Well, I’m afraid I
had to resort to antibiotics to clear the last dregs of my disease but it was
worth it. ‘Acute Sinusitis’ apparently – not pleasant.
Anyway, no ill
effects really, apart from only really being able to start training a few weeks ago after missing a whole month. I’m still quite busy at the moment so having
to ration the cycling a lot. This year’s
mantra has become “tough on junk miles, tough on the causes of junk miles...”
Before I was ill, I
was only able to squeeze in about six hours a week, doing 2 x 3 hours very
hard, in fact just below 50 mile TT pace, separated by two or three days rest. I wasn’t aware of getting any faster at the
time but I had noticed that my ability to sustain the hard pace came on quite
quickly, as did my ability to recover.
Now I’m training again, I’m again aware that it seems to have toughened
me up a lot and I’m still managing to train quite hard and get away with it.
 |
| Andy was taking 'Shredding himself on the turbo' a bit too literally... |
I’m avoiding ‘base’
miles and stuff like club runs and audaxes etc like the plague – I’m aiming for
quality this year, not quantity. Besides, I can’t really spare the time! A typical week is looking like this at the
minute:
Sat – 3 x 20 mins at threshold on turbo, with 5
mins rest.
Sun – 90 mins Z3
Mon – Day Off
Tues - 3 x 20 mins at threshold on turbo, with 5
mins rest
Weds – 90 mins Z3
Thurs – 90 mins Z3
Fri – Day Off
So far, so good. I
can feel the power coming up nicely with no signs of any long term
fatigue. I’m going to smash it hard for
six weeks then think about speedwork etc.
I’m being very
dedicated by avoiding the booze and eating properly and hydrating myself
well. I’m especially avoiding fat in my
diet and ramming the quality carbs in immediately after training. My favourite recovery meal is a bowl of
semolina with the equivalent of 3 pints worth of skimmed milk powder mixed in
and a big dollop of honey! Yum! Bowl of
branflakes with skimmed milk for brekky and a Weight Watchers type readymeal
with a mountain of boiled potatoes for tea!
It goes without
saying that I’m really leaning up and the bodyfat is slowly being incinerated.
As well as the
usual big doses of B vits I have to take to stave off the megaloblastic
anaemia, I’ve returned to something I dabbled with a few years ago – magnesium
supplementation (as Magnesium Citrate).
The reason is twofold – firstly, all
the calcium I’m getting via the skimmed milk isn’t good for you on its own. The
extra magnesium keeps the balance in order.
Secondly, it helps
massively with muscle recovery by limiting lactic acid damage during intense
exercise. Unfortunately, the amount you have to take initially plays havoc with
your bowels but you soon adapt to it! It also gives you unbelievable bottom gas
for an hour or two after you’ve ingested it which is entertaining initially but
soon gets a bit embarrassing. However, that subsides too after a week or two.
It’s an amazing
mood lifter too and leaves you with a lovely warm fuzzy feeling of well being,
although it makes your fingers and toes really cold on chilly rides due to its
vasodilating effect.
So, not going too
bad really. I’ve got a bit of a project going to build a homemade power meter
for the turbo and use my Raspberry Pi to process and display the data, so that
should be able to give me some idea of progress. If I get time of course….
