sunday 1 hr tempo ride

short and sweet

heres the details...

WU 30min

tempo ride 1hr

warm down

Forgot my over shoes, frozen feet not
much fun.

indoor sweetspot training

OK with my training camp and season just around the corner I've stepped it up a notch or two.

Foul weather has dictated I ride indoors but undeterred, I'm keeping it swift and short, with low level lactate threshold intervals.

How do you know your lactate threshold, well you can either buy an expensive lactate tester and take various blood samples at different training loads, or you can follow this simple method.

On an indoor trainer (or on a stretch of road you can easily replicate the same test again later on/ a much harder option)

warm up for 15-20 mins

do a hard, just sub-maximal effort at 5 mins to clear the legs,

spin easy for another 10-15 mins.

Then do a 20 minute time trial.

Don't start too hard but just below what you think you can do for 20 mins and every 5 mins check to see how you feel , then ramp it up slightly or step it back a little.

done right its going to hurt, and about 10mins in you should be thinking I'll never manage to finish this, that means your working well.

at the end of 20 mins warm down for 15-20 mins with some light spinning.

95% your average power output (if you have power meter) or heart rate for that (20min) time is a good indication of your FTP (functional threshold power) the power you could sustain for 60mins and the bench mark for all your subsequent training zones.

At the moment my FTP is about 347w or 181bpm.

It raises during the season.

So what does that mean well for now I'm starting to do some sweetspot intervals just on the cusp of my threshold power at 88%-95% ftp or in my case 302w -320w approx.

as its early in the season and it hard training indoors compared to the road, i've started of easy with 2x 10min intervals and a 10 min rest interval in between.

but as my training progresses i'll step it up to 2x20x10 and then 3x20x10 before moving on to harder higher level ftp workout and VO2 max intervals.

sounds easy right?

Heres my last training power files

Eat rich, Ride Hard and stay away from Buddhists

Well i head down south Tuesday for two weeks of intensive training! so as I'm self catering I'm going to be bringing some food with me.

namely my patented "dark matter bars" and my home made granola; recipes below.

Healthy, mildly organic, power-filled nutrition for the endurance athlete within you!


Toasted granola makes 20, 1 cup servings

10 cups rolled oats
2.5 cups rye flakes
2.5 cups barly flakes
2.5 cups mixed raw unsalted nuts (any you like)
1 cup shredded coconut
0.5 cups honey dissloved in 0.5 cups of hot water
2.5 cups mixed chopped dried fruit (any you like)


pre heat convection oven to 350f mix it all up (leave out fruit at this point) , pour in the water/honey mix, stir it up breaking up any lumps.

stick in the oven in large baking tray for 40-60 mins, stir it every 10 mins to allow it to brown evenly.

Remove from oven, and toss with dried fruit.

store in air tight container.

Serve with milk, yoghurt, and fresh fruit


Nutritional facts per serving (approx; depends on nuts and fruits used).

cal. 829
fat 22g
protein 26g
carbs 143g
sugars 15g
iron 7mg
fiber 24g
cholesterol 0mg







DArk mATter bArs


oats 900g
bran flakes 200g
brown sugar 745g
raisins 700g
dried cranberries 200g
sweetened coconut flakes 200g
white chocolate chips 225g
organic peanut butter (crunchy) 600g
organic honey 500g
golden syrup 375g
soy protein powder (chocolate) 160g
butter with salt 454g

total calories 22,000cal

per 100g serving 450cal approx

protein 8.1%
fat 34.1%
carbs 57.8%

Ride till you puke!

Ride till you puke! or collapse and puke, or just collapse wake up in a ditch and then puke.....

Well with above freezing temperatures i made it out for a long ride north of Klienburg yesterday. I have to say i was feeling pretty good so with the tail wind i had a bit of a hammer fest on the way up there.

Which of course (as i have learnt from previous experience) can make the intervals i'm about to do and the return journey somewhat of a challenge.
Anyway taking a slight detour from previous seasons training, I have chosen to do more lactate threshold work, but on the lead up to that (its been several months since i worked that part of my body) i opted for a few "sweetspot" intervals.
For now that means 20minute intervals at around 80-95% of my functional threshold power (the power i can sustain for 60mins) for me at the moment that is roughly between 285-330w.
Hopefully though this will raise as this kind of training progress's. Last year i managed to put out 470w for 5 mins (pretty much my VO2MAX) i'd like to raise that to 500w and drop my body weight down about 10-15lbs which would raise my kg/w ratio considerably.

and so far on well on my way I've dropped 8lbs since new year (my off season highest) and with the extra muscle mass i've gained from my gym work i'm not far off my last season race weight, and my FFM (free fat mass) is definitely a lot better and the real training is yet to begin....

Anyway i'm off to Tucson, Arizona in a little over a week for my two week training camp, so baring illness or injury i'm hoping to be in tip top shape for my first race, April 2nd. There are a fair amount of punchy climbs on that circut so along with the threshold work i'll be adding a fair amount of climbing down at the bluffs on my return.

The season is just around the corner, starting to get twitchy......i'll upload my power files from Saturdays ride in a couple of days.

we have a winner!!!!

OK tired of running on empty and with my training load slowly ramping up, i took advantage of the break in the weather to go for a longer ride. But before i plucked up the courage to head out after my last nightmare experience i bought some gatorade and made another batch of dark matter energy bars!

Drawing on past success's and failures and adding the odd whim here and there i mixed up a batch carefully listing and weighing all the ingredients so i could figure out exactly how many calories per gram they contained as well as the macro nutrient breakdown.

The resultant goop has seemingly been subjected to some kind of space/time anomaly, attaining a mass greater than that possible in a 1G environment, perhaps 2-3G's is more like it hence the name "dark matter energy bars"

100g comes in at a carb-tastic, great tasting, mildly organic 450cal!@!!

450cal yeah so feckin what you might say!

But i would retort, firstly "well feck you! i'll keep them all for myself...." ;0)

and then follow up by pointing out how fecking small they are. about 2/3rds the size of a power bar and a lot better tasting.

Anyway i intend to take a lot with me to Tuscon in a few weeks. I also test rode some of them this afternoon and yes they did taste as good as i had hoped.....

indoor ride

bunked off school early tonight and snuck an indoor ride in whilst watching the womans 2009 world championship road race on my new lap top (thanks Sandra!!!)


here's the details 1hr 30mins

tonight's ride

the big crash!!!

Well i got up today all motivated by my new dietary regime, with the intention to brave the worst of the weather and head out to do at least a 2hr ride.

It was -13c when I got up, -11c by the time i got out the door and i can safely say its one if not the worse experience i have ever had whilst cycling.

The first 45 mins went to plan then it all started to go pear shaped, in what turned out to be a most spectacular fashion. 1hr into it I started to feel my legs starting to become unusually tired for the amount of effort i was putting in ( a simple E2 ride turning out an average power of 230w), but being all motivated i resisted the little voice in my head telling me I should really start to head home now and thought "oh I'll just do one more circuit before heading back....beef cake" etc etc.
____________________________________________________________________

Its quite a indescribable experience, utterly unpleasant yet spectacularly intriguing at the same time.
____________________________________________________________________

The next 45mins degenerated into a abstract, hellish ride home, where I was barely able to turn my pedals over, as my body had a complete blood sugar crash, affectionately known as a bonk in cycling circles. Quite the worse one I have ever had.

Basically your blood glucose levels are depleted, so you're forced to break down fat reserves, muscles, brain cells and whatever else the body can get it grubby mitts on to survive. Problem being it can't process these quickly enough to meet the demands of the efforts you asking of it. So the only answer is a system slow down, that leads to eventual shut down.

Brain function is impaired, legs lose all power ( i could barely turn 100w by the end) and some very primitive base animal minds start to kick in about survival and food. Its quite a indescribable experience, utterly unpleasant yet spectacularly intriguing at the same time.

By the time I got home I was feeling like I was about to collapse, deathly pale, and experiencing what seemed like hypothermia.

Anyway here the power files for anyone interested.. and below a little video of life before it all went Pete tong.

My shiny balls (and other foibles)

As i sit here typing I'm sat on one.

Down the gym lately I'm rolling around on one.

working on me core.*

*NB: not in some metaphysical sense trying to become and more open empathetic individual, much much more shallow than that I'm afraid.

And although i realize like most things I'm running about 10 yrs behind, as much as i hate using it (it hurts and its not as macho as pumping out 3 sets of 20 on the ab cruncher), i kind of like the pilates thing at the moment.

I'm Still in the Maximum strength phase of my strength training, pumping out the 5 sets of 10 reps at 600lbs and other assorted exercises but I knew i had to work on my core more now I've gotten the whole glory work thing up and running.

Its easier to feel all full of my own importance, gurning away on the leg press, but wobbling around like a drunken palsy case is hard to do in public. For me at least

Luckily though i can practice at home before trying it out in public during my workouts at the gym.

so vain...so vEry veRy vAin.....

Realising the terrible toll of the Turkey/Nyquil combo plate....

Well not unsurprisingly perhaps that radical new diet I inflicted upon my self over the festive season has not had quite the desired results....

Today I was brave enough to venture back onto my electronic scales....

Not good news really, but I remain philosophic about it all.

I mean now I know first hand that the Nyquil/turkey/white beer combo is not the way to keep those winter pounds off.

I mean although i supplemented it with 70% coco chocolate, a minor illness and time away from the gym, i still seemed to gain a little extra padding.

But Feck it, I'm a mammal right that's what we're built for!!!! we slow down and stock up on body fat in the winter to get us through the worst of it.

I'll just use it as extra motivation for maintaining my rigorous training routine now the snow and -15c weather has finally arrived. (oh bollox)

More seriously though I just ordered some book on nutrition, so hopefully I'll get some new diet ideas and meal plans. And along with that I've implemented obvious life style changes such as, no alcohol, that alone should cut about 1000 cals a day from my diet.

I also have an appointment at the gym to get my body fat % tested wednesday evening.

And God damn it the crappy weather has finally convinced me to put my bike on the trainer again......barr humbug. Bring forth the indoor sauna cycle.

did you know the human body can generate 1kw of heat energy whilst training hard. Have you ever sat on a 1kw electric heater if so you might understand why (as well as the boredom) I resist riding indoors as much as I can.


Still training camp in a 4wks gotta do something right.

ouch....

Ouch.. my legs hurt.

Two days ripping it up on the slopes has taken its toll!

I can stand and get up no worries ( the benefit of all that time in the gym) but lifting my legs (to put my shoes on for instance) is another matter all together....

Great way to start the new year anyway, i had forgotten how much i like snowboarding! and we had about 4 inches of fresh snow today as well.

Cross training is fun, beats freezing your ass off on the roads or sweating your nads off on the trainer indoors

Of course though with the snow come the roads hazards of cycling, but i'm going to try to get a easy recovery ride in tomorrow if i can make it. (out of bed).

but with the new year comes new commitment, gotta lose those extra christmas pounds, stop drinking (at least for the next few weeks) and maybe hook up with a sport food nutritionist to address some general issues.

yeay!!! more pain and sacrifice (again), then off to Arizona in 4 weeks time..... swEet!