Gertfred Sprotte Gedächtnisfahrt

Another act of madness: have been talked into doing the Gertfred Sprotte cycling tour. 201km and 2750m of climbing. This feels impossible, especially on a day when you had to cancel the planned ride due to cold / man flu.

Finis Swimsense

Did my first swim with the newly acquired Finis Swimsense.

It is supposed to measure the number of strokes and the time for each length and it claims to recognise turns no matter what stroke you do. This works great, but not when you do drills. Unfortunately, this is what we do most Thursdays. I think this will be a great tool when swimming distances as it gives you great stats and shows when you are starting to worsen.

Training Camp Day 7

Last day of an amazing, but very exhausting week with 23(!) hours training. Did an easy 2 hour ride, followed by a 45 min run.

Thank you Friends on Bikes for a good week. Time to go home now.

Training Camp Day 6

... and a killer stage it was. 2,700m in climbs and 6 hours in the saddle. Toughest ride I have ever done, but well worth the experience. This would be much easier if (a) I had a 34 chain ring and (b) would weigh 10 pounds less. This is the climb to Mount Limbara (1,360m):



The climb even made it on www.quaeldich.de. I think I am going to have a beer tonight!

Training Camp Day 5

Easy ride today in preparation for tomorrow's killer stage. Best scenery so far, when riding around the Island of Magdalena.

Training Camp Day 4

Rest day. Well, rest from cycling. We went for an easy run in (very) undulating terrain and almost 30 degrees, but stunning scenery.


Training Camp Day 3

That was the toughest ride so far, but all good. Starting to get the hang of the hills, hills, and more hills. 123km and 1,600m of climbing, and over 5 hours in the saddle.


Rest day tomorrow. No cycling, but probably going for a little run.

Training Camp Day 2

Much easier ride today. Less speed, fewer hills, and shorter distance. Did a brick session instead of joining the others for their monster ride and managed a 30 min (very) hilly run.

Training Camp Day 1

Arrived late in the hotel on Sat evening and didn't sleep too well. My snoring room mate didn't help ;-)

We decided to join the crowd from the organizers for their introduction tour. Moved on at 30km since it was too slow and had a nice break at km 50. Got lost after that and ended up doing a few extra miles and hills... Oh, and got sub burned even with sun lotion applied.

Fingertip Pulse Oximeter

Just received my new toy to take measurements first thing in the morning.

13 Mar 2011

Kandel Half-marathon - 1:42:34 [Certificate] [Results]

km 
1: 5:04
km 2: 4:57
km 3: 4:56
km 4: 4:50
km 5: 4:49 - 24:36
km 6: 4:46
km 7: 4:51
km 8: 4:51
km 9: 4:50
km 10: 4:50 - 24:04
km 11: 4:45
km 12: 4:51
km 13: 4:48
km 14: 4:46
km 15: 4:49 - 24:01
km 16: 4:46
km 17: 4:58
km 18: 5:02
km 19: 5:01
km 20: 4:47 - 24:34
km 21.1: 5:20

M40: 111 (206)
Men: 435 (994)
Total: 475 (1288)

First race of the season. Had it down as a C race and a test race it was. Just couldn't pick up the pace as planned and started to slow down from km 17. Too much weight, too much body fat and not enough speed. Perfect conditions and a perfect / fast course.

Body Composition - March 2011

Weight87.2kg
Body Fat18.4% (LA 17.8 RA 15.8 RL 14.9 LL 15.7, B 20.4)
Total Body Water57.1%
Muscle Mass67.7kg (LA 3.9 RA 4.0 RL 11.3 LL 11.0, B 37.5, 5)
Physique Rating7
Basal Metabolic Rate2067 KJ
Metabolism Age30
Bone Mass3.5kg
Resting Heart Rate57

Things haven't really improved. Time for some strength training and low-carb diet.

Red Wine is a pain in the ar$e...

... literally. Had too much red wine on Friday evening and fell down the stairs. Hurt my bum quite badly. I could hardly walk on Saturday, cycling was sort of ok. Sunday was equally painful, so I skipped my planned long run. Things were slightly better today. I ran for 30 minutes - things improved throughout, so I am hoping to be ok(ish) tomorrow.

Lessons learned? Probably none ;-)

Update:
Well, a week on, the pain has mostly gone, but a lovely spectrum of blues has appeared...

ZEO Personal Sleep Coach

This is the best toy I have bought in a very long time. In short, you wear a silly looking headband during the night and the ZEO measures your sleep (deep sleep, light sleep, REM and wake phases) and also calculates a ZQ (sleep quotient). You then then enter some values for a number of so called sleep stealers, e.g. having exercises vigorously in the evening. Over time, their online software provides you with very good analyses about your sleep, factors that impact on good and poor sleep, and also effects it has during the next day. Here's a couple of screenshots and also a report from the first week of usage.

Spinning Marathon

Took part in the first 2 out of 3 legs of the TSG Weinheim Spinning Marathon. 3 hours with a 15 minute break at half-time took its toll after about 2 hours. Good fun, but very exhausted...

Swimming Technique

Got filmed again in training. Getting a bit frustrated as I haven't really made much progress recently. Technique still very poor.


Dein linker Arm zieht unter Wasser zu weit nach aussen und ist zudem extrem im Ellbogengelenk gestreckt! Denk daran dass Du ein Bierfass unter Deinem Körper durchschieben möchtest!! Oder einen großen Gymnastikball!


Ellbogen taucht zu erst ins Wasser ein. Es sollten aber die Fingerkuppensein die als erstes Eintauchen. Du musst auch noch viel viel mehr den Unterarm ans Wasser anstellen. D.h. HALT am Wasser finden. Momentan schneiden beide Arme durchs Wasser und geben Dir so kaum Vortrieb!!

Spinning

Took part in my first ever spinning class with the tri club. This felt like 90 minutes of lactic acid. Very tough, but very good. Also signed up for the club spinning marathon in 3 weeks time...

Race Plan for 2011

After a lot of deliberation, I have decided for a race plan for 2011. Unfortunately, St. Pölten 70.3 is out and I hope I can transfer my number to 2012. See 'Upcoming Races' block on the side bar.

Doctor

After struggling with flu-like symptoms, I went to see my GP today. Diagnosis is that a previous viral infection hasn't cured properly plus an infection of the sinuses. So, I am on ant-biotics for the next 7 days and have been told to reduce exercising outdoor in the cold.

2010 Summary

This has been a great year with Challenge Roth being the obvious highlight. Cologne 226half in sub 5 hours was another great race after which I should have ended the season to avoid the Frankfurt Marathon fiasco... Here's the obligatory summary:


What's the plan for 2011? I would like to focus on shorter distances and do 2 half Ironman races. 70.3 Wiesbaden will be the highlight plus 70.3 Austria or Elbaman, depending on how things pan out.

I am also going to make some changes in how to record workout. So far, I had an Excel spreadsheet (see above) plus Garmin Connect and also the blog here. In the spirit of moving your entire life in the cloud, I am moving to a great system called TrainingPeaks. So, any individual workout information (more data you can ever digest) will be at www.trainingpeaks.com/isotonicturtle supplemented by sporadic posts on the blog (new kit, gear and gadgets, race reports and any other relevant information).

31 Dec 2010

Running:
8km - 45:30

First run in almost 2 weeks. Have been down with some very persistent form of flu. Still not 100%, but slowly getting better. I hope.

Body Composition - End 2010

Weight88.2kg
Body Fat18.1% (LA 17.2 RA 15.4 RL 16.1 LL 16.1, B 19.6)
Total Body Water57.4%
Muscle Mass68.7kg (LA 4.0 RA 4.1 RL 11.3 LL 11.0, B 38.3, 5)
Physique Rating7
Basal Metabolic Rate2099 KJ
Metabolism Age29
Bone Mass3.6kg
Resting Heart Rate??
Wow. Heaviest in more than a year plus desperate body fat measurements. Time for some serious training.

19 Dec 2010

Running:
11.8km - 1:06km

First good run in a while at moderate speed.

15 Dec 2010

Running:
10.25km - 53:00

Nice run in Belfast at moderate speed.

14 Dec 2010

Swimming (Endurance):
2300m - 60:00


Quite a demanding session.


Last of 4 physio sessions in the morning. Plenty of exercises to do for a month, before we review the situation. Bottom line is some of my core muscles don't seem to trigger at all!

10 Dec 2010

Running:
13.75km - 1:18 (Z1)

Easy earl;y morning run. Had to do a couple of detours to avoid flooding.

09 Dec 2010

Swimming (Technique)
1200m - 60:00

Very tough session. 10 * 100 technique, followed by 50m drills interrupted by planks and push-ups!

08 Dec 2010

Running:
60:00 - 11.8km (Z2 - Z3)

2km easy, rest moderate / hard. First good run in weeks. Hamstring also getting better thanks to physio treatment and new exercises.

07 Dec 2010

Swimming (Speed):
2000m - 60:00


After a mini break (mini trip away, mini flu and loads of snow), winter training is starting today.

Oh, and I got a little certificate and a pineapple(!) at the club's xmas do for being 1 of 17(!) members who completed an ironman in 2010 - nice touch.

30 Nov 2010

Swimming (Speed):
2000m - 60:00