Yesterday I rode around the top of Dartmoor to meet Chris, who I’ve been coaching for a while. We then rode back over the top of Dartmoor to Exeter. My ride was hard with 7,000 feet of climbing in 80 miles – but it was nothing compared to Chris – his bike was fully laden (and I mean fully!) and by the time I’d left him he’d done over 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing. Then he continued on his way completing over 160 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing in the day – the first of 4 consecutive days on his ‘Journey into the Unknown’.

Why is Chris doing this? I’ll let him explain;

My name is Chris Jackson and I’ve entered my first ever cycle race at age 57.

Not your average event however, it’s-

“The TransAtlanticWay race is a 2500 km, one stage, self-supported road bike race between Dublin and Cork via The Wild Atlantic Way.”

That is some event! It will take anywhere in the region of 8-14 days of maybe 16 hours a day in the saddle – and again he’ll be taking all his kit, fully laden! I have been working with Chris for a while now, helping to prepare him for the ultra-endurance event, but there’s only so much training anyone can fit in. Usually we might train up to 75-80% of the distance of longer events -but that’s clearly not possible for such extreme endurance events. Regular training can certainly make Chris fitter, faster and stronger, but when it comes to something of this nature it will necessarily be a ‘Journey into the Unknown’.

So why is Chris doing this? It’s a kind of dry run for his big event. Chris is doing over 600 miles in 4 days, fully laden, camping on the way with all the same equipment he’ll need to carry across Ireland to learn more about his bike, his equipment, his nutrition, his pacing and his self!

Chris has an excellent website that I would urge you to look at. There’s lots of interesting and useful information on there. You can also donate to Age UK who Chris has decide to support with his adventure.

Yes, I had a hard ride yesterday, the icy rain and hail didn’t help – it really sapped my strength…but Chris rode twice as far, climbed twice the height, with twice the weight (at least!) and he’s doing it again today…and the next 2 days after that!

Chapeau Chris!

A couple of months ago I discovered a great Android app, ICW – Indoor Cycling Workout. I was amazed at the functionality of a free app, so I contacted the software designer, Pierre at Pierrox who created it and we started working together to improve it further.  I’m proud to say that yesterday Version 2.0 of the ICW app was launched!

The ICW app allows you to ride very specific training sessions as it controls the resistance on any ANT+ FE-C compatible trainer (such as the Wahoo Kick’r, many Tacx trainers, BKool trainers and many more) so that you can train at exact power levels, gradients or, most usefully, percentages of your FTP. This is the ideal tool for anyone who is serious about training and wants to make every session count

What really impressed me is that it works in much the same way as Trainer Road, but without the monthly subscription! The ICW app is free. You have access to several key workouts and can easily edit and create your own workouts. The mass of data you get from the workouts can be automatically uploaded to Strava or Training Peaks for further analysis or just for your records – as we all know, “if it isn’t on Strava it didn’t happen” 🙂  Read more about the advantages of training in such a targeted way here.

 

The Pro Version of the ICW app is available for just £2.75. This gives you access to more key workouts and allows you to personally edit and store an unlimited number of workouts of any length (you get up to 5 of your own edited workouts of up to 45 minutes in the free version).

There is also the option to buy Training Plans through the app – currently 2 are available with more to follow shortly.

Pierre and I are continuing to collaborate on new ideas for the app with many exciting developments in the pipeline.

For more information on exactly what the amazing ICW app can do for you, see the website or go to the Google Play store and download it for free, or better still buy the Pro Version now!

 

 

 

It’s winter and the summer season seems such a long way off. We can all find it hard to keep motivated sometimes – perhaps it’s cold, wet or dark outside.

Here are a few simple but effective tips for success…

 

Picture success!

Set your goals and picture yourself achieving them. To coin a phrase ‘begin with the end in mind’. Your goal needs to be concrete – a vague ‘to do a sportive’ won’t provide much motivation. A crystal clear picture of exactly what you want to achieve can help to push you out of the door on those cold winter mornings. Being able to ‘see’ yourself achieving your goal is a great motivator! Be sure to make your goal as specific as possible – which sportive do you want to do? What distance? WHEN? Remember goals need to be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Recorded and Time-based.

Break it down

A goal can seem a long way in the future, or so big that it seems like an impossible task. Work backwards from where you need to be and break it down into manageable chunks. Create medium and short term goals. Break down the short term goals so you can see all the steps towards them – then it should be reasonably easy to decide on what you need to do to achieve your goals. From there you can set individual training sessions to progress towards them.

As a simple example, someone new to cycling who has a goal to ride a ‘Century’ – a 100 mile Sportive – in the summer might break it down and set medium and short term goals of riding a certain distance comfortably. Working backwards, they might plan to ride 80 miles by a fortnight before your event, 60 miles a month before that, 50 a month before that and so on all the way back to starting with a 30 mile ride this weekend. Suddenly a huge 100 mile ride seems achievable – they only need to do a 30 mile ride this weekend and they can be confident that they are on track!

Write it down!

First of all this applies to your goal! Write it down and put it somewhere you’ll see it. Even better, tell it to someone else. This will provide extra motivation to do what you said you were going to do!

Secondly write down everything that you do to achieve your goal – ie every training session you do. Of course you don’t need to physically write it down, but make sure the evidence is there, recorded in some place – Training Peaks, Strava, Garmin Connect – as long as you have the evidence of what you have and have not done! If you feel like you aren’t progressing, looking back at what you have done and how far you’ve come can help to spur you on. If you haven’t been putting in the work, at least you’ll be able to take an objective look at what’s been missing and can work out what needs to be done to get back on track. Recording goals and everything you do along the way is one things highest on the list of things that people who actually achieve their goals do.

Find a partner in crime!

Ideally you would find someone else with the same, or a very similar, goal as you. Training with others pushes you just a little bit harder and means that you’ll miss less workouts. Even if you and your training partner lack motivation on a wet day, knowing the other person is planning to go out provides that extra push to get you both out of the door!

If you can’t find someone with similar goals, riding regularly with a group can help. Going out training on a certain day at a certain time becomes part of your routine. The social aspect of riding with others is not to be underestimated either – not only are you more likely to complete more training sessions, but you will push yourself harder and enjoy it more at the same time!

Riding with others in training is vital if you are going to race or ride with others when chasing your goals. Your general bike handling and group riding skills, as well as your confidence will come on in leaps and bounds with a regular group ride.

TRI harder?

Focus first on the TIME that you spend training, and training REGULARLY before worrying about the INTENSITY

First of all, if your goal is a bike ride or race of any kind – ride your bike! Build up time on the bike – both the total amount of time spent riding and the length of your longest ride. The biggest single predictor of performance is time spent riding. Ride more, go better!

Just as importantly, you must make sure that you train regularly. Otherwise any benefits are lost before the next session. Not every ride has to be a long one. Shorter regular rides with just one longer ride a week work really well.

For most people time is also the limiting factor. We are all busy people with jobs, families and busy lives and only have a finite amount of time to spend training. So once you are riding regularly and have built up the time you spend on the bike to the point where you can’t spend more hours in the saddle, that is where intensity becomes more important and can make the difference.

Give your body chance to recover and rebuild after your efforts. Everyone needs to rest, even professional athletes, so do include rest days! It’s only when you rest that your body gets stronger.

Keep yourself amused

Training alone can be boring so use whatever technology you have at your disposal to keep you occupied. If training indoors, listen to music or watch a video during your workouts. You might prefer the motivation of a real race video, or the distraction of a film or TV program. Virtual reality and video based indoor training websites are a really popular way to bolster the motivation. On web apps such as Zwift and Bkool amongst others you can race your friends or total strangers online – but they do come at the cost of a monthly subscription.

When you’re training outdoors one of the most popular aids to motivation is Strava. Most people just use it to compare their times on segments against other people, but if you use it wisely and target certain segments that will help you to achieve your goal you will get much more out of it. Use existing segments or make your own that match your training needs or are similar to key parts of your goal event. Not only are you extra motivated to go harder on certain parts of your rides, but you have also created your own more flexible and targeted type of interval training. Compare your own times over the weeks and months to track your progression towards your goal.

 

I hope you enjoyed these simple but effective tips

 

KOM Coaching are pleased to announce their partnership with the Dartmoor Classic Sportive continues in 2017

This year, we are offering 16 week Training Plans at three different levels, Bronze, Silver or Gold, starting from just £25

We are particularly proud to introduce the Platinum package, in partnership with Just Events. This includes  a one week residential training camp as well as your 16 week personalised training plan, an FTP test and much more!

Join our new ‘King of the Moors’ Strava club – for anyone who loves a challenge!

Compare your rides with others and look out for upcoming challenges too.

Join Now!