Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby Kevy427 » 28 May 2014 15:23

Bopomofo wrote:Then there's the insomnia. And when I do sleep, more often than not I'm having really odd, dark and violent nightmares and waking up drenched in sweat next to Tritans

Sometimes a ride without any pressure is quite nice. Maybe try doing it without your Garmins staring at you in the face, just go out and enjoy riding and you could be pleasantly surprised by the results
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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby Bopomofo » 28 May 2014 18:19

Kevy427 wrote:Sometimes a ride without any pressure is quite nice. Maybe try doing it without your Garmins staring at you in the face, just go out and enjoy riding and you could be pleasantly surprised by the results


That's exactly what I did last Sunday. The only thing I got wrong was that I didn't allow for the possibility that I might enjoy myself, so I had only 1 bottle and no food. Not really suitable for the 67km (900m+ of ascent) that ensued. Loved it, though. 8-)

Volume Update:
2013 - - 2014
1040km - cycling - 625km
230km - turbo - 472km
1270 - total bike - 1097
278km - running - 290km
45km - swimming - 17km
87kg - lard - 88kg

Ahead of last year with running, getting there on the bike, way behind on swimming - I can probably bring it up to 30km which should be adequate. Next year I'd like to double all this. :roll:
I had fun once. It was awful.
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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby Kevy427 » 28 May 2014 18:58

Bopomofo wrote:Next year I'd like to double all this. :roll:

2013 - 2014 - 2015
87Kg - 88Kg - 176Kg
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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby Bopomofo » 16 Jun 2014 19:12

I suppose I should summarise the Waddle to Windsor now that I've waddled there, waddled around, then waddled home again.

First, looking at my training volumes for the year to date before the race:

2013 - - 2014
1040km - cycling - 663km
230km - turbo - 472km
1270 - total bike - 1170
278km - running - 316km
45km - swimming - 20km
87kg - lard - 89kg

Training has been just about as sporadic as last year. Running has been more about getting my run fitness back (-ish) for a race, then having several weeks off, then starting again. Cycling has been better: slightly lower volume, but better quality (more turbo) and I am far more likely to aim for a hill now than go around it. Swimming has been far less, but sufficient to maintain my form and make use of the transferable fitness.

My earlier predicitions for a possible sub 2:40 all fell apart with a nasty chest infection and lack of training, so although the volumes look reasonable, there was not enough consistency leading up to the event. And I didn't lose any weight.

At the start of my 6 week panic I optimistically thought:

Swim 0:30:00 - 1:17 slower (damage limitation)
Bike 1:12:00 - 2:32 faster (new bike, more turbo work)
Run 0:53:00 - 1:53 faster (better running generally)
Transition 0:04:00 - 0:34 faster (practice getting my kit off)

After some training, I revised the swim time down to 27mins, the bike up to 1:15 and the run up to 55. I kept the 4mins of transition for a 2:41 target. Still tough.

My weight has stayed the same, or perhaps increased slightly. This is my fault: my diet, lifestyle and sleep have all been poor and I have had a tendency to wallow a bit in self-sympathy. I can correlate exercise consistency against my own ups and downs pretty well. I'm not the first person who has this issue, nor will I be the last.

Anyway, while I am extremely suspicious of the 'official' timings for Windsor Tri, which I'll cover in the traditional Race Report, I'll use them to compare like with like for last year (2013 in brackets)

Swim - 28:10 (28:43)
T1 - 2:32 (2:30)
Bike - 1:14:49 (1:14:32)
T2 - 3:48 (2:04) Changed Layout
Waddle - 57:56 (54:53)

I was also trying to make a nice graph showing training volume against time. Sadly, Garmin Connect outputs data in such a way that I got bored trying to mangle it into something sensible with Excel. Suffice to say last year my training was pretty steady, whereas this year an early rush of enthusiasm (headed up by the most excellent Tour of Sufferlandria) got swamped by 'other shit' and I commenced a 4 month taper of decreasing volume and, crucially, quality.

So, my analysis on Windsor and the year so far:

Swim: I'm OK at this, and as long as I have some fitness and my expectations are not what they were 5 years ago I can do OK. This year, the current was stupidly strong so for many reasons the swim would be slow. However, I've learned to important things - how to swim in a my wetsuit (a revelation I only hit upon in the last two weeks!) and how to swim in a mass start situation.

Bike: Despite a lack of preparation and consistency, my new bike ripped it up. I'd have been a few minutes slower on the old one. Also, I was chuffed and it felt great. Ignoring the clock, I love my bike. There were some positional niggles, which I can blame myself for, but I have a great position and can do good things on level and downhill. Sadly, show me an incline and I'm floundering. When I get to the point where my position and bike is giving no advantage, my shite-ness shines through and I get dropped like a proper fatty.

Run: For me, this just takes consistency. Doing the training to make 5min/km comfortable (-ish) requires just a little consistency from me. I hate to admit it but underneath this lardy, over-shouldered swimming frame used to be a middle-distance runner - although we were all great when we were 18, weren't we? I blew up at about 5-6km at Windsor owing to this lack of training and excess weight.

Weight: Poor diet, excess alcohol, poor training, excess alcohol, 4 hours sleep per night, excess alcohol and a lot of stress have given me the full house of excuses. All of these are under my control - other than certain outside influences on stress, but I'm trying to learn the 'Chimp Paradox' approach to dealing with that. I could/should lose 10kg of body fat. It would help everywhere.

So, overall, all this crap amounts to:

Windsor 2013: 2:42:44
Windsor 2014: 2:47:15 :oops:

A minute and a half lost to the new transition layout, three minutes lost due to blowing up on the run. I would consider my roughly equal bike time a victory for my bike and bike fitting. My swim time is a victory given the strong current and lack of training.

Waddle done.
I had fun once. It was awful.
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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby CCS » 16 Jun 2014 19:19

Great work Bopo - sorry not to catch up with you on the day.
Was the new bike in transition as much of a surprise to you as it was to me? Definitely slowed things up, I thought.

All in all, that looks like a good result, and glad that you are feeling the love for the new bike (not that I am biased in any way about the importance of things...)

Still, a grand day out. Next year?

Where does the waddle take you to next?
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Re: Bopo and the waddle to Windsor

Postby Bopomofo » 16 Jun 2014 19:31

CCS wrote:Great work Bopo - sorry not to catch up with you on the day.
Was the new bike in transition as much of a surprise to you as it was to me? Definitely slowed things up, I thought.

All in all, that looks like a good result, and glad that you are feeling the love for the new bike (not that I am biased in any way about the importance of things...)

Still, a grand day out. Next year?

Where does the waddle take you to next?


Sorry to miss you too, CCS. Was looking out for you but I guessed you'd be too far ahead by the time I got to the first turn.

I didn't bother listening to the race brief 'cos I've done it before... so having to run from the road all the way around transition, with some bloke dawdling in front, was a shock. There may have been some Tritans-style management going on... See Race Report.

Windsor next year...? Hmm. Need to have a think. This is the first time that I've come away from Windsor feeling a bit 'meh'.

I reckon I'm going to try to smash Portsmouth OD the weekend after the Relays. I should hopefully make waddling to Pompey my new target.
I had fun once. It was awful.
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