I planned to go out tonight for a quick training ride on my bike, but when I looked at the sky I decided I would rather not. I don't think it will harm me too much if I skip just this once. It may even be beneficial to have a complete rest day. But if my friends heard such softie talk, not going for a ride because it is raining, they would probably say I have been out of the UK for far too long.
Yesterday I didn't do any cycling but I did do Pilates in the evening. It was a toughie - in a one to one class you really can't get away with doing things half heartedly like you can in a group class. I came out of the class having worked my butt off for one hour, which is great. By the way I love the interesting names of the Pilates exercises such as "the teaser" and "the elephant".
I really hope my training has been sufficient. It is fast approaching the point where I should start tapering down for La Marmotte. I think the one hour nippy rides are fine and I can keep doing those for a while yet, but I shouldn't be doing any 3 or 4 pass rides the weekend before the race. That means this weekend is the last chance for such pleasures. The great thing about cycling is it doesn't have quite such a high injury risk as running does, being a low impact exercise. If you recall I had a lot of problems with runner's knee to begin with when I started training for the Zurich marathon. In the end I only had one month of uninterrupted running training before the Zurich marathon and managed to do pretty well for my first marathon. So considering I have been training for two months for La Marmotte without interruption, and the fact I have done it twice before, I should do okay.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
More miles in the training bank
Today was another good training day. At lunchtime I went for a run around the woods of Opfikon with my colleague and now I have just completed a one hour and a bit bike ride in the direction of the Katzensee.
It was pretty hot at lunchtime and I didn't feel my breathing was as easy as normal. It is good for me to start getting used to running in hotter temperatures. Last summer whenever it approached 30 degrees Celsius I cancelled my lunchtime runs, but this year I will go however high the temperature gets. I usually tend to get headaches when I run in the heat, but I think this is probably because I am not paying enough attention to hydrating myself adequately beforehand.
The cycle ride I just completed was a nice fast ride out past the Katzensee and towards Niederhasli then back. I couldn't get up to warp speed as there were various traffic lights and people blocking the cycle lanes. But when it was clear I got up to 25mph (40km/h or so) - a decent pace but not all out sprinting.
I was rather happy with my self discipline today. Two colleagues had a birthday and unlike in the UK where people buy you something for your birthday (e.g. a round of drinks), here in Switzerland (or at least in UBS) you buy cakes for everyone else in the department. Usually I tuck in and get a rather generous helping of these cakes, but today I abstained completely. I passed them twice and eyed them up, but decided I needed to let it go and walk on by.
Also at lunchtime instead of getting a veggie burger and chips like I often do, or lots of snacks from the kiosk, I got a simple plate of pasta with some sauce. These adjustments to my diet combined with my cycle ride that just burnt 1,317 calories and my lunchtime run, which must have burnt quite a few hundred calories, I am doing some serious fat busting today.
If you are a fat cell in my body and think you are safe all I can say is muhahahahahahahaha in an evil tone.
It was pretty hot at lunchtime and I didn't feel my breathing was as easy as normal. It is good for me to start getting used to running in hotter temperatures. Last summer whenever it approached 30 degrees Celsius I cancelled my lunchtime runs, but this year I will go however high the temperature gets. I usually tend to get headaches when I run in the heat, but I think this is probably because I am not paying enough attention to hydrating myself adequately beforehand.
The cycle ride I just completed was a nice fast ride out past the Katzensee and towards Niederhasli then back. I couldn't get up to warp speed as there were various traffic lights and people blocking the cycle lanes. But when it was clear I got up to 25mph (40km/h or so) - a decent pace but not all out sprinting.
I was rather happy with my self discipline today. Two colleagues had a birthday and unlike in the UK where people buy you something for your birthday (e.g. a round of drinks), here in Switzerland (or at least in UBS) you buy cakes for everyone else in the department. Usually I tuck in and get a rather generous helping of these cakes, but today I abstained completely. I passed them twice and eyed them up, but decided I needed to let it go and walk on by.
Also at lunchtime instead of getting a veggie burger and chips like I often do, or lots of snacks from the kiosk, I got a simple plate of pasta with some sauce. These adjustments to my diet combined with my cycle ride that just burnt 1,317 calories and my lunchtime run, which must have burnt quite a few hundred calories, I am doing some serious fat busting today.
If you are a fat cell in my body and think you are safe all I can say is muhahahahahahahaha in an evil tone.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Interesting question - how much difference is there between doing 3,000m of vertical ascent in the UK or in the Alps???
My friend Pete remarked on my training today, and the fact that I am lucky to be able to train in the mountains, which is not something really possible in the UK, where the mountains are more like hills (except for the Lake district, Peak district, Snowdon and the Scottish highlands for instance).
This got me thinking. Pete and a few of the others who are also taking part in La Marmotte have done some rides in the UK recently with 3,000 metres of vertical ascent over the course of the ride. And I have done similar rides but here in the Alps.
To get that kind of climbing in the UK they went up and down lots and lots of small hills, say on average 250m above sea level just for the purposes of my calculation. I on the other hand did maybe 3 passes to get that same amount of vertical ascent, reaching altitudes of 2,200m above sea level or more. What difference does this make in terms of getting used to the thinner air, and is the air really that much thinner at 2,200m above sea level compared to 250m above sea level?
I started googling to find a site that would allow me to get a quantitative calculation, and I found this one http://www.altitude.org/air_pressure.php. You just type in the altitude and it tells you how much % of the oxygen is available at that altitude compared to at sea level.
So basically at 250m above sea level there is 97% of the oxygen available that there is at sea level. At 2,200m above sea level on the other hand, there is only 78% of the oxygen available that there is at sea level.
All other factors aside, I guess it does make at least some difference to the training. Also there is the difference in short climbs versus long ones. In the UK you don't usually spend that long cycling up the hill, but in the Alps you may spend a good hour or two attacking the pass and being at higher altitude. I wonder though if you could just simulate the thinner air in the Alps by using one of those devices that restricts your breathing - a power breather I believe they call them.
There is also the issue of momentum. On short climbs some momentum from the downhill section can help you to get up the uphill section. But that really doesn't make so much difference when the climb is 20km long.
And the last difference I can think of is letting your body get used to the temperature extremes - fluctuating between hot at the bottom of the pass and freezing cold with snow at the top of the pass, compared to a rather stable temperature on most UK rides.
I would be interested to know what others maybe think on this topic.
This got me thinking. Pete and a few of the others who are also taking part in La Marmotte have done some rides in the UK recently with 3,000 metres of vertical ascent over the course of the ride. And I have done similar rides but here in the Alps.
To get that kind of climbing in the UK they went up and down lots and lots of small hills, say on average 250m above sea level just for the purposes of my calculation. I on the other hand did maybe 3 passes to get that same amount of vertical ascent, reaching altitudes of 2,200m above sea level or more. What difference does this make in terms of getting used to the thinner air, and is the air really that much thinner at 2,200m above sea level compared to 250m above sea level?
I started googling to find a site that would allow me to get a quantitative calculation, and I found this one http://www.altitude.org/air_pressure.php. You just type in the altitude and it tells you how much % of the oxygen is available at that altitude compared to at sea level.
So basically at 250m above sea level there is 97% of the oxygen available that there is at sea level. At 2,200m above sea level on the other hand, there is only 78% of the oxygen available that there is at sea level.
All other factors aside, I guess it does make at least some difference to the training. Also there is the difference in short climbs versus long ones. In the UK you don't usually spend that long cycling up the hill, but in the Alps you may spend a good hour or two attacking the pass and being at higher altitude. I wonder though if you could just simulate the thinner air in the Alps by using one of those devices that restricts your breathing - a power breather I believe they call them.
There is also the issue of momentum. On short climbs some momentum from the downhill section can help you to get up the uphill section. But that really doesn't make so much difference when the climb is 20km long.
And the last difference I can think of is letting your body get used to the temperature extremes - fluctuating between hot at the bottom of the pass and freezing cold with snow at the top of the pass, compared to a rather stable temperature on most UK rides.
I would be interested to know what others maybe think on this topic.
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