andyjsg

Short steps is the way, but drive the knees and most of all drive your arms as the quicker you move the arms the faster your legs will go too.

Despite having the power meter I do most stuff on pulse rate anyway. My current plan for IM is to try and stay around 140 for the bike bit, but allow myself to burn a bit on the hills although there aren't many (3x cat 5 twice). I would then try and sit sub 160 for the marathon until final 5-10k where I will do what I can if I have any energy left. I tend to max out at low 190s but only ever see near that on parkrun.

Idealy I would get down another 3-5Kg which would bring me down to around 12% body fat which I think is more than lean enough. It would probably make me pretty competitive in my age group in Duathlon too.

Weight has made a huge difference to my climbing and probably even more difference to my running. At 180+ pounds (I believe they call it Clydesdale) Im never gonna be a great climber even with a bit more weight loss, but like you mention Im also not too bad when I can sit in the seat and get into a rhythm rather than trying to smash it up a short sharp climb.

Hills make you faster on flats too, same theory as hill reps in running, they make you stronger. It's worth doing a few reps and alternate between standing and sitting and using the descent for recovery. Yeah was a great stage and he was gonna turn up at some point...

Been there :-)

70 is okay but still probably a gear or two over, wanna be hitting 80-90 average ideally. Last year I was circa 75 this year more like 90, it brings the effort on to your cardio rather than just mashing your legs.

Campag is what all the cool kids ride :-) I know mentioned above that power meters and Di2 is expensive but super record is in its own league. 350 quid for a cassette - Wowza!! I'm not sure on the Di2 as I've only been reading up on it this week but I did pick up that firmware version can cause issues so may need firmware update. I guess a button against a wall could cause it or a faulty battery?!? I have an older zipp disc (circa 2007) that I picked up last year for 400 ish, I removed the stickers today and now it looks like any other new one. Should look good with my de-badged deep section front.

Nope I'm a southern softie. Only actually done about 4 the TT bike is predominately for Ironman. Was meant to do one Thursday but had a work emergency. Hopefully the bike will be Di2'd this week ready for week after.

Personally I probably wouldn't bother with Di2 on anything but my TT bike. I wouldn't want the added weight for electronic shifting. On TT weight not so much of an issue as aerodynamics trumps all and mid corner shifting is very very useful.

In theory if the frame is di2 compatible it should be relativley simple if not then the frame would need to be drilled etc. Also Im not sure I would want to di2 unless I can run the cables inside the frame as can look messy, fortunately my Shiv is Di2 internal ready although Im still gonna have to fine a home for the big junction box on my stem or frame. This dude here is selling part new/part 2nd hand for under 400 - I was trying to buy the deraillers but he wants to sell as a bulk sale http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90093

I am doing it as an upgrade so didnt need things like cranks or brakes, but because its TT bike I needed a specific brake and bar shifter set so you can shift in 2 positions and a specific junction box to join it all together.. If you just want to upgrade a road bike and keep 10 speed (which I was also doing as like to be able to swap wheels between bikes) you could get something like this http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-ultegra-6700-di2-gear-kit-battery-charger-59913.html

Some fecker took my CR tonight by a lot. I have to wonder if he was on a bike and uploaded it incorrectly. Just gonna have to train and take it back The one last night I was already CR but someone had matched it (but I understand this means that it was still mine as I got it first, I found this out annoyingly by matching someones KOM and now Im gonna have to have another go at that one) and managed to take another 10 secs off. Sadly I actually changed my route whilst I was out just to have a go at it. Did a lovely uber pain session in training on monday night. Basically 300m of which 200 was on a gradual uphill 10 times with 90 secs rest in between. I managed to stay relatively consistent at around 49-53 secs but man did it hurt and didnt enjoy the gradual warm down after.

About 600 quid for ultegra di2 if you shop around. Helps that I got the brake and bar shifters new off eBay for 250. 600 for a p2max crank power meter, same for stages

It was lovely being mentioned in the local parkrun news this week. Its difficult to say how I've improved until I go back to the old course again. Next 2 weeks are gonna be taken up with some heavy swim/bike/run sessions so won't know for a couple of weeks.

The way to really push it is upload it to strava and chase down other peoples segments. I managed to aggravate my left hamstring chasing one (that I knew was there) yesterday. It can help when I'm not feeling to motivated on a cycle/run to just up my pace a bit.

I use Heart rate for everything really as it seems to sit along well with my perceived exertion so I sort if have an idea of what's going on. I also have a power meter, but it's only on one of my bikes (time trial) so really only interesting reading rather than particularly useful to me. I wanted to pimp my TT bike a bit and was thinking of respray but decided that something more subtle using coloured vinyl to replace the red with blue and instead spend the same (respray) money on some Di2. Means that I can change gears in when no in TT position, I.e. Up hills and round corners. Hopefully get it sorted next week so can test it a bit before IM Germany.

Or sufferfest :-)

Anybody watching the Giro today? made me laugh when the cameraman zoomed on to a group of topless ladies for a few secs and the commentators just sort of pauses then carries on with what they were saying. If Wiggo does go to tour lets hope he puts in more effort than he did in the world champs!!

I get injured on treadmill as it forces an unnatural running style and also I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than recovery as it doesn't enforce good running technique. If worried about knees find a park to run round. Well I'm definately off the gels as did a brick session this morning with only a 2 1/2 mile run where I grabbed a gel after my bike and nearly threw it up by the end of the run. Just found a cookbook for this type of stuff will take a looksy (on kindle) later.

I was gonna try some homemade stuff too to see if that helps and even considering taking marmite sarnies for IM Germany to help with salt and to give something different. Do you have a time in mind for the Marmotte?

They moved parkrun today as there was an event in the park when it's normally run instead it was held in the same place I used to do cross country at school too many years ago. Anyway it seems to have suited me as I got my first parkrun win today and I think I won it by quite a large margin too. Not a PB today but close and on a far harder course. Helped to put last week to bed a bit.

I use the SIS caffeine ones - I'm undecided at the moment because I spent Saturday throwing them up, but that could of been the heat. I will be testing them over some hard training sessions next few weeks so will make a decision on them soon.

I do a bit in Farnham sort of area, definately more interestng than surrounds of Basingstoke. As a punishment to myself for poor perfromance and stupidty (for at least not grabbing a backup bottle) my recovery ride today involved 73 miles with 2100+ meters of climbing including 2 big climbs which wrecked my already tired legs. It was actually cold today it seems the north of Mallorca has dropped 10degrees since saturday - could of done wth this weather on saturday (apart from the wind on way back today was rough). But yeah nutrition is an issue for me, Ive failed miserably on all 3 half ironman attempts (to varying degrees) as I either dont take enough or it messes with my stomach - need to look at more natural options - marmite sarnies?!?

What distance was it? 1.9k swim, 56 bike and 13.1 run (Germany will be double). All went wrong on the bike as didn't take in anywhere near enough water and along with being hot we had a 1500ft climb in the middle of it which I decided to hit hard despite dropping my water bottle at previous aid station (50k between 1st and 2nd).