OK. To help my motivation I am going to keep a thread going here about the Tuesday evening 10 mile time trials that I'll be doing throughout the summer with my cycling club. Maybe you guys can guilt trip me into not bunking off on the odd Tuesday

For the record, PB is 30:07 which is a shade under 20mph.

This year I rode 200 miles in January then zero in February and March then 27 just this Sunday - so you can guess how much it hurt last night

6 of us turned out for the 1st of the season. 7.5c cloudy and bloody windy.

I went off at No.2 cos they send the slow guys out first. 3 went past me, then 4, then 5

I had only got to the bottom my nemesis hill when I got the first signs of cramp in my right leg - arrghh! I decided to back it right down so as not to hurt myself. There was only a mile or so to go and one of the guys not riding said "come on, ride through the cramp" so I went for it, and the cramp went away...to be replaced by a stitch - double arrghh!

So I crossed the line with a dreadful time of 35:29 , no idea what average speed that is! 6 also passed me at the end and he started 4 mins after me!

Oh well at least I've laid down a marker that I can pulverise next week

Think I'll do some regular, shorter rides over Easter so there is a bit more in the tank next Tuesday!

Sounds about as painful as you were anticipating. But well done on being last of the runners, damaged and off the pace.

You didnt fancy going three wide with a couple of articulated lorries then?

deano_1007 wrote

You didnt fancy going three wide with a couple of articulated lorries then?

No, just 2 wide with all the other riders that passed me on the high side

Yeeehaaaa

31:14, an improvement of some 4 minutes and 15 seconds with a bonus of no cramp and only the slightest sign of a stitch soon after the start.

After last week I decided I needed to go right back to basics as I was having trouble pacing myself tending to go off too quick at the start.

So I took my fixed gear bike this week and bought a smaller cog for the rear to make it faster on the flat and downhill...but hard work up hills.

The weather was also alot better at 16c and lighter winds and I also used my Heart rate monitor to try and pace myself.

The one thing that scared me was the thought of the hill but it was just a case of keeping going as long as possible and then standing up when I slowed down too much - my heart rate hit 193 - I always thought my maximum was 191! Average rate for the whole 10 miles was 178 beats per minute - do you get that high when rowing Al?

So overall I'm delighted as that was over 19mph average speed and the magic 20mph can't be far away A guy that beat me by 3:56 last week only beat me by 1:55 this week - he is over 60 though

SteveS wrote

Average rate for the whole 10 miles was 178 beats per minute - do you get that high when rowing Al?

Oh yeah, definitely. Can't remember what the highest value is I've seen on my HRM, but I think it beats even your 193! Depends on the type of session, of course, but generally my heart rate is a lot higher than I'd expect it to be. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Haven't used my HRM for a while, actually. Might give it a try tonight and see what happens.

Would be interested to know the average and how long you row for

Haven't decided yet whether to do a 10km 'steady' row or 4 x 1600m (4 min rest) tonight. Whatever I don't do, I'll do tomorrow night. Guess I could measure both and let you know.

OK, decided to do a 10km tonight. Started off at a comfortable pace, but increased the pace every 2km, and finished with as much of a sprint as I could handle. Total time was 40:52.6 (fifth best 10km ever). Average heart rate was 175, with a max (right at the end) of 190. Fairly comparable rates, really.

I'll do my 4 x 1600m (4 min rest) next time and see how high I can go...

What did you feel like at 190? About to hurl your guts ?

i think i will stick to off road biking its more fun. i did like rowing when i went to the gym but couldnt do that kind of length or speed.

I never monitor my heart rate. I'll try and get it up to 190 on my bicycle and see what happens. If you don't hear from me for a while then fear the worst.

Max HR reduces with age so you'd best not aim for 190

220 - your age is a crappy rough guide so somewhere nearer 170 or less would be better

I really don't fancy the idea of exercising @ 190bpm (Max HR or no). I generally exercise at between 160-170bpm and back it down if I go above that.

Impressive time on the 10k row though Alan. I've not done that distance before. Prefer 2k (where I've pb'd @ around 7:45 if memory recalls). For 5k I came in over 20 mins (probably nearer 21), so think I'd struggle badly to get anywhere near your 10k time (assuming I actually got to the end without collapsing).

For me the 193 would only have been for a few seconds when standing up just prior to the summit of the hill. Next week I'll try and stick to a steady 170-175 just putting a bit of extra effort in where necessary.

If I was on a steady ride trying to burn fat I'd hope to be around 150.

OK, took my pulse a few times this morning, for the first time that I can remember.
Sitting doing nothing - 70
Cycled 5 miles at 15mph, mountain bike, no hills - 120
Played tennis for 30 minutes - 110.

None of those stretched me - looks like I would need to go running or cycle up some hills to get higher.

I'll try it during badminton next - that gets me going about the same as playing squash.

Gonna do a 5k row at lunchtime. I've not rowed in a good while and will be interested to see what time I can set.

Good luck with that, Tim. It's bound to be unpleasant.

My body is aching a little today following last night's effort. Might postpone next gym session until tomorrow night to ensure I can really give it some.

What a healthy lot we are!

Struggled to a 21:02.

AlanS wrote

What a healthy lot we are!

Not such a coincidence, I suspect - we are here because we like to compete in some form or other. And a welcome by-product is that fitness is good for concentration.

Just back from gym - 4 x 1600m with 4 mins rest between intervals. Taking entire session into account (from start to finish) my ave heart rate was 161 and max of 189. I was expecting the max to be higher, but clearly I know nothing!

I usually go for a very casual 20 miles on a Sunday morning as I'm sort of being cajoled into doing the London to Brighton for the 1st time at a portly 46 yrs of age. Might have to start lengthening the rides soon though.

Ditchling Beacon's gonna eat you

Good luck with it Paul, I last did it in 1994.

Similar conditions to last week, it's just so hard to pace yourself at the start, especially with a couple of rises that put your heart rate up. Really good turnout, maybe 15. I went out number 1 as usual but got a moral victory in that no-one passed me on the road this week!

Average heart rate this week was 179

The 2nd slowest guy last week improved by 13s - I improved by 16s to 30:58

Happy with another improvement considering I wasn't able to get on the bike over the weekend. Should be able to go out on Saturday morning and get some miles in though.

Hopefully as the fitness comes I will start homing in on that 30 minute target during the next few weeks.