SportsShoes Blog

Well, a new year again already! New year’s resolutions and new promises to myself ( some I have already broken ).

Towards the end of last year my training really fell at the wayside! Other commitments and grief from the Mrs about too much dedication to the gym ( and not other stuff that is equally as important ) really stopped any training in it’s tracks and I was lucky to get to the gym once a week!

I have decided though that I just can’t spend so much time in the gym so I have had to rethink training and goals to make them more likely to achieve.

I am now training 4 times a week…

2 full upper body workouts and 2 full lower body workouts.

I have decided I can’t commit to splitting it all down and training each body part individually so I am having to find another way and this is a 4 week trail to see how it goes.

I have done a couple so far and believe me, if you stick to mainly compound exercises you really ache the next day!

I am interested in other peoples’s opinions on this matter. Has anyone else done training like this and do they believe that it works just as well?

Snow coming down hard today so it may be a long walk to gym! If it is even open that is!

21/09/09

Well I’ve now moved into my new flat in Manchester and I’m back into track training for a competition in Barcelona later on this week! After Trophee d’Or stage race I flew back home for a 12 day break from the bike! I was pretty busy, seeing friends and family, shopping, going out etc.  I also went to Barcelona for a 3 day holiday, it was really nice to get a bit of sun and see the sights! I’m sure my next experience of Barcelona will be a bit different though, a lot less lazing around in the sun and eating tapas and a lot more hard work!!

I’m really enjoying being back on the bike though and getting back on the track.  I’m sharing the flat with another cyclist, Dani King at the moment until the other girls get back from the World Road Race Champs in Mendrisio.  It’s really nice, situated in the student area of Fallowfield, Manchester.  It’s pretty busy around Fallowfield at the moment as its Freshers Week- we’ve stayed away though- don’t want to be catching any freshers flu!

Training on the track has been pretty mixed really, on some sessions I’ve felt quite good and on others, terrible! I guess it’ll take a while for my legs to adjust to riding the track again and get used to pace judgement necessary for individual and team pursuiting. I’m going through the motions though and hoping I’ll be able to do a decent time for the 3k individual pursuit in Barcelona.

Raced a lot since my last post! After Germany the next big race was Holland Hills, a UCI race which was really tough….basically, anyone who thinks Holland is flat would definitely change their mind after looking at the course! After only 4km disaster struck as there was a crash, which brought down my team mate Katie, who crashed into my back wheel.  Thinking I was ok I carried on, then realised that my wheel had been damaged in the crash so I had to wait for a replacement. This took longer than expected as the car was back at the crash sorting out a spare for Katie, so in the end we both had to chase back on to the main group for a good 45min! I spent pretty much the rest of the race in the main group then after leading out my teammate Sharon into one of the climbs I finally cracked and was dropped, finishing in the second group in 50th place.

After Holland Hills, we had a hard week of training, with 3 races and hard training days in between to try and simulate the sort of fatigue we would be feeling in a couple of weeks time when we did Trophee d’Or, a stage race in France.  In one of the races in Hoeleden I got another 2nd place to GB rider Joanna Rowsell, which I was fairly pleased about but disappointed I didn’t win. 

After a tough week it was time to ease off a bit then make the very long journey to France for Plouay World Cup. On the way, during one of the service station stops I managed to get in touch with school to get my A level results! I got an A in Psychology and 2 B’s in Human Biology and English Lit, so was really happy…..and celebrated with….a Magnum ice cream!!

Once we got to our hotel for the race we met up with Olympic and World Champion Nicole Cooke who was also riding for GB that weekend, and went to look around the course. It was basically a 19km circuit which consisted of climbs and descents with very little flat in between, which was to be completed 6 times - so I knew it was going to be hard once it got to race day!

Saturday came and it was as expected - hard! It rained early on in the race which was pretty scary once it came to descending the hills! I finished the race after getting dropped in a group of about 20 riders - but we were too far down on the winners time to be given a placing.

From Plouay it was another long drive to Bourges where we had a couple of easy days then into Trophee d’Or.

had a really good summers training and am rearing to go for the new season!

season kicked off in london this week for the world open qualifying with the prize being a place in the main draw alongsid the best players in the world in the richest tournament to date.

i played adil maqbool from pakistan, ranked65. winning the 1st in tiebreakwhich proved crucial as an energy drop in the second levelled the match 1 all. took the 3rd 11-9 and the 4th 11-8 to claim me place in the main draw.

next up is wolverhampton!

Well I’m now back in Oudenaarde with the other Academy girls and its going well.  I can feel myself getting fitter and its meant I can ride more aggressively and get more out of the racing.   The last couple of weeks have seen me get my first podium placings out here, with a win too!

My first result was in Diksmuide, which was a criterium race.  I broke away with Emma Trott and Dani King, both British riders who had come to race in Belgium, with Emma being based here full time.  Myself and Emma stayed away to gain about a minute on the main bunch.  In the sprint, I attacked too early, so Emma could come round me and go first into the last corner.  Out of the corner there was only 100m until the line and so I was beaten!  A couple of days later though I managed to get a win in Herentals, also a criterium. With my parents and sister watching, as they had come over from the UK, I really wanted to do a good ride and was aggressive in the first few laps.  Eventually, having attacked into a corner which lead out on to a cobbled section, I managed to get away.  With my teammates helping to chase down attacks from the main bunch, I spent the rest of the race riding on my own to take a solo win!
 
From Herentals it was straight to Germany for a crit in Dortmund on the Saturday night.  With a UCI race, Sparkassen Giro the next day, it was a quality field and a bit of an eye-opener coming in for the bunch sprint and surrounded by so many riders! With a lap and a half to go I had managed to get myself in the top 6 but then I hit a stone in the road, and looked down at my wheel for a couple of seconds and found that I had completely lost my place. Finished at the top end of the bunch.
The next day it was Sparkassen Giro, an 88km race which was ‘lumpy’ with one main climb.  I climbed okay and managed to keep myself in the main bunch. Unfortunately I couldnt get myself to the front of the group again but managed to get 18th place, which upon reflection I decided wasn’t too shabby.

After we came back from Germany, my family were still around for another couple of days so I spent my rest day with them which was really nice. Had a look round Oudenaarde and sampled the local cakes which I have to say aren’t too shabby either!

bspa and bwin have teamed up this summer and have arranged a number of events which are streamed live and facilitate live betting on the bwin website. format is 2groups of 4 with the top from each group to go through to a final.

in the 1st event i played aarron frankcomb of austrailia and lost 11-9, 9 and 9. next up was chris simpson world ranked 43 and i won 13-11 16-14 11-4. first 2 games could’ve went wither way bt once i got a 2 game lead i new he would struggle to come back. last up i played joel hinds and won in a tight 4 setter. 

in the 2nd event i played robbi temple of england forst and went 2-1 up but unfortunatly couldnt capitilise on that and last 11-7 in the 5th. next up was veteran steve meads this time to go 2-1 down only to pull it back and take the 5th 11-0! again last up was joel hinds and again it proved to be a very hard 4 setter with me taking the last set 16-14 and with it the match.

in between all that iv started a 10 week training programme to get me ready for the season beginning late august.

Here’s how my week has looked since the Trog last Saturday :-

Sunday - 30 mins steady

Monday - AM 25 mins steady

Tuesday - AM 20 mins steady / PM 6×2.5 min efforts with 1 min recoveries

Wednesday - AM 20 mins steady / PM 53 mins hard with hills 7.5 miles

Thursday - AM 20 mins / PM 45 mins steady 6.5 miles

Friday - AM 20 mins steady

Saturday - AM 25 mins steady / AM Bike 19 miles with hills

Sunday - AM Bike 52 miles with hills

had a good ten day lay off from training over the xmas period. been back training since the 2nd. mainly consisting of alot of cv and weights directed at the main muscle groups to get strength levels back up. going into to some plyometrics and SAQ this week though. and some lg squash.. next event is a small gran prix january 23-25 but mainly gearing towards maryland capital open, washington DC, mid feb…

Well I’m ill again! I seem to have caught every virus going so far this winter. Since the Revolution I picked up a cold which meant being confined to my bed and drinking honey and lemon on my 18th birthday! After a week off the bike I then tried a bit of steady training and a trip to the gym which then resulted in a chest infection. I’m on antibiotics at the moment so hopefully it will clear up soon.  I’ve just sorted out a 6 month gym membership with Cannons Health Club in Cottingley which they have kindly provided for free through the BOA.  Having a gym so near will cut down the travelling time as I currently train in Leeds.  I’ll continue to go there once a week as the strength and conditioning coach there, Mike Morely really knows his stuff, but then go to Cannons for the second session.  It’ll also be nice to finish off the weights with a quick trip to the jacuzzi and pool..all to help muscle recovery of course!

I know they say that you can’t catch a cold by being out in bad weather but it’s spooky that after spending six and half hours in the driving wind and rain last Saturday I seem to have caught a cold!!

Anyway, this week I’ve held off hard training but using the training adage ‘if it’s in the head go ahead if it’s in the chest give it a rest’ I’ve continued to train all week.

After the OMM last weekend I had a rest Monday (although obvioulsy walked the dog twice). Tuesday I did a speed session (at slightly reduced effort) - it was so cold on the grass on Tuesday that after running through a soggy bit of the field, ice formed on the top of my spikes!!. Wednesday I did a 50 minute road run whilst my son Ben played footy and Thursday I went on a steady pack run with the Harriers (followed by a nice pint of medicinal Guinness). Friday I biked to work and back on my singlespeed and today (it feels like the peak of my cold) I’m probably going to limit my exercise to just a few hours of dog walking.

Haven’t decided on my next race yet but there’s a few coming up so it won’t be long before I’m on the start line again.

Watch this space……