Get Angry!
I had a week off of training in the beginning of May. I got some sort of bug and felt really weak. Last Sunday I went to go and it was really hard. I didn't even want to go which is unusual for me. I couldn't sleep. I got up to go at 5am, got my kit on, had a bowl of oatmeal and went back to bed in my cycling kit. Around 9am I told my wife I wasn't feeling well and she said: If you aren't riding you should go for a run. You need to do SOMETHING.
I don't know if she was worried or sick of me laying around the house but it was what I needed. I got dressed and got to the park. First time in the park on a geared bike this year. I was flying but really feeling it. Sure, on a fixed gear it's harder to pedal up hill, with gears you can always find a sweet spot.
I managed 4 laps before I had a puncture. Two rides on the geared bike, two back wheel punctures. I was going fast but really sweating and feeling generally rough.
I changed the tube and went home on 40 miles. A far cry from the 121 miles I threw down in April. I got home and ordered two Continental Gatorskin tires. They work on the streets of London they will work in the Pyrenees. Infact, in the last year I did over 4000 miles without a puncture now I had 2 in 120 miles on Bontrager Race Lite.
So I did a grand total of 40 miles that week. I was scared that all my training had gone walkabout but something else had changed. I had been getting complacent after 121 miles on the fixed gear thinking I had done enough. It made me mad as hell thinking it was going now. I used the anger.
I commuted to work on Monday like a time trial. I rode home like a time trial. I did the same on Tuesday and I figured I needed to do something with the anger that didn't involve lots of cars.
I didn't know Richmond Park was always open! I thought you had to wait for the gates at 7am. You can access it through the pedestrian gates anytime! I got there at 5:30 on Wednesday morning and hammered out two laps faster than I've ever gone. I did the same on Friday going even faster. When Sunday came I did 87 miles of long intervals. 2 hard laps for the Aubisque. 1 lap regular pace for the descent. 3 hard laps for the Tourmalet...one regular lap descent 2 hard laps each for the Aspin and the Peyresourde with one regular lap in between.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/182450871
I was cooked! But I had reached speeds I didn't know I could get. On the fixed my fastest 10 mile split would be 17.5 or around there. I had TWO that were 19.5! With the slowest being 17.5 that included the ride there. That is great for me. I turned the Garmin off before the ride home but in total it was 94 miles 87 of which were 18.3mph average. My 121 mile ride was 16.6mph av.
Iron supplements may have helped in this but I think it is more to do with anger. I was able to push past a barrier due to being very pissed off with myself. Gears help too but I was getting 19.1 and 19.2 mph 10 mile splits in the week on my fixed. That is a jump of about 1.5 mph!
It couldn't come at a better time. The Tour of Wessex is next Saturday. I plan to hammer it to 60 miles and then hold on for grim death.
I don't know if she was worried or sick of me laying around the house but it was what I needed. I got dressed and got to the park. First time in the park on a geared bike this year. I was flying but really feeling it. Sure, on a fixed gear it's harder to pedal up hill, with gears you can always find a sweet spot.
I managed 4 laps before I had a puncture. Two rides on the geared bike, two back wheel punctures. I was going fast but really sweating and feeling generally rough.
I changed the tube and went home on 40 miles. A far cry from the 121 miles I threw down in April. I got home and ordered two Continental Gatorskin tires. They work on the streets of London they will work in the Pyrenees. Infact, in the last year I did over 4000 miles without a puncture now I had 2 in 120 miles on Bontrager Race Lite.
So I did a grand total of 40 miles that week. I was scared that all my training had gone walkabout but something else had changed. I had been getting complacent after 121 miles on the fixed gear thinking I had done enough. It made me mad as hell thinking it was going now. I used the anger.
I commuted to work on Monday like a time trial. I rode home like a time trial. I did the same on Tuesday and I figured I needed to do something with the anger that didn't involve lots of cars.
I didn't know Richmond Park was always open! I thought you had to wait for the gates at 7am. You can access it through the pedestrian gates anytime! I got there at 5:30 on Wednesday morning and hammered out two laps faster than I've ever gone. I did the same on Friday going even faster. When Sunday came I did 87 miles of long intervals. 2 hard laps for the Aubisque. 1 lap regular pace for the descent. 3 hard laps for the Tourmalet...one regular lap descent 2 hard laps each for the Aspin and the Peyresourde with one regular lap in between.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/182450871
I was cooked! But I had reached speeds I didn't know I could get. On the fixed my fastest 10 mile split would be 17.5 or around there. I had TWO that were 19.5! With the slowest being 17.5 that included the ride there. That is great for me. I turned the Garmin off before the ride home but in total it was 94 miles 87 of which were 18.3mph average. My 121 mile ride was 16.6mph av.
Iron supplements may have helped in this but I think it is more to do with anger. I was able to push past a barrier due to being very pissed off with myself. Gears help too but I was getting 19.1 and 19.2 mph 10 mile splits in the week on my fixed. That is a jump of about 1.5 mph!
It couldn't come at a better time. The Tour of Wessex is next Saturday. I plan to hammer it to 60 miles and then hold on for grim death.
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