Multi day update

day #29 – 2.5 km pool swim in 51 minutes and 30 min stroll with wombat and my daughter

day #30 – turbo session on the Wattbike for 61 minutes indicated 30.6 km at 175w average, using the wattbike app and irritatingly Wattbike have a tech issue, so myself and countless others have rides stuck in the app, that aren’t being published to the Wattbike hub and not to Strava etc, frustratingly Wattbike haven’t published acknowledgment of the issue, well not that I’ve found. Hey ho

day #31 – 2.46 km pool swim in 48 minutes, early doors session as soon as the gym opened, not done that in a while, bloody hard to get going that early. Annoying developed a shoulder injury / shooting pain late in the day –  somehow from work. Probably how I’ve been sitting and moving, but annoying.

day #32 (today I hope 17 Oct) – shoulder too sore to swim, so 30 minutes of physio exercises, then lunchtime turbo session on the Wattbike using TrainerRoad which worked well, for 60 minutes at 174w, indicated 29.7 km

for the next few days my activities will be mainly yoga / physio exercises and walking,

looking at this myself now.

has anyone got any experience of the decathlon bag mentioned somewhere near the start ?

Great work, hats off to you both @stanley @fazzini .

Day #28 – 2 mile pool swim in 66 minutes, ridiculously slow, not so much swimming as dawdling with good technique. Day 28 and I’m sure I’m getting slower.

spent the afternoon digging out and removing a eucalyptus tree trunk. It was really hard work, so I’m including it.

Day #27 – turbo session on the Wattbike for 61 minutes at 177w indicated 30.6 km, need to work on my bike stamina, finding just an hour sodding hard work. 32 minutes of the dreaded physio exercises later and I’m done.

Day #26 – woke up sore as hell and feeling super tired all morning. Was going to go outside for this challenge today, but really didn’t even feel up to doing anything at all.

So boring lunchtime pool swim which I really thought would be total rubbish, but once I got going I just kept going to 3 km in just under an hour. So that worked better than expected.

Day #25 – turbo session on the wattbike 1 hour at 179w indicated 30 km. I’m still a way off cycle fit level from just a few short years ago. Later 39 minutes of stretching and physio exercises.

@jimmy this challenge is 30mins a day, no? You’ve done that with a walk and then swam and ran. Calm it doon!

lol I’ve not run anywhere in a very long time, never mind today :) swim and a relaxing super laid back walk.

great pic of your hill run

@willard I have the cleva vacmaster fan – it’s really effective, if buying now I’d get the one with the remote control.

@scotroutes I have no clue how you can do 2 hours at z2 with a cold or not. Impressive with a cold though.

i agree with all the boredom comments re extended time on the turbo, even with Netflix, iPlayer, music, podcasts, it is just so monotonous and dull. Really effective but dull. Maybe I’ll give Zwift a go.

anyway

day #24 – lunchtime pool swim 2.74 km in 56 minutes and a post work walk with my daughter and wombat for a very sedate 30 minutes for 2 km.

nearly a quarter of the way through already. Learning from previous experience of doing this challenge, the only way I can get to 100 day’s unbroken is to quit booze entirely to give me the best chance of recovering from the constant daily load. Seems to be helping so far. Still bloody knackered though :)

Edit what is going on with the font on posts ?

Day #23 – heading into London city today, so early doors turbo session on the Wattbike, 1 hour at 170w indicated 29.7 km. that’s me for today, as by the time I get home I’ll have zero motivation to do any more.

Hats off to those of you who manage another 1/2 hour to hour after work.

Day #22 – physio exercises for 30 minutes, then lunchtime pool swim 2.82 km in 60 minutes.

Day #21 – early pool swim 3.26 km in 65 minutes, energy levels were really low, I was ducking knackered all the way through the swim. No cramps though, but no speed, no flow, zero good swimming technique, Blurgh. Still managed to get it done though so all good.

Day #20 – turbo session on the wattbike for 1 hour at 164w indicated 29 km, physio exercises and a walk with wombat.

Day #19 – pool swim 2.5 km in 50 minutes, bit boring but done. Now the dog is feeling better, should be some outside activity next week, even if it is just a gentle walk with wombat.

Last update for anyone in the same pickle on STW

i bought a secondhand wattbike Atom via one of the FB ads groups recommended above in this thread, from someone super local, had less than 16 hours use in the last 18 months.

first impressions are it is really quiet and smooth and with all the marked adjustments, it’s easy to swap between riders, its a really good bit of kit.

Like others have.said, love the pics on this thread. Best part of the thread.

@fazzini great pics, your tour looked a lot of fun and where do you get that t-shirt ?

@ton ‘s tour pics looked amazing too

never really considered doing a tour by bike, done plenty on a motorbike over the years. Hmm.

slightly envious of where you guys all live with easy access to the countryside and hills as I prep to head to work in town.

Day #18 – indoor ride using my new (to me anyway) toy a Wattbike Atom, so hour on it tonight at an average 176w indicated 30 km. quite like it.

Day #17 – quick pool swim, 2.5 km in 51 minutes, might switch to some drills in the pool for the next few weeks, as I’m not getting any quicker doing 1km splits, which is fair enough really.

Day #16 – busy bloody day at work, so very early doors turbo ride for 55 minutes at 174w indicated 30km. Surprisingly really comfortable for so early and no cramps. So on some level the constant daily exercise is working, not really sure how.

Day #15 – slow pool swim 2.5 km in 53 minutes. Done.

The Wattbike Proton is £1795 – you have missed a 1 off your £795 !! If only they were that cheap.

yep, if only. I do know they cost 1795. Unbelievably a regular atom has come up 5 mins away for a much better price, so not going for the atom X. I really can’t see a compelling reason to spend more for the X model. Or more for the proton to be fair.

Quick question, what’s the STW view on a second hand Atom X (under 2 days use) for circa £1600 vs a new proton at £795

I’m in two minds on which is the better option

Day #14 – 2 mile pool swim in 70 minutes, not the fastest but as a starter I’ll take it ((3.3 km in new money). No actual cramps for once, but calves pinging like crazy for the last km. stomach muscles were in agony for 3 hours after this swim, so I’ve definitely overdone or strained something whilst swimming. Hey ho.

@scotroutes superb effort on the big run and cracking scenery to run through.

@mogrim that’s a great pic.

@Alex possibly a stupid question, but what kit do you need to do a Zwift run ?

Day #13 – work this morning, then family life stuff meant a rushed turbo session TrainerDay for an hour at an average 169w, had to keep stopping to relieve godawful cramp at the top of right calf, mainly as my right leg is still quite week and not  adjusting well to the daily load. Total pain, but still in the game.

Day #12 – nearly had my first fail today. Work has been a bloody pita today, but instead of staying at my desk, frustrated and annoyed trying to fix problems caused through the stoopidity of others, I went to the pool for 45 minutes instead. Then went back to it after.

swim 2.3 km in 45 minutes. Done.

Day #11 – busy work day with a silly early start, so squeezed in a hour turbo ride mid morning using TrainerDay at 185w indicated 33km. Bit boring tbh, can’t fathom how you can do 2 hours on a turbo setup.

might have a go at Zwift or TrainerRoad or the swoosh one.

@munrobiker @scotroutes great pics, where is that @munrobiker ?

Day #10. Full day at work, woke up feeling very unwell, but was ok enough by lunch to go swimming. That’s the magic of this challenge, as normally I’d bale on exercise when feeling like this.

swim 2.52 km in 52 minutes, sounds slow, but wasn’t, kept up-ish with a good club swimmer for the first km. did 1.01 and 1.11 for two hundreds, and now with hindsight I may have overdone it.

Day #9 – full dance card at work today so had to fit something in very early, so very early turbo session using TrainerDay. Surprisingly comfortable given it was early doors.

181w for 55 minutes – 30km indicated. Done for today.

Day #8 – 2.44 km pool swim in 48 minutes.
I’m really quite tired already & it’s only been one week of this.  Swam today even though my garmin watch recommended a rest day. I mean really what do Garmin know.

Day #7 early update today. 3.04 km pool swim in 65 min, bit slow tbh but I was knackered when I started. But no cramps so that’s good. Not doing anything else remotely sporty today.

Day #6 – turbo ride using TrainerDay 1 hour at 176w,  mowed the lawn 2.5 km in an hour (grass was quite long) and lastly physio exercises for 31 minutes. Done.

Day #5 – pool swim 2.44 km in 50 mins, physio later and that means nothing more until tomorrow. Done

Day #4 2.3 km pool swim in 50 mins, slow steady swim. Physio exercises later for 24 minutes. Done.

Day #3 pool swim 2.4 km in 48 minutes 48 seconds :) boring and steady pace. Done.

Day #2 turbo ride for 45 mins and a 50 min 4.16 km walk along the Thames instead of working through lunch.

only mildly curious but why are some strava updates coming through as discussions ? Didn’t know Strava did discussions.

anyway pics.

Day #1 done, pool swim 2.5 km in 53 mins and then the boring boring boring physio exercises for 1/2 hour.

Thanks @iainc tbh I’m not entirely sure what all the excitement around erg issues re. I’m no pro cyclist, so don’t really give a stuff about some minor potential wobble in the erg setting etc.

re the proton, now I’m conflicted, as a 2nd hand Wattbike atom is 1200-1300 or thereabouts for a v2 and a new proton is 1800 with  all the warranty and better internals and no top tube on the frame.

^ that seiko is very nice. Is that new ?

Is the erg issue still a thing with wattbikes ?

I use ERG all the time with TrainerDay and TrainerRoad.

Does anyone know if there any differences between the atom and the atom x ? Other than the screen and lower central bar thing.

Thanks for that @b33k34 super helpful

think I’ll try a second hand Wattbike for size.

not really liking the new Wattbike proton or the air (which is unlikely to be very quiet given air resistance)

and I’d just like to spend less on this, but if it doesn’t work out any better then the kickr core I can just move it on.

I’ve considered a smart bike a few times but come to the conclusion they’re actually a downgrade versus a bike + decent trainer. At least for me.

They’re extremely rigid and you can’t really put them on a rocker – so less comfy. No sideways movement either. Crappy shifters vs a real bike (unless you get one of the newer, £3k+ ones). Massive seat tubes on most of them so you get thigh rub unless you have skinny legs. No road feel or downhill (again unless you get a really spendy one). Possibly some other disadvantages I’ve forgotten about!

Of course none of this might bother you so YMMV. I will definitely look at the Zwift frame though when my original Neo finally bites the dust, seems like a decent halfway house!

I think this is where I’m largely at, now I’m spending on power meters. But I’m really not sure why if it’s an improvement over what I have, or just new and shiny and an all-in-one package. It’s a significant outlay as well.

@sweaman2 you’re right, most of the work is weights based thigh and calf exercises, but for some reason it’s not having the impact it should, even with the other physio stuff and I’d  like to see the data from turbo sessions re R:L, or as I’ve seen on some wattbike vid you can actually see how the power is working right to left during the turbo session.

i also found the answer to my question, there’s a new Wattbike coming out Monday the proton, looks like it didn’t spend a whole lot of time with a design team.