40 Goals

My CTL and TSS make interesting reading with CTL up to 31.6 from zero in just 3 weeks and my TSB down to a miserable -58. I think my original FTP setting of 200w was underestimated and I've lifted it to 250w since the IF for most of my rides was greater than 1, even a recent recovery ride with HR of 125-135!! I just wish I could retrospectively change the FTP settings and get the IF and TSS re-calculated... any tips on how this can be achieved? EDIT: Ok, so you just change the zones in the athlete settings and they get recalculated automatically. D'Oh. I could have sworn I tried this and it didn't make a difference!

Again. Last year I went a bit hard for a week and really did my right foot in and ended up skipping the NYC marathon. The pain on the top of the foot was really nasty and was made worse from running. After a month of no running it went away. Its a good job I'm not in training for the marathon yet, just getting back to some form of fitness. The pain isn't as bad as last time and I'm pretty sure I can blame overuse rather than my shoes. I'm going to change the lace pattern from criss-cross to straight-bar and tie them with less force. Obviously I'm gonna lay off for a week and then get back with some ginger runs of no longer than 40 minutes. Ice, Ibuprofen and Stretching being practised as I type. Anyhoo, means I'll do more on the bike instead, which is ok.

Jamie Staff, the olympic gold medallist took time out to visit the Hillingdon Slipstreamers today. What a top bloke and inspiration for the kids that were there (not to mention the Dads). He gave his time graciously despite having flown in the day before and being woken at 5am. He signed autographs and answered questions for a while. I couldn't resist and asked him about his training. Surprisingly, it is about 4 hours of road training and 4 hours of track work per week. But the track work, I guess, is at high intensity. In the sprint final Jamie completed the first lap in 17.1 seconds and I asked him about the kind of power he generates. He said that in training prior to the world championhips he was peaking at 2,300w for the lap but had managed to increase by over 10% to 2,600w for the olympics! And in case you are wondering he is still pumping out over 1,200w when he crosses the finish line for Lap 1. Unbelievable numbers, but that Gold Medal tells you how real those numbers are...

OK. So it is early days, I'm going to do 50/50 splits between rest/recovery and training days. I just took 2 consecutive days rest (instead of 1 day a week) and felt better for it and posted a much better time for the 'Ian Run' . Previous bests were a completed 23:10 and two runs aborted after 20 minutes due to exhaustion. I passed the point at which the previous two runs aborted with 19:30 on the watch before going on to finish in 21:31. Its only 2 and a bit miles but right now that feels like a half marathon! I'll still do some walking or recovery riding on rest days but nothing strenuous. Will review along the way to see how it goes. No heart rate data for now as strap is broken. A good day!

OK, I'm not convinced entirely but I'm more than willing to believe some of the messages. As a result I'm gonna spend some time running barefoot or at least without the highly cushioned shoes I'm used to (ASICS Gels). Fortunately, we have a high quality treadmill at home so I can start there. I've also ordered some Nike Free shoes, but may not go the whole hog to start with and run just around the local park barefoot on the grass. Watching out for dog eggs obviously. If you're thinking I'm a lunatic then read some of the evidence and science here , here and here . Of course, the biggest part to all of this is learning to run as a forefoot striker and running "quietly". Since I'm starting afresh and from pretty much square 1 this will all be part of my approach. The Gordon Pirie reference above is my nod to the Chi / POSE method. I have to say that Gordon sounds like a pretty special guy and his free book has got me assessing how I run and wha...

I can feel my CV system springing back into life. I feel like I can breathe again instead of feeling constrained and tight as soon as I started to lay down any power on the bike or lifting my pace on the run. Still a fat lardy tho. Which is really depressing when I hit a gradient. I get overtaken by litter. Indeed, my weight has gone up, despite dieting and lots of exercise. I'm putting it down to high intensity eating into carbs more than fat and whilst body fat is reducing more muscle is being laid down. That's my excuse anyway - a look in the mirror confirms my body shape is changing. My wife and I are definitely in the Flora this year, so I'm mixing up cycling, running and rowing to get back into shape and avoid injury. It is enjoyable too, which right now is sooooooooo important.