I slap the bacon out ya mouth, dance upon ya sarnie

[bob_summers]

I'm starting on the shorter sessions, but having trouble with getting the intensity - excuses excuses but it's either been too cold or too hot recently and I don't do well in either! It kinda just becomes a matter of survival (which is also good training if I get to La Pyreneenne in July and it's either 32º or snowing ). Not sure when I became such a drama queen!

Talking of short, intense rides:

Fri 11/5
Irun-Doneztebe-Basa Kabi-Leitza-Tolosa
140km 5h10

Wrong day for this, burnt to a crisp. Was going fine along the coast with a cool sea fog rolling in, but once I got up to Doneztebe it became really hot. The climb past there isn't steep but it just drags on at 3-5% for 18km, I was cooked at the top. My hotfoot was back, relieved slightly by stopping to stand in a stream, but was sheer agony on the descent (the pain is not as bad with pressure on the pedals, worse when coasting or over rough ground). Stopped a couple more times and got the shoes off. The wind was against me for the last hour, a bit of a war of attrition.

[Mr. Cleetus]

ahhh bugga! I've never seen anyone with hotfoot problems like you...

less than ideal weather can be a perfect time for intensity, you can get it all over with in less than 1hr!

[Alistar]

Damn! That must be sooo frustrating. Can really see how it could ruin ones ride. Cycling can be painfull enough without having to worry about an excruciating foot. Wonder whats the root cause?...million dollar question I s'pose...

Decent long ride though! Yeah I think I have a bit of an aversion to short intense sessions too(ouch!), especially if they're on the flat! I think I need to harden up...

[Mr. Cleetus]

Decent long ride though! Yeah I think I have a bit of an aversion to short intense sessions too(ouch!), especially if they're on the flat! I think I need to harden up...

emphasis mine

#5 http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

[bob_summers]

it's an odd problem, like I may have mentioned before it takes >25º on a 3h plus ride before it kicks in. At first it's bearable, later I have to stop and get the shoes off. I pressed on regardless on Friday and ended up with pain shooting up my leg so I guess it's nerve related (but surely a nerve issue wouldn't be temperature dependent?) At the moment I've got a big ugly corn on my little toe as well so it's pretty miserable in the foot department!

I was looking at some Bonts in the LBS yesterday, and it a fit of madness bought a pair to see if they would help any. If they do, I'll sell on my S-works (a shame as they're lovely shoes for 9 rides out of 10), if not I'll sell on the Bonts (that won't be so hard as they're ugly SOBs...). Have cooked them in the oven and they fit really nicely, and poked a bit of room in the upper around the corn.
Today was pretty cool out, so couldn't test them for hotfoot, but the corn didn't give me grief.

Sun 13/5
Club run, Beasain-Ataun-Larraitz
4h easy

Nice run, easy out for the first 55km then every man for himself on the way back! Felt strong, hit Larraitz in the big ring and scored a PB (still almost 3m slower than a certain Craig Lewis though!), got to the top almost two mins before the next clubmate. After the descent it's a long flat drag back to town, there were only 3 of us left by the end of that
Not sure what they make of the sunburnt foreigner speaking pidgin Spanish and running on bananas and dates but it gives the bunch a more international flavour

[bob_summers]

Tues 15/5
Tolosa-Leitza-Basa Kabi-Goizueta
100km 3h16

Now that felt a *lot* better. Headed out to do some intervals (7m+3m*5), warmed up for an hour with a TW then started the intervals on the climb up to Basa Kabi. Don't like doing them on the road (no turbo), sometimes quite a challenge to hold FTP when descending at 65kmh or going thru a village... but the sensations were good and when I got to Leitza I couldn't believe the time, I was about 10 faster than usual and about 15m faster than when I was struggling the last couple of weeks.
The final interval coincided with the last climb up to Basa Kabi, and I went over the top with a PB of 1h42 (more or less 10m quicker, have to check) which is pretty good when you factor in 15mins of recovery spinning. PBs on all the separate climbs going up too.
I guess keeping an eye on my HR kept me focused; I usually drift off and lose concentration when I ride alone.
Quite happy with that, got the 'tour of Gipuzkoa' coming up on Sunday so it'll be nice to carry a bit of form into it (esp. since they changed the route so my pre-riding the course now counts for nought!)

http://app.strava.com/activities/8569367#157406427

[Alistar]

@Mr C: Man there's some classic rules on that site! But then I do like to break quite a few of them.

...ended up with pain shooting up my leg so I guess it's nerve related (but surely a nerve issue wouldn't be temperature dependent?) :

Yeah would have to be a nerve problem of some sort wouldn't it? Can nerves get inflammed in a specific area, or tissue around it from a combination of heat, swelling and pressure due to being in a confined shoe , which then presses into/against the nerve somehow? Sorry just interviewing my keyboard...

Quality session by the sounds Bob! Well done on all the PB's! Yeah have noticed it can be quite difficult holding the intensity down dips, corners and over cattlestops too
There is something to be said for mixing it up and surging on a training ride rather than tempo the whole way though. Even up a climb. Often you get to the top and find yourself a lot fresher than if you went a steady pace the whole way up and did the same time. But through experience I've learned any conclusion I reach is probably the wrong one so I'll leave that to the experts

Don't worry about those pros Bob. Decided they've all got motors hidden in their seat tubes. 7mins up a climb like that? Ridiculous! 10mins is cranking time for a mortal. You been keeping up with the Giro Bob? Rodriquez is looking good eh! Good to see a NZ guy in his 1st Grand tour doing some good work for the Garmin boys too.

[bob_summers]

hehe just waiting to see what Casar can do this afternoon! Local lad Txurruka still in the break too, though his form's not been great so far.

I'm wondering if there's any connection between vibration and this foot problem? Thinking back to when I didn't have any problems, it could go back to flexier soles, big heavy delta pedals? Though I rarely got it in the UK, not often hot enough to trigger it, it's more of a problem here.
The new shoes have sorted the corn problem (an expensive solution though...), but had some tingling under the balls of my feet when I got home, another 30mins and it would've strarted to hurt I reckon.

ANyway...

Thurs 17/5
Arrangoitze via Corniche
3h40 @ 31kmh

Some more intervals, warmed up for an hour then 12mins@threshold+3mins*5... in theory but it was so windy I was concentrating more on staying upright. My HR trace is laughable, doesn't look like an interval session at all!
HW for the last hour, just about killed me.

[Alistar]

What the hell were they all doing when Lars Bak made his move 1.4km out? All looking at each other expecting someone else to react and tow them all up? Fools! They can't have been content just to race for 2nd place after all that good work.

Good average speed btw Bob! Seem to be in good form for Sunday Imagine that ride was just one big interval with that HW to finish

Yeah could be as jarring over a long period of time can often cause problems especially in an area that is perhaps already sensitive. Isn't there something you can get from the chemist to get rid of corns? Remember my parents used to have some stuff that seemed to work...

[Alistar]

Good luck for tomorrow! Hope all that Giro watching has rubbed off, so expect to hear of some heroics

[bob_summers]

Thanks Al, yeah it's easy enough to get rid of a corn but I guess it'd just come back with my shoe aggravating it like that. It's shrunk a lot since I swapped shoes, still there but doesn't bother me.

Fri18/5
MTB 4hrs Jaizki

Plan said "enjoy riding for an hour or so", so I took the chance to dust off the Yeti on the condition I just winched up the hills in the granny ring. Stayed a out a bit too long, didn't feel that good - a bit vague, then like a bonk even though I ate enough. Lack of sleep I think. No views from the mountain thanks to low cloud, bit of a disaster really, although I nailed everything on the descent which I was worried about having had >2mths off the MTB.

Sun 20/5
"Race" day, Vuelta a Gipuzkoa
3h40, 110km, 1900m

No goals for this, other than to stay in the fast group and finish fucked. I managed both
Started with a small field (I guess about 300 though many would have been doing the 70km route) thanks to pouring rain which had been forecast all week. Forecast was spot-on, heavy rain all day but it was at least warmish and vertical so no complaints from me.
On the climb out of town, it was pretty easy to spot the fast group before it had even formed. Small, fast looking French bloke - check. Out of town club kits - check. Scary young lad lurching from wheel to wheel ready to cause a pile up - check!

Pace was pretty gentle, 35kmh to the foot of the first climb, a good thing in those conditions. Over Zudugarai easy, descended into Zarautz and out onto the coast road. Still an easy pace with waves sploshing over one side of the road and mountain runoff over the other. Never been so wet! Dramatic though, with the police motos flying past your ear.

Meagas. 3km x 8%. I started at the back, a gap opened with French bloke towing up a small group. I managed to get across to it before the top, giving me a PB of 10m06s but the treacherous descent brought everyone back together anyway. Wet tree blossom on the road made it super slippery, a deadly assassin that looks pretty as you slide across the road into a tree! Pace went up over the next flat 10km to the start of the day's biggest climb to Urraki. 9km x 7% with ramps of over 10%. Again, I was too far back when the gaps opened. But managed to get across again, I sat at 175bpm until I got there, another PB of 30m55s! That turned out to be the selection, about 10 of us went over the top. Minus the lurchy dangerous kid which made me feel a bit safer on the descent!

Somehow survived the descent without incident, heart in mouth with almost no brakes. Into the town of Tolosa, potholes, sharp bends with manhole covers and shiny road markings then along the river (chance to eat and take off some wet clothes which were just making me cold) to my 'bogey' climb to Alkiza, 4km x 7%. This time I started on the front. French bloke, me, and a Leitza rider went off the front, they dropped me, and I waited to be caught but... nothing. Looked around, noone behind. Kept on the rivet to go over the top with another PB of 14m, 2m faster than the last time (though I did blow up then) and caught the front 2 on the descent. Then back up to around 7 for the lumpy final 20km. French guy stopped when his mate punctured at Urnieta, we didn't see them again until the finish, we hit the final hill with a group of 5. The guy from Leitza went off again, I tried to hold his wheel but my left quad was cramping up. Got to the top with another PB! I remember grovelling up that in 2010, so quite pleased.

Descended into the city as a group of four, and crossed the line together (bad form to sprint in a sportive ) and the crash I was expecting all day didn't happen until I t-boned the Leitza guy just after the line and ended up on the floor. Luckily I didn't fold his deep section Corima... The French lads came in just a couple of minutes later, so must have had plenty in reserve to fix a flat and almost catch us in only 20km

So pretty happy with that, 2nd over the line even if it wasn't a race! No doubt better weather would have seen some faster riders out but their loss, hope they enjoyed the lie-in! All that excitement, and home just in time for the Giro coverage

[Alistar]

Holy f@#k Bob thats impressive! When I said heroics I didn't actually mean it. Even a sportive there's always some damned good riders that turn up. 2nd overall and all those PB's mean you're in fantastic form. Have to be pretty fit to get to the end without blowing up in a hard hilly 110k's. Well done!

The last 5k's were pretty exciting eh! Couldn't believe Rabottini was able to stay away for so long solo without blowing up bad. Glad he won in the end as would have sucked to do all that work and get pipped at the post though...

[bob_summers]

Cheers Al, I'm pleased with how it went as an indicator, actually pleased to finish in one piece after the weather we had! Got a toughie coming up in a couple of weeks, Los 10,000 del Soplao, (roughly translates as the 10,000 gasps!) which is 220km@3500m so I need to carry some form into that. Although it'll be down to the weather on the day for me, if it's hot I'll be riding at the pace my foot dictates...

Great result in today's stage for the local lad Izagirre, poached the win in typical Basque fashion!


Tues 22/5
Aia loop x Igeldox2
2h10

Pissing with rain again, really weird Spring we're having. Big gusts of wind off the sea, but not cold so not too unpleasant even if my shoes were full of water before I got to the end of the street. Hard to focus when the weather's this crappy, this was a half recivery ride in lieu of the one I should've had yesterday!

[bob_summers]

Thu 24/5
Tolosa-Leitza-Basa Kabi-Goizueta
100km 3h25

Happy to get some decent weather, warmed up 1hr, 7+3 intervals x5, rode the last hour+ easy. Wanted to get a couple of 12+3 sessions in this week, might have to be next week now. Not sure if that's a good idea, should taper back a bit for the 10,000 del Soplao.
A couple of mins slower than last week to the top of the course, but new PBs on two of the steeper ramps so I must've lost time on the flat/warmup.

There's a new kid on the (Strava) block who's been poaching my KOMs - took a couple back today but I'm worried about getting over obsessed with this

[bob_summers]

Fri 25/5
Beasain-Ataun-Lizarrusti-Irurtzun-Saldías-Urrotz-Donztebe-Irun
200km 7h20 3300m

Big-assed day in the heat, not sure what the objective was or what I got out of it to be honest.

It was over 30º all day, started off easy and did the first couple of hours at 30kmh. The middle couple of hours were hard, felt pretty baked already. Climbed up to the farmhouse at Aia and the heat/humidity was pretty suffocating. Second climb, Lizarrusti, is big ring but I kept it easy. After that, along the Arakil river is as flat as the Basque Country gets. Dead into a hot headwind. Stopped off to get my shoes off, feet were screaming after 3hrs.

Next climb up to the Alto de Saldías was tough, and long, and I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous. Annoying, as I was hoping that sticking to 60g carbs/hour max would ease that. Drinking plain water with a nuun tab for some salts. Beautiful rural country though, recognised some roads I'd done on the Indurain granfondo a few years ago. At Saldías I took a wrong turn, so instead of an easy descent into Doneztebe I did a lumpy cross-country loop that I didn't really feel like (tho it was beautiful). It's all downhill from here bar a few short sharp spikes, stopped in Sunbilla with angry feet, then again after Hondarribia. Was feeling nauseous again.

I did the last 2h on water only, had run out of food and didn't feel like any. Necked a can of Aquarius. Had a slight second wind for the last hour, didn't grovel on the last few rises like I have done before so some of the training has obviously helped that.

Still a bit worried about the feet. The new shoes seem better for this than the Specialized I *think* but I did err on the side of caution and stop before the pain really kicked in. I'm wondering now if it's not something so simple as needing a softer pad under the balls of the feet. They were slightly raw and blistered this morning. Going to have a look at some thicker insoles, the Bonts can be baked to give me some more room to compensate for that.

Was out for almost 8h in total, I got home and really suffered with nausea but I got some carbs and water down me and felt OK after a while.

215km and a lot more climbing to come next weekend, hopefully I won't be out for over 7h

http://app.strava.com/activities/9327555