Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

shotgunmcos

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

, how is his preparations going for Kona?

He is going like a train... Will be up there with the Irish boys heading over

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Monday
40min easy run
Legs felt ok after Sundays long run but kept this one very easy. HR spiking again so take the stats with a pinch of salt, it was low easy effort.
Time:42.20, Dist:8.89, Pace:4.46km, HR:150bpm

45min coached swim
Another coached session with Tango. This was a horrible session, i had no feel for the water, was tired getting in and had no energy from a long day at the office. It did not help that it was like swimming in a hot bath. I was very dehydrated the morning after when i woke up.
Time:45mins, Dist:1000mtrs approx

Tuesday
50 min core/gym session
Lacked any real zip or strength in any of the work i done and sort of muddled through it. Hydration issues caused from the swim the night before may have left me feeling a bit lethargic.

70min bike with 10min efforts
Still waiting on replacement batteries to arrive for the PM so this had to be done by RPE/HR. Session was broken into several 10min efforts increasing from 10mins at IM pace to 10mins at 250w. I have noticed i have been feeling cramped, crunched up and generally not a good feeling on the bike since Roth. Its only when i noticed a massive bend in my knee on the down pedal stroke and the massive dead spot i was creating that i knew something has happened to my saddle height, i would check it later.
efforts AHR/pace
122/24.75, 138/28.75, 132/36.5, 143/32.7, 135/30.4, 153/31.2, 137/29.3
Time:1:08:28, Dist:34.64kms, Pace:30.4kmph, HR:137bpm

40min turbo, testing changes
Measurements taken and changes made. Saddle height from BB should have been 72cms instead it had dropped to 67.5cms which is massive. Bloody stupid i should have spotted such a large difference like that much earlier. I knew i had not been feeling right on the bike at all. How i did not do serious damage or injury to my hips or knees i do not know. 40mins easy on the turbo and it felt like it used to, good. It will be interesting to see what impact that saddle drop had on my power output.
Time:40mins, Dist:21.2kms, HR:122

Weight watch
29-08 - 69.6kg / no w/loss
22-08 - 69.6kg / 0.5kg w/loss
15-08 - 70.1kg / 0.2kg w/loss
09-08 - 70.3kg / 0.6kg w/loss
02-08 - 70.9kg

Very dissapointing to see no weight drop over the last week, Sunday family day out probably done the damage but cannot live like a monk either. I will be a podgy version of myself over in Barca at this rate, 32 days not long to go now.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Wednesday
45min run
Planned called for easy running and then into 4x4mins @ mod hard effort with 2min running recoveries. Felt a little tired heading out and thought i would struggle with the mod hard efforts but held decent pace and controlled the 4min efforts on 3:39, 3:40, 3:38, 3:40.
Time:48:28, Dist:11.26kms, Pace:4.18km, HR:158

No swim session as work was nuts, a long day in the office meant there was not enough hours in the day. Ended up getting home at 9 and had a glass bottle of red on a school night to unwind after a stressful day. It done the trick but feel a little groggy today....such a lightweight.:rolleyes:

This log has been seriously lacking some nerdish stats and graphs lately, so one below of current PMC. As you can see the blue CTL line is on its way back up. Whilst PMC only tells you one part of the story (does not factor outside stresses of work, family, life) it does correalate to how you feel in terms of peaking, performance and training load.
At the end of April and May i felt super strong and was probably at the height of fitness. Injury in June and sickness led to a decline pre Roth and further decline after prawngate in Roth:rolleyes: with holidays combined left me in poor shape.
It is however good to see it CTL going back in the right direction for Challenge Barca and it does correalate to how i am starting to physically feel right now.

d4r3n

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

It is however good to see it CTL going back in the right direction for Challenge Barca and it does correalate to how i am starting to physically feel right now.

On a nerdy note, I find it useful to graph CTL+TSB as TSB will increase as ATL and CTL drop off (although CTL not so much, but with longer tapers) and you can aim to peak your (CTL+TSB) at greater the max CTL you've seen so far while making sure CTL doesn't drop off too much.

You can see what I mean here in my homegrown chart graphed as PER.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

d4r3n wrote: »

On a nerdy note, I find it useful to graph CTL+TSB as TSB will increase as ATL and CTL drop off (although CTL not so much, but with longer tapers) and you can aim to peak your (CTL+TSB) at greater the max CTL you've seen so far while making sure CTL doesn't drop off too much.

You can see what I mean here in my homegrown chart graphed as PER.

Yeah i pay very close attention to TSB as well. Is that your own chart how are you making the calculations if so?

d4r3n

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Yeah i pay very close attention to TSB as well. Is that your own chart how are you making the calculations if so?

Yea my own chart, I tend to log most of my stuff in Garmin connect which is lacking, so just wrote something to pull out all the data, create TSSd and I just copy and paste into Excel. I'm too cheap for trainingpeaks and I like the data.

The calculations are standard as defined in the training and racing with a powermeter book. Here basically.

Simply put:
ATL = ATLy + ((TSSd-ATLy)/ATLdays)
CTL = CTLy + ((TSSd-CTLy)/CTLdays)
TSB = CTL-ATL
PER = CTL+TSB (my graph)

I use 7d for ATLdays and 42d for CTLdays

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

d4r3n wrote: »

Yea my own chart, I tend to log most of my stuff in Garmin connect which is lacking, so just wrote something to pull out all the data, create TSSd and I just copy and paste into Excel. I'm too cheap for trainingpeaks and I like the data.

The calculations are standard as defined in the training and racing with a powermeter book. Here basically.

Simply put:
ATL = ATLy + ((TSSd-ATLy)/ATLdays)
CTL = CTLy + ((TSSd-CTLy)/CTLdays)
TSB = CTL-ATL
PER = CTL+TSB (my graph)

I use 7d for ATLdays and 42d for CTLdays

Sounds like a lot of effort:) i will stick to forking out for TP. It really comes into its own especially when using a PM and the detail that churns out. Garmin connect is so limited, i dont even bother any more uploading there and just load directly into TP

d4r3n

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Sounds like a lot of effort:) i will stick to forking out for TP. It really comes into its own especially when using a PM and the detail that churns out. Garmin connect is so limited, i dont even bother any more uploading there and just load directly into TP

Yea, GC is absolutely useless for power, I use GoldenCheetah for that. I got a free few days of training peaks but wasn't mad on the interface or some of the bits, maybe I'm just being picky though. I'd like different parts of each really, should just write my own but ughhh, the effort.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thursday
Lunchtime Swim
Managed to get out from work to get yesterdays missed swim session in. Bumped into Bryangiggsy at the pool and i can confirm he needs to lose more weight.
Session was ok but not great, still not feeling the water as i was last week. Main set 10x100s alt sw/p aiming to come in on 1:55, all under and paced them all between 1:48 and 1:53 for an easy enough effort.
Time:55mins, Dist:2400mtrs

75min easy turbo
Back with power finally. The saddle adjustment has sorted everything out, legs feel good, everything feels normal and power is back where i would like. Done this out on the decking whilst the kids played trampoline, lovely evening.
Time:75mins, Dist:43.91kms , Power:np204w, Cad:83, HR:138 , Work:914kj

BennyMul

d4r3n wrote: »

Yea my own chart, I tend to log most of my stuff in Garmin connect which is lacking, so just wrote something to pull out all the data, create TSSd and I just copy and paste into Excel. I'm too cheap for trainingpeaks and I like the data.

The calculations are standard as defined in the training and racing with a powermeter book. Here basically.

Simply put:
ATL = ATLy + ((TSSd-ATLy)/ATLdays)
CTL = CTLy + ((TSSd-CTLy)/CTLdays)
TSB = CTL-ATL
PER = CTL+TSB (my graph)

I use 7d for ATLdays and 42d for CTLdays

sorry to use your thread JB,
d4r3n would it be possible to get a look at the code you wrote for extracting the data, I would like to start using this and would perfer not to use TP?
if not no worries.
thanks

d4r3n

BennyMul wrote: »

sorry to use your thread JB,
d4r3n would it be possible to get a look at the code you wrote for extracting the data, I would like to start using this and would perfer not to use TP?
if not no worries.
thanks

Garmin actually have a nice API here for pulling out data, after that it's how you want to generate TSS scores. I use a IF style model based on HR for the graph above (as I don't have a power meter that long and I wanted to go back further) so (HR-RHR)/(LTHR-RHR) but I plan on moving to TP calculations based on NGP for running and their swim stuff as defined here

PM if you want more details so we don't totally hijack the thread

BennyMul

d4r3n wrote: »

Garmin actually have a nice API here for pulling out data, after that it's how you want to generate TSS scores. I use a IF style model based on HR for the graph above (as I don't have a power meter that long and I wanted to go back further) so (HR-RHR)/(LTHR-RHR) but I plan on moving to TP calculations based on NGP for running and their swim stuff as defined here

PM if you want more details so we don't totally hijack the thread

Thanks and sorry again JB.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

BennyMul wrote: »

Thanks and sorry again JB.

Not at all work away, its free space:)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Friday
Swim
Set consisted of 3600mtrs with the main set of 20x100s alt sw/pull off in 2:20. I actually paced these very well sw all hovering around 1:50s and pull slightly quicker. Decent swim but i was tired getting out.
Time:1:25, Dist:3600mtrs

50min Fartlek run
Did not overly push this run as i was mindful of the long bike the following morning. Either this garmin hrm is a piece of crap or i have something in my system, hr did not match rpe at all.
Time:49:46, Dist:11.21kms, Pace:4.26km, HR:161:confused:

Saturday
4.5hr Long Bike
Alarm set for 5am and i was due to head off at 5.30am as we had a wedding on up North and i was cycling up but was hanging around for a mate who was heading out with me for the easy bit of it. Finally on the road for 6am and it was a nice morning, passed Dolan on the opposite side of the road out making his final Kona preparations. Plan called for 1.5hr easy at which time the mate headed back. Then into 3x30mins @ IM effort which came in as,
1st rep - 212w/86cad/155ahr/39.3kmph (great road)
2nd rep - 212w/87cad/159ahr/36.4kmph (crashed on this one)
3rd rep - 211w/83cad/162ahr/32.5kmph
Once again surprising with hr stats as miles off against how they felt The 2nd rep was interesting i was flying along nicely at around 45kmph+, hit a stone, front wheel blew out and i ended up crashing luckily enough into a grass verge. Got tube replaced, checked myself over and off i went again, knee just a little sore. The 2x10min efforts at OLY effort towards the end of the ride deffo bit but overall i was very pleased with how this ride went.
1st rep - 248w/86cad/164ahr/31.3kmph (headwind)
2nd rep - 236w/84cad/163ahr/34.5kmph
Bike was cut slightly short as i had lost a good bit of time with the crash and puncture.
Time:4:13, Dist:139.79kms, Power:AP187w/NP196w, Cad:83, Pace:33.1kmph, Work:2847kj

Sunday
1.5hr long run with 30 mins at MP
I was hungover to bits heading out for this and knew i was going to suffer like a dog and thats exactly what happened. I held 4.10 pace for the MP but i was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog:rolleyes: Cut the run slightly short as i was fcked. Not able to be going out on the lash like that and it really fvks you up training wise.
Time:1:16:25, Dist:1:16:25, Pace:4:23km

1.5hr easy bike
Decided i would get out for an easy bike as i was still hanging a little bit and feeling a little guilty with the over indulgence from the wedding:rolleyes: It was actually a great ride and a lovely evening to be out in s/sleeve!!
Time:1:25, Dist:44.77kms, Power:215w, Cad:87, Pace:31.5kmph, Work:1100kj

Weekly RU
Really happy with the week. Solid weeks work and glad to be enjoying the bike again, amazing how a dropped saddle can change things and how you feel on the bike.
Totals
Swim:3 sessions/3.05hrs/7kms
Bike: 5 sessions/8.43hrs/284.3kms
Run: 4 sessions/3.37hrs/48.8kms
Core: 1 session/50mins
Total: 13 sessions/16.15hrs/340.1kms

shotgunmcos

Quality work JB, going well at the right time and obviously tapping into the excellent pre Roth fitness banked. Gonna be you vs Abhainn. I'm as good as out. I'll be there for beers though

Abhainn

99.9% would have called it a day after the 1.5hr run on Sun.
Not you. Great going. Great week

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Abhainn wrote: »

99.9% would have called it a day after the 1.5hr run on Sun.
Not you. Great going. Great week

It was more out of annoyance that i was not happy with how the run went earlier due to my hungover state that i decided i would hit the bike that evening. Call it punishment if you will.

Monday
50min Lunchtime Run
Bit of a common theme now with Monday runs, felt tired so kept it easy. I had to make a detour to the house for an emergency pitstop and a slug of water.
Time:50:35, Dist:10.92kms, Pace:4.38km, HR:153

45min Club Swim
It was looking unlikely that i would make this as i was only out of work late, quickly packed a swim bag and got the kids to bed. Arrived in Tallaght with no swim trunks but luckily Griff had a dozen or so in his kit bag:) A good mix of drills in the session. I did not swim great and just generally felt a bit knackered.
Time:45mins, Dist:approx 1k

In the middle of a work avalanche at the moment so lots of balls to juggle in particular the next 2 weeks. I was due to get up at 4am this morning for a turbo (in work from 6am) but after getting back from the swim at 10.30 and hitting the bed at near 12 i done the sensible thing and rolled over. God knows what time i get finished at today.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Weight watch
05-09 - 68.7kg / 0.9kg w/loss
29-08 - 69.6kg / no w/loss
22-08 - 69.6kg / 0.5kg w/loss
15-08 - 70.1kg / 0.2kg w/loss
09-08 - 70.3kg / 0.6kg w/loss
02-08 - 70.9kg

Tuesday
Nothing, in at 6am for work, no lunch, no breaks and home at 10.30pm. Hardly surprising i lost weight as i only had brekkie at 5.30am and dinner at 11pm. I conisdered taking the days frustrations out on the turbo but i was a wreck.

Who knows what i will get done today as it looks more of the same. I have my bike, run and swim gear in just in case. Kids don't know who Daddy is at this stage:o
So much for my big week!! I need to make sure i try stay healthy whilst things are manic.
/end moan

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I really thought i would struggle to get anything done yesterday but my time mgt was excellent fitting in 3 sessions, cooking dinner and bedtime stories with the kids:)

Wednesday
Lunchtime Spin with 30mins @ 90% FTP
Managed to get out for an hour, plan was simple 15mins easy, 30mins @ 90%FTP and 15mins easy. I have an idea that my FTP is now probably around 280w so worked off that.
The 30mins at 90% came in at 259w/87rpm/34.9kmph(h/wind for most). It was controlled enough but the last few minutes it did start to bite a bit. A good stint.
Time:58:15, Dist:32.12kms, Power:NP235w, Cad:86, Pace:33.1kmph, Work:790kj

45min run with 5x30sec builds
I got home at a reasonable hour from work, enough time to spend with the kids. Once the nippers were put to bed and Michelle was deep into reading a book i headed out the door (had about 3 kit bags pre packed ready to go). Kept this easy as i knew i had a swim after, i know not ideal stacking sessions like this and I also had a long run the following morning.
Time:44:04, Dist:9.84kms, Pace:4.29km, HR:154inc spikes

Swim
Pre packed kit bag no 2 and straight off to the pool. Wednesdays plan called for a 4k set, i did not have the time and i thought it would tip the scales so switched Fridays swim about. Set was 500 drills mostly balance and some fist. Main set was 11x100s alt sw/p off 2.15. I started off well hitting sub 1:50s but drifted out to sub 1:55s towards the end as i started to tire and form was starting to go.
Time:55mins, Dist:2500mtrs

Thursday
31.5km Early Long Run
Sometimes there are defining moments of how committed and serious you are about your training and this was one of them. Its been a crazy week and i am tired so when the alarm went off at 4.30am this morning i could have cried. Wrestled in my mind was there any other way of potentially getting this done later, no too much of a risk in case work went nuts again.
Rolled out of bed and was pounding the pavements and country roads before 5am in the pitch dark. Plan called for 15mins easy and 2hrs at intended IM pace. The IM pace came in at 4.37 (3.15 IM marathon pace) for a mid easy hr of 149. Whilst aerobically this was easy the body was tired and legs as well. I felt the pinch hitting 25kms but just put the head down and drove her on.
Very satisfied when i got home to get the session done, i even had time to make the kids brekkie and get them dressed for school. The missus was very pleased this morning when i returned, she admires the work ethic and effort i am putting in to give this a good crack in 3 weeks and she will be offering plenty of support in Calella.
Getting it done!!
Time:2:25:50, Dist:31.28kms, Pace:4:40km, HR:149

I might try spin the legs out very easy at lunchtime but other than that i need to absorb the last 18hrs of training especially with a key 5hr bike coming up on Saturday as i want to smash that and give the confidence a real boost.

delboyfagan

Well done on long run - hardest part is always getting up.

tunney

delboyfagan wrote: »

Well done on long run - hardest part is always getting up.

Read this as "hardest part is always getting it up". Was puzzled as I didn't think JB knew you well enough to have divulged his "problems".

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

tunney wrote: »

Read this as "hardest part is always getting it up". Was puzzled as I didn't think JB knew you well enough to have divulged his "problems".

No problems in that department sure even after a good 5hr bike ride i am always up for another "ride"

griffin100

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

No problems in that department sure even after a good 5hr bike ride i am always up for another "ride"

I call it the Tunney overtraining test.......if you can't ride after a ride then your overtraing.

delboyfagan

LOL - it can be misinterpreted the wrong way alright...but u know what I mean....I hope!!!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thursday cont
Lunchtime Easy Spin
Just a short easy one to try loosen the legs from the earlier long run, active recovery.
Time:48mins, Dist:22.06kms, Power:NP160w, Cad:89, Pace:27.6kmph, Work:432kj

Core work
Done this at home instead of heading out to the gym. Boring as hell but i want to get this core of mine back into rock hard shape.
Time:35mins

Friday
4000mtr swim
I was due to hit the pool this morning but snoozed and hit work early so took a longer lunch to get the session done. Usual wu and into 4x50 descending on 58,56,55,50. 5x200 alt sw/p with p on 3;48,50,2,2 and sw 3:54,5,4. Next up was 10x100 with pull as mod hard, cannot remember all times but bar 2 all under 1:50 and pretty evenly paced. Another 2x200sw this time steady on 3:42,47, 400 steady with pull on 7:25 (quicker than last tango test). Finished off with fast 50s (harms hanging a little here) in 47,47,48,49 and cool down.
I was happy with how this went and my feel for the water.
Time:1:30, Dist:4000mtrs

This evening is about maintenance work. My calfs are feeling pretty tight so out with the "rolling pin" and the "ice bin" to help bring them around for tomorrows key bike. I may even try a short 20/30min recovery run after work as i always find it helps.
Looking forward to hitting the roads tomorrow with Abhainn, i just hope the old boy can keep up;)
9-10hrs of training scheduled for the weekend, whilst its a pity to be missing out on Lost Sheep i am happy with the decision to focus on a big weekend of training for Challenge Barca. Loving training at the moment, in the groove.

pgibbo

No mention of streaking?????

Great that you've found your mojo and are enjoying training again.

Go easy on Joe this weekend. It's so obvious from his log that he's struggling to hit form!!! :rolleyes:

Enjoy it!

tunney

delboyfagan wrote: »

LOL - it can be misinterpreted the wrong way alright...but u know what I mean....I hope!!!

Suppose it depends on your inclination - for some the wrong way is their right way

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

pgibbo wrote: »

No mention of streaking?????

Great that you've found your mojo and are enjoying training again.

Go easy on Joe this weekend. It's so obvious from his log that he's struggling to hit form!!! :rolleyes:

Enjoy it!

Oh yes i must not walk around in my birthday suit in unisex changing facility oops.
Luckily with the PM i will keep things controlled and stick to the plan otherwise we could end up tearing the legs off each other:) He is fine shape so i think it will be me trying to keep up.

Solobally8

Super training going on there JB. Very motivating. Sometimes I make the excuse that there isnt enough time in the day to train, you show me that if you try hard enough to find that time, it's there.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Today was a tough day!!