Saturday

Saturday was my first day back on the open unprotected roads of Gauteng. I did a very nice but very hard route with a 20 year old professional.



As can be judged from the profile, it's all about steep climbs.

94.7 Cycle Challenge

I did the 94.7 this weekend. It's the second biggest road race in South Africa. 28000 participats, all timed. I finished in 3:08:22.

Race Profile



My heart rate graph


_{Click on the images for larger view}

The graphs so far

2nd of November
3rd of November
8th of November
9th of November
10th of November
12th of November

Looking at the graphs I realized that it contains LOADS of data and that it would require careful analyses to turn the data into useful information. To this end I decided to consult a professional cyclist turned professional coach. First observation was that I'm doing to much to quickly. Starting on Monday, (after my next race) I'll be changing to a training program which he will provide.

My first workout with my Polar S720i

Polar S720i

I just purchased a new Polar s720i watch. It can measure a bunch of things, including Heart Rate, Altitude, Temperature, Speed (it has a sensor that attaches to your bike), Cadence (optional extra sensor which I didn’t buy), Power Output (another optional extra which I didn’t buy because it costs R3500) and Calories burned. It can not only measure all that, but it can record 11 hours worth of info measured at 5 seconds intervals.

Starting tomorrow morning I’ll be training much more scientifically. And as proof of that, I’ll start posting each week’s workouts (a graph containing all the info) on my blog on Fridays.

High Cadence low resistance (Average Heart rate 143)

1 hour
10 min Warm-up (90 - 100 rpm)
29 min @ 100 - 114rpm
10min @ 120 rpm
1 min @ +120rpm
10 min warm-down (90 rpm)

Over training

I’ve learned that it is a lot easier to over train on a tacx than one would think. I’ve learned that when you over train you easily get ill. I’ve learned all this between Sunday evening and today.