I’ve not been on the motorbike all week. I’ve cycled to the gym, to the shops, and to work. I’ve got to build my bike fitness. I wasn’t sure about the MyWhoosh ramp test. I tested as a very weak 153 FTP, a few days later I got it to 165, still poor but better, obviously. I was suspicious of the accuracy of the test, and the degree of difficulty of the training plan they set me. It just seemed too easy. Even easy days should have the odd burst of hard. Long story short, I signed up for The Sufferfest again. I got the free trial so I’m not paying for it yet, but the first ride out I was back in my happy place. Hard bits to make you work, motivational text, and fun to get you through the tough bits. I will be signing up for the paid subscription. I did a few easy rides as they prepared me for their fitness test. I had a swim this morning, gave it a few hours to rest and recover, then took the test. It’s killer. 56 minutes, warm up, max power sprints, max sustainable power for 5 minutes, recover, max sustainable power for 20 minutes, recover, all in effort at ridiculous watts for 1 minute. It smashes you. After that test they’ve upped my FTP to 182. Armed with my new FTP I’ve signed up for an improver plan with Sufferfest. The other good thing about the bike is (apart from the tests) I can stay on the aero bars for the whole hour.
I’ve been applying the ethos “comfortable is fast” to everything (If you are comfortable in your position you can stay in it, if it’s too painful you’ll break aero by wriggling around). The bike seems pretty comfy, the saddle is supposed to be the best bet, once I get toughened up to it, and I’ve put insoles from my trainers into my cycling shoes. On several races crushing the nerve in my foot on to a hard surface repeatedly has made my foot go dead, then become absolute misery. It was hurting so much I was happy to get out on the run, despite being exhausted. Insoles will lose me some power over the course of the race, but if my foot isn’t in agony, I’ll be more able to keep on pushing.
The thing I’ve been obsessing over this week is a tri suit. I have two requirements: sleeves (more aero, save sunburn) and the best, most comfortable seat pad. I don’t want this again.
I read review after review, a couple of times the brand name Zoot came up as the comfiest tri suit on the test. By a lot. So I looked at them. One seemed perfect. Big pockets, front opens right up for on the run, excellent pad. It’s 6mm thick at the front, where you be perched on the aero bars, and 3mm at the back. Enough for the times you will be sat upright for hills or whatever, and small enough that it won’t get in your way on the run. Brilliant. Where can I buy it?
Wait.
What the hell is that? The colour scheme is so garish it would offend blind people. Elton John would say “Nah, dial it down a notch.”
I was really struggling. Did I want an inferior pad, a more miserable ride, rather than wear something so ugly? Yes. Yes I did.
This is from the company who’s singular aesthetic inflicted an Oktoberfest themed tri suit on an unwilling world.
Luckily I managed to ascertain that the top of the line pad I was after was fitted to all LTD models of the suit. I tracked down this understated number and bought it today.
It’s still a bit much, but compared to the company’s other offerings it’s the very model of subdued taste. The other thing with the tri suits is the unrealistic sizing. It’s a midlife crisis sport, we are not stick thin teens. I’ve ordered the small, which is good for my height, chest, and hips. I need to lose another few pounds for the weight, and just over an inch off my gut. I have been slowly losing weight with the tri training, so hopefully that will just happen. So, that’s as good as I can get it for the bike.
I’ve been doing short runs after my swims at the gym. It’s brilliant heat conditioning, and it’s building my stamina for moving my legs after they’ve done a bit on the swim. I’ve done the stupidly steep hills on my long run (this week 18 miles) for the last two weeks. I figure the swimming and cycling is taking up the slack for a lost miles during the week, so make my long run as tough as nails, and I should be fine for Blackpool marathon. After that I can concentrate on half/ half tri training.
As ever the problem is the swim. I’m getting fitter and my stroke is getting a lot better, but someone stopped me today to say I was still lifting my head out of the water, which stops your glide in the water. I practiced the rest of the session, drowned a lot, but I did get one length where it felt right. I was gliding along, it was a lot less effort and I felt faster. I’ve looked up an 8 step guide to breathing. Step 1: stand in waist deep water, put you face in the water, breathe out, then turn your head to the side until it sufficient to breathe. Brilliant! a bunch of fool-proof, absolute beginner, instructions to get you breathing. That is exactly what I need. I’ve been trying to learn on the hoof, whilst trying to get my stroke, body position, face down, etc all working at once. It’s too much. Breaking it down into idiot sized chunks might just work for me. I hope so. If I can crack the swim, which is technique, I can smash the other two disciplines with applied hard work.
Fun times.
Buck.