Weight loss – 5.2kg in one week!

The problem is that the advice is to do things that I have already tried, or am not able to do. ‘Eat sensibly and ride for fun’ is what I was doing for years and years, and I was not a fast racer then.

I’ve tried to explain this to people, and why I do what I do, but I seem to be ignored; instead I’m being made out to be some kind of whining excuse making skiver who can’t be bothered to put the effort in and wants to blame something else for failure.

I’ve never tried to blame anything or anyone else, all I’m trying to do is point out exactly what I’ve learned about myself both physically and mentally during the whole training project.
IMO you have identified that you are a sprinter with your type 2 muscle fibre and chunky thighs yet are now trying to turn this package into an endurance racer making use of the aerobic system as opposed to the sprinter’s anaerobic (“an” means without). This is not going to happen over night.
equally a bit of sugar here and a bit of sugar there isn’t going to help either, but you say this isn’t having an effect. Without a comprehensive food diary, I have to take your word..
I will repeat, there is lots of good advice and perhaps you could start keeping a diary of the food you’re eating and the exercise you’re doing, sorry bud but I don’t think it can be considered as training yet.
Fair play, judging by this thread you’re not short on stamina.

I don’t see it that way. I’m not goal orientated like that anyway.

That’s your main problem here.
I want to be a prop forward, I don’t think it’s going to happen though so I’ll just content myself being a racing snake. 😀

So why not set yourself a goal of finishing in the top 20% for your first race?

In the Blenheim Tri. I finished in the top 4%. I was 10 mins off the pace of winning against normal people. 20 mins off the Brownlees. My aim for my next race is to stay in the top 5%. Training to win would be insane and would be training to fail.

I’m not goal orientated like that anyway.

doesn’t help when you want to loose weight

You’re yet to enter a race, yet you’ve set winning as your aim. Just enter a race, enjoy the satisfaction of finishing. See where you come against your peers… then aim on improving.

It’s what I’d do. It’s what I do.

+1. I’ve now scooped cat 3 in my 1st season of racing but haven’t won anything (yet!). Whilst there’s nothing wrong with an aim of winning, setting realistic goals to get there need to be a priority. Yes I want to win but i have so much to learn and my lack of experience is holding me back from winning. Work out from the races you do what you need to work on to improve, and set aside sessions specifically to work on your weaknesses. Its taken me 10 weeks of hard training to get this far and a lot of WTFU riding in torrential downpours when i’m knackered. 10 weeks ago i sat down with my coach and agreed my goals for the season: cat 3 and finish top 10 in races. He wants me to win, and I do too, but its not that realistic yet, esp when i’m up against pro riders and world champ sprinters who have way more experience and bike handling skills than i do. Enter as many races as you can do, set out which ones you want to prioritise and which are hard training sessions. I’m going into weekly crits tired with training in my legs but come a priority race with a taper and rest, i’ll be flying after racing when tired! Do the same.

dirtygirl, when you’re famous… can you wear a jersey that has #specialguys on it?

I’ve got a crush on dirtygirlonabike.

wow, your training schedule is amazing!

I used to get top20% positions in mtb races. I knew no matter how hard I trained I never get top5% let alone win.

I used to get top 10% running xc 10k, I’d finish a nip over 40min. I knew no matter how hard I trained I’d never get top5% let alone win.

There is just no way on this planet I’m ever going to take a minute off every mile for six miles. it would be totally unrealistic and a delusional to think it would happen.

sorry bud but I don’t think it can be considered as training yet

It’s training if it’s riding to improve fitness. Doesn’t matter how much or how good you are.

So why not set yourself a goal of finishing in the top 20% for your first race?

Cos it’s pointless. Would my training programme be any different? If I got to the top 20% position would I slow down and not go any faster? The idea of an arbitrary goal does nothing for me.

Training to win would be insane and would be training to fail.

I understand that people are faster than me, but I’ve got no idea who they are or if they’ll enter any races I do. So to me, training to win is the same as training to be top 20% or whatever. It’s just training.

I’ll devote the time I can spare to training, and that’ll get me where it gets me. When I’m consistently training I improve, and if I consistently train for a long time and plateau, then I’ll re-asses. I’ve not managed to get to that point yet.

When I race, I consider it a successful race if:

1) I feel good and fast all race long and don’t fade
2) I place higher than previously
3) I don’t get fed up half way through and think ‘this is shit’ which is related to 1) and 2)

Mol – I suppose you’ve created an image of yourself pounding the pavements, scrutinising your diet and analysing the powertap with this unwavering appetite for victory… with the extra detail of your last post you come across as far less of a clown… which I’ve always known you’re not.

dirtygirl, when you’re famous… can you wear a jersey that has #specialguys on it?

yes, yes phil i will. 😀

I’ve got a crush on dirtygirlonabike. wow, your training schedule is amazing

Sssshuuh. Yeti will get jealous 😉

I’m seriously impressed with my coach and his training plan for me, and how far he has brought me on. It took me a while to settle in but i now trust him to get me there. Its bloody hard work but i’d not have it any other way now! On the flip side, i had a rubbish race last night, my legs were dead from my ride on tuesday and i got dropped, chased back on, got dropped again. I’ve got a long way to go yet!

1) I feel good and fast all race long and don’t fade
2) I place higher than previously
3) I don’t get fed up half way through and think ‘this is shit’ which is related to 1) and 2)

learn how to pace yourself and how deep into the red you can go and get away with, and fuel properly too.

Loved Matt_bl’s post esp.

You cannot control who enters a race and so you have no control over the result.

with the extra detail of your last post you come across as far less of a clown

Thanks, I never thought my approach was particularly unreasonable! If my appetite for victory was unwavering then I’d have done far better than I have done, cos I’d have been more consistent. My appetite wavers a lot.

In fact, if I really was unwavering I’d have been a 200m sprinter. I decided when I was 16 that I didn’t want it enough to go through the trauma of races. Plus I didn’t think I had the natural talent my Mum did. On reflection this was possibly a red herring, because success is a function of initial talent and adaption to training, and I think I do adapt pretty well when I knuckle down to it.

and fuel properly too.

You don’t mean… carbs during rides, do you? NOOOOOOO!!!!!! You’ll have officer TJ busting your ass.

Sorry to get all Dr Freud…

Do you feel that your parents had a realistic notion of how good you could be at sport, academia… whatever?

I ask, becuase I felt from very early on in this thread that your parents probably were very positive and supporting of what you wanted to do.

Plus I didn’t think I had the natural talent my Mum did. On reflection this was possibly a red herring, because success is a function of initial talent and adaption to training, and I think I do adapt pretty well when I knuckle down to it.

Y’know, I’ve been on the start line of a good few 5 and 10k races in the past
I’ve stood there next to top club and national athletes and thought ” how the **** can he run 10K 12 minutes faster than me?” – he has 2 arms, 2 legs, 1 head, just the same as me
Then you look closer and realise that the bits that matter aren’t the same at all, bigger, longer springs and all that.
Very little to do with talent IMO, it’s 80% genetics

They were, yes. My Mum is insanely competitive (you think I’m bad…) and was a very talented sprinter. However she’s also a massive worrier and was probably terrified of pushing me to do the same stuff she did. So when I said I wasn’t interested in the competition she didn’t try and dissuade me. I probably should have been dissuaded though…

I went to a rural school in Herefordshire which was full of grass chewing oo-arring yokels who weren’t interested in doing anything competitive, and this rubbed off on me. Several years after I left though it rubbed back off.

Very little to do with talent IMO, it’s 80% genetics

Talent = genetics, surely?

Very little to do with talent IMO, it’s 80% genetics

i like your style… that’s what i’m blaming 🙂

Ahhh… Mol – I think you’re awesome too. How about a bike ride sometime?

I am thinking of going to Cwmcarn on sunday morning, but that is where we went last time 🙂

There is just no way on this planet I’m ever going to take a minute off every mile for six miles. it would be totally unrealistic and a delusional to think it would happen.

Thats not true. My first miles where a struggle at 10 min mile pace to string 5 of them together, After a lot of training I was stringing 4 at under 5 min pace and 5 a smidgen over.
Its impossible to say how fast you can get too if you dont make the effort in the first place.

Talent = genetics, surely?

Don’t entirely agree
Identical twins next door, one’s a great runner, the other average
They both have the same genetics, one has more talent/drive etc than the other

Yep.

Although I think genetics has a bigger part in running than cycling. After all, as a ‘bigger’ cyclist I have disadvantages but also advantages. I’m a lot more powerful than most which means on the flat I keep up with riders who post very quick laps. They just disappear on the climbs. I’ve also got a pretty good burst of speed so I always do well sprinting to get into singletrack before someone else. I can play to my strengths, and flatter courses suit me way better.

I don’t think you get much choice in distance running do you?

They both have the same genetics, one has more talent/drive etc than the other

Well there’s genes, and genetic expression. Also slight differences in expression can be amplified by experience, this is why identical twins have different personalities outside of any physical performance. Watched an interesting programme about it a while ago.

But what I meant was they are both innate, and are the starting point for your training.

Then again, aptitude for training and the desire to win is also innate.. 🙂

After a lot of training I was stringing 4 at under 5 min pace and 5 a smidgen over.

See, much as I have cycling ambitions, I don’t think I could EVER run that quickly.

I’m a lot more powerful than most which means on the flat I keep up with riders who post very quick laps. They just disappear on the climbs

Just making sure you get in front of the skinny **** before you hit the climb, then make it very difficult/impossible for them to get past

Or as Juma Ikangaa said “the will to win is nothing without the will to prepare”

then make it very difficult/impossible for them to get past

Hehe.. that doesn’t go down well!

Actually that’s one thing about XC, you don’t really know who’s in your race out on the course. I once ran wide to let a load of elites through, and the last guy almost stopped as I tried to wave him through saying ‘I’m in your race!’

Good sport that man 🙂

nice to see you in a better mood discussing all this molly 😀

I once ran wide to let a load of elites through

I once caught some mates up in a race and screamed “Pro Elite coming though!”
It was great watching them dive out the way, and listening to the swearing when they’d realised 😀

Actually that’s one thing about XC, you don’t really know who’s in your race out on the course. I once ran wide to let a load of elites through, and the last guy almost stopped as I tried to wave him through saying ‘I’m in your race!’

Good sport that man

If i were him, i’d have put you into the bushes….

neither of you will ever win with that attitude

😉

I do try phil.. I just hate being misinterpreted and maligned…

neither of you will ever win with that attitude

Given where we were in the race, I don’t think a killer race attitude would have changed much 🙂

Given where we were in the race, I don’t think a killer race attitude would have changed much

I like you.. we should both enter XC races together and battle for the back of the field places.

Ok well I’ll be doing Gorricks maybe next year or so, depends how things go with the kids 🙂

its good, now CG can’t be mad at us for bullying when we wasn’t trying to bully.

do you think i should go for a ride on the road bike tomorrow morning? i’m thinking of just doing the gym and back which is just less than an hour… then i can go watch the planes at f’bro airshow with torminalis and some other friends knowing i’ve got some morning miles under my belt…

hmmmmm, i’m worried that i’m considering road bike before the mtb and its only been a week of owning it

ohhh gorricks, as in swinley?

Gorricks as in Swinley, Crowthorne, and all the other local places, yes.

how exciting, i normally avoid the woods when those races take over, but if you’re going to be there i’d come and cheer 😀

Sweet Mol… count me in for some of that… my other XC buddies have quit the racing scene and i really wanna get into it.

Phil I am expecting you to race. Weeksy you don’t need mates to do it, just enter!

From tomorrow, nobody get an easy pass on you, make it as difficult as you can for them

It’s not a tea party

Agreed Mol…. but it’s far more fun with people to do it with, even if in different classes, just the turning up, banter, before and after stuff.. it’s not a solo activity, even if the actual racing is.

Fair point.. I’ll anounce on STW when I do my next mtb race 🙂

Doing this triathlon in September, that’s about it for this year.

but i dont like racing! singletrack is to be enjoyed, i enjoy it much less when there’s pressure to do stuff at a faster speed than my flow dictates