Mark's Training

I could start by apologising for my lack of Blog but there is little to excuse it.

Instead I'll update anyone interested enough to read my ramblings in as short a time as possible, if possible.

Like all my fellow riders I willingly agreed to have a go at the Maratona perhaps without realising the true extent of the challenge ahead and the training involved.

It's true I'd been off the bike for a year (except the odd ride to work) for nearly a year and was overweight by my standard. In fact I'd never been 12stone 4lbs in my whole life and was beginning to feel the effects of carrying the excess on my rather diminutive 5ft 7in stature.

In previous years my fighting weight (in cycle terms) had been 11st 2-4lbs (71-72kg) so it was going to take some effort to get back in shape.

My first hurdle was that of motivation. You could say the event and the charity side should be motivation enough, but in my case it was more mental.

Not only had I fallen out of love with cycling, but I was also busy with a house extension and the pressures (probably of my own making) of getting a new kitchen and heating system installed.

After a handful of training rides came the first bike test with Garry Palmer which came to prove I was in worse condition than I thought. In some ways this made me feel worse about myself as I knew how good I was before and that was without a proper training schedule.

First Test Results;

Weight 76.8kg

Body Fat 20.6%

Power to Weight Ratio 3.53 Watts/kg

In summary I didn't even finish the first part of the test as I'd already gone anaerobic early on and my recovery heart rate was also poor. It showed my lack of overall fitness.

The only light at the end of the tunnel was my peak power at 271 Watts and my usual stubbornness to keep going.

Garry set me on a path of endurance training that I really struggled with and as winter came I also struggled to get out on the bike with the additional burden of getting the new underfloor heating going.

Come Christmas I'd managed to get the bulk of the new kitchen complete and the heating up and running well. The downside was I'd not lost any weight and it was getting me down. Even SJ was beginning to despair about my lack of progress. In the end it was probably his persistence (which I'm thankful for), positive slant on my untapped ability and the Mad March Hare sportive that got me going again.

The Mad March Hare;
Out of all the sportives I've done I was probably the most unprepared. The endurance training was starting to go better, but I'd done very little hill work, or distance. I'd also put some pressure on myself to get round, after all I was a veteran sportive rider.
In the end I'd surprised myself. Due to the weather conditions it quickly became a test of mental and physical endurance that I shared with Simon Dane. Even the added challenges of Simon's broken chain, an extra 5miles with an additional 12% climb, and pushing Simon for the last mile after his chain finally gave up didn't stop us.
I admit I struggled with some of the climbs, but none defeated me and neither did the weather. For that I was happy and gave me the spur I needed.


Second Test Results (27th April 2012);
My main goal for the test was, "could I make 4Watts/Kg".
This was the target by which Garry Palmer gauged that we would be capable of completing the Sportive rides comfortably, anything would be a bonus.
I wasn't feeling great, I'd had toothache all week with an abscess and I was on antibiotics. This did show a little in my stiff legs, the turbo fitness test traces and my recovery not being as good as it could, but the overall result were encouraging;

Weight 73.5kg (Approx 11st 7.5lbs)

Body Fat 17%

Power to Weight Ratio 4.01 Watts/kg

Max Power 295 Watts.

Have to say I was a little gutted a fell short of 300Watts, but I was please to hit target even though I was on the ragged edge to get there.

The results showed although I'd gained 0.1kg of muscle I'd rid myself of 3.2Kg of fat in the 4 months since Christmas. Looking at it in another way that's 800grams or 4/5ths of a bag of sugar every month.

Just need to loose another 4lbs to be back at my old fighting weight, although this may be difficult to achieve in the time we have left.