Evening All,
Getting back into the swing of things is the theme of this weeks post, so I thought it apt that I begin by posting back in my regular Monday night spot.
Its now two weeks since Roth and things (i.e. me) do appear to be returning back to normal. The constant tiredness & hunger seem to have subsided, albeit I could always do with a bit more shut-eye.
I'm feeling like I want to train again, although this never really went away, I definitely did prefer the sofa & Le Tour combo over the last couple of weeks. I've had a couple of small swim sessions and a couple of bikes.
I went out on Saturday on the bike with a group of mates and ended up "having a dig" which I later regretted as I wasn't ready for this - not so much the effort but the delayed recovery - my legs are still sore and my cough has returned. Another easy-ish week will help clear all of this away - and then the work begins in August.
With some addtional down-time, I'm pleased that over the last two weeks I've progressed the 'actions' I gave myself post-Roth.
I've booked in a bike-fit appointment as I feel that my current bike position can be improved considerably (see pic above). Obviously, I am riding a road bike so I won't be as aerodynamic as a time-trialist but my current set-up does need improving as I'm currently not in a position to optimize power and also reduce drag.
My current thinking is to improve my position on my road bike as much as possible, without foregoing comfort (to a certain extent), and then look to move onto a TT bike next season. By getting an optimized bike position, using race wheels (Hed Jet 60s) and wearing an aero helmet I will utilizing the biggest aero factors at my disposal.
Obviously, all of this counts for nowt if the body doesn't comply so more time on the bike and more hill reps and harder efforts are on the menu for supporting my bike power development. This will be my key area of focus ahead of Barcelona. Barca is a flat, quick course so it will be important to be able to turn a big gear for a long time without pushing too hard.
I'll let you know how the bike-fit goes and hopefully share some photos of the before & after positions.
The second action was to purchase a pair of the Newton running shoes. For those who may not have heard of these shoes, they are effectively set-up to encourage mid-foot striking, i.e a more efficient & effective foot position. I've been keen to try these out for a while, as I've heard really good things about them but as they take a period of adaptation I had to wait until post-Roth. As I will be building my running back up slowly, now seems the ideal time to get used to the slightly different position. I'm hoping that the period of adaptation is short-lived, as I have shortened my stride length & upped my cadence over the last few months to enable a more efficient running style. I'm interested to see how these Newtons feel & see if they return on the investment.
The third action was to get a new wetsuit. Again, I had been close to doing so before Roth but decided not to risk changing anything. As my body composition has changed quite noticeably over the last 12 and particularly 6 months, my wetsuit had become too large and it subsequently allowed a lot of water to get in the suit. Over the course of a long swim, this totalled a fair weight of water which led to increased fatigue especially around the upper arm & shoulder region.
I went down to the blueseventy swim centre on Sunday and got a new Helix suit. I'm really impressed with this new moel, as it is a lot more flexible, lighter in the arms and obviously a much better fit. I'm confident this will make a difference to both my swim times and effort levels.
The final action was to get hold of The Paleo Diet books. Again, an outstanding action for a while so good to get this ticked-off. Most of you will know my keen interest in the nutritional side of things & this is method & regime I've heard a lot about. Simply put t is the elimination of starchy carbs such as bread, pasta & rice for an increased intake of lean proteins, fruit & veggies. Over the last few months, I have practically eliminated bread from my diet & I have felt (and seen) the benefits in my general energy levels and body composition. Whilst I'm not sure I'll be able to follow the Paleo principles to the letter, I feel there is a lot to be said for reducing starchy carbs as they do cause sluggishness and lethargy. I'm keen to adopt as much as I feel is practical for the Paleo principles.
So, you might have noticed that my 4 key actions covered off each of the 4 disciplines: wetsuit (swim), bike fit (err, thats the bike one), Newtons (run, and finally Paleo (nutrition).
A few other actions I'll be looking to progress moving forward are regular strength & core work (at least twice a week) and focused streching and flexibility sessions (again, twice per week).
Where my head is at currenetly is that I have now built a machine capable of completing an Iron-distance race in a reasonable time, so I now need to start "pimping up the ride" if I am going to start turning a reasonable time into a solid and eventually stellar time.
I'm a huge believer in "continuous improvement" so with one iron-distance race in the bag, we simply move onto improving for the next one.
The question will be whether I have bitten off more than I can chew.....but will have to wait & find out.
Its going to be an interesting few months, hope you're up for the journey....
Speak soon sportsfans,
Stay healthy,
Sparky
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