Since the year is drawing to a close, I thought I'd do a quick wrap up of things that I learned or found useful over the course of the past year. Many things have changed, but it's all starting to settle back down now. So, for cycling, running and shooting, here we go.
#1 Shooting ability doesn't really seem to decline over time. OTOH, it also doesn't improve, so time not training is still time lost, but it's not counter productive as such.
#2 Running fitness comes and goes rather quickly. However, it is possible to shorten the come-back time through keeping a high training level when I do train. Keeping up cycling at the same time also keeps my base fitness high, so returning to running isn't so bad.
#3 Stretching is the most amazing thing in the world to do regularly. It keeps away injury, and, well, mostly that. This then allows for a high training load.
#4 I need to eat a lot of food when I do regular training. With around 200 km a week, I more or less couldn't get enough food into me to maintain weight. Diet will need to be addressed next year.
#5 I have a pretty measly power output. However, my low weight means I can climb reasonably well. I'd like to focus more on this. Also, my small size may be of some benefit in time trialling, though my power is quite low for that. This is also something I'd like to do a bit more of.
#6 Touring is a lot of fun. I've only done a short bit, but long distance is what I like. The easiest way to do that is with some luggage strapped on!
#7 Shooting is still my favourite sport. Even after a year of not really shooting, I still loved getting back into it. Making plans for next year has been a lot of fun recently.
#8 Proper kit and a good bike set up are incredibly important for long days in the saddle. Anything else leads to pain, which could end up costing a lot more money and time to sort out.
#9 Planning and goals are rather important. I had nothing to focus on for the year, due to work plans being all over the place, so I wasn't particularly driven to do anything. That's already changed for next year. Planning week by week and month by month should yield good results, especially as I've never done this properly before.
#10 Some things are more important than sport. It's a hard one to take, but sometimes it just doesn't quite work out. Really, it has to be pretty low on the priority list. Which leads us back to the planning. A session without a goal is wasted, as far as training is concerned. Making the most of what time you know you have is incredibly important.
So that's about it. Ten things I've learned this year. There may have been some more specific stuff, but I'm sure it's not that important :P It's been a rather relaxed year for me, certainly in terms of shooting. Next year, I hope will be rather different, now that I've found my feet somewhat. Hopefully this post will have some less basic lessons when I write it again in a year!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Party Time
I've been musing a lot lately about shooting in Germany. I have come across this place, which I already knew about, but wasn't aware that it was in the middle of the city!
So, after some brief looks, I have come to the following conlcusions;
Giggidy
Giggidy
Giggidy
Ouch.
75% giggidy is pretty good. The rifles appear to more or less be factory prices, which I can well live with. Also, since air rifles are unrestricted, I can walk in and take one home once I get back over there. Which will greatly bolster efforts. Ammo seems to be rather pricey, but I can probably source that from somewhere else.
Let's roll.
So, after some brief looks, I have come to the following conlcusions;
Giggidy
Giggidy
Giggidy
Ouch.
75% giggidy is pretty good. The rifles appear to more or less be factory prices, which I can well live with. Also, since air rifles are unrestricted, I can walk in and take one home once I get back over there. Which will greatly bolster efforts. Ammo seems to be rather pricey, but I can probably source that from somewhere else.
Let's roll.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Salzburg trip
I've been meaning to write this since I got back, but haven't really been bothered :D I've been working rather late these past few weeks so it's been home, food, vegitate, food, sleep. A little training, no writing, nothing :( OK, so there was a trip back to Ireland thrown in there, that was kinda fun :D
This trip was something that I'd been meaning to do all Summer, but just never got around to for several reasons, the main one being lack of a touring bag. It only arrived at the start of September and I've actually been somewhat booked out on my weekends since then. I was originally going to make it a three day trip; down Friday, cycle around the mountains Saturday and head back on the Sunday. With that in mind and most of my time off for the year taken, I decided to leave it til next year.
Of course, I got bored. I have terrible problems sticking to plans, as I'm sure you're all aware, so I said fcuk it on the Wednesday, booked the hostel on the Thursday, plotted the route on the Friday and spent the weekend cycling :)
I plotted two pretty easy routes. I was kinda half thinking of some proper climbs, but they all involved a trip length of 180 or so km, so that was out. I didn't fancy 11 hours or so on the bike on either day! Looking back, I'm damn glad I went with what I did 'cos it was tough enough as it was! A few of the hills on the way back were over 10% in sections, and when one is a few kilos heavier than normal, with a few more hanging off the back, this becomes something of an issue.
I'm feeling too lazy to post up photos here, but they're already on my facebook page here (public access). Some are rather nice, some are just my crap sense of humor :D This post was originally intended to be a lot longer, but it's been ages since I started it and I can't remember most of it...
Anyway, figures from the weekend, to distract from my lazyness;
Total Distance; 293 km
Time; 13 hrs, 10 mins
Average HR; 163 bpm
Max HR; 201 bpm
Average Speed; 22.3 km/hr
Max Speed; 64.7 km/hr (new record)
Average Cadence; 84 rpm
Height Gained; 2687 m *this is as measured by the Garmin, it may or may not be that accurate...
So, I've gotten my touring off to a good start. This is the base from which I will plan Operation M, starting next year. I will detail more of this in time to come :)
Later!
This trip was something that I'd been meaning to do all Summer, but just never got around to for several reasons, the main one being lack of a touring bag. It only arrived at the start of September and I've actually been somewhat booked out on my weekends since then. I was originally going to make it a three day trip; down Friday, cycle around the mountains Saturday and head back on the Sunday. With that in mind and most of my time off for the year taken, I decided to leave it til next year.
Of course, I got bored. I have terrible problems sticking to plans, as I'm sure you're all aware, so I said fcuk it on the Wednesday, booked the hostel on the Thursday, plotted the route on the Friday and spent the weekend cycling :)
I plotted two pretty easy routes. I was kinda half thinking of some proper climbs, but they all involved a trip length of 180 or so km, so that was out. I didn't fancy 11 hours or so on the bike on either day! Looking back, I'm damn glad I went with what I did 'cos it was tough enough as it was! A few of the hills on the way back were over 10% in sections, and when one is a few kilos heavier than normal, with a few more hanging off the back, this becomes something of an issue.
I'm feeling too lazy to post up photos here, but they're already on my facebook page here (public access). Some are rather nice, some are just my crap sense of humor :D This post was originally intended to be a lot longer, but it's been ages since I started it and I can't remember most of it...
Anyway, figures from the weekend, to distract from my lazyness;
Total Distance; 293 km
Time; 13 hrs, 10 mins
Average HR; 163 bpm
Max HR; 201 bpm
Average Speed; 22.3 km/hr
Max Speed; 64.7 km/hr (new record)
Average Cadence; 84 rpm
Height Gained; 2687 m *this is as measured by the Garmin, it may or may not be that accurate...
So, I've gotten my touring off to a good start. This is the base from which I will plan Operation M, starting next year. I will detail more of this in time to come :)
Later!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Back on the line
I have finally, after a year of arsing about, joined a rifle club over here. My German has improved to the point that I can get by on the range and a little bit in the more social settings, so it should be all good :)
Now, due to this, I have decided to be an idiot and sent in my Expression of Interest in three disciplines over two matches; air, prone and 3p in Munich, and prone and 3p in Belgrade for the European Championships. The enormity of the task has not bypassed me; I am well aware that I have to get back to previous levels and well surpass them in all disciplines. I think the most ground can be easily made up in air rifle (and also standing in 3p), but there's a lot of room for improvement in prone as well.
So, opportunities and challenges.
Challenge; I've been a lazy git and not trained properly in a year. This doesn't seem to have massively affected my scores, but it's a year of no training and hence no progression.
Opportunity; Air rifles require no license in Germany; I should be able to keep one in a locked case in my wardrobe (which would probably make it one of the more secure airguns in the country...). This allows almost daily dry firing at home, mainly in standing, but prone and kneeling should also be well doable. I need to check transportation issues, however.
Challenge; I need to up my pb by 10 points in prone, 35 in air rifle and a whopping 100 in 3p. Now, the latter is based on my one 3x40 match from a few years ago, so it may not be that bad any more.
Opportunity; I have a fair bit of wiggle room in prone. My scores were on the up before I started messing with stuff at the end of last year. I'm hoping I can pick up from there.
Air rifle has always been my weak point. For whatever reason, consistency was a big issue for me. This was, however, starting to recede towards the end of last year with some excellent training scores. The issue with non standard target heights should not exist here.
In the case of 3p, it could be very hit and miss. There's massive room for improvement in the standing, which should be helped along by air rifle. My kneeling is naturally pretty decent, so a little work there should up the scores a nice bit.
What do I need;
Regular training. I can do two days a week of air rifle with no issues, but the prone requires me to be at the range early. This is a problem as it's at least 90 mins from desk to range, and I normally have to work til 6 or so. Prone stops at 20.30, and it's hard to get a spot unless one is there early.
To get my head well into the game.
Kitwise; pants and boots, of which I currently have neither and it's wrecking my back. Maybe also frames (the old ones don't work with my facial geometry). Stand for air rifle and 3p.
I think I may also need rifles. Yes, plural. I'm not sure, but this is my reasoning; At the moment, I have exclusive use of an air rifle. It is, however, tiny. Too short, not high enough, not a long enough sightbase, not heavy enough. Having my own would solve these problems. Also see point above regarding licensing, or lack thereof. In the case of prone, the club has one old Supermatch. If I am serious about getting to some internationals in the next two years, my own is going to be more or less necessary, for consistency in training if nothing else. Something to mull over.
Physically, I'm in pretty decent shape. A bit porky at the moment from not getting out due to shit weather and actually being rather busy for the past while, but that's only two kilos that can easily be burned off. My endurance has increased a lot over the last year, so I suspect the length of an air rifle match or a 3x40 won't be much of a problem. I'm also stronger, which can only help. I need to work on some core fitness and strength, but that's small stuff for daily doing. When I get around to it. But that end of things is not an issue.
So, as it turns out, I've more or less put the introduction to my training plan up there. I need to work out some specific goals to lead up to a potential qualification match, or matches. And I mean potential. I have no intention of flying back to Ireland with a rifle or two and a kitbag unless I know I'm capable of hitting those scores, even if it's only on a good day.
All comments and suggestions are more than welcome. This is gonna be a hell of a task, and I have no idea how it's gonna go. It should be a decent base for the year after, but I'd like it to be more. As I am fond of saying, it should be interesting :)
Now, due to this, I have decided to be an idiot and sent in my Expression of Interest in three disciplines over two matches; air, prone and 3p in Munich, and prone and 3p in Belgrade for the European Championships. The enormity of the task has not bypassed me; I am well aware that I have to get back to previous levels and well surpass them in all disciplines. I think the most ground can be easily made up in air rifle (and also standing in 3p), but there's a lot of room for improvement in prone as well.
So, opportunities and challenges.
Challenge; I've been a lazy git and not trained properly in a year. This doesn't seem to have massively affected my scores, but it's a year of no training and hence no progression.
Opportunity; Air rifles require no license in Germany; I should be able to keep one in a locked case in my wardrobe (which would probably make it one of the more secure airguns in the country...). This allows almost daily dry firing at home, mainly in standing, but prone and kneeling should also be well doable. I need to check transportation issues, however.
Challenge; I need to up my pb by 10 points in prone, 35 in air rifle and a whopping 100 in 3p. Now, the latter is based on my one 3x40 match from a few years ago, so it may not be that bad any more.
Opportunity; I have a fair bit of wiggle room in prone. My scores were on the up before I started messing with stuff at the end of last year. I'm hoping I can pick up from there.
Air rifle has always been my weak point. For whatever reason, consistency was a big issue for me. This was, however, starting to recede towards the end of last year with some excellent training scores. The issue with non standard target heights should not exist here.
In the case of 3p, it could be very hit and miss. There's massive room for improvement in the standing, which should be helped along by air rifle. My kneeling is naturally pretty decent, so a little work there should up the scores a nice bit.
What do I need;
Regular training. I can do two days a week of air rifle with no issues, but the prone requires me to be at the range early. This is a problem as it's at least 90 mins from desk to range, and I normally have to work til 6 or so. Prone stops at 20.30, and it's hard to get a spot unless one is there early.
To get my head well into the game.
Kitwise; pants and boots, of which I currently have neither and it's wrecking my back. Maybe also frames (the old ones don't work with my facial geometry). Stand for air rifle and 3p.
I think I may also need rifles. Yes, plural. I'm not sure, but this is my reasoning; At the moment, I have exclusive use of an air rifle. It is, however, tiny. Too short, not high enough, not a long enough sightbase, not heavy enough. Having my own would solve these problems. Also see point above regarding licensing, or lack thereof. In the case of prone, the club has one old Supermatch. If I am serious about getting to some internationals in the next two years, my own is going to be more or less necessary, for consistency in training if nothing else. Something to mull over.
Physically, I'm in pretty decent shape. A bit porky at the moment from not getting out due to shit weather and actually being rather busy for the past while, but that's only two kilos that can easily be burned off. My endurance has increased a lot over the last year, so I suspect the length of an air rifle match or a 3x40 won't be much of a problem. I'm also stronger, which can only help. I need to work on some core fitness and strength, but that's small stuff for daily doing. When I get around to it. But that end of things is not an issue.
So, as it turns out, I've more or less put the introduction to my training plan up there. I need to work out some specific goals to lead up to a potential qualification match, or matches. And I mean potential. I have no intention of flying back to Ireland with a rifle or two and a kitbag unless I know I'm capable of hitting those scores, even if it's only on a good day.
All comments and suggestions are more than welcome. This is gonna be a hell of a task, and I have no idea how it's gonna go. It should be a decent base for the year after, but I'd like it to be more. As I am fond of saying, it should be interesting :)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Lights, camera...
*Note - this has been sitting unfinished for a while. Hence the out of dateness :(
I've just tipped up over the 3000 km mark today :) A slight detour (i.e. missing a turn) sent me on a 65 km jaunt across Munich.
Getting slightly lost in a forest on the outskirts gave me a pretty good chance to test my new front light, a Fenix TK11. Verdict; a pretty good light, certainly excellent for the money. It's plenty bright for the cycle paths and for road use. As a rough estimate, it gives off a bit more than a dimmed car headlight. For extended riding, something a bit more powerful would probably be nice, but I can't see myself doing the Race Around Ireland just yet :D
Including two batteries, the charger and two mounts, the full set up was about as cheap as I could get for a decent power light. It'll serve well, and maybe get upgraded to something brighter in a few years. Though that's big money there, well over €250, so a serious investment if I really need it... I've also added two smaller USB chargeable lights to the arsenal. I'm gonna put up some pics of the lights and what they can do once my camera decides to start working again. It's pretty impressive overall :D But I think the rear needs a good powerful one, there's a distinct lack of glow from there...
I've just tipped up over the 3000 km mark today :) A slight detour (i.e. missing a turn) sent me on a 65 km jaunt across Munich.
Getting slightly lost in a forest on the outskirts gave me a pretty good chance to test my new front light, a Fenix TK11. Verdict; a pretty good light, certainly excellent for the money. It's plenty bright for the cycle paths and for road use. As a rough estimate, it gives off a bit more than a dimmed car headlight. For extended riding, something a bit more powerful would probably be nice, but I can't see myself doing the Race Around Ireland just yet :D
Including two batteries, the charger and two mounts, the full set up was about as cheap as I could get for a decent power light. It'll serve well, and maybe get upgraded to something brighter in a few years. Though that's big money there, well over €250, so a serious investment if I really need it... I've also added two smaller USB chargeable lights to the arsenal. I'm gonna put up some pics of the lights and what they can do once my camera decides to start working again. It's pretty impressive overall :D But I think the rear needs a good powerful one, there's a distinct lack of glow from there...
Distance = Speed*Time
Looking back through my history from over the Summer I'm noticing something interesting. My current top speed is just over 60 km/hr, which I hit about a month ago. It's not terribly fast, but it's half decent. Last night I went training on my fixie. It was the first time in a while, but the road bike needed some tweaking before being let out. The top speed was 49.3 km/hr. This was done on the flat, in a relatively low gear, and sustained for a few seconds. On a fixie. My descending needs to improve greatly :D
On a similar line, I'm currently north of 3300 km for the yearly distance so far, with a few longer spins planned. I should hit the 4000 km mark with a few weekend spins before it gets too nasty to cycle. I think 5000 is out of the question, but that's not terrible given that I started in March and spent a lot of time finding my legs. Time to start on distance targets for next year, I think :) 10,000 sounds like a nice round number... If I'm living in Munich and commuting out to Garching next year I should top 5000 km in just commuting. Add to that my plans for audax and it's looking pretty decent :)
Numbers from my road bike (I have the Garmin on that, so everything gets recorded);
Total distance (so far) - 820 km (2400 on the fixie makes up most of my distance!)
Total time - 38 hours
Average speed - 21.6 km/hr
Max speed - 60.2 km/hr
Av heart rate - 160 bpm
Max heart rate - 201 bpm
Longest day - 141 km in 6 hours 20 mins
Not a bad first year so far. Next year will be better :)
On a similar line, I'm currently north of 3300 km for the yearly distance so far, with a few longer spins planned. I should hit the 4000 km mark with a few weekend spins before it gets too nasty to cycle. I think 5000 is out of the question, but that's not terrible given that I started in March and spent a lot of time finding my legs. Time to start on distance targets for next year, I think :) 10,000 sounds like a nice round number... If I'm living in Munich and commuting out to Garching next year I should top 5000 km in just commuting. Add to that my plans for audax and it's looking pretty decent :)
Numbers from my road bike (I have the Garmin on that, so everything gets recorded);
Total distance (so far) - 820 km (2400 on the fixie makes up most of my distance!)
Total time - 38 hours
Average speed - 21.6 km/hr
Max speed - 60.2 km/hr
Av heart rate - 160 bpm
Max heart rate - 201 bpm
Longest day - 141 km in 6 hours 20 mins
Not a bad first year so far. Next year will be better :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Some musing..
..for a change. Typically I've dealt with results here and maybe some vague planning, but never much in the way of thinking about it. However, that's about to change.
I am currently in the situation that I actually know where I'm going to be for the next three years. While this sounds somewhat restricting, for me it is in fact rather liberating. t means that I can plan for longer term things, such as touring, training, holidays, etc. So, the question that I'm currently pondering is what to do with limited time resources to maximise what I can see on my bikes. I'll hopefully deal with shooting in a separate post, so those of you not interesting in cycling can look away now :D
Given my location in the middle of Europe, there are many options available to me. In general, the choices that appeal to me are:
touring; multi-day and long distance. Probably reasonably light, and should allow me to see a lot of different things;
Racing; this would be a lot of fun. However, it requires being a member of a club and learning a lot of etiquette, techniques and generally speaking in German, which isn't the best at the moment...
Audax; similar to touring, but long continuous distances, probably again with some light kit, but without having to think of a tent, sleeping bag etc.
Right now, the most appealing is the audax. Touring requires a large time investment for the same distance, though would be a lot easier to do. Audax, while challenging in terms of being on the bike for 22 hours in a given day, would be much more rewarding in terms of distance covered and where I could go. There are some places that are quite close, such as Salzberg (130 km), which are easy to get to. There are also some slightly further away places, such as Prague (350 km) and then there are some quite far away places such as Berlin (630 km). This is something that I think I would quite enjoy as it would allow me to leave after work on a Thursday or something and arrive at a city sometime on the Friday to enjoy it that night and the Saturday and then take a leisurely train home on the Sunday.
Right now, Salzberg should be pretty easy to do. I think nothing of heading out on a Sunday morning for a 120 km spin at a decent pace, with climbing involved, so if my only concern was getting there, I'd have no issues. When I introduce time constraints, and the possibility of cycling back the next day, it becomes a different story, but should still be quite doable.
The last issue which arises is what kind of training to do over the Winter. Each of the above situations will require slightly different approaches, apparently, so I'll have to start deciding now on what to do. Unfortunately, I know nothing. This shall have to be rectified. I also need to learn how to stick to a plan, so we'll see how that goes. This is all dependent on work not leaving me home after dark and half asleep, of course. Hrm.
I am currently in the situation that I actually know where I'm going to be for the next three years. While this sounds somewhat restricting, for me it is in fact rather liberating. t means that I can plan for longer term things, such as touring, training, holidays, etc. So, the question that I'm currently pondering is what to do with limited time resources to maximise what I can see on my bikes. I'll hopefully deal with shooting in a separate post, so those of you not interesting in cycling can look away now :D
Given my location in the middle of Europe, there are many options available to me. In general, the choices that appeal to me are:
touring; multi-day and long distance. Probably reasonably light, and should allow me to see a lot of different things;
Racing; this would be a lot of fun. However, it requires being a member of a club and learning a lot of etiquette, techniques and generally speaking in German, which isn't the best at the moment...
Audax; similar to touring, but long continuous distances, probably again with some light kit, but without having to think of a tent, sleeping bag etc.
Right now, the most appealing is the audax. Touring requires a large time investment for the same distance, though would be a lot easier to do. Audax, while challenging in terms of being on the bike for 22 hours in a given day, would be much more rewarding in terms of distance covered and where I could go. There are some places that are quite close, such as Salzberg (130 km), which are easy to get to. There are also some slightly further away places, such as Prague (350 km) and then there are some quite far away places such as Berlin (630 km). This is something that I think I would quite enjoy as it would allow me to leave after work on a Thursday or something and arrive at a city sometime on the Friday to enjoy it that night and the Saturday and then take a leisurely train home on the Sunday.
Right now, Salzberg should be pretty easy to do. I think nothing of heading out on a Sunday morning for a 120 km spin at a decent pace, with climbing involved, so if my only concern was getting there, I'd have no issues. When I introduce time constraints, and the possibility of cycling back the next day, it becomes a different story, but should still be quite doable.
The last issue which arises is what kind of training to do over the Winter. Each of the above situations will require slightly different approaches, apparently, so I'll have to start deciding now on what to do. Unfortunately, I know nothing. This shall have to be rectified. I also need to learn how to stick to a plan, so we'll see how that goes. This is all dependent on work not leaving me home after dark and half asleep, of course. Hrm.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)