Things have been
getting a bit odd….
…this last couple
of weeks since the VTTA PB ride.
I’d been feeling
that I was starting to go out the other side of my little wave of form for a
while plus I think I had a bit of a virus just lurking in the background but
managed to keep it at bay j-u-s-t long enough to knock out the quick ride on
the F11/10. I think the absolute effing
hiding I gave myself that day, plus the huge mental release of finally doing
the best ride of my life, just opened me right up and I succumbed to sniffles,
runny nose and a sore throat.
I took a few days
off for a romantic trip to Glastonbury
Had another few
lazy days generally feeling totally knackered and lifeless then decided to try
the Somerleyton 10 up the road. Thing is, I was supposed to be riding the ECCA
50 on the Saturday and basically just needed to confirm that my form was pants
so that I’d feel better about DNSing!
Yep, it was indeed
truly appalling!
Had that really
tight stingy sort of feeling just riding out to the course but thought it’d
spin off. It did, sort of, but as soon as I put the hammer down during the TT,
it was useless.
I’d completely lost
that feeling of ‘rolling’ big gears that I’ve had all season so far – the
amount of effort I felt I needed to apply felt completely wrong, you know,
almost levering the tri-bars off to get any sort of speed yet having no decent
heart rate. I have been feeling almost the opposite most of this season – fast
despite hardly pressing on the pedals and a good high revving heart rate. Arse!!
Right, forget it, just ease right up….
At 6 miles I
stopped trying to go tits-out and slowed to a more comfortable speed, although
not exactly ‘sitting up’. Still got round in under 24 mins but I decided enough
was enough. For a while at least…
Gutted at missing
the potentially quick ECCA 50 though, although the day wasn’t superfast in the
end. Not too many fast 50’s left locally – may have to travel a bit for one
later in the summer.
On Sunday Sue gave
me one of her magic lymph-shifting massages and (apparently) my legs were
massively congested and ‘popping’. (And
I have the early signs of a varicose vein appearing – yet more middle-aged decrepitude!!).
My legs felt better
than they had done in a while at work on Monday, which is just as well seeing
as I walk for a living, in fact I even felt up to a very steady mountain bike
ride in the afternoon. A gentle 100 mins at what I’ve heard referred to as
‘taking your bike for a walk’ pace in the warm sunshine was just fab, in fact
it’s the first bit of ‘junk miles’ I’ve done for months. Excellent! Legs still
felt dodgy and puny but definitely better. Av HR 110
I had lots more
energy in general at work on Tuesday and smashed around my delivery like my old
self, really enjoying the heat and sun.
Went out for another steady bike ride around the same route and felt a
lot better, subjectively going much easier yet an average HR of 118 and 25 mins
quicker! Definitely felt myself starting to roll the gears easier again but a
way to go yet.
Yesterday, I had a few hours to kill after
work before helping out marshalling at my club’s Open 10 on the B10/3R, so I
took my bike with me and went for a nice gentle spin along the length of Marriott’s
Way between Norwich
Marshalling is
quite interesting as you get to see TT’ing from another viewpoint and compare
kit, styles, positions, knobbly knees etc.
At the risk of sounding like ‘Mr Know-It-All-Just-Because-You’ve-Done-A-Couple-Of-Quick-Rides’,
I’m always amazed at the state of some of the wreckage that arrives at the
halfway point. Riders absolutely blown
to pieces, breathing out of their arse, ears and every other orifice. I’m sure
that some would save chunks of time if they reevaluated their pacing strategies
(or even just had one!). It's much, much faster if you ride at 95% rather than
trying to ride at 101%. Or, as I frequently tell myself, “As fast as
you can, but no faster.”
Honestly, it’s true. Experiment and try it. My best rides nearly always have positive
splits – the second half much faster than the first.
Anyway, my next
goal though is to have a tilt at smashing my 25 mile PB. If the form recovers
to previous levels then it shouldn’t be a problem, provided the weather is in
my favour. There’s a potentially quick one on the E2/25 in the middle of June
which may be a good opportunity but just to be doubly sure, I’ve entered an
event on the quickest course in the country, the R25/3L in South Wales on the
22nd of June. It’s another crazy course with a long ‘gift’ downhill
section like the F11/10, but who gives a f**k, a fast time is a fast time! It’s a long trip with an early start on
Sunday morning so it’ll need an overnight stay in Cardiff
 |
| The R25/3L in South Wales - another crazy kamikaze course... |
So, as long as proper training resumes middle
of next week, the build up looks like:
·
Sat
31st May – E2/10 (Entered this ages ago – not a priority now!!)
·
Weds
11th June – B10/3R (Would be nice to go sub 21 on a local course!)
·
Sat
14th June – E2/25 (Possible PB if good conditions)
·
Thurs
19th June – B10/3 (Best chance to go sub 21 on the local fast
course!)
·
Sun
22nd June – PB attempt on the R25/3L. Sub 53 mins perhaps?
That’s it. Just need to be kind to myself and stay
healthy & fresh. Not easy!!!
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