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Focus

  • 21-03-2010 2:42pm
    #1
    Gavin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭


    There is going to be a lot of "I" in this log. Hopefully it will help to keep me organised and focused on what I need to do to achieve my goals.

    My targets are straightforward. I want to compete at a decent level in mountain biking races. This is made more difficult by having to complete a Ph.D thesis by July, which has been dragging on for 5 years and will restrict my free time. Should I even be bothering with the bike and just spend all of my time on the thesis ? Probably, but I think I can incorporate the bike without too much of a detrimental impact.

    From my minimal race experience so far, I believe that I need to work on my technical MTB skills and interval work. I find climbing and my general fitness above average. However I am not used to pushing myself to extreme effort. I don't know what sort of maximum effort I can endure for what sort of time. I have no baseline which means I tend to avoid making extreme effort in races as I worry about destroying myself. Similarly I lag behind others on technical trails due too much use of the brake and too much looking at the ground in front of me. If I can kick those two bad habits I'll be doing better.

    So what do I need to do.
    1. Interval training to increase my ability to recover from maximum effort and also to measure how long I can go at full effort for.
    2. Technical skills

    Weekends are allocated to writing up. During the week I commute to work, which is a 15k each way. Given time constraints I'll be using my commute to work on interval style training. There's a small drag and long flats in the Phoenix park which I can use.

    I will use Tuesday and Thursday evening for MTB training. I will pick a set trail and time how quickly I can do it, then repeat the loop, trying to choose better lines and decrease my time.

    Thesis-wise, may as well put it in here too for some motivation. Chapters 1 and 2 should be finished by today (check out this procrastination!). 3 and 4 finished by the end of April, these are mostly written. Chapter 5 still has research to do, but I will be working weekends in May and so have 3 consecutive days off during each week. So May should see chapter 5 done. First draft off for review. Mid June re-write and submit come the start of July.

    That's the general overview. Specifically, tomorrow, Monday 21st, I will fetch the Edge 305 out of wherever it is hidden and use it on the commute in to try and get an idea of where I am at. Not sure exactly how I will do this, perhaps just go as hard as I can for as long as I can on a straight in the Park and see what sort of time/heartrate I get to.

    Tuesday.... away for a week, so no cycling at all! Good start eh! When I get back, I will hopefully have read through my Joe Friel book and have a better idea of how to go about the interval training and make the most of the commute. Unfortunately I will probably have to miss most of the summer races until after July, but I don't have much of a choice in that.

    Oh and more motivation for finishing writing up is saving up to buy two new MTBs. A race bike and a full suss for fun. Now that it's all written down I can concentrate on working today.


Comments

  • #2
    Gavin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭Gavin


    Fail to prepare, prepare to fail as my hero says. New battery needed for chest strap for HRM.


  • #3
    thebouldwhacker
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,565 ✭✭✭thebouldwhacker


    Are you gonna change your boards name to Dr. Gavin?


  • #4
    Gavin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭Gavin


    thebouldwhacker wrote: »
    Are you gonna change your boards name to Dr. Gavin?

    Perhaps temporarily, should it ever happen!

    Bikewise, cruagh hill climb in 20:10 which was disappointing. Brief race lap of Slade valley on saturday. Technical skills are improving by ensuring I keep scanning ahead. Also dry weather helped. Couldn't keep right up with the leading group from the initial sprint, need to work on sprinting and intervals.


  • #5
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    All I would throw in is make sure you are not using the bike to procrastinate work on the thesis. July is not far away and that should be your main focus. Of course you won't be doing it 24x7 and there should be plenty of time for cycling in between but I would be wary of making any commitments or "goals" with the cycling as they may distract you. This is coming very much from my side where I am very much a focus on one thing sort of person though. I'd keep the bike as a fun break until July, you can still make improvements there this way.


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