One Last Effort

One week of heavy training to go then I can hang my kit up for a few weeks. I am really looking forward to not training which may sound odd but it means I can spend more time with the family and chill out a bit. By not training I do of course mean dropping down to three or four times a week as opposed to six to eight. I think the key to all this triathlon and cycling lark is getting the balance right. I know I could hit some pretty good times if I put the training in, certainly I think I could get close to 60 minutes for a sprint and 2:10 for an Olympic but I would have to train far too much for mine and my family’s liking. This is also the reason I cannot see myself doing an Iron Distance event. If I entered then I would not be content just “getting round” I would need to target a sub 12 hour and that would take too much training. Unless I come into a million or two of course and can afford to take a year out of work! If I that happened, here is the plan: I would get a coach. Swim every day and get my 1500m down to 25mins. I would join the athletics club and do a lot of track work which would drop my 10Km time down towards 39 minutes. More time on the bike and a structured Time Trial plan would get my 40Km time down to 60minutes quite easily: That makes 2:04 plus transitions would make it sub 2:10 which would be pretty high up in my age group. There you go, I have done it already and it was easy  As it is, I have three hours commuting every day and other priorities. So a rest will be welcome on September 21st.

I resolved to put one last effort in for the summer so as to not let myself down on my debut HIM distance race and had a massive training week last week. The only down side was a lack of real swim practice due to work commitments. I hope to resolve that tomorrow with a long Open Water session. I had two bike rides in the Surrey Hills as well which was great although the last one was done whilst suffering the ill-effects of a dodgy seafood meal on the Friday at a client lunch. Heart palpitations and an inability to hold down any food was slowing me down a little. In hindsight I shouldn’t have gone out but when I left home I felt OK. As it turned out, my HR was 40 bpm higher than normal and I was at the back of the climbing group a few times but I really loved the ride – 7 big hills over 80Km with a final timed ride up Box Hill to finish (5% for 2.4Km on poor tarmac). I made it in 9mins 57secs but I know I can do much better. I shall use that time as a benchmark going forward and measure my improvement with it. Rumour has it there may be a TriTalk Time Trial event up Box Hill which would be great fun although I am unsure whether I would prefer to marshal it than ride it, I do need to put something back.

It look like I need to definitely revise my goals for the New Forest Middle. Apparently it is a hilly ride and a hilly off-road run which will slow everyone down. I will try to hit 5:45 and see where I go from there. A few of the guys I ride with have done it and they were very complementary about the race but said the bike and run were hard. Maybe I should have chosen the Vitruvian instead as the bike is 5Km less and the run is easier. Too late now – I shall enjoy the NF middle as it is. I am still suffering from food poisoning so I shall have a day of and start my final big training week tomorrow.

Back on the gas!

I have been very tardy in updating my blog, I have been busy and travelling too much although that is not a good enough reason as I could write on the plane. We had a great holiday in Egypt; way too hot for me but very relaxing with the family. Eight whole days together and not one argument shows that it must have been relaxing. The snorkelling was good fun and the pool and local beer was refreshing. It was averaging around 39 degrees each day and much too hot for exercise. I set off on a 40 minutes easy run on the first day


and almost expired after 20 minutes and had to stop. All the locals were looking at me as if I was stark raving mad. The hotel gym was poorly equipped with CV gear, the gym bike did not work properly but there was a treadmill. I made sure I went for a swim in the “Olympic” size swimming pool each morning prior to a wet lunch and chill out. My lap times were terrible, as expected after a few weeks off swimming. Even after a couple of sessions I wasn’t even close to the times I have hit before even though I felt I was swimming well. So I paced out the pool: 75 good paces which makes it at least 65m long by my reckoning. No wonder my lap times were so poor! So in the end I had yet another week off cycling and running which makes it around 2-3 weeks of poorly planned training.

Only 3 weeks to go to The New Forest Middle Distance and I am in pretty poor shape. My interval sessions are not as long as they were and I push less power than I did 1 month ago; so I plan to make a concerted effort over the next 3 weeks (2 weeks if I rest on my last week). My plan to enter the New Forest Middle as a way of encouraging me to continue training through the summer has failed completely, I shall learn from next year and plan to have my last “A” event in July. That “A” event looks like being the Alpe D’Huez Long Distance Triathlon: 2.2Km swim, 115Km ride over 2 peaks then a finish up the 21 hairpins of the Alpe’Dhuez followed by a half marathon at altitude!



The longest Tri I will have attempted and probably the hardest one around. I think now is the time to do this event as it looks like it will soon be the “Kona” of Europe with everyone trying to get to enter. I fancy mixing this event up with a family holiday to the Alps back where we used to live which would be great. Just need to convince my family :-) Then I may have a year off Tri completely, after retiring from rugby this year and cricket last year, it looks like being a chilled year after Summer 2010.

We have my niece and nephew staying for a few days at the moment, I have forgotten how tiring a 5 and 10 year old can be, they demand so much attention all the time. I am every so appreciative of Jane and the kids who are doing a great job of looking after them. I have no idea how anyone can train for an endurance event and have small children at the same time. Saying that, I have been grateful for the solitude of the open road after a few hours with the kids. I am really too old and too impatient for young kids nowadays.

I have been travelling far too much recently: Japan, Germany, Egypt, Portugal all in the last 4 weeks with a trip to Amsterdam planned the week before the New Forest Middle: Not ideal timing – would be great to chill in Amsterdam after the New Forest Middle... The travelling in itself is not too bad but if it is a day trip then there is no training possible due to early starts and late finishes and if it is an overnighter it is in the lap of the gods if there is a decent gym available which usually means I plan an endurance run on the street and hope they are clear enough to get decent session.

Training done since coming home from Egypt: Bike: 90Km Z2, Run: 40 Minute Z2, Run: 60 Minute Z2, Bike 3x8 Interval; Run: 3x8 interval; Weights; Bike: 60Km in the Surrey Hills.

L'etape: The Ride

The race started at 7am (the organisers insist on calling it a race even though most people just want to get round) and I was in my starting pen ready to go by 6am along with a growing bunch of other riders who were all better prepared, with high carb snacks and disposable energy drink bottles to consume whilst they waited for the start. I managed to have a final pee despite the single portaloo for around 7000 riders.



Having reviewed the Mt Ventoux climb during the drive the day before, I decided to reign in my natural tendency to go too fast early on and save as much energy as I could for the final climb in the hope of making up any lost time by being in better condition. So I resolved not go over my Lactate Threshold during the early climbs and spin easily down the hills prior to Bedoin. If it meant I would not get to Bedoin until 6:30 of riding then that would not worry me too much. Despite having a race number of 2130 we were off and across the line around 5 minutes after the starting gun.

The sheer volume of riders meant that it was peleton riding until the first hill at around 12Km which enabled me to maintain an average speed of 30Kmh at an easy effort. That first hill was the Cote de Citelle which measured 4% for 5.2Km. I got into 1st gear and kept a high cadence all the way up and managed to keep my HR below 150bpm. I kept up with the average speed of most people and found it quite straightforward. Ha, I thought – these category 3 hills are easy! All those Surrey Hills rides with the gang have made a huge difference. On this very first descent I watched a guy tumble and slide around 20 metres on his side to the “Ooohs and Ahhhs” of the surrounding riders who all took it a little easier for the next few minutes. It was at this point when “Le Geant de Provence” came into view in the distance yet still appearing close enough to touch.

Another 6.5Km, 5% Category 3 climb, the Col D’Ey was treated with the same respect and I was flying and well up on my planned average speed whilst not going over my target Heart Rate – the benefits of riding in a group were becoming clear and I focussed on always sitting behind someone for as long as I could. This led us to the 1st of two feed stations after 75Km. It was mayhem – strewn bottles of Vittel everywhere and people fighting to get in and out as fast as they could. I grabbed a few bottles and what I thought was an oat cake of some kind but that turned out to be salty Olive Bread which was both unexpected and unwelcome. I decided to make do with my ample supplies of Mule Bars and Torq Gels and got back on the road in preparation for the Cat 4 climb to the Col de Fontaube. I was still happy with my hills but I noticed that as the sun climbed in the sky it started to become noticeably hotter than any of the previous days or the early weather forecasts. I had kept up a great average speed up to the top of this climb and was on schedule for my 6 hour target at Bedoin. It was at this point, 95Km in that I had my now familiar dip and I started to tire such that even slight downhill sections seemed to be hard work, or rather my speed on these sections was noticeably less than the other riders around me as I was being engulfed by riders flying past with race numbers in the 5000-7000. I was pretty disappointed as I had strictly kept to my nutrition plan and consumed a good 120g of carbs for each hour of riding. I decided to take 2-3 minutes off the bike, stretched and ate a Mule bar and made a couple of quick phone calls to report on my progress, that made me feel better and I re-started in the hope of getting to another hill soon as I felt I was fairing much better on the hills than on the flat. The penultimate climb came at 100Km, the Category 3 Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles which was a whacking 8Km long. I had been pre-warned by a guy at the start that this was a lot more difficult than it looked on the map so I was pretty happy when I climbed it well, even over the false top and back up the other side. Here again you could see the Mt Ventoux looming heavily so I dismounted and took a quick snap with my phone. Again as the riders around me were struggling I could hear the odd “Il est la” comment – it was great and helped to build the suspense!




I had planned to reach the Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles after 5hrs15 in order to get to Bedoin at 6 hours. There was a 15Km descent and then a 10Km flat section prior to hitting Bedoin and I thought I could easily do that in 45 minutes. As it happened, my energy dip had cost quite a bit of time and I was 15 minutes behind schedule. The descent from there was exhilarating with a gradient of up to 12% on wide, car free roads I averaged around 65kmh and hit a top speed of 74Kmh before my nerves gave way. The result was I caught up the 15 minutes delay and managed to get to Bedoin before the 6 hour mark. More chaos at the fuel stop and I opted to take on water only and left Bedoin with 2 full bottles and a bag of Jelly Babies ready for the Mt Ventoux.

The Mt Ventoux

Over the timing carpet and into my stride I was feeling in great shape if a little hot in my poorly chosen black cycling gear. The first 6Km of the 22Km are quite straightforward averaging around 5%, this was worrying in itself as this only meant that the rest of the climb would be very steep to maintain the average of 7.8%. Already we were very hot (it was 1pm by now) and searching for shaded areas on the road to ride on. Spectators were happy to throw water on us as we went past which was refreshing and welcome. I was looking forward to the forest section which whilst steep should be shaded and hence cooler. Wow – how wrong I was! The forest section was steep yet manageable on my 34/27 gearing without really needed to get out of the saddle, the problem was the heat and almost complete lack of shade on the road. The trees had the effect of holding in the heat and stopping any cool breeze which on this day resulted in a whopping 36 degrees C (96F) heavy atmosphere, 18C higher than the day before. The almost surreal view of hundreds of cyclists wordlessly and relentlessly climbing up the hill was a sight to behold. I said to myself that I would not stop for a break until at least 10Km and eventually made it to around 8Km before the heat won over, strangely my legs were fine but the heat was just too much. From that moment on through to the top there was a clear split in the peloton: 30% were riding the hill, 30% were pushing their bikes up – something I had vowed not to do and the remainder were either passed out, vomiting, sitting or lying in the shade of the forest. It looked like the aftermath of some kind of chemical attack. My head felt like exploding for almost the whole of the forest section, the heat was unbearable and it was clearly taking its toll on most of the cyclist. Ambulances were continually flying all the way up the hill and my 2 bidons of water were rationed carefully and hence I was unable to use it on my head to cools down. I must have stopped around 5 times in the forest section alone before making it to Chalet Reynard and the last water station as the road opened out onto the famous moonscape.

I filled both Bidons and set off for the last 6Km climb, the slight breeze was a godsend and it is the first time I have been grateful for a head wind whilst being on the bike. There were numerous cars and RVs parked on the side of the road up the hill, all in good time for Saturday’s Tour stage and the support from the people at the side was very gratefully received. Coming out of the forest cooled the air significantly and even though the gradient was still up at 10% it was significantly easier. Just Tom Simpsons memorial
to go and then the final turn to the top. Here I had cooled enough to get into 3rd gear and pick up my speed heading for the finish. I made it in 8hrs38 with a final Mt Ventoux climb of 2:30 at an average speed of 8.8Kmh, much slower than anticipated and hence somewhat disappointing, but I had made it and made it in a respectable time. The broom wagon was well over 2 hours behind me.

Done it:

The feeling crossing the line was more one of matter of fact more than anything else. I had achieved what I set out to do although in a slower time which somewhat blunted the edge and I look back thinking I should have gone out harder in the early stages as I was not “tired enough” at the end. If only...Maybe next time.

Saved by Jelly Babies!

The Dave Lloyd Challenge was certainly that, although with a few days rest the pain is fading. This was easily the hardest bike ride I have done due to both the length and steepness of the hills and the total ride distance. I remarked to a friend before the ride that I was hoping to get a bit of practice climbing “out of the saddle”, i.e. standing up on the pedals to get more force. I am quite poor at this and I fatigue quickly so have been adding it to my riding over the past weeks. Boy – did I get some “out of the saddle” practice; I must have spent over 60 minutes out of the saddle with tiring thighs. At one point my motivation was to not get off and walk like some of the people I was passing, that seemed to do the trick and I made it up every hill. I am not sure how long the ride was supposed to be but we added a good 15-20 minutes due to getting lost after a few signs went “missing”, I finally clocked up 177Km in 7:49Hrs of riding. This averages at 22.4Kmh (20.5km if I include the stops) which actually puts me in good shape for l’etape, or at least for getting to the final elimination point of l’etape before the broom wagon. The l’etape cut off speed is as high as 21Kmh but as the first 150Km only comprises 1900m of climbing then I should be OK as averaged 26Kmh in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred which is comparable. If I plan to save energy for that first 150Km and average 23-24Kmh then I should be in good physical shape for Ventoux.

The scenery on the Dave Lloyd was just magnificent: The steep slate hills and quarries with sheep wandering around aimlessly (and dangerously on some of the descents!) made for some great pictures.
Unfortunately on the drive home over some of the same hills we were in the cloud with almost zero visibility and I was unable to take any worthwhile snaps. The whole area reminded me of summer holidays in my youth when we spent every summer in this part of the world, the views and familiar smells were charming.

During the ride I was focussing on not going out too fast and not hitting the hills too hard early on, the goal being to have enough energy to keep going at the same pace throughout. I think this worked although I did go through a bad patch between 110Km and 140Km where I was very tired and unable to do my fair share of the work on the front. A few handfuls of jelly babies seemed to revive me sufficiently to push harder on the last two climbs before the finish. My heart rate monitor estimates that I used up 6000 calories in the ride which equates to 1.5Kg (or 3lb) of carbohydrate, or 40ish energy gels!
I am not sure where that weight comes from but I had two meals that night and have been eating like a horse since. One of the goals of the ride was to get nutrition right; It was definitely better than last time but still not there yet. I couldn’t get down the flapjacks and in the end the hastily bought jelly babies saved me. For my next ride I shall try Mule Fuel Hanza Nut bars which I tried on a ride to work and it seemed quite easy to digest. My HR Monitor also says my average heart rate was 134bpm which is quite low and my max was 158bpm which is very low (for a high). This does confirm that I took it a bit too easy on the ride and have some more to give on the Mt Ventoux!

Learning from the Hampshire Hilly Hundred.

I finally did some desk research (and asked some questions on the very good TriTalk forum) and I have some answers to my questions from the HHH. Why did my heart Rate descend and why was I unable to get it high towards the end of the ride? There are three possible reasons for this: 1) I am not fit enough, 2) I went out too fast, 3) I did not warm up. Well, 2) and 3) are definitely true so that is easy to fix – Yeah! Unfortunately 1) also appears to be true which is not so easy to fix. Back on the road for more LSD miles or I will not get to finish the Mt Ventoux.

Not Unhappy ;-|

The Hampshire Hilly Hundred is now completed with a silver award in my back pocket, a cyclist sun tan on arms and legs and a very sore “saddle” to show for it. This Sportive is a beautiful ride in the Hampshire countryside with only around 1 mile on what you would call a major road. The rest is on country lanes and minor roads showing off wonderfully what England can be like on a sunny day. I was pretty happy with the ride even if I was saving a little for the coming birthday weekend which will be celebrated with a Triathlon and a 10Km road race. We departed in a group of eight with me promising my wife I would look after her boss as he had not ridden more than 60 miles before. It became clear that he would have struggled to maintain our starting pace for the whole hundred so I dropped back to ride with him. We subsequently rode together up hill and down dale for just over 6 hours at an average speed of 26Kmh which is good considering I held the front for just under 6 hours. My original plan was to smack the hills as training for l’etape but clearly my definition of “smack” needs reviewing as I was often passed by faster climbers whilst struggling to turn the pedals in 1st gear, a gear I now know well.
I know it sounds naive but they really don’t call it the Hilly Hundred for nothing. I have the impression that every bend disguised another climb and the number of hills with false brows was getting tiresome towards the end. A total of 2400m climbing in 160Km is actually comparable to the first 160Km of l’etape which I think is 1900m followed by the 1600m climb up “the Giant of Provence”. There was one 15% climb which started at mile 68, that was the only real “grin and bear it” climb and it wasn’t too long but the thought of doing something close to that for 22km fills me with dread.

There is plenty of food for thought prior to l’etape, not least a need to do more hills and build up the leg strength. I shall also be reviewing my gear ratios this week, I spent far too long in 1st gear for my liking and am too proud to get a Triple which leaves me with the option of changing the rear cassette to give me some room. I will struggle to ride at this pace for 150Km and then climb Ventoux so I will need to review that as well. I noticed that I was comfortable riding at a heart rate of 145bpm for the first half of the ride but then the legs got tired and I struggled to raise my HR above 135bpm for the remainder, I actually averaged 137bpm (10bpm lower than when I did the Gorrick Enduro). I guess that is down to either a lack of fitness or poor nutrition on the ride. I shall do some desk based research and find out.

First Event of the year

Spring is in the air and thus a raft of Half Marathons are taking place, my interest this weekend lay in the Fleet Half Marathon. This is a really well run event with 2,500 runners, mostly training for the London Marathon. I used this to measure my running strength bearing in mind that I have neglected my running in favour of swimming over the last three months. The good news is I beat my target by 7 seconds and I beat last year by two minutes so I was pretty happy with my fitness if not my absolute speed. I messed up my pacing completely which meant I made hard work of the race; I got carried away at the start went out too fast at a pace that was 8 minutes inside my goal time and a heart rate that was too high, after a couple of miles I managed to slow it down but then slowed too much and ended up a minute behind schedule with 3 miles to go. I had to run a 20’30” 5Km to hit my goal time which really took it out of me; I was exhausted at the finish and couldn’t have run another mile. For me the result means that I can still focus on my swim for the next few months and still put in a respectable run leg.

Training Done: Run: Interval Session; Weights; Bike 20Km Z1; Run: 13.1 Miles 89’52”

A Heavy Weekend

I had my longest ride to date this weekend. Actually it was a heavy weekend all round: Some friends announced their engagement which entailed a party at “The Old House” which was great, the food was scrumptious and the night was long. That was followed by a 16Km easy run in the morning and a game of rugby in the afternoon. We had a group of 8 friends for dinner Saturday night which ended up being late as well and then I did my 90Km ride on Sunday. The weather was great for the first weekend this year so I set out in with high hopes. It turned out to be very windy and it appeared to be head on the whole way round; I know this isn’t the case but it always feels that way doesn’t it! It was so blustery I almost lost the front of the bike a few times. After 75Km it started raining and hailing and I was soaked through to the skin, even my nice new waterproof socks couldn’t cope with the heavy weather. I tucked my head down and kept going even though I was close to calling it a day, I was adamant I was going to break 80Km or 50miles.

I took out my new Planet X for the first time and I now know what it is like to ride a compact up some of the hills I will face on L’Etape; I ascended the 5% gradient of “Farleigh Hill” but I still need to see whether I can get up a 10% hill on the compact.

“Farleigh Hill” was a "breeze" but I struggled to get a good speed up it and also failed to raise my heart rate above 140 bpm which is not normal for me; I regularly climb at about 160 bpm so I decided to turn around and do it again straight away, alas with the same result. At the end of the ride my average heart rate was 129 bpm which is also low, it usually stays between 135 and 140bpm on a Zone 2 ride, my average speed was also a good 3Km/h slower than my normal Zone 2 ride pace. I had a quick dig around the inter-web and I may be fatigued or over-trained. On Saturday I had noticed that my heart rate took hours to drop to its normal resting level after rugby so I think I am just tired after 2 heavy training weeks after my ski break. I shall plan a very quiet taper week prior to the Half Marathon on Sunday.

Training Done: Run:3x4' intervals; Run: 90' Z2; Rugby (got spanked); Bike: 3.5 hours Z1/Z2; Bikram Yoga!

Found my Mojo!

It was hiding for a few weeks there but I managed to get it back. Back into training, the rest has clearly done me some good.

Two weeks at altitude however have done nothing for my fitness. I have done a few sessions since coming back but neither of them was magnificent. I started off well at good pace but didn’t last; maybe it was jet lag that stopped me from keeping going.

Training done last week: Run: 25' Z4; Run Z2 35'; Bike 70' Z2; Run 65' Z2; Bike Intervals 4x10' Z4; Run Intervals 4x6' Z4/5; Bike 30' Z4; Swim: Bilateral Breathing drills; 2 x Strength Training (that is a big week!)

Nutrition

It is time to address the nutrition issue that has been nagging at me like a bad itch: I must work out how to consume enough food to see me through l’etape; I estimate that I will need around 4000 calories or the equivalent of 5 meals. I am trying “Maltodextrin” , a high carbohydrate powder which when combined with fruit juice and water is a good source of energy; a combination of slow release and fast release carbohydrate which is what you need. I bought it from a body building website which in itself is a bit worrying. My research leads me to believe that most common high energy sports drinks are Maltodextrin based so it cannot be too bad, in fact the only real benefit in buying it pure is that is it significantly cheaper than a readymade sports drink. I made up around 80g (320 calories) and tried it during my Saturday session, it wasn’t too bad and I was still full of beans after over 2 hours so I think it may work. I shall try it on my next long ride and see how I get on. If that works then I will need to plan how to take it during l’etape, I don’t want to be stopped at customs with a Kg of white powder in the car!

Base Training

After two weeks without a post, finally there is time to sit down and write a few notes. Christmas was over so quickly it is difficult to believe it was almost a full two week holiday this year. We had a great time, ate and drank too much, similar to most Christmas breaks. Training was sporadic in the run up to Xmas with work being very busy, plenty of entertaining and just lacking in time to get out. Finally when it came, the break enabled a full set of Bike and Run sessions, this means that swimming will be the focus over the next few weeks in an attempt to get back to where I was before the break.

There is often a trade off in Triathlon training when it comes to picking a discipline to focus on; I shall focus on the Bike and Swim this year whilst trying not to neglect running too much. The thinking behind this is three fold:

1) The swim is my weakest discipline with the greatest room for improvement in the short term.

2) With L’Etape, I need to work on my bike skills which will also help my triathlon.

3) In terms of age group ranking, the run is my best discipline with smaller gains possible as I improve, in fact even if I lose run time at the expense of bike time there will probably be a net improvement in finishing time as the bike leg of a triathlon takes up roughly half the event time.

So if there is a decision required then I shall go for the Bike or Swim as opposed to the Run. I have a ½ marathon scheduled in March which will indicate whether there has been a critical drop off in run performance which will hopefully allow time to recover the situation before my first “A” race three months later.

The weather over Christmas has been very cold and generally sunny, long rides and runs in the early morning have been refreshing with the sun rising over the fields on the horizon and the freshness in the air makes the sessions so much more enjoyable. This time of year is the time to focus on Base Training: this means focussing on aerobic fitness and endurance as opposed to speed; speed training comes later in the year in the build up to the racing season. Base training generally takes place at the lower intensity Zones 1 and 2. LSD or Long Slow Distance is the order of the day during base training with long runs and long rides taking up most of the training.

Once “A” races have been identified then the annual training plan can be structured with a goal to peak for each event. Typically most well organised “Age Groupers” aim to peak up to three times a year with a good four week gap between each peak. The triathlon season typically starts in May in the UK which means winter and early spring are set aside for Base Training, nine weeks of “Specific Conditioning” or more speed focussed or intensive sessions will start in Mid February before moving to peak sessions for the four weeks up my first “A” race.

Training Done: -
Last Week (New Year week):- Bike: Muscular Endurance (ME) Intervals; Bike: 60Km group ride (so cold my water bottle froze); Tempo Run (Z3): Bike: 70' Z2 on the Turbo.
Week Before (Xmas Week):- Bike: 20' Z3; Run: ME intervals; Bike: 30Km Z2; Run: 45' Z2.

Heart Rate Zones

How intense should a session be? How do you measure intensity? There are several schools of thought on this, I personally combine Heart Rate and perceived exertion (PE) to assess my intensity, others go on power but that requires a power metre on the bike which I cannot afford. Even when using Heart Rate for measuring intensity there appears to be numerous systems. I use a simplified Jo Friel categorisation:

The trick is to accurately calculate what heart rate zones are relevant to you; they change with improved fitness so need to be revised every now and then. They are also different depending upon the type of exercise you are doing, so heart rate zones for running and cycling generally differ. My calculations are based on some recent runs and rides with a slight tweak based upon how I felt at the time of the tests.

I estimate my current zones to be:

So if I am going for a Tempo run (to improve Muscular Endurance), my target Heart Rate should be 145-152bpm. I read on Lance Armtrong’s Twitter that he competed in a 2 hour Mountain Bike race recently and kept his heart rate at 180bpm throughout; I have no idea how anyone can keep their HR up at that level for so long, it really does demonstrate the difference in class that some people have.

Knowing your heart rate when training enables you to ensure the session is specific. So if I was training for building my endurance then I need to be training in Zone 2 to. Working in Zone 4 will not have the same effect on endurance as working in Zone 2. Likewise, if I am looking to improve my lactate threshold (which will enable me to stay at a higher intensity for longer when racing) then a session may be an interval based workout whereby my HR is alternating between zones 3 and 5.

L’Etape du Tour 2009

l’Etape du Tour takes place on July 20th and is a 172Km cycle race starting in Montelimar and finishing with the utterly compelling Mt Ventoux. A climb I have been fascinated with ever since I read about Tom Simpson many years ago. This involves 22Km of climbing with an average gradient of 7.43% (that extra 0.43 makes a difference), all that after already riding for 150Km: The ride will be twice as far as I have ever ridden before in one go.

Here is a profile of the last climb taken from Wikipedia:




The profile of the whole race is here:




L’Etape takes place 5 days before the big boys tackle it on the penultimate stage of the Tour du France, perfectly poised to be the Tour’s denouement this year.