First Steps...

Since the trauma of the OMM. My knee still aches now and again for no obvious reason but mostly feels okay again so I decided it was time to get back on the horse and strike will the iron was hot - and mix my metaphors.

Just a very easy 5k in the wonderful world of Zwift. A group run with just six other runners and we soon spread out. I set off at a pedestrian pace to test the water and nudged up the pace, little by little, to finish just slightly less than pedestrian. Not a peep from the knee so I'm pretty sure I'm good to go.

I finished off with a very short blast in a different virtual world, the world of VirtuGO. It's not as developed as Zwift but I think it's improved a little since the last time I visited and there were a few more riders than the last time as well.

Solid 90 Minutes

My third longest but highest average power over that distance, a tad under 60km. It was a group ride with close to 200 riders at between 2.5 and 3.2W/kg but seemed to be more at the 3.2 end of the spectrum than the 2.5. Consequently I found it hard going.

I twice got dropped but managed to claw my way back. I didn't manage it a third time, getting dropped and staying dropped with about 15 minutes to go. I rode in with another rider in a mini peloton of two. I knew I'd worked out by the finish.

Thirty Minute Blast

Short and sweet. 6 Laps. 19km. Job done. Another enjoyable race. I do like racing on the short 3k lap. Almost got dropped from the group on lap three but managed to pull back the deficit and rejoin. After that I was working hard and lost out in the final sprint. That said, I was never going to contend the sprint as I was working too hard throughout. That was borne out by the stats. I registered stats pretty much equal to my best so I'm happy with that.

Tempo with Spikes

Decent work out. I do enjoy the group workouts. Seems to keep it more interesting. As to the workout, it was possibly just on the easy side but not by much.

I had some troubles during the first high power section. Four short 'blips' and due to being on the wrong ring I pretty much hit the event horizon of the spiral of death but just managed to avoid being sucked in... [wondered what I was typing then for a moment...]. The main block of the workout was two sets of three tempo ramp followed by the cool down. Job done.

Recurrence of the Sore Knee...

Somehow I slept funny and woke up in the early hours with painful knee. Wasn't expecting that. The day turned into a rest day which was annoying. But I couldn't not do anything so I put in a reasonable medium duration interval session on the trainer late afternoon. Not what I'd planned but at least it feels like I've done something.

Two Rides

Being both a serious training tool and a sort of game I decided to claim the spotty blue hat for my virtual me in #Zwift. It is utterly pointless but still a target so today I rode two group rides, each 30k and both had about 300m ascent.

The first was something a little different. A ten lap ride with a sprint section each lap which we attacked every third lap. Being in a big group that led to incredibly fast sprint times as compared to normal, 15.2s verses 19.4s putting me 640th of 64000+ on Strava!!

Up next, a couple of hours later, was a more normal group ride but at slightly higher power but nothing silly. That too was fun and I worked up more of sweat than I expected.

With the blue spotty hat earned that leaves a choice for tomorrow. A virtual ride with the great Mark Cavendish or, and this will shock you, orienteering! It's probably going to be the orienteering and it gives me a chance to stretch my legs without feeling embarrassed at how slowly I run - because I can blame it all on the compass... The only choice will be what course? And it'll be a choice of two, the Blue course or the Mr Men string course - the Mr Men string course will probably be more my level at the moment.....

Easy Then A Bit Of Effort

Just an easy #Zwift tonight. A group ride except it might possibly have been a race as a few people were going at it. Have to say I didn't pay that much attention to the description. Any way, I took it easy for the majority of the climb, 700m, but gave it a burn up on the final 'blip' to the radio tower. I wasn't intending to burn it up but some guy came past firing on all cylinders and after he got 40-50m ahead I decided he was making himself a pretty good hare and I took off to catch him. Firing out 130% FTP for about a minute on the 16% elevation I reached him and he went again - and so did I. Eventually, he faded and I made the top, plenty ahead. It was a bit of an adrenalin burst and good fun. After that, it was quite literally, all down hill. 32k, 700m. More tomorrow.

Super Enjoyable Bambino Fondo

I'm not up to riding the 100km or the 72km so it was just the 48km version for me and it was really great fun. There was over 1100 riders on the virtual start line which is the biggest virtual ride I've done so far and meant for riding in small to medium groups the entire ride. It was a ride rather than a race but who are we kidding? We all got at it full on.

Much like yesterday, I set off steady and worked my way up through the field from just inside the top 400 up to the top 270. I even managed to find the energy for the sprint with the active group of riders I was with come the last few kilometres - which I lost on the line, in the same time.

Ride stats, course PB by over 13 minutes with almost 20W higher average power, 1hr 33m 48.4k, 894m ascent. Pleased with that.

Not A Bad Burn Up...

Racing on the Road to Ruins, #Zwift. 30km, 300m. It was a good field and after the initial dust settling phase - the first 2 or 3 kilometres where everyone is putting down far too much power to sustain - I was back in the field. Unlike yesterday, I went off steady and subsequently found myself close to the back. I wasn't too worried. I'd had a good one yesterday so a steadier one would be all right...

Anyway, being quite a big field, I was soon riding in a group of a dozen. Riding together we reeled in rider after rider, working our way clear of the back of the race. I put in the efforts on the climbs to break clear of the group in order to bridge to the next.

By midway I was riding in a small group of five, and we worked well into the second to last climb of any importance. By the time we went over the top of the final climb of any importance the group was down to just two - but sadly, I wasn't in it!

After that, riding solo, it all flattened out with only the odd blip, and a few short down hills - on which I got caught by a couple of riders but managed to hold with them. On the flats it soon became clear they weren't prepared to put in the work. I was on the front most of the time so I eased back from 200W to 140W and still they sat behind!! Okay, if that's the way you want to play it, I thought...

With 3k to go, there was a final 'blip' into the volcano, and I let rip - ooh matron. 300W all the way. Heart rate thumping out of my chest, they could not match it and I got clear. 5m.. 10m.. 20m.. 40m.. and dropped... I was really blowing but knew I had to keep the power down in order to keep that gap. After a minute my heart rate was recovering and they were still nothing but specks in the rear view mirror. I kept pushing hard to the finish just in case.

I finished with a route PB by over four and a half minutes. Good hard race. Sweating like a fat Cypriot in a Turkish bath house - not sure that's a good phrase to use, might start a war or something... Anyway, pleased with that and the knee doesn't hurt at all while I'm on the bike, only when I walk so it's good and bad on that front.

Short and Sweet

My knee is still playing up but the show must go on so it was a short, one lap race on Zwift, 15k. For once I decided to go with the crazy, pedal to the metal start that is Zwift racing. Normally I go steady at the start and pick it up but tonight I decided to go hard - like everyone else. It worked out all  right. I didn't go too well on the climb but not terrible and then working in a small group of two then three we completed the final two thirds of the lap neither gaining or losing position. Average power was towards FTP so I'm pretty happy. Didn't really feel any pain from the knee but still sore now and then. Other than that I think I'm recovered from the trauma that was the OMM.

Chest Ache Is Finally Easing....

and now my bloody knee is playing up again. Grrrhhh. Tonight's Zwift was affected. Meant to be a 40k race but ended up cutting it well short. I wasn't gong too bad but just didn't want to push it until all the niggles have cleared up. The shin splint is all but gone so it's really just the knee. Hoping to be all mended by the weekend.

Decent Effort

Another enjoyable race in the virtual world of Zwift. A three lap chase race of just over 30k. Being a C I chased the D's while trying to keep ahead of the A's and B's. The B's got me on the first lap. The A's on the second but I managed to catch most of the D's across all three laps, with a couple coming into range but whom stayed ahead as I ran out of road. There were a few D riders I was nowhere near catching, the ones putting down B category performance - they, perhaps, need to reconsider their category class. Pretty good average power again so can't grumble.

So I'm Still Not Fully Recovered...

but I managed a pretty good Zwift in spite of the aches and pains. I opted for a repeat of stage 2 of the Tour of New York and there were 140+ other riders to keep things interesting. Despite it being a ride rather than a race, we weren't kidding anyone as we vied to break away throughout the ride.

I was pleased with how little the shin splint affected me. I could feel it throughout but never got too painful. Even more pleasing was that the chest pain wasn't too bad and didn't really affect my breathing - as born out by the fact I was able to put down some descent power relative to my best performances. I'm beginning to think it's muscular rather than anything worse so hopefully will start to ease soon.

The race, uh, I mean, ride was good fun. Got into several mini pelotons through the ride and each time we worked together - apart from the break away attempts - we caught the next group up the road.

20km at an average power of 212W which is one of my best averages and certainly better than over the last three or four weeks. Happy with that.

Still A Bit Decrepit...

So my muscles feel recovered but I'm still suffering with a shin splint of my right shin and now I've some kind of chesty thing. Hard breathing, coughing and sudden upper body movement are painful - so I'm trying not to do any of that. Kind of makes training difficult. I tried a very easy 10k on Zwift this evening. Didn't really have any training value but mentally it was nice to do something. I think the chesty thing is easing so if the shin splint eases a little I might be able to put in a slightly harder session on Zwift tomorrow. Pretty sure I'm not going to be up to full on effort though.