training

Running: Winter footage helps get the job done.

I feel blessed.

As a cyclist, at this time of year, it can be a bit of a daunting time. Ancient myth and unchallenged tradition dictates we should be out there getting base miles in our legs. But just look out of the window. 6 days out of 7 since early December, it’s been blowing up some nasty storm or just plain rainy. Cycling is for the committed. Clearly, that’s not me. No way.

In the 45 to 75 minutes per day that I can generally put aside for sport, I need an escape from the desk, and I feel blessed that I can run. It’s so simple. When the weather’s wet, or it’s blowy outside, too dark to ride in complete safety, or just plain freezing, running generally still takes place in the same gear, give or take a layer or hat. You’re ready in 3 – 4 minutes, leaving more time for the actual good bit.

In contrast, I’ve found winter cycling, despite loads of lovely weather-proof clothes, a decent lightweight winter bike and all-important mudguards, more and more of a faff. After a bit of excitement after getting back on the bike post-operation a month or so ago (as I blogged here for Planet X), it soon came home to me how miserable it can be at this time of year, too..!

It’s the layers, the washing, the bike cleaning, maintenance, the choice of route to allow for being blown about the place, or even planning to get blown home… the random mechanical cock-up, the odd puncture… it all adds up to something that just means more and more faff – when you have a choice… to run.

Not that running is without its dilemmas, of course. I do enjoy the option where I live of the moor, the woods, faster pavement runs, fulfilling open-space quiet ones. It’s not a boring option. It’s no cop-out either.. Here’s the science bit.

The science bit

I’ve been reading mildly about views on this and although everyone has an opinion, it seems, the weight of it does tend to favour running as an effective supplement or even alternative to cycling – for cyclists. A 20 minute run taps into roughly same resources as a one hour ride (ref: http://roadcyclinguk.com/riding/cycling-winter-training-running-for-cyclists.html) and anyone who dips into running from time to time will know that – purely from how the body feels after 20 minutes. There’s fairly obvious use of more muscle groups in running, so fatigue effects kick in easier and hence lungs and heart have to work harder to sustain the effort.

It’s also, more anecdotally, good for the soul. The faff-removal in particular.In an October 2012 ‘serious’ bit of research by Øyvind Støren, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, even with the partial substitution of running for cycling, a rider’s total monthly training volume dropped by 18 percent during this preseason period, but the amount of training he did in the range of 90 to 95 percent of his maximum heart rate increased by 41 percent. We know from our other winter cycling alternative as cyclists (the loathed but necessary turbo trainer) that high Intensity workouts Increases VO2 max – so does running.

Drawing the line

Although my running volume’s gone up a relatively huge amount this last few weeks, as the ‘January Run Map (right) shows, I doubt I’ll be doing any more running races this year than I have in the past. It’s a lovely, grass-roots, welcoming sport, as I know from the odd fell race I turn up to (usually two a year, max, these last few years) and the cross country leagues I’ve been taking (daughter) Lily to. However, I like to give things my best shot and in order to become a much better runner, I’d need to put in more time, vary my sessions, focus on different aspects… I only have room enough for one obsession and that’s biking. Running’s just a great, helpful alternative to training rides.

11 Feb ’1311 Feb ’13

Why I hate Strava (and why I need Strava)

It’s been nagging me for a while, this one. This is about sport , technology, monitoring and stats. It runs to the very core of me in a number of ways.

I’ve been using fairly detailed recording of my cycling and running for over five years now, since I first got a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch. It suited me. I do a lot of training on my own – probably much more than the average cyclist or runner, so the ‘virtual’ training partner’ it gave me helped. I’ve rarely been out running or cycling in the last few years without thinking about what the average speed, heart rate, calories burnt… or any one particular element of the ride (heck – even total mileage, sometimes… heaven forbid). When Strava was introduced to me by Alan about a year or so ago, I thought it was perfect. For those of you who don’t know it, Strava basically allows you to ‘compare’ yourself – your ride or run – to anyone else who has done the same bit as you. These segments are “public”, so you get to see the ‘results’ for a particular segment (the leader is ‘King of the Mountains – or KoM / QoM for females – for the climb or descent [sic]). It’s a very simple motivation – in the middle of an otherwise routine ride – to push yourself.

Simplicity Works

The purity of that is lovely. ‘Competing’ against ‘real’ rides done by other people – sometimes famous athletes, even… you can soon see how the motivational factor is a great pick-me-up or boost when you’re doing that annoying short climb after the lights and your mind might drift from the training you’re supposed to be engaged with. It’s satisfying too, to visit somewhere you’ve never been (such as my trips to Sardinia or Arran last year) and find out what other people you’ve never met and will never meet have managed on a particular climb or descent. Even better, you can look at some great stats in the middle of races, such as the various obvious ‘segments’ of the 3 Peaks Cyclocross – seeing where you performed well or badly compared to fellow competitors.

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud

The press is rife with stories about segments that ought not be. There are countless ones I know of where the segment may include lights in the middle of them, some on footpaths where, even being generous, we’re borderline meant to be riding – let alone racing (albeit virtually). There’s even one on a canal towpath I’ve heard of. You can picture the flailing bodies of pedestrians thrown into the water as cyclists on tri-bars belt past them. It’s just not really right.

Despite it being a good idea to ride hard when training, giving people free reign over where they race and don’t race is always going to lead to a few problems with the more competitive-minded ones of us out there. It’s hard to ignore the opportunity of a bagging a good KoM when you’re feeling good, and once you get into racing mode, you start to take a few risks – unnecessary risks, in this case, of course, because you’re not actually racing.

It’s not racing.

A bit like time-trialling, a mildly impure form of racing because it relies on varying conditions, yet everyone sets off at different times, Strava suffers from extreme variations in conditions. Severe (even storm-force) tailwinds can skew (daftly) the speed on some sections of road. So can the heat, traffic, time of day, even who you’re riding with… are they even out there motor pacing? Who knows? It’s just a GPS record. They could be (and often have proven to have been) driving in the bloody car. They could be out in a chain-gang.. through and off – you’re never competing on a like-for-like basis.

That’s why I love road racing, Cyclocross, and Mountain Bike racing. The gun goes, and there you are – amongst them. The whippet climbers, the daft ones who sit on the front and then shout at you for not coming through, the ones who show little stress then suddenly blow up, the skilled ones, the powerful ones… despite all of the mirrored shades, you get to look at them in the eye. You’re racing them.

I’ll stay on Strava though. I (like everyone else on there) have enough positive motivation from it and (think that) I can resist the temptation to go for any daft KoM segments whilst trying my best to keep good speeds up where I can and where it’s appropriate to my training. I’m not dwelling on there, though. Forgive me for not paging through who’s ahead of me or behind me on certain segments. I didn’t have the legs / tailwind / motor assistance that particular day.

Truly unforgivable

But perhaps what annoys me most of all, is that people can ‘name’ their own segment, can’t use normal sentence case, or spell ‘descent’, so my achievements are forever described by some Klutz’s bad grammar. That one kills me every time.

6 Jan ’096 Jan ’09

Fine tuning for the Nationals

Given that my chances of finishing much higher than 30th position in next Sunday’s national cyclocross championships are as slim as a cigarette paper, an outside may think I’m a bit obsessive trying to hone my training down for a one-hour race. I maybe am, but it’s the only way I know.

Christmas and New Year went fairly well for me in terms of fitness and wellbeing. I got tired a couple of times and ate a bit much a couple of times, but I managed to keep ticking over and seem to have repaired any form-damage before it took hold. I also managed to dispense with a cold just before Christmas meaning that (hopefully) my immune system is that bit more robust now.

Sunday’s race is a double whammy for me in some ways. Obviously it’s the nationals, and at the nationals eveyone is that bit more psyched. It’s also in the north of England; something that hasn’t happened for many a year. And with it being at Peel Park in Bradford, a venue I’ve put in my best rides at during national trophy events in 2006 and 2007, I’m bubbling over with excitement. All we need now is shed loads of rain to make it muddy and nasty, and I should be in my element. Not only that, but I’d be made up if Rob Jebb could do a ride at Peel Park – he does tend to excel on the muddier courses and won there in 2006. Fingers crossed for a ‘home’ victory (well – nearly).

Having the Todmorden Cyclocross last Sunday was a great bonus. Whilst I didn’t give it my everything, I gave it pretty near to everything for most of the race. It’s a perfect time for a good race – one week before – in that it blows away any cobwebs and allows you to get some proper intensity through your body in a way that you can never do in training. I was pretty pleased to be quite far from being lapped at the end of the hour over a relatively short course. I also found my bike handling fine after three weeks off racing. On Monday I had the day off work and squeezed in a fantastic ride over some great hilly roads – including Cragg Vale – technically the longest climb in England at 5.1 miles of undisturbed ‘upness’ see profile below or view ride in Google Earth here. Tonight is an hour on the Turbo, with an hour fell running on Wednesday then some cycling hill reps on Thursday… it’s all a bit focused and serious at the mo. That’s how I like it.

1 Sep ’0829 Dec ’08

Train for pain

I’ve spent the last few weeks getting myself back into off-road cycling in readiness for the cyclocross season.

It’s slightly strange this year as there’s a National Trophy race the weekend before the Three Peaks cyclocross. As some of you will know, I’m a bit nuts about the Three Peaks race and whilst I don’t mind a shorter, faster, flatter training event or two before the biggie, having a National Trophy race before is a bit of an unwanted distraction. There’s a bit more at stake in the national series and I can’t afford to do a dreadful ride, so it’s been a bit odd trying to combine training for the two very different events.

Whilst I’ve been trying to get in the odd fell race this summer (three shorties since my break after Elsie was born) I’ve also been trying to get back into crit racing on the road bike (hard to dip in and out of – it’s a ‘speed’ versus ‘fitness’ thing). Also, for the last few Sundays, Lewis (Craven) and I have been meeting up at 6:30am nearby and getting some long off-road ‘cross bike rides in to get ourselves ready for the Three Peaks. (this is the usual training route – when mechanical issues allow me to complete it!)

I’ve also been on the scales again and decided that I’m fast running out of time to lose those 6 extra pounds I really want shot of, so it’s no more booze and (fairly) strict dieting for September.

The upshot of all this is that I’m a bit wasted… but it’s nice thinking in the back of my mind that somehow, there’s a plan coming together, that may just work. Whilst I’ll be very happy not to get lapped at the first round of the National Trophy at Abergavenny like last year, I want to do all in my power to do the very best I can do in the Three Peaks. I don’t want to look back in a few years and wish I’d tried harder when I was younger.