Short, Sharp Christmas Zwift

It still felt a bit hard work vs the power output but better than the last few times. For just a thirty minute blast I got the heart rate up and sweating so I think I'm ready for the mince pies and mulled wine. Bring on the festivities and a merritudinal Christmas day to you all...

A Bit of Brithday Bkool

No Zwifting today.... Did a spot of Bkooling instead. Same setup, different software, same end result. A decent hours effort, starting north west of virtual Monmouth and ending virtually further north and west at Cross Ash. Bkool's main difference is that the routes are gps uploads of real routes. That provides more ride variation. The main reason I rode Bkool instead of Zwift was to determine if my trainer is getting a problem or I'm getting weaker.... Conclusion... I'm getting weaker. My power was nicely higher than my previous rides on Bkool but not as high as over the last month or two on Zwift and it also felt hard effort on the legs. I therefore think Zwift is working fine and that it's just me that's a little bit crapper - but then I am a year older than last month....

30 After Work

Finally managed a stage of the Zwift Tour of London. Stage 3 but I won't be getting the virtual t-shirt this event as I've missed too many stages to catch up. It was a reasonably hard effort for 30km. Once again my power was down while the effort seemed high. Not sure what's up but I'll keep on plugging away... 

Delightful Day Atop A Mountain...

So it was another day of marshalling. The Skirrid Fell Race, summit checkpoint this time, ably abetted in crime with the legend that is JD. Conditions were not pleasant. Strong, cold winds and rain. The top was in the mist and that doesn't aid spotting the race numbers. Despite the conditions we managed to capture most of the numbers and times although the conditions were somewhat against us so there may be a few errors or omissions. [crosses fingers not too many - and don't forget we did our best]. We were up there just about an hour and to say we were very happy to see the sweeper come through so we could pack up and get the hell out of there is an understatement.

Despite really wanting to get back off the hill as fast as possible, we still had time to collect in some of the marker flags on our way back down. On that front, ascending the main, steep descent is less than ideal in walking boots. Boots are good for keeping your feet warm but bloody rubbish at providing any sort of grip. I went down a few times - but most importantly managed to keep hold of the flags as I did, rather than flinging them, slapstick style, all over the mountain.

I was glad to get back to the car to be able to get into some dry clothes. Then it was into the Skirrid Inn for a few pleasantries before heading home.

Grinding To A Halt...

Well that was killer. Being cocky, I started with an easy 5k run on the treadmill before straight into bike mode for the #Zwift Fondo event. I decided on the medium since I'd ridden the short last month I felt I needed to step up but I think I over did it...

All was going well. I was riding in a good group as we worked towards completion of the first climb in the 72km route, with 1350m ascent. I think something then went a little wonky with my smart trainer calibration when I switched back to the big front sprocket. There was a bit of a jolt - probably pushing too hard on the pedal - and after that the resistance seemed to jump up. What should have been a nice downhill recovery ended up being bloody hard work. The resistance felt way higher than it should have.

It wasn't long after the descent, into a section of 10-15km of flattish riding, that I just had to drop back to the small front sprocket - and I've never needed to before - and up through the rear gears. Pretty much rode the second half of route in either the biggest or second biggest of the rear sprockets - that's not normal.

My legs just couldn't maintain things and I got slower and slower, and the reported power got lower and lower. I was really struggling and the final 500m climb took forever. Time standing still - or at least it felt like it. Never have I been more glad to get over the top but even then, the descent wasn't easy and the resistance was still high.

I was on the edge of bonking by the end and starting to shake a little in the last few kilometres but I made it. Still, I feel like I've had a bloody good workout!

Another Little Potter

A simple ramped 5k. Starting slow and finishing just slightly less slow but no where near the realm of fast. Still no aches and pains so all good. Yesterday was a 40k group ride at medium effort but legs were feeling a bit tired so no ride today. Up tomorrow is the monthly Zwift organised Fondo - nothing to do with cheese. There's a choice of small, medium or large. Last month I rode the small and probably will again (48k). If I do feel energetic the medium is 72k - and there is sod all chance of the large, 112k...

Doubling Up

A short 5k run followed by 10k in the saddle. I'm finding it hard to get back into the running since 'the event that shall not be named'. This crappy wet weather doesn't exactly help but I don't feel like I'm starting from square one again. The run felt okay. Not at a fast pace but nothing ached or pained so onwards and upwards...

A Very Tired 41km

And I didn't even attempt to keep with the group. From just a few kilometres in I knew I was feeling lacklustre. Power was down. Legs heavy. So it was keep grinding till the finish 41km later. #Zwift

Solid, Hilly Effort

Forty Three kilometres up and over the main climb in Watopia. A good solid effort. Good average power and just under the 90 minutes to complete. Happy with that.

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.