I've already worked out my training schedule through to April 2014, and it's going to be the same core structure as what I've just been through (though without the focus on weight-loss, the plan is to stay at ~65kg, and instead work on active tissue generation), but with one added session a week on Mondays, which will be a 90 minute Zone 2/3 steady effort. The intention for this is to add more endurance strength to the legs, working alongside the long Zone 2 Sunday rides. That will put the training time up to 7½ - 8 hours a week, which is still well under a volume I know I can cope with.
I have a list of challenges for 2014 (a list which is going to grow as more events come online);
1) Sportives - already booked onto one in January, and have my eye on 3-4 others.
2) Fred Whitton - this is a 115 mile ride in the Lake District, doing in end of March with the Tri club
3) Andalucia Training Camp - a week in the Sierra Nevada mountains in April with some serious riders
4) London Revolution - 2 day/180 mile ride around London, starting and finishing at the Docklands. I let myself down on this last time I did it, so want to go back and really hit it hard.
5) France Mountain trip - this is only provisional so far, but the plan is to head to the Alps, and tackle some of the famous climbs (Alp D'Huez, Galibier, Col de la Croix etc)
6) Mallorca - allegedly a holiday with Gill and her family, I have permission to take the bike, and I'll take on some of the mountainous northern region. My own personal training camp.
7) 100 mile TT - This is a biggie, and will be in May (if I do it). I've set an initial line-in-the-sand of sub-5 hours, though really I should be looking at 4½ hours (so holding over 22mph the entire time).
8) Local 10-Mile TT League - I've set a personal goal of sub 23-minutes (which is holding over 26mph), though I'll use this to rate myself against the local speedsters.
9) Ride London - this is a lottery entry, if I get a place I want to see how close to 4 hours I can get, as it's a fast course, and lots of drafting chances on closed roads.
I think that's a good mix of road riding, Time Trial madness, and taking the opportunity to sample some of the continents famous climbs. It gives me every opportunity to come out the other end the fittest and healthiest I've ever been, while having a great time as well. Fuck this getting older lark...