Cycling to a Beat!

A rare day off from training clients today, so I set myself a challenge! To cycle 32miles with my heart rate remaining above 130bpm (that’s 70% of my maximum heart rate). For anyone who has read my article on Heart Rate Zone Training in Trail Running magazine you will know that this is the ‘Aerobic Training Zone’ – ‘running at this level is perfect for improving cardio-vascular fitness and increasing the size and strength of the heart and increasing lung capacity’

Basically if you keep your heart rate at this level you will get fitter and stronger and, over time, faster!

I wanted to see if I could maintain this level over a fair distance while still feeling comfortable. The aim of this is to test how my body feels when working quite hard for a couple of hours. If I can do this in training it will help me in racing.

Keeping my heart rate high was easy at first. The shock of starting to cycle was enough to cause my heart rate to rise- especially as I started uphill! In fact keeping my heart rate under 90% of my MHR became my biggest challenge for a while.

Going downhill was a bit trickier, as soon as I started to descend the number quickly reduced from 130bpm to 85bpm. I had to spin my little legs as fast as they would go to keep the rate high enough.

What I found was:-

1) The time went really quickly as I concentrated on nothing but keeping my heart rate high enough.

2) I felt comfortable cycling at speed – I maintained a decent average of 20mph which is pretty fast for me. I normally train at around 17mph.

3) I saved time.

4) I enjoyed the focus this challenge gave me. Instead of thinking about speed or distance I had a different aim – which was a welcome change.

I wouldn’t do this more than once a week. I’m a competitive being but cycling is also about enjoyment for me. Getting to places in half the time it takes to run and enjoying the views is what gets me out the door. But for pure speed and experimental purposes I loved this training session and would recommend it if you want to challenge yourself.

 

Fancy having a go? You’ll need some kind of heart rate monitor, either a watch and heart strap or by using an app on your phone. Next find your Maximum Heart Rate (220 minus your age), work out your percentages and off you can go.

 

Alternatively why not do some speed work, for example 1 minute at 90% of your MHR followed by 1 minute at 60% – repeat this 20 times and you’ll be ready for your protein recovery shake!!!

 

European Triathlon Championships – My Race

 

 I have just come back from competing for GB in my Age Group at the European Triathlon Championships in the breath-taking Kitzbuhel, Austria. What an experience!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having qualified in second position at the Newbiggin’ Sprint Triathlon last September I spent 9 months looking forward to, and preparing for this event. Although my training for Triathlon took a slight pause through the winter due to my London Marathon training, I still kept up my cycling. As soon as the London Marathon was done I was back in the pool and out on my bike, relieved to drop the 70mile running weeks down to just 25miles.

I ran 3hrs5mins at the marathon, not bad for my first one, and not bad for such a hot day! I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would, nerves seemed to take over as well as sheer knackeredness from the distance!

My coach Dave sent me my Triathlon training plan the week after the marathon, yeah thanks for that Dave, no rest for the wicked! I threw myself wholeheartedly into training, glad of the change of direction from purely running. That was until week 3 of my training when brick sessions being triple brick sessions, ie 20mins cycling, 10mins running, 20mins cycling, 10mins running, 20mins running, 10mins running – lie down and die!

Single leg drills on the bike, lots of speed running and long swim sessions helped to get me back on the Triathlon track. My first event this year was Nottingham Sprint Triathlon, run by OneStepBeyond. This is my favourite Triathlon event, due to the course being so fast and so competitive. I did my fastest ever Sprint Triathlon in 1hr8mins, having averaged 21.5mph on the bike section and 6mins/mile on the run. Like I say it’s a fast course, and that makes it so exhilarating!

In the build-up to the Europeans I felt quite relaxed, apart from a few post marathon chest infections I had completed all the training Dave had given me. As well as setting up my own Personal Training business it was a very busy time but I loved it. For me training for events is the most enjoyable part.

My family, aka Team Pom Pom (Ian, hubby, Joel 7yrs and Ollie 5yrs) and I flew by Ryan Air from Stansted to Salzsburg where my Dad picked us up from the airport. Mum and Dad drove through France and Austria with my bike and triathlon gear (I know I’m a very lucky girl). We all stayed together in a typical Austrian chalet – just idyllic and such a giggle!

   

The 2 days prior to the Triathlon were spent attending briefings, parading through Kitzbuhel centre as part of the GB team and getting my bike into the Transition area. Pre -race days are not the most relaxing or enjoyable. You spend your time worrying about the race and trying hard to relax (and eat/drink the right things!). Having my family there however was invaluable, Mum and Dad babysat for us while Ian and I reccied the bike course and Ian helped me relax by reminding me that I just had to do my best.

On the morning of the Triathlon I was itching to get going. My lovely Dad got up at 6am to drive me to Transition so that I could set up my equipment before then driving home so we could have breakfast. I then returned to the race start at 9am where I performed my warm up and squeezed myself into my wetsuit.

For me the swim through lake Schwarzee felt very hard as I struggled to relax and find a rhythm. I was hugely relieved when the swim was over and I was able to get on my lovely Canyon bike. The bike course was superb, up and down the beautiful mountains surrounding Kitzbuhel I felt strong and was able to do most of my overtaking going uphill. I never realised I was a good uphill cyclist! Coming down the mountains was a bit hairy due to the rain and tight turns but I felt exhilarated throughout.

  

 

Running is where I do well in Triathlons, it’s the last discipline therefore the one where doing well is a major advantage. Despite a stitch crossing my diaphragm for the whole run section I was able to overtake several girls. One german girl shouted ‘super’ to me as I ran by her which I thought was lovely.

 

 I finished in a very respectable 12th place. For my first European race for GB I feel very proud of my achievements and so grateful that I got to share this experience with my lovely family. I am one happy Triathlete, and already planning and of course training for next year’s GB racing!!

 

The London Marathon and other crazy 2014 challenges – here I come!

With help from a decent Playlist or 2 on my iPod I am now embarking on a very new experience. London Marathon training – eeeek! It’s a bit scary for 3 reasons, 1) the volume of running, up from my comfortable 35 miles a week to over 70 miles at my peak of marathon training, 2) doing all that throughout the winter – brrrrrrrr 3) Balancing the increased running miles with cycling and swimming for the European Champs next June.

I decided to add the marathon to my list of challenges for next year after finding out that I could qualify for a Championship place due to my recent half marathon time of 1hr25mins at the Perkins Great Eastern Run. I’ll start just behind the Elites which will be a great experience, I’m sure Mo Farrah will be feeling nervous when he sees me arrive 😉

My other challenges for next year are as follows:-

January – Folksworth 15miles – a nice local race that will set me up for the marathon

April – London Marathon

June – GB European Championship Sprint Triathlon – Kitzbuhel, Austria

June-August – Pac Trac Mini Series Triathlons

September – The awesome Man vs Mountain http://www.ratracemanvsmountain.com/ (cant wait for this one!!!!!)

September – ‘Starting at the North sea’ – Coast to Coast http://www.ratracecoasttocoast.com/ – excited and scared for this one

Over the next week I will be establishing a training plan, most probably based on the one included below. I say based on, as I may need to modify it a little. It is intended for competitive runners (hoping to go under 2hrs50) which is a little ambitious. It also includes a 30mile run at week 17, again a little ambitious for me. That would require a whole lot of jelly babies!!

I will also be checking I have enough cold weather clothing, I have already bought myself some cycling overshoes from http://www.ratrace.com/ so that I can continue cycling my Canyon Time Trial bike over the winter.

And last but not least I will be extending my running playlist to include, Band of Skulls, The Foals, Ben Howard (chilled but motivating), Artic Monkeys and of course the legendary Foo Fighters (for the hills) – I may even sneak in some Michael Bubble as a treat for the really long runs. Granted its an eclectic mix!

The Training plan I may follow is the one below. I will have to add in cycling and swimming too and my aim is to concentrate hard on running, cycling and swimming until early March then reduce the swims and cycles and increase the running volumes as shown below. This plan does not allow for rest days which is quite unusual but I will be building some in to ensure I don’t get too fatigued and to allow my body to recover well. I best buy some large bags of pasta!

My aim, (for the record) is to get as close to 3 hours as possible, whilst still enjoying the experience!

I will also be following advice from the latest issue of Outdoor fitness Magazine (Dec 2013) by including some strength and stability work. My personal opinion is that this issue is the best yet. Its well worth a read if you want to build in some injury prevention strength work into your plan. Something I think we all need when doing endurance training!

http://www.outdoorfitnessmag.com/

I will also continue to ‘Bullet Proof My Core’, as described in the November issue of Outdoor Fitness magazine:-

(Taken from Outdoor Fitness Magazine – November 2013 issue – Bauer Media)

Trail Running magazine is another favourite read and again I think the punchy style adopted for the latest issue inspires and motivates me to ignore the cold and run run run!!!

http://www.trailrunningmag.co.uk/

Happy running! Please feel free to add a comment and/or let me know your tips and tricks as I ventured into the new world of marathon training 🙂