Training has been anathema 'round these parts for many years. Perhaps forever. But recently i have decided to try and 'improve' myself. Initially this was due to missing a sub 10 hour time at shenandoah, but since then i have realised i have become fat, soft and weak.
Why this occurred is hard to say, but as a response i bought a book by joe friel on training (the mountain bikers training bible) and dug out the niterider heart rate monitor and computer i tested for singletrack mag a while back.
A few sessions on the rollers and one or two bigger rides have left me without any doubt that i need to get some miles in my legs. With this in mind, i set out today with the trusty fixed to tap out a century or die trying.
Interestingly, that last comment is not so much a hyperbole. When you train, as john claude van damme did in kickboxer 3, you must have an aim. For some the aim is a particular race, or series. For me shenandoah is again on the menu, but i also want to get back to being competitive.
In order to do this you not only have to see training as a quickening, you have to see it as a hardening. The body and the soul must be tempered in order to race. You *will* hurt: you will want your opponents to hurt - that is how you will beat them. You will endure more pain than them. Bad weather? make it your advantage. Questionable terrain? a tool of the trade. What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.
Oops. Got a little carried away there.
Still. Today, the motivation was there. The wet weather, broken road surface and headwind were along for the party. Time to enter the pain cave.
Glasgow, shettleston, airdrie, bathgate, edinburgh, crammond, forth road bridge and north queesnferry. Then turn into the wind and head for rosyth, kincardine, over the kincardine bridge and over to stirling. From here, drop into denny, kilsyth and the rain. Smile, because you know that just like robert millar, you will be a lady soon. No wait, i mean you will be making yourself tougher than your competitors. Over to kirkintilloch, then bishopbriggs, torrance and home. Pizza, beer and a tick in the training diary. 100 miles plus, fixed gear, heart rate 125 average out, 150 average back and the legs could go another round.
This is what training is about.
8 comments:
Blimey, good show old bean.
Fancy a 90+ miler next Thursday over the BNB from Torridon (road)? I have no women to lament, but I'm unsure if that makes me stronger or not...
;^)
I'm crushed just reading this.
CRICKEY!!
I feel sick.
How long did said ride take??
I love Bobby Millar though.....
Good ride John!
Forgive me for asking the obvious but will you be racing singlespeed only? Joe Friels book is quite interesting, have you seen his blog also? Some interesting stuff here too;
http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html
It'd be interesting to hear how you get on applying the principles of the training bible to riding a single speed.
Have you read any of Tudor Bompa's books on periodization? They are a bit more theoertical than the training bible and explain periodization and weight training for endurance sports very well.
Hope the training goes well. Beast it:)
hey leave Millar alone you feckin heathen mountainbiker :-)
and so it begins again, the season of races is upon us, training starts, miles are munched ....
all to be lost to Belgian beer and whisky the night before !
yeah, the joe friel stuff and fixed/singlespeed is going to be tricky. We'll see...interesting links there stevo...ill try and keep an update going...
the ride took 8 hours on the nose. 39:16 (im trying improve my cadence...from continental drift to glacial at least)
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