Archive for December 2011
Gardening
Posted on: Wednesday December 28, 2011
Yesterday
Dig dirt, bust concrete, carry slabs of stone, paint.
Today
Dig dirt, push wheelbarrow (full of said dirt), cut metal, dig dirt.
It’s not training per se, but I’m definitely tired at the end of the day. Oh, and that prediction about DOMS last post? Bearing fruit as we speak.
Merry Christmas
Posted on: Sunday December 25, 2011
The commute each day. No weights or extras except for a really nice Thursday morning ultra short Mt Pleasant loop with Andrew Logue from work, before work. Lucky I invited him along because Jim bailed (again). Such is small baby life.
Today I watched others utterly stomp the Festive 500, and ate as much junk (read: tasty) food as I have in the previous two years combined. Now I need to sleep it off. Sleep it off and ride and throw heavy things around. Hmmm…
Mt Pleasant Shorty:
58 km / 814 m / 2:11:00
Weekly totals:
126 km / 1,566 m / 8:11:00
So ends recovery week. Even though it’s been light and low volume I’ve been without any zap in the legs at all. Each day feels a little like I did a big ride the day before. It’s either accumulated volume (unlikely) or the hangover of coming up to speed with the new (much larger) job. Either way, I’d love to get under a rack and do some squats. It feels like that might help shake it.
Next week wraps up the base period and then it’s into the hard stuff. It’s going to hurt a lot, but it’s a comforting kind of hurt. 10 and 11 hour “base” weeks with scarcely one long ride a have been making me nervous.
Work is crazy as hell. Exciting, but tiring. Which is about right; if you recall my last successful Odyssey attempt it occurred about the time of the most intense period of work I’ve ever had.
The week in review
Posted on: Sunday December 18, 2011
It’s Sunday night and I’m le tired, so here’s a quick re-cap:
Mon
Commute, easy pace.
28km / 1:20
Tue
Commute, easy pace.
28km / 1:20
Wed
Commute, tempo home.
28km / 1:20
Thu
Commue, temp home.
28km / 1:20
Fri
Commute, home via the Boulevard
34km / 1:40
Sat
Long, uninteded loop with a few guys from the Syke team and, just randomly, Graeme P, after Jim bailed on account of hangover.
Ivanhoe, Mt Pleasant Rd, Kangaroo Ground, Yarra Glen, Lilydale, Croydon, Mitcham, Blackburn, Balwyn, Ivanhoe.
100km / 1,524m / 3:30
Followed by the Yarraville Carols by Candelight. Big night for all, ending in fireworks!
Sun
SKCC Crits, C Grade
Sketchy bunch conditions – one guy went down at speed going hard into corner two about three wheels up from me and slid hard along the road. Another dude in BMC kit narrowly escaped the same fate a couple of laps later. Two guys hit cones but didn’t come down and some deliberate accordianing of the group by someone up front towards the end had bars touching bums. I crossed the line in about 8th place and would have needed to be more agressive in the straight before the last turn to contest the win. I think I have the power but I’m lacking the judgement to find the position.
Simon Gerrans took home A Grade honours, but the real star of the day was Claire, who toed the start line for the first time ever and came away with her very own SKCC jersey, cap and a fat ass bag of lollies. Not a bad haul!
34km / 40.9km/h / 0:52
Followed by filling in the trench for our new carport’s electrical cable. Maybe three cubic meters of pretty nasty clay shovellin’.
Totals:
11 hrs, 246km
3m3
Looking back at the training plan, I see that next week is not the recovery week I thought it was. This week was supposed to be recovery. I see no reason not to swap, what with it being Christmas and all. This is probably not a great time to admit that I’m already way down on hours compared to the plan – which was for daily commuting with 7 hrs of big-ride extras on top. But it is a good time to think about how the last Odyssey I rode in was race on the back of about four and a half hours of (admittedly high quality) saddle time a week.
Back roads
Posted on: Saturday December 10, 2011
This is exactly what I’ve been needing.
Long winding roads with some reasonable elevation. It’s barely an hour’s ride out of the CBD, but you could be in the middle of country Victoria anywhere for all you know.
Neil, Ash and Jim were along for the ride, Ash with a set of fearsome legs at the end of a year that took in a Solo 24 Hour Worlds, Mongolia High Plains Challenge, Croc Trophy and Tour de Timor. I was off the back early on when the boys went up the road to play, but besides that I felt pretty good all day long.
119km / 1,861m / 4:30:00
Rest / Rest
Posted on: Friday December 9, 2011
Thursday: REA XD Christmas dinner
Friday: REA Corporate Christmas party
I didn’t ride on either day on account of not wanting to leave my bike at work over night.
Recovery
Posted on: Wednesday December 7, 2011
Just the commute.
Easy peasy pace but for one spin-up down Lloyd St. 175 rpm.
Commute: ~ 28 km / ~188 m / ~1:20
Ride with Cadel
Posted on: Tuesday December 6, 2011
Today at work I caught a country train service to a small little town, got off and rode down to the little coastal village of Barwon Heads, met up with a bunch of colleagues, and had a seriously delicious second breakfast.
After second breakfast this dude on a BMC with rainbow stripes on his jersey showed up for a chat and took us for a 35km roll around some pretty nice back roads at a very chatty pace.
I was worried the whole thing would be a bit naff or feel contrived but it was actually really, really awesome. Cadel and his training buddy (Brinton? One of the Torq Racing dudes — involved in a nasty over-the-bars wreck resulting in induced coma a few months back) were both totally chilled and chatty. It was really like any normal bunch ride where you spend some time next to a guy you don’t know. Pleasantries. Awkward bicycling handshake. Chit chat. Bike talk. Race talk. And then the group shifts. All very natural. The biggest difference is that the speed was much slower but who cares, it was such a beautiful day, and how often do you get to share a few words with a TdF champion, let alone one with whom you share enough cultural customs that you can actually have an exchange.
After the ride we were treated to duck, five-spice and pear (OMFG) salad at Annie’s Provedore and I found myself seated next to ASO commentator and seriously nice bloke, Matt Keenan, from whom I learned some interesting stuff about Alberto Contador. Namely that in spite of the trademark pistolero salute he’s a pretty humble guy. He lives across the road from his parents in the house he lived in before turning pro, he’s married to his high school sweetheart (like me!) and is managed by his brother.
After conferring with my colleagues, we decided to write off the day and spend the afternoon rolling between coastal towns and eating ice-cream at the end of jetties.
Above: Andrew, who will be my suffer buddy in the Odyssey next year.
83 km / 372 m / 3:21:05 / more
Not a bad day all in all. Thank you REA!
Recovery
Posted on: Monday December 5, 2011
Just the commute. Moderate pace.
Commute: ~ 28 km / ~188 m / ~1:20
