Maltloaf's Cycling Journal

[maltloaf]

If you were to keep one bike, it might even be worth getting an extra wheel! Quicker than changing the tyre if you wanted to take it out a the trainer tyres state not for road use.
But if your going with the 2 bikes, not an issue.

Well my original plan was to pinch the wheel from my old bike and have it dedicated just for turbo trainer on the new bike but now I've looked at my old bike and it's good condition I will either use that for training or use it as a winter road bike.

[maltloaf]

Not knowing anything about Strava I kept saying the the lad, my Garmin automatically connects and uploads without me doing a single thing.
He kept telling me Strava did that and more... I think we were both getting frustrated with each other lol.

The Garmin connects to a Garmin service and uploads.. Simple. I imagine Strava you have to allow it to have access? Does it then automatically get your recent info that has already uploaded to Garmin? If so what is the point?

I auto upload all my Garmin activities to run keeper purely because I've got loads of data in run keeper and want to keep it up to date.

If you only use Garmin and are happy with it then I would stick to just that.

[matthewy2]

I found a local shop that did the test for me and advised the shoes i needed.

Bought 1 pair of them as a thank you for the test and have purcashed from sportsshoes since.

[Goldberg]

I am fortunate enough to get 50% off 2 pairs of trainers from Sweatshop each year with my Health Insurance. I can just about manage with 2 pairs as I certainly put the miles in!

[maltloaf]

That looks pretty good Malty, I still haven't got round to clearing the garage out enough to be able to get something setup. Trouble is if I do then the mrs will want to turn it in to a playroom for the kids

What sort of treadmills are you using? Noticed Argos have got a sale on and half price on some of the stuff so a Reebok ZR9 for £500 for example.

The missus already owned a Carl Lewis one - which she had bought years ago before we met and never used. It's got it's own computer etc on it but I only look at it to set the speed. (Everything else I do on my Garmin Forerunner 210). As a machine which moves that I can run on it's fine since it was free (to me). It's the same as http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carl-Lewis-M.../dp/B000R9V57Q

If I were buying one now I'd get one with a wider running bed, I've caught the sides on this one more than a few times, usually when reaching for my bottle or wiping my brow.

[Goldberg]

Managed to get Strava loaded up. Registered. Removed.

I don't need another tool, the Garmin one is pretty good in its self ans suffice to my needs.

[maltloaf]

I agree and am perfectly happy with Garmin Connect and the web site too. I keep runkeeper up purely because it has data on it from before I owned any garmin kit but I think if runkeeper ever stops syncing or garmin block them from harvesting the data then I won't bother fixing it.

[maltloaf]

Well, I had a bit of a shock tonight. My 13 year old campag hubbed wheel mounted with a 13 year old 8 speed campag cassette works perfectly with my 2013 shimano 8 speed group set.

all 8 gears perfectly lined up with zero adjustment, smooth as silk - actually running better than the cassette it was intended for !

Completely unexpected but very happy.

[maltloaf]

Just been fitted at the local Asics store on their machine and by their expert watching my motion. Apparently despite my foot being quite wide with a lowish arch I have a completely neutral running style (everything I had read says the two are opposite).

I picked a pair of Asics Cumulus on their recommendation, reduced from £100 to £70. Same as http://www.sportsshoes.com/product/A...running-shoes/

They make my old pair feel like planks of wood in comparison. Cant wait to try them !

[matthewy2]

I have the last years model and they have been the best I've ever owned.

May purchase a new pair for Christmas

[Goldberg]

I've had Cumulus 12, 13 and currently have 14 as well as my Brooks which I alternate runs in.
I'll be grabbing 15 soon as I'm due a new pair.

[maltloaf]

Sounds like I've made a good choice then lol

[maltloaf]

First stint on turbo trainer.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/394947322

Took a few mins to get it where I wanted it then just adjusted the gears so my heart rate was sat at around 180 bpm and my cadence was around 90. a good hard half hour and I was sweating like a mofo.

Really enjoyed that, I suppose even though the distance means nothing I can use how far I've gone to gauge my fitness.

Cheers,

Malty

[Goldberg]

I do about 35 mins on mine. Claims 10km but it's further than that. I know it's accurate on the road when I've used it though

[maltloaf]

Distance is pretty irrelevant apart from as long as all the other variables stay constant then you can compare distance from run to run I suppose. As I say I was keeping hr at around 180 and adjusting effort/gearing to suit (maintaining a minimum cadence)

[maltloaf]

Much more productive workout than yesterday. I was much more disciplined about keeping my heart rate in the right zone plus I left the trainer on the same setting throughout.

Less distance overall but part of my session yesterday was at a lower intensity setting.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/395289073

[Goldberg]

This moring was interesting. 35km winds had me sprinting (not my choice) at the last bit!

GPS way off at the start.. hence the slow first 2km, the overall pace suffered because of the weather and the route, so many times I thought about walking.
Had to run through flooded roads, jump over fallen trees and at the end run through a hurricane of leaves in the park.

I loved it!


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/396604210

[matthewy2]

Cracking times that Goldberg

I need to start clocking speeds like this. Did my first 8 miles in a long time yesterday.

Took me 1 Hour 5 minutes. Chuffed today cause its the first time ive not been in real pain the day after.

Used to be fast a few years back but had a few very bad injuries playing football that has fucked me up

[matthewy2]

This was my little hilly run
http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/activi..._new_meta=true

[Goldberg]

Today's was slow because of the weather, no way I could have broken any records in those winds.

All I would say is take it slow. If you are comfortable with the distance then fine, just don't go out every day trying to beat the day before.
I go out Monday (14km), Wednesday (15km), Friday (17km) with the average distances next to them. If I slightly change a route I end up doing longer like today, 16km.
I will be doing a 21km this Friday as it is Full English day in the office and I like to earn my treats.

I then generally have Sat/Sun as recovery days. Sometimes I might do a weekend run but will get back to the Mon/Wed/Fri routine as soon as I can.

Two years ago I started with a 3km run and nearly died. That was once a week that became twice a week and then 5km and then 3 times a week and then 7km and then 10km with the occasional 12km then 15 etc... etc...

The routine I have now I will stick with. As long as I am running around an hour and getting at least 14km in each time I am happy. I did the Great North Run the other year and I am considering the marathon next.