I don’t usually ride in a group by it’s fun and makes time fly out on the road!
Last week we opened up a free invitation to triathlon club members to come and ride with me and some of the Tri Grand Prix team including race organiser Jose, on the course for the Kent race on May 30th. A visit to Kent in comes highly recommended with some fantastic countryside to explore and just a stones throw from London you have no limit to what you can get up to at night.
There was a really enthusiastic and mixed group including everyone from pro athlete Jonathan Hotchkiss to outright triathlon newcomers. We met up next to the swim start at Leybourne lake which was truly beautiful and made our way out on to the road.
The course itself is tough with some steep climbs on narrow roads and fast dual carriage way sections. Definitely favoring a strong cyclist the course should also help stop drafting in the age group race. If you can take a look at it before the big day go for it as there are some dangerous sections where riders need to be aware of the potential for on coming traffic and lack of potential for stopping! It took in many of the fantastic views and some of those picturesque villages you associate with the Kent area and is well worth a trip even if you don’t want to do the race.
Henry and James were training for Ironman 70.3 UK but decided to enter the Kent race after seeing the course.
If you are lacking the motivation to get in the big training you need to do for a long event, find a group to ride with and it will help the time pass quicker and be more fun.
IronMum Sarah Russel (pictured center) was keen to get going as she was doing our 56mile ride as part of her own 100 mile ride in preparation for the Challenge Copenhagen triathlon in August which I also hope to do. It can be grueling getting in those long sessions you need, in order to finish such a long event but by training in a group you can help time fly and keep your motivation up.
For group rides in your area try contacting your local cycling or triathlon clubs which can be found on the British triathlon web site or British cycling websites. I may be leading more ride on the 29th before the race so get in touch if there is any interest.
I am excited about the coming season and delighted to announce my 2010 racing.
I will be joining the brand new Tri-Grand-Prix series which promises to be a superb. We’re excited to have the opportunity to race some of the worlds best athletes at different distances and on some really unique courses. The TGP team are passionate and committed to providing top level events and support for athletes. Now it’s up to us turn that passion in to top level racing.
It so far consists of two races, the Outrageous half in Kent on May 30 and the Zarauzko Triatloia on June 13.
I would hope to complete my early season racing with a return to the greatest race in the world Challenge Roth. . . . if I can secure an entry on July 18. Later in the season I look forward to my return to the superb Challenge Barcelona event on October 3 which is now out of the hands of Evolution but still organised by Jordi González with the support of Challenge and Felix Walchshöfer.
Published on
February 28, 2010 in
Competition, Fun stuff, My life, power, training and turbo.
Tags: Cometition, power, Sophie Mullins, T-shirt, Total Racing Int, turbo training.
The first exclusive Total-Racing-Int TRI T-shirt goes to Sophie Mullins who is keeping fit in her bedroom with the help of David Tennant and her Dr Who Fartlek designed to alleviate boredom and aid winter endurance!
1) Load an episode of Dr Who (I use BBC iPlayer)
2) Jump on the Turbo
3) Cycle easy/moderate/flat out as the music and/or action suggests.
4) Repeat until pink.
Sophie is running London in April does a three-episode back-to-back extravaganza once a week so I gave it a whirl! Here set up with my Nintendo Wi streeming me Dr Who episodes to by turbo room!
And here’s the results!!!!
Time 2:30min, Average 271watts, Peak powers:
2hr =285
1hr =294
10min=316
1min=373
30sec=423
Once I got in to it, the idea all started to make sense each episode building to a crescendo of sorts and I got the idea you could essentially turn any of your favorite action drams in to turbo sessions if they have good pacing like Dr Who. The only thing I would change would be to go in to each episode with a clear idea of some intervals or intensities I want to do during the climax sequence!!! Main points were:
1) Warm was very awkward trying to work the Wi so I would be pre prepared next time. Up to the first 15-20 min should be build or if stringing multiple sessions together like here ride solid in your aerobic zone (75% or so I averaged 270 here).
2) It can be a be a bit random trying to follow the music so when it started getting pensive on Episode 2 “Utopia” I took it up a gear to 85% threshold 1/2IM pace and held that.
3) Dr Who seems to have a solid thriller finish/ chase section at the end of each episode. In episode 1 “blink” (which is still giving me nightmares) it was quite sustained and full on so I did some threshold stuff trying to maintain it for at least a minute at a time despite the music. If I had been prepared I would have done 3x2min @ 95% or something with 1min recovery. During the Utopia episode the climax was much more up and down between alien chase and the transformation of “the Master” so I got some structure in there with 30sec at 110-120% threshold with 60-90sec recovery at 75%.
All in all I had a great workout! 10/10 for boredom relief, doesn’t score so high on structure and reproducibility but hopefully I have given you some ideas to improve that. Great stuff Sophie and best of luck with London!
G
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