Tuesday, June 1, 2010
News
Official word has been received; the new bike is on it's way :) It should be here next week, barring any unusual delays. A nice treat for when I get my talk over and done with. Time for some bling-tastic browsing :P
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Weekly summary
So, summary for the past week;
Starting last Monday (yes, ignore the time between my last post and then. I don't think much happened anyway), it's been a busy week with many things. Work has been a bit mental as of late, with long enough days going on, along with some weekend work which is slowing down some of the training hours but it's for the best in the long run :D I've been a bit relaxed as regards the running lately, but getting out for one or two sessions and I'm going fine in those, so I'm not going to push it too much.
For the cycling, I've covered around 200 km in the last 7 days. Starting on Monday, 90 km into Munich, back out, then looping around to Dachau and hammering it home. OK, so I use hammering a bit loosely. I hammered for a while and then crawled the last 5 km home :D Easy enough spin on Wednesday for 20 km towards Munich and then back along a forest path. This bit was so much fun. It was about 10 km along it, right beside the river, which was very cool. My shoes, shorts, and bike got ruined cos of all the crap everywhere, but still! I was only doing about 30 km/hr on it, but it felt so fast, probably due to the rapidly changing surroundings. It's helped to make my mind up on doing some MTBing or cyclocross later on in the year. Probably the former so I can use it for snowy/icy commutes from Munich to Garching next Winter/Spring.
Friday evening I had planned an easy enough cycle on a new road, but once I got onto it, I found that I was holding above 30 km/hr with no hastle and getting up to 35 with just a little bit of effort. So that turned into a 23 km TT, more or less. There were a few spots to stop, roundabouts and towns. It was a lot of fun, though, and something I'm planning on doing more regularly. Average speed of 29 km/hr, which is my highest average speed for a spin. It would be a lot higher if it weren't for the stopping (requiring slowing down first and accelerating after). My legs were in bits after it, keeping above 30 on the last few kms required getting out of the saddle, hammering it and then letting the speed slow down again.
Which brings me to today. I had planned on upping my 90 km spin to above 100 this weekend, but it ended up not happening. I went into work to get a bit of a start on the two weeks ahead. I have a presentation to make on my work of the past five months on the 11th June, so that's taking priority for the moment. I did get out this evening, though, with a rough plan for something between 40 and 70 km. I ended up doing just the 40, my legs were on the edge of giving out after 15! Once I got home, I figured I probably could have done to full distance, but it's probably best that I give myself some recovery time. There's a four day weekend this weekend so one of those days will be dedicated to a long spin. Hopefully I might get my new bike by then as well, which would be very nice :)
I've ordered my bag for my planned light tours later on in the year. It's an in-sy rucksack which has a saddle attachment bar, so that should work well with the road bike. Since it's got a 16 L capacity, I reckon I'd be alright without a handlebar bag (I'm only planning on 3-4 days of a trip each time) so aerobars are starting to tickle my fancy instead. They should take at least a bit of the sting out of a 220 km trip. So they're now on the list. Yes, there is a list. Yes, it is long. Shhh....
However, I feel alright about spending a little more these days since my mate just bought a new shiny Anschutz selected barrel, with stock, sights and, I think, a Gemini buttplate. I'm so allowed to slap on 53 quid worth of aerobars onto the bike! And a GPS with European maps. And possibly buy new shoes and pedals as my current ones are feeling a bit tight after long spins.... Again, shh....
Anyway, that's about it. More during the week, if I'm awake enough to post!
Starting last Monday (yes, ignore the time between my last post and then. I don't think much happened anyway), it's been a busy week with many things. Work has been a bit mental as of late, with long enough days going on, along with some weekend work which is slowing down some of the training hours but it's for the best in the long run :D I've been a bit relaxed as regards the running lately, but getting out for one or two sessions and I'm going fine in those, so I'm not going to push it too much.
For the cycling, I've covered around 200 km in the last 7 days. Starting on Monday, 90 km into Munich, back out, then looping around to Dachau and hammering it home. OK, so I use hammering a bit loosely. I hammered for a while and then crawled the last 5 km home :D Easy enough spin on Wednesday for 20 km towards Munich and then back along a forest path. This bit was so much fun. It was about 10 km along it, right beside the river, which was very cool. My shoes, shorts, and bike got ruined cos of all the crap everywhere, but still! I was only doing about 30 km/hr on it, but it felt so fast, probably due to the rapidly changing surroundings. It's helped to make my mind up on doing some MTBing or cyclocross later on in the year. Probably the former so I can use it for snowy/icy commutes from Munich to Garching next Winter/Spring.
Friday evening I had planned an easy enough cycle on a new road, but once I got onto it, I found that I was holding above 30 km/hr with no hastle and getting up to 35 with just a little bit of effort. So that turned into a 23 km TT, more or less. There were a few spots to stop, roundabouts and towns. It was a lot of fun, though, and something I'm planning on doing more regularly. Average speed of 29 km/hr, which is my highest average speed for a spin. It would be a lot higher if it weren't for the stopping (requiring slowing down first and accelerating after). My legs were in bits after it, keeping above 30 on the last few kms required getting out of the saddle, hammering it and then letting the speed slow down again.
Which brings me to today. I had planned on upping my 90 km spin to above 100 this weekend, but it ended up not happening. I went into work to get a bit of a start on the two weeks ahead. I have a presentation to make on my work of the past five months on the 11th June, so that's taking priority for the moment. I did get out this evening, though, with a rough plan for something between 40 and 70 km. I ended up doing just the 40, my legs were on the edge of giving out after 15! Once I got home, I figured I probably could have done to full distance, but it's probably best that I give myself some recovery time. There's a four day weekend this weekend so one of those days will be dedicated to a long spin. Hopefully I might get my new bike by then as well, which would be very nice :)
I've ordered my bag for my planned light tours later on in the year. It's an in-sy rucksack which has a saddle attachment bar, so that should work well with the road bike. Since it's got a 16 L capacity, I reckon I'd be alright without a handlebar bag (I'm only planning on 3-4 days of a trip each time) so aerobars are starting to tickle my fancy instead. They should take at least a bit of the sting out of a 220 km trip. So they're now on the list. Yes, there is a list. Yes, it is long. Shhh....
However, I feel alright about spending a little more these days since my mate just bought a new shiny Anschutz selected barrel, with stock, sights and, I think, a Gemini buttplate. I'm so allowed to slap on 53 quid worth of aerobars onto the bike! And a GPS with European maps. And possibly buy new shoes and pedals as my current ones are feeling a bit tight after long spins.... Again, shh....
Anyway, that's about it. More during the week, if I'm awake enough to post!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Update - at last!!
Yeah... So I've been kinda bad with this, as well as the actual training lately... Lots has happened, I swearz! It's just that work, cycling too much on an empty stomach one evening, parents coming over, work, sickness, going home, and sickness again have all conspired against me.
I'm (sorta) still getting the distances in. Two 50 km cycles lately, both inside a week of each other, followed by a few shorter ones between 20 and 40 km to keep me going. Running occasionally sees a reprise. What's odd is that it's not getting any harder, despite leaving it ages in between runs. If I can actually sort out some discipline, then I might actually start to get better again!
Unfortunately, due to the above mentioned reasons, the shooting has suffered greatly. When I only have one evening a week to play with, and it's a Friday, the day everything in the universe happens on (unless the planet has been bulldozed the previous morning), it's gonna be inevitable that I miss some days. Like, three in a row. But anyway, I'm gonna try to get into the Old Munich range, which is pretty close and has kick ass facilities. Go with a fresh start, etc.
Finally, I was bold. I ordered my road bike last week. It should hopefully arrive next week some time. Which will be amazing. I was unfortunately constrained in my colour choices, but I'll bling it up over time :) Once I get that, heading south to some hills will most certainly be in order! Also, mudguards are amazing. I never knew how annoying muddy pants from a short commute could be until this year.
Really finally, I've enrolled in a German speaking course in Munich this Summer, which I'll be cycling in and out to in the evenings This will add about 15 km or so onto my daily commute, so I'll be looking at about 35 km a day, four days a week for the eight weeks of the course, which will push my weekly kilometerage up nicely. Add in a long weekend spin and I'm looking at over 200 km a week, which isn't half bad at all.
I'm (sorta) still getting the distances in. Two 50 km cycles lately, both inside a week of each other, followed by a few shorter ones between 20 and 40 km to keep me going. Running occasionally sees a reprise. What's odd is that it's not getting any harder, despite leaving it ages in between runs. If I can actually sort out some discipline, then I might actually start to get better again!
Unfortunately, due to the above mentioned reasons, the shooting has suffered greatly. When I only have one evening a week to play with, and it's a Friday, the day everything in the universe happens on (unless the planet has been bulldozed the previous morning), it's gonna be inevitable that I miss some days. Like, three in a row. But anyway, I'm gonna try to get into the Old Munich range, which is pretty close and has kick ass facilities. Go with a fresh start, etc.
Finally, I was bold. I ordered my road bike last week. It should hopefully arrive next week some time. Which will be amazing. I was unfortunately constrained in my colour choices, but I'll bling it up over time :) Once I get that, heading south to some hills will most certainly be in order! Also, mudguards are amazing. I never knew how annoying muddy pants from a short commute could be until this year.
Really finally, I've enrolled in a German speaking course in Munich this Summer, which I'll be cycling in and out to in the evenings This will add about 15 km or so onto my daily commute, so I'll be looking at about 35 km a day, four days a week for the eight weeks of the course, which will push my weekly kilometerage up nicely. Add in a long weekend spin and I'm looking at over 200 km a week, which isn't half bad at all.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Weekly summary (last week)
I've let this slide a little bit for the last week cos I haven't quite had the time to update, what with working a bit later and, you know, actually training a bit :D
So, for the week ending last Sunday. This was a pretty good week, actually, lots of training done, and a nice increase in kilometerage also. Overall for the cycling was 93 km in 4 hours, which is getting back to what I was used to back in the day. I know that makes me sound about 4 times my age, but whatever. There was some running done as well, but I can't remember how much. We'll go with two sessions of 5km...
Something that has been added to the weekly summaries; the target shooting is back :) I went down to the club on the Friday evening to see what the story was and how things worked. I wasn't so much given an introduction, as asked if I had shot before, to which I answered yes. The response to this was to hand me a rifle, some pellets and a target strip... An hour, and some horrendous shooting later, I finished up and was asked to come back the following Friday :)
A quick bit on the actual shooting; I don't think it's gotten much worse, but there were a few confounding factors. Firstly, no kit. I didn't bring any of mine cos I didn't think I'd be shooting. Also, there were no raiser blocks on the rifle (an old FWB 600, which, oddly enough, had a safety catch) and the cheekpiece was bottomed out, and pushed over to the right (i.e. away from me). Anybody who has seen my old rifle set up in DURC will know how much of an issue these things are for me, what with my freakishly long neck and high cheekbones :D These things can, of course, all be changed, but I didn't want to spend the first half hour poking at the rifle with a screwdriver.
However, it wasn't all bad. The hold wasn't the worst, despite not getting my cheek actually onto the cheekpiece, and there was some reasonable grouping. Next week when I go back to air rifle I'll make some changes which will hopefully help a bit. I may go jacketless again, just until I settle back into it and get comfortable with the new rifle. Adding the rest of the kit at that point should solidify things nicely :)
I'll hopefully have more up again soon. This week had some decent cycling and running, as well as some prone shooting. At 50m. Oh yes :)
So, for the week ending last Sunday. This was a pretty good week, actually, lots of training done, and a nice increase in kilometerage also. Overall for the cycling was 93 km in 4 hours, which is getting back to what I was used to back in the day. I know that makes me sound about 4 times my age, but whatever. There was some running done as well, but I can't remember how much. We'll go with two sessions of 5km...
Something that has been added to the weekly summaries; the target shooting is back :) I went down to the club on the Friday evening to see what the story was and how things worked. I wasn't so much given an introduction, as asked if I had shot before, to which I answered yes. The response to this was to hand me a rifle, some pellets and a target strip... An hour, and some horrendous shooting later, I finished up and was asked to come back the following Friday :)
A quick bit on the actual shooting; I don't think it's gotten much worse, but there were a few confounding factors. Firstly, no kit. I didn't bring any of mine cos I didn't think I'd be shooting. Also, there were no raiser blocks on the rifle (an old FWB 600, which, oddly enough, had a safety catch) and the cheekpiece was bottomed out, and pushed over to the right (i.e. away from me). Anybody who has seen my old rifle set up in DURC will know how much of an issue these things are for me, what with my freakishly long neck and high cheekbones :D These things can, of course, all be changed, but I didn't want to spend the first half hour poking at the rifle with a screwdriver.
However, it wasn't all bad. The hold wasn't the worst, despite not getting my cheek actually onto the cheekpiece, and there was some reasonable grouping. Next week when I go back to air rifle I'll make some changes which will hopefully help a bit. I may go jacketless again, just until I settle back into it and get comfortable with the new rifle. Adding the rest of the kit at that point should solidify things nicely :)
I'll hopefully have more up again soon. This week had some decent cycling and running, as well as some prone shooting. At 50m. Oh yes :)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Weekly summary
This week was better. I'm starting to head in the right direction, at least. I got out for something every day I was here, apart from Friday.
So, may as well crack into the numbers;
Distances;
Saddle; 45 km
Commute; 19 km
Run; 12 km
Times;
Saddle; 1 hr, 45 mins
Commute; 1 hr
Run; 1 hr 5 mins
Monday; Ireland
Tuesday; Travelling
Wednesday; Commute
Run, 5 km, 20 mins
Thursday; Commute
Saddle, 20 km, 45 mins
Friday; Commute
Saturday; Run, 7km, 45 mins.
Sunday; Saddle, 25 km, 1 hr
OK, so, the story with the running on Saturday... I was going well enough, keeping my normal slow crap pace, when my right knee cramped up. I'm not sure if it was a tendon or ligament, but something cramped and wouldn't straighten out for love nor stretching. I probably spent a good 15 mins of that run trying to stretch it out and eventually got bored and just ran home slowly on it.
I was unsure of whether or not it would turn out to be bad news, but said I'd give the bike a go today. Fortunately, the movement seems to have loosened it up, which is good. I went north again, towards my favourite 12% sprint uphill. Decided to cut my losses once I got to the top (one go this time, I'm happy :) ) and turned around for home.
On the way down, I topped out at 48.6 km/hr, which, by my rough calculations and crude assumption of a wheel diameter of 700mm, gives a max cadence of around 140 rpm. Which I find kinda impressive. Now, I was gripping the handlebars to pull myself back down, cos I have terrible technique so I bounce up and down, but still! I think I can do about 100 comfortably (35 km/hr), which isn't too bad. That'd be my normal tipping along pace, which bodes well for further training.
I was wondering during the week why my weight has been so reluctant to drop that much (currently at 62, which is a bit over my target (59/60). However, a quick thought to what I was doing last Summer helps; each week I was doing at least 150 km, including 100 km of commuting. The numbers are starting to come back up, but it won't be till I get my bike with gears that I extend the distances. I'm quite conscious of overtraining on the fixie; knee damage is not where I want to be.
Finally, a piece of news; I got in contact with a rifle club in the town over from here, and I'm heading out there this Friday to have a look at the facilities and see if they like me.. Whoever gets assigned to showing me around will have the misfortune of experiencing my oh-so-wonderful German. Which will be interesting :P I'm looking forward to it. I've been out of it for far too long at this point. Comebacks always have worked well for me, though...
So, may as well crack into the numbers;
Distances;
Saddle; 45 km
Commute; 19 km
Run; 12 km
Times;
Saddle; 1 hr, 45 mins
Commute; 1 hr
Run; 1 hr 5 mins
Monday; Ireland
Tuesday; Travelling
Wednesday; Commute
Run, 5 km, 20 mins
Thursday; Commute
Saddle, 20 km, 45 mins
Friday; Commute
Saturday; Run, 7km, 45 mins.
Sunday; Saddle, 25 km, 1 hr
OK, so, the story with the running on Saturday... I was going well enough, keeping my normal slow crap pace, when my right knee cramped up. I'm not sure if it was a tendon or ligament, but something cramped and wouldn't straighten out for love nor stretching. I probably spent a good 15 mins of that run trying to stretch it out and eventually got bored and just ran home slowly on it.
I was unsure of whether or not it would turn out to be bad news, but said I'd give the bike a go today. Fortunately, the movement seems to have loosened it up, which is good. I went north again, towards my favourite 12% sprint uphill. Decided to cut my losses once I got to the top (one go this time, I'm happy :) ) and turned around for home.
On the way down, I topped out at 48.6 km/hr, which, by my rough calculations and crude assumption of a wheel diameter of 700mm, gives a max cadence of around 140 rpm. Which I find kinda impressive. Now, I was gripping the handlebars to pull myself back down, cos I have terrible technique so I bounce up and down, but still! I think I can do about 100 comfortably (35 km/hr), which isn't too bad. That'd be my normal tipping along pace, which bodes well for further training.
I was wondering during the week why my weight has been so reluctant to drop that much (currently at 62, which is a bit over my target (59/60). However, a quick thought to what I was doing last Summer helps; each week I was doing at least 150 km, including 100 km of commuting. The numbers are starting to come back up, but it won't be till I get my bike with gears that I extend the distances. I'm quite conscious of overtraining on the fixie; knee damage is not where I want to be.
Finally, a piece of news; I got in contact with a rifle club in the town over from here, and I'm heading out there this Friday to have a look at the facilities and see if they like me.. Whoever gets assigned to showing me around will have the misfortune of experiencing my oh-so-wonderful German. Which will be interesting :P I'm looking forward to it. I've been out of it for far too long at this point. Comebacks always have worked well for me, though...
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows
OK, I lied. Just sunshine. But it is pretty nice. Got out yesterday in just a short-sleeve jersey. I got my new merino arm-warmers as well, and decided to try them out; that was a stupid idea :D
Anyway, not to dwell, just said I'd post up that things are actually going well this week with sessions being completed, even in the shortness of the week. I had a bit of a hammerfest home last night while being drafted by another cyclist. Trying to pull away really kept me going :P Settling in behind him for the final stroll home was nice, though, and very welcome!
More from the week on Sunday, with some accurate numbers this time!
Anyway, not to dwell, just said I'd post up that things are actually going well this week with sessions being completed, even in the shortness of the week. I had a bit of a hammerfest home last night while being drafted by another cyclist. Trying to pull away really kept me going :P Settling in behind him for the final stroll home was nice, though, and very welcome!
More from the week on Sunday, with some accurate numbers this time!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Weekly Summary
Yeah, this week kinda sucked so far as getting anything done was concerned :D Last weekend knackered me out, so I wasn't on form for most of this week; a combination of stiff legs and being generally tired didn't help. Also, I gave a little more focus to work this week, which ate into the daylight available. And no, the lights still haven't arrived. Great deal or not, I know one shop I won't be going back to for some time...
Unfortunately, I didn't get in any running this week. The legs just weren't up to it. This means that I'm going to have a tough time getting going on it again next week. That said, the time off could be good for me, and it's not like I've just been sitting around. Total saddle time for the week was two hours, distance 40 km.
The week culminated in a 15 km cycle on Friday morning, which turned into a hammerfest once I got outside Garching. It was basically a straight run through Ismanning and back. Almost totally flat, just one lump over a bridge and that was about it. On the way back, I kept the speed above 30 km/hr, topping out at around 38. I haven't gotten the rhythm quite right in a while to get a faster pace than this. As a test, I tried really going for it on a one km stretch when I was close to home. Kept it above 35 all the way through it, which I was happy with. Now it's just doing a few of these together for an hour...
Next week shall be better. Next week is always better :D
Unfortunately, I didn't get in any running this week. The legs just weren't up to it. This means that I'm going to have a tough time getting going on it again next week. That said, the time off could be good for me, and it's not like I've just been sitting around. Total saddle time for the week was two hours, distance 40 km.
The week culminated in a 15 km cycle on Friday morning, which turned into a hammerfest once I got outside Garching. It was basically a straight run through Ismanning and back. Almost totally flat, just one lump over a bridge and that was about it. On the way back, I kept the speed above 30 km/hr, topping out at around 38. I haven't gotten the rhythm quite right in a while to get a faster pace than this. As a test, I tried really going for it on a one km stretch when I was close to home. Kept it above 35 all the way through it, which I was happy with. Now it's just doing a few of these together for an hour...
Next week shall be better. Next week is always better :D
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