Battle of the Dinosaurs - Race to Extinction

[Jack Hughes]

When's that?

22nd I think.

[Jack Hughes]

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

Swim: 2013 - 70.86 kms ; 2014 - 63.64 kms
Turbo: 2013 - 202.27 kms ; 2014 - 1011.9 kms
Bike: 2013 - 1929.97 kms ; 2014 - 1601.26 kms
Run: 2013 - 235.74 kms ; 2014 - 265.25 kms

Depressed by CCS and Bopo, I thought I would have a go at calculating training to date:

Swim: 2013 - 0.4 kms; 2014 - 19.15 kms
Turbo: 2013 - 0 kms; 2014 - 0 kms;
Bike(s): 2013 - 486 kms; 2014 - 603 kms;
Run: 2013 - 458 kms; 2014 - 212 kms

A little bit more than Ben, maybe. I wonder how much jon.e has done....?

I wonder if I have enough base for a 3.8km swim.

I think CCS is a full time athlete.

[jonathon.e]

You should be fine for the 3.8km swim, LD swimming is just about pace, and relaxing, if anything it is the shoulders that will fatigue first, the wetsuit will allow a nice relaxing glide, so just a nice turnover, I don't think a current will be a problem.

As for my distances.
From January
Swimming - not a lot , very little in the last eight weeks as the wet environment makes my cough worse. But say about 20 miles since Jan.
Running. STRAVA says 50 miles
Cycling. STRAVA says 501 miles

Definitely less than last year.

[Jack Hughes]

So, a bit more swimming and cycling. A bit less running.

Interesting.

[CCS]

Impressive swimming in 2013!!!
I am largely using swimming as a means of relaxation these days - my technique has completely gone to pot. Perhaps will try and get a coaching session in the autumn with view to rebuilding for next season, but in the meantime, it is nice and quite under the water, and it seems to help with stretching out the old legs.

I think CCS is a full time athlete.

Either that, or a workshy part timer and a neglectful mother who spends too much time at the bottom of the garden watching DVDs in the man shed (looks at the watch to see how much longer before it would be decent to stuff the kids into bed and head out there...left in sole charge tonight...)

[Jack Hughes]

Another race done.

3rd day of recovery. Still too sore to run. Looking forward to getting home and the start of a fortnight off.

Need to try to enjoy the break without focussing too much on the 13th.

[Jack Hughes]

OK. Just 12 days to go.

In theory, this is one of the biggest challenges I've ever done. And something that would have been unthinkable five years ago.

I may have done the last OW practice before the event as next weekend will be taken up with the TDF. And I'm not sure if I fancy trekking down the road to the blue lagoon

So, I asked myself the question, if I had to do it now, how would I feel. And the answer came back "about as ready as I can be". Which is quite a nice feeling. So not actually too stressed about it. Lots of unknowns - deep cold water. Pacing. Suit comfort, cramp etc. etc. But they are the sort of things that will always be unknown until you actually do the thing.

My target time is around 90 mins. I feel, assuming pacing doesn't go too wrong, that I should be able to do this. If the swim the other weekend was 750m, then that would place me at 84 mins... except to slow down over the distance, so 90 mins seems like a reasonable target. Although I will be happy to complete.

In terms of the over all competition, if I can limit losses to 20 mins, I will be content. 30 mins would be disappointing (although what I had been thinking of at the start of the competition). Anything less than 20 mins will be a win.

I anticipate going into August's OD with about a five minute deficit. And, in terms of the competition, it's that event that I am thinking of. It terms of strategy for the swim, there isn't a lot - just cover the distance as fast as possible. But the OD... lots of things to play around with, and I fancy a completely different plan to the sprint (I also need to explore strategies for the HIM, in just about 2 months time).

Still a bit too sore to think about running (and the ankle was hurting a lot on the bike yesterday). Shoulder is a bit tender, so a gentle swim to see how it is I think today. Fortunately, I don't need the ankle in the swim.

[Tritans]

For someone with a non swimming background ( and future I suspect) it'll be a hell of an achievement to complete a 3.8km swim.


Penned in the finest quill from The Royal County.

[Jack Hughes]

I have a new game.

Forget distance on the bike. Forget speed. Just try to get total ascent as high as possible in the shortest period of time.

Ideally, try to avoid going to the top of the hill, turning round, and riding down.

Lots of things to find out - long gentle hills vs short sharp ones. Or even ripples. How to optimise the route. The only thing clear is that flat is bad. Uphill is obviously good. Downhill is banking elevation to climb later.

For me, 500m per hour is the threshold of a hard ride - meaning it's hard to get higher.

Setting the Garmin to display total ascent and VAM is useful.

The VAM is interesting: descents at 3000-4000m/h. Gentle ascents around 700-800m/h. Steeper ones (eg Hainworth Lane cobbles) at around 1100m/h. 30 sec peak is about 1200m/h

Basically, pick a lumpy route with no flat sections, ride as hard as you can and descend as hard as you can.

500m is 1640'

The background to this is the rapha rising Strava challenge. 8,800m over two weekends and the week in between.

I worked out I had 4 chances. Lost Saturday because of weather. Can really afford only 4 hours a ride. Which means 500m per hour. Which is what a bit of research and evidence suggests is about the best I can do at the moment.

After Sunday's effort I was worn out. Turned out I was home on Monday, so managed another 500m/1hour.

Then I had a cancellation so took Wednesday off to make up the remaining 1500m. Chuck in a couple of outings on the tandem and I am over half way.

Big weekend coming up.

Then a TT on the 2nd to see what affect it all has.

[CCS]

Dangerous game, that climbing business though - have you seen how short the spotty jersey guy in the TdF is (caveat - I am still watching on catchup, so the little gnome like guy I last saw may well have been replaced by someone taller) - can only assume that hills make you shrink - be careful!
Are you just showing off that you live somewhere a bit hilly (some of us have to ride for a good 30 mins to even get to a hill!)?