Have a goal, then smash it (eventually)

[Marky Mark]

Durning my first year of riding I often done an early morning run form my house (Riddlesdown, Purley) towards Sandestead then straight up to Botley Hill Farm. 6 miles one way (mostly up hill)

First time I done it with family and friends on MTB :
It hurt like hell and took for ever. 45 - 60 mins lol

Second time with new road bike :
30 minutes plus and having trouble improving (and breathing).

The rest of the runs, probably about 10 in total :
Getting faster and managed to do it in 26 minutes (stupidly thinking that was the fastest it could be done in)

Get a text from a friend saying he done it in 24 minutes and 10 seconds :
Gutted to say the least and I could not improve my time, the hills were killing me.

So I left that run through the winter and tried it again on Tuesday 21-04-09 :
I set off as usual and tried not to burn myself out in the first mile, kept pushing at a fair rate, remembering one of split times at a garden centre that I pass, that was the moment I KNEW I'd improved alot.
Kept the power down all the way to the Botley Farm car park and stopped the Garmin on 21 minutes and 34 seconds.

OVER THE BLOODY MOON OR WHAT.....

Stats
6.00 miles (fairly up hill)
Time 21m 34s
Av HR 174 bpm
Av speed 16.70 mph
Av cad 84 rpm

[Michelle]

Nice one, well done MM, that's a thumbs up from me!

[Andrew G]

Nice one . After reading your post about the bad spell you went through with the bike it's great to see you back to form and enjoying it.

[quote="Andrew G"]Nice one . After reading your post about the bad spell you went through with the bike it's great to see you back to form and enjoying it.

[Antloony]

Well done Mark...thats a huge improvement. Your next target is sub 20 mins...something else to aim for.

[Andy]

Very, very excited to see this because, Mark, insanely, I do exactly the same thing from probably a very similar starting point. And I thought it was just me! I live just off Sanderstead roundabout so time it from home to the Botley Park turning... had a mid 20 but yet to break that magic mark. Think it will take more training/a big tailwind/ more effort than I'm prepared to give when it's the opening 6 miles of the ride!

For me, it's about keeping it hard and steady along the flattish bit to Warlingham. Then past the garden centre when the drags start, it's really all about power and ignoring any pain/shortness of breath (!!!).

Up in York at uni at the moment (which, coincidentally, is basically the reason I haven't been on an ACC run for almost 3 years), but I'll be back this summer, July at least, if you fancy a ride... as for the Botley Hill "checkpoint", we could even 2-up to break 20 mins

[George]

Just like Armstrong now Marky Marks ready for the tour

[Marky Mark]

Marky Mark on tour!

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Marky Mark"]Marky Mark on tour!

[quote="Snoop Doug"][quote="Marky Mark"]Marky Mark on tour!

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Toks"]One of them is clearly up and comming. Unfortunately the other one appears to have jumped straight out of the late 1970's and is well past his best
Well done Mark, its time to do some TT's now surely?

[quote="Andy"]:D Very, very excited to see this because, Mark, insanely, I do exactly the same thing from probably a very similar starting point. And I thought it was just me! I live just off Sanderstead roundabout so time it from home to the Botley Park turning... had a mid 20 but yet to break that magic mark. Think it will take more training/a big tailwind/ more effort than I'm prepared to give when it's the opening 6 miles of the ride!

For me, it's about keeping it hard and steady along the flattish bit to Warlingham. Then past the garden centre when the drags start, it's really all about power and ignoring any pain/shortness of breath (!!!).

Up in York at uni at the moment (which, coincidentally, is basically the reason I haven't been on an ACC run for almost 3 years), but I'll be back this summer, July at least, if you fancy a ride... as for the Botley Hill "checkpoint", we could even 2-up to break 20 mins

[Robh]

Mark,

Some ideas you could try out when you do some more testing to see if your performance will improve. Ideas 2 & 3 I think should not be done together :-

1. Ride @ a cadence 10-20rpm less than the norm.

2. Caffeine anhydrous (i.e Pro Plus) - to reduce perceived effort. Suggested dose 5 mg/kg of body mass, 1hr before test. (Not banned by WADA)

3. Sodium Phosphate loading (Race Day Boost) - aiding in increased cellular energy production and pH (hydrogen ions) buffering. (Not banned by WADA)
http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=106

Rob

[Marky Mark]

[quote="Robh"]Mark,

Some ideas you could try out when you do some more testing to see if your performance will improve. Ideas 2 & 3 I think should not be done together :-

1. Ride @ a cadence 10-20rpm less than the norm.

2. Caffeine anhydrous (i.e Pro Plus) - to reduce perceived effort. Suggested dose 5 mg/kg of body mass, 1hr before test. (Not banned by WADA)

3. Sodium Phosphate loading (Race Day Boost) - aiding in increased cellular energy production and pH (hydrogen ions) buffering. (Not banned by WADA)
http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=106

Rob

[Robh]

Mark,

When your next down you can have some Race Day Boost (Sophate) to try.

Rob