Log: 30/01/2012

Training Principles - 7:

Individualization, Periodization, Progressive Overload, Balance, Specificity, Reversiblility, Evaluation, Rest-Recuperation-Diet. 

Rest.
"Progress, i.e., improved fitness, cannot be achieved if there is not sufficient time and rest between workouts." Howe


A week in the Vic Alps:

25/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Mt. Hotham (Bright --> Return)..

    Duration:      5:49:23
    Work:          2795 kJ
    TSS:           273.5 (intensity factor 0.803)
    Norm Power:    213
    VI:            1.18
    Pw:HR:          22.24%
    Pa:HR:          -28.42%
    Distance:      115.638 km
    Elevation Gain:        1910 m
    Elevation Loss:       1874 m
    Grade:         0.0 %  (36 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    584    181     watts
    Heart Rate:      74    168    130     bpm
    Cadence:         19    126    81     rpm
    Speed:           0    76.3    19.5     kph
    Pace             0:47    0:00    3:04     min/km
    Altitude:        316    1858    1115     m
    Crank Torque:    0    69.9    21.8     N-m
    Temperature:     13    36    20.9     Celsius

Top of Hotham, looking toward Falls Creek

What can I say, Hotham is a fantastic climb and the conditions today were nothing short of spectacular. Clear skies and 20c at the summit - virtually no wind..

I rode this climb somewhere close to full gas, but didn't completely turn myself inside out knowing there is a weeks climbing in the Vic Alps ahead.

My time for the actual ascent was 1:30:48 - just short of the sub 1:30 that I was aiming for.

Quick update:- Noticed there are x2 Hotham segments defined at Strava, so depending on which one you define as the "real" Hotham you can apply the appropriate time: Mt Hotham Mount Hotham

Happy with "the" time - it's a challenge pacing yourself over a 1.5 hour uphill ITT, but the lay of the ascent helps the rider to mentally segment the climb into x3 ~10km chunks.

Will be back on this particular road come November (Stratford to Dargo KOM )...

26/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes
Tawonga Gap Repeats..

Entire workout (146 watts):
    Duration:      4:15:06
    Work:          1747 kJ
    TSS:           149.7 (intensity factor 0.676)
    Norm Power:    179
    VI:            1.23
    Pw:HR:          100%
    Pa:HR:          100%
    Distance:      74.759 km
    Elevation Gain:        1548 m
    Elevation Loss:       1583 m
    Grade:         -0.0 %  (-34 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    465    146     watts
    Heart Rate:      90    157    130     bpm
    Cadence:         16    123    74     rpm
    Speed:           0    71.7    17.2     kph
    Pace             0:50    0:00    3:29     min/km
    Altitude:        277    851    509     m
    Crank Torque:    0    59.3    19.1     N-m
    Temperature:     12    31    23.2     Celsius

An easier day today - 1x Tawonga-A & 2x Tawonga-B with a coffee at Beauty in the mix.


27/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes
Mt. Buffalo (Bright --> Return)..

Entire workout (159 watts):
    Duration:      3:29:09
    Work:          1854 kJ
    TSS:           197.3 (intensity factor 0.788)
    Norm Power:    209
    VI:            1.31
    Pw:HR:          23.81%
    Pa:HR:          -28.66%
    Distance:      83.725 km
    Elevation Gain:        1341 m
    Elevation Loss:       1299 m
    Grade:         0.1 %  (44 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    453    159     watts
    Heart Rate:      60    166    121     bpm
    Cadence:         19    118    81     rpm
    Speed:           0    63.8    23.6     kph
    Pace             0:56    0:00    2:33     min/km
    Altitude:        262    1323    642     m
    Crank Torque:    0    67.6    18.9     N-m
    Temperature:     14    24    18.2     Celsius

I rolled out early and caught the local bunch intending to ride out over Tawonga Gap. Gave my best wishes to Richard Reid for his 200km ITT (Audax Alpine Classic 200) on Sunday. I stayed with the group to the turnoff for the gap, then doubled back to the base of Buffalo - giving me 60 minutes warm-up before commencing the climb.

My legs were not entirely dead, but certainly a little heavy from the previous days of training. Was definitely wise to warm up for the hour, and I still found myself circling at the base (procrastinating) - worrying about whether I had the physical and mental grit to put in a solid 60min TT on this fine morning. Had been 2 years since I had last climbed Buffalo and didn't really recall much about the climb (always/only ever climbed Buffalo at the end of an AAC200 = too delerius to really take it in).

Climb was well paced - false flat was much shorter than I recalled. Theme of the week was now taking shape: I had a vague Idea that I wanted to go sub 60min, my ascent took 1:00:23. Needless to say, I'd like to come back and hit this with fresh legs next time.


28/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes
Mt. Buffalo - Father/Son..

Ol and I have been training for his Buffalo ascent from early December 2011. Plenty of 1in20 reps for the young fella, and lots of planning/discussion. 

Mt Buffalo (to the Gap):

Distance	18.5 km
Avg Grade	5.4%
Elev Gain	1,004 meters

Glorious early morning sunshine

Entire workout (81 watts):
    Duration:      4:07:29
    Work:          925 kJ
    TSS:           46.3 (intensity factor 0.388)
    Norm Power:    103
    VI:            1.26
    Pw:HR:          42.23%
    Pa:HR:          -122.27%
    Distance:      42.013 km
    Elevation Gain:        1096 m
    Elevation Loss:       1049 m
    Grade:         0.1 %  (46 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    456    81     watts
    Heart Rate:      87    181    142     bpm
    Cadence:         19    113    50     rpm
    Speed:           0    50    9.8     kph
    Pace             1:12    0:00    6:09     min/km
    Altitude:        307    1345    909     m
    Crank Torque:    0    56.4    15.8     N-m
    Temperature:     18    29    22.7     Celsius

3/4 to the saddle..

Finally the big day had come, & it was another gorgeous morning in the beautiful Vic Alps.
I was really hoping that Oliver would successfully complete the climb - after such a long build up I didn't want to see the lad disappointed and potentially discouraged.

Our training had been based around higher intensity climbing in Melbourne (Dandenongs) - threshold work in ~30min blocks - this equated to Ol holding ~125-130 watts by my PM, and a HR of ~175-180bpm.

For the Buffalo climb I paced Ol at 100 watts, with a HR of 145-150, and we broke this work down into 2km blocks - resting in between - eating, drinking, chatting, and taking in the awesome vistas.

The climb itself took about 2 & 3/4 hours - but the time really flew, we were having a ball. At the Chalet there was some celebration, more sight seeing and resting.

At the Summit!!

A huge congratulations to Ol - a big accomplishment for a 10yo, and so glad that what eventuated was a great adventure, and not an epic struggle :)
A great lesson illustrating to the young man that with planning, diligence and consistency you can achieve even the most daunting of goals.

Ol plans to keep training and racing for the coming year - and may aim to complete the ride again next year, this time from Bright & return.

One of my fave mountain top vistas, from the Chalet lookout..

29/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes
Audax Alpine Classic - 140 (Bright --> Mt. Beauty&Return, Bright --> Mt. Buffalo&Return)..

Entire workout (146 watts):
    Duration:      7:08:44
    Work:          3024 kJ
    TSS:           295.1 (intensity factor 0.721)
    Norm Power:    191
    VI:            1.31
    Pw:HR:          -0.5%
    Pa:HR:          11.63%
    Distance:      140.473 km
    Elevation Gain:        2583 m
    Elevation Loss:       2502 m
    Grade:         0.1 %  (83 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    651    146     watts
    Heart Rate:      50    172    111     bpm
    Cadence:         18    126    74     rpm
    Speed:           0    62.2    19.2     kph
    Pace             0:58    0:00    3:08     min/km
    Altitude:        348    1531    779     m
    Crank Torque:    0    74.7    19.0     N-m
    Temperature:     16    36    24.4     Celsius
 

A nice roll around the Alpine Classic 140 course with some friends.

For fun I attacked Tawonga-B hoping for a sub 25min, could only manage 25:25.
I lost concentration a little in the middle section, but all up it was a solid effort on some fairly tired legs.

Lap 2 (Tawonga-B):
    Duration:      25:25
    Work:          434 kJ
    TSS:           49.4 (intensity factor 1.076)
    Norm Power:    285
    VI:            1.01
    Pw:HR:          9.61%
    Pa:HR:          8.22%
    Distance:      7.569 km
    Elevation Gain:        470 m
    Elevation Loss:       0 m
    Grade:         6.2 %  (472 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    440    283     watts
    Heart Rate:      120    172    164     bpm
    Cadence:         49    101    82     rpm
    Speed:           8.8    28.1    17.1     kph
    Pace             2:08    6:49    3:30     min/km
    Altitude:        506    978    745     m
    Crank Torque:    0    52.3    33.1     N-m
    Temperature:     24    25    24.2     Celsius

21/01/2011 - Road | Muntanyes
Tawonga Gap Repeats..

Sullivan's Lookout

Entire workout (168 watts):
    Duration:      2:26:42
    Work:          1315 kJ
    TSS:           116.1 (intensity factor 0.737)
    Norm Power:    195
    VI:            1.16
    Pw:HR:          -8.54%
    Pa:HR:          -7.82%
    Distance:      53.839 km
    Elevation Gain:        1002 m
    Elevation Loss:       1048 m
    Grade:         -0.1 %  (-44 m)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    386    168     watts
    Heart Rate:      60    148    117     bpm
    Cadence:         21    161    81     rpm
    Speed:           0    60.8    21.6     kph
    Pace             0:59    0:00    2:46     min/km
    Altitude:        330    901    599     m
    Crank Torque:    0    55.4    20.3     N-m
    Temperature:     11    20    13.8     Celsius


Rested on Monday, today some more climbing, but zone3 work to keep the engine running while facilitating some further unloading.
Heavy fog in Bright on depart. At the top of Tawonga Gap the low lying fog was being blown up the mountain and out off the Kiewa Valley side - absolutely beautiful morning..

Fog at top of Tawonga..

6 Days of riding: 530km horizontal, 10,600m vertical. Great start to build block leading into Autumn racing.

BBN Track: 21/01/2012

23/01/2012 - Track | Race

Ol - Thurs night training

Summer of Track at BBN. B grade. Format: Scratch, Elimination Pursuit and Points Race.

Scratch: 15 Laps. Pretty sedate and orderly for 1st 3min. Kevin Murphy surged from the front at the 3:00 mark and I stuck to his wheel. Kev peeled off and pulled into a gap that had formed mid pack. I pulled my turn and rolled off to the back - pace settled down again. At 4:30 Rob Monteath attacked off the front and there was a period of off/on surging to chase back for about 60sec - somewhere toward the back of the paceline I just stayed with the surging, not overly concerned as there were still 4 or so laps remaining. With 1 lap to go the field was all together & I was around 4th wheel - an attack was launched from the front and I followed, holding my position until 30 meters to go where I came around into 3rd place and held it across the line. 3rd Place.

Elimination Pursuit: (Starting positions - riders staggered around the track. Aim: Do not be overtaken. If you are overtaken - you are eliminated. Every rider you overtake is eliminated.)

From the starters whistle I jumped quickly across to the wheel of the rider in front. Trying to hold it together after the initial red hot effort I kept an eye out behind for any riders catching - no immediate threats. Decided to sit on my front man and let him do the work of chasing the next rider down until there was a real threat from behind - then I'd then eliminate my front man and try to hold off the threat from the rear. After what seemed to be an eternity (at 2:50) my wheel in front was spent - still no threat from behind. I pulled around and settled into a fast tempo - was a ~70meter gap to next rider ahead (Zach MacLeod). Before long we were the last two riders remaining, and 3 laps were called. I strapped on my pain face and smashed out a maximal effort for the 3 laps - now riding solo, the strong headwind on the back straight was haenous, but I slowly gained on Zach and held it together for the win. 1st Place.

Points Race: 18 Laps. Legs bit spent now.. Sprints were at 11, 4 and 0 laps. I thought I crossed the line a comfortable 3rd for the first sprint - but in final results the commissar didn't see it that way. Next two sprints I think was 5th and 4th. Just no more punch in the pins... No place.

2nd overall.

Finally I have changed my gearing for the outdoor track (90.6 --> 86.4) & I think it's paying dividends. No longer have that feeling of not being on top of the gear - particularly in sprints. I think when I moved to 90.6 it was for racing at DISC and I was about 5kg heavier. I have to now persisted with this rollout all summer (outdoors) - which was pretty silly (strength work??)..

Chapeau to Brad James for a massive 2 lap effort off the front in A grade scratch race - nearly holding off the strong field in hot pursuit to the finish line!

Wishing Oliver, Connall & Sam a speedy recovery after a touch of wheels in F grade brought the boys down.

Full Results

HCC Criterium: 04/01/2012

04/01/2012 - Road | Race

New year opener at HCC - Kew Boulevard. B grade. Format: 35min +3 laps.

Beautiful night - mild and clear. A little headwind down back straight - nothing of major significance.

Small field of 10 or so riders - quite uneventful until interim sprint. I made a semi-spirited attempt to chase the only rider that seem determined to win the sprint (Boomchicka) in case he wanted to carry on over the hill and perhaps ride away - which he didn't do, so - all back together and the laps ticked over until it was called for 3 to go.

Only 4/10 riders were working from the front, myself included. Nobody wanted to work & it took a considerable amount of slowing to get anyone to come through. The pace was fairly pedestrian on the night, things hotted up for the final 3 laps - I was 3rd wheel into the final corner (hairpin) and crossed the line 7th. Yes, 4 people came over me in the sprint... Well, it seems they sprinted anyway :)

I'm no crit machine at the best of times - but as they say - train your weaknesses. I'll keep coming back 'cos when it's all said and done, it's a solid workout...


    Duration:      39:23
    Work:          529 kJ
    TSS:           74 (intensity factor 1.066)
    Norm Power:    283
    VI:            1.26
    Pw:HR:          10.06%
    Pa:HR:          0.64%
    Distance:      24.545 km
    Elevation Gain:        167 m
    Elevation Loss:       169 m
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    780    224     watts
    Heart Rate:      127    179    165     bpm
    Cadence:         20    125    98     rpm
    Temperature:     22    25    22.6     Celsius

BBN Track: 07/01/2012

07/01/2012 - Track | Race

New year opener at BBN. B grade. Format: Scratch, Progressive Points and Motor Pace.

Scratch: 15 Laps. Very steady tempo for 13 laps. Was at the front of the paceline with 2 laps to go and when peeling off folded back 3/4 of the way and waited in the wings. 1.5 laps to go I jumped and held off the bunch until ~15m remained - Barry Woods and Jono Dent came around me. 3rd Place.

Progressive Points: Poor judgement saw me earn no points here. Jono Dent jumped early to start collecting some of the early points and was consolidating a sizable gap on the rest of the field. I took it upon myself to chase him down (dragged the field along with) and left myself pretty empty for the remainder of the race. I chased fast - I don't know why.. 0 Points.

Motor Pace: 15 Laps. 1.5 laps to go the derny pulled off, a few riders pulled level across the track. Everyone watching everyone else. I jumped as hard as possible and led for the lap. With 1/4 lap remaining Rob Monteath came around and started to get a good gap on me, but I held off remainder of the field to cross the line 2nd Place.

3rd overall. Reasonable result considering the points race bungle.