GOT Fitness LOG

[Bruce Wayne]

I remember seeing some of that idiot Mike Chang's videos on YouTube. Trying to convince everyone that supplements and stuff weren't necessary at all. He then decided to launch his own 'Magic Red Drink'. Hahaha, the utter tit. He probably conned a good few people though.

I'm increasingly thinking that the sports nutrition industry is full of crap to be honest

 

[CahillsCornerFlag]

Off for a kick about in half hour, no idea how serious it'll be as it's with loads of random lads, but should be fun. Despite eating healthily the past 2 weeks I've managed to put more fat on which is annoying, up to 18.2% now.

 

[Baines' left foot]

I'm increasingly thinking that the sports nutrition industry is full of crap to be honest

I just take the cheapest protein I can find really. I know I could get all of what I need in food but it's just easier to top up my food intake with 1 shake a day.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

I'm only small so not really suited to time trials, but from what I can tell, position on the bike is key. If you can get as tucked as possible I'm sure you can beat 30 mins.

Surprised myself - did 26.30, about 23 mph average. Made up with that - did an OK job with measuring my effort and managed not to blow up or go too easy. Did my best with the ride position but suspect it was pretty poor. I was on my fixed gear - gear ratio seemed good, but the bike is a compact geometry so quite short and upright.
There was some serious kit on display - the pointy helmeted crew were riding some purposeful looking machines.

 

[evilwebby]

You're a quantified self kinda guy, have you tried one of the sleep monitor devices? I've no idea how effective they are like.

I haven't looked that deeply into it.

Last night I did manage to get 8hrs of pretty good sleep - I feel so much better this morning. Resting heart rate was down to 45bpm, HRV was up to 85 on the back of a rest day yesterday.

I'm also committed to cutting out the alcohol and caffeine for the next 3 weeks - I think these can make a huge difference and we don't really recognise it because they are so insiduous in so many food and drinks these days.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Surprised myself - did 26.30, about 23 mph average. Made up with that - did an OK job with measuring my effort and managed not to blow up or go too easy. Did my best with the ride position but suspect it was pretty poor. I was on my fixed gear - gear ratio seemed good, but the bike is a compact geometry so quite short and upright.
There was some serious kit on display - the pointy helmeted crew were riding some purposeful looking machines.

That's a cracking time, well done. I imagine there is a whole lot of bling spent on amateur time trialling. I could never really convince myself that there was any point in spending several grand for amateur competition, but it's their money and all that. Will you be back for the next one?

 

[evilwebby]

Surprised myself - did 26.30, about 23 mph average. Made up with that - did an OK job with measuring my effort and managed not to blow up or go too easy. Did my best with the ride position but suspect it was pretty poor. I was on my fixed gear - gear ratio seemed good, but the bike is a compact geometry so quite short and upright.
There was some serious kit on display - the pointy helmeted crew were riding some purposeful looking machines.

What Bruce said - Good effort. Wouldn't get too hung up on the equipment - its a very slippery slope. We had a fairly major Triathlon event in London the other week with all sorts of bling on display. I had to laugh as some multi-thousand £ racemachines were routinely overtaken by a bloke on a hybrid. Equipment makes a difference but with anything the higher you go the more you spend for less and less gain - law of diminishing returns etc.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Thanks both - think I'll go along to a few more this summer and see how things go.
Not much chance of me getting involved with the timetrial financial arms-race - can barely afford a new wheelset for my mountain bike. Would love to ride a TT bike, though - bet they go like a rocket. They're also v beautiful bikes (IMO) - complete opposite of classic race bike elegance, but have their own style.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I haven't looked that deeply into it.

Last night I did manage to get 8hrs of pretty good sleep - I feel so much better this morning. Resting heart rate was down to 45bpm, HRV was up to 85 on the back of a rest day yesterday.

I'm also committed to cutting out the alcohol and caffeine for the next 3 weeks - I think these can make a huge difference and we don't really recognise it because they are so insiduous in so many food and drinks these days.

Aye, booze is the biggie as it doesn't really offer anything. I very rarely drink these days. Caffeine is slightly better as it can give performance a kick, so I'm more relaxed about having a coffee or two a day, although try and limit it to before 5pm.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

What Bruce said - Good effort. Wouldn't get too hung up on the equipment - its a very slippery slope. We had a fairly major Triathlon event in London the other week with all sorts of bling on display. I had to laugh as some multi-thousand £ racemachines were routinely overtaken by a bloke on a hybrid. Equipment makes a difference but with anything the higher you go the more you spend for less and less gain - law of diminishing returns etc.

<snobbery> I sometimes wonder if there's an inverse relationship between the cost of the bike and the effort the rider puts into training. So often on rides I see incredible bikes being ridden (rather slowly) by portly blokes, often wearing Sky kit or something of that nature </snobbery>

Having said that, one of the nice things about riding abroad is the variety of bikes you see. Brands you'd never even heard of. They're generally ridden by whippet thin Italians with skin the colour of mahogany though

 

[evilwebby]

Thanks both - think I'll go along to a few more this summer and see how things go.
Not much chance of me getting involved with the timetrial financial arms-race - can barely afford a new wheelset for my mountain bike. Would love to ride a TT bike, though - bet they go like a rocket. They're also v beautiful bikes (IMO) - complete opposite of classic race bike elegance, but have their own style.

Yeah - no doubt they go like a rocket, but they're also a very specialized bit of kit. The geometry doesn't make it very suitable for riding around town, or even in a group-ride. Plus, there is also the storage problem of having an extra bike! A lot of people dabbling in TT and Tri will just get aero bars and fit them to their road bike to get a pretty close facsimile.

 

[evilwebby]

Aye, booze is the biggie as it doesn't really offer anything. I very rarely drink these days. Caffeine is slightly better as it can give performance a kick, so I'm more relaxed about having a coffee or two a day, although try and limit it to before 5pm.

Yes, Caffeine has been pretty conclusively shown to have a significant effect on performance - I'm planning to take a LOT of it during my race lol! I've heard it described as "the only known legal performance enhancer." These studies have used all pretty high dosages - from 3mg-6mg per kg of bodyweight per hour (works out at the equivilent of 3-4cups of coffee per hr for most people!).

I've been experiment with adding in 3-4 tablets of Pro-Plus in with my energy drink. Seems to do a good job! But I will taper the use to get maximum race-day effect.

 

[evilwebby]

Yeah - no doubt they go like a rocket, but they're also a very specialized bit of kit. The geometry doesn't make it very suitable for riding around town, or even in a group-ride. Plus, there is also the storage problem of having an extra bike! A lot of people dabbling in TT and Tri will just get aero bars and fit them to their road bike to get a pretty close facsimile.

Quite good geeky TT vs Road article:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/how-aero-is-aero-19273/

Upgrades that give you most bang for your buck:

Aero bars
TT Helmet
TT Bike
Aero Wheels

 

[sbbefc]

Been touring the south of france, only 600m from the summit of the col de mente suffered excruciating cramp whiched caused my quads to lock, practically fell off and couldnt bend my knees for a minute or so. Then every other muscle in my leg cramped up. After a few mins i managed to crawl the rest of the way, luckily there was a cafe at the col.

Got a tough ride again tomorrow, any way of avoiding this happening again?

 

[Boxcar Ira]

Any runners on here been through the Pfitzinger & Douglas 70m per week plan? In my second week of it leading up to September and its tough going already - don't think I've recovered fully from the Liverpool Marathon the other week

Been touring the south of france, only 600m from the summit of the col de mente suffered excruciating cramp whiched caused my quads to lock, practically fell off and couldnt bend my knees for a minute or so. Then every other muscle in my leg cramped up. After a few mins i managed to crawl the rest of the way, luckily there was a cafe at the col.

Got a tough ride again tomorrow, any way of avoiding this happening again?

I suffered badly with cramp towards the end of the marathon - been advised to up my intake of zinc and magnesium, as well as sodium and the normal electrolytes found in sports drinks.