- 5km Time Trial in under 32 minutes
- 10 km Time Trial in under 64 minutes
- 9km/h hour at the Red Bull Midsummer Viking Challenge in Copenhagen.
Other than Copenhagen I do not intend to enter any other real world races preferring to concentrate on virtual events against the clock. Racing the clock suits me and I enjoy it, all I have to do is find the right weather conditions, get on the water and do my best. And of course record that for SUP My Race.
On SUP My Race I run a 5km monthly time trial which of course is party selfish as it gives me an event I like to do I have found that it also fills a gap for many others who want to race the clock but might not be able to participate in real events. In April the SUP My Race Time Trial goes further and I will run my first SUP Team Time Trial. This might be a world first but if not then it is certainly unusual. More details can be found here. In the summer months the SUP My Race TT will expand further to include a 10km event.
Michael is tailoring my training to fit these goals but he is also adding some speed work, after all fast is fun according to a popular cycling resource, and they have a point.
Recap
You can find the first two in this series of blogs here - Log #0 and here Log #1
I am keeping track of some metrics for this blog, my age and height have not changed and in the middle of week 9 the more fluid stats are:
|
|
January 2022 |
Week 0 |
Week 5 |
Week 9 18 April 2022 |
|
Weight |
103.9 kg |
101.2 kg |
97.7 kg |
95.2 kg |
|
Resting HR |
63 |
54 bpm |
54 bpm |
53 bpm |
|
5 km TT |
|
35m 38s |
33m 29s |
33m 29s *wk8 |
|
SUP Hour |
|
8.4 km |
|
8.8 km (week 6) |
|
FTP |
220 W |
276 W |
Approx 270 W |
263 W |
For reference I stopped taking anti-depressants on Friday 25 March.
Weeks 6 - 9
Each week follows a pattern that starts on Sunday evening when my calendar is automatically updated from Final Surge. This is a very neat use of technology and allows me to keep everything in one place, it also means I have no excuse to miss a session. Every week has been different with Michael adding new workouts and tweaking ones that I have got the hang of. This tweaking keeps me on my toes and stops me going into auto pilot.
The introduction of new workouts on a regular basis makes training more fun, there is definitely a knock to completing a hard workout and I need to learn how to best get through a session. Sometimes sessions require me to maintain race pace for longer durations, others need more explosive efforts and it is these that I find hardest to complete first time as I feel I have to have something left in the bank to get me back to the start, it’s no good running out of power when you have a few KMs to paddle back in freezing water. As a result the first time I run a workout I often wish I had gone harder but that means the next one is done right.
Week 7 started well with a distance session accompanied by Urban, the aim to maintain race pace for 10km. We nailed it recording my third fastest 10km, the second fastest on fresh water and the only one I had completed while being able to talk to someone rather than communicate with grunts of exertion.
Week 8 was a rest week while we had visitors but I managed to squeeze in my monthly time trial. Some silly mistakes on the water resulted in a 4.9 KM TT and an embarrassed silence when I got home and looked at my data. If I had paddled the entire the course and not drifted the last 100m my time would have been very close to my PB from last summer. Not too bad on water that is still very cold. You would think that as someone who runs virtual TTs I would know better!
Week 9 saw the introduction of more speed work. This slight change reenforcing my belief that I am not fast off the line, more diesel GT than petrol GTi and that is one of the things I need to work on. Week 9 also had me do something I haven’t done in more than 2 years, I dusted off my road bike, put on appropriate clothing to do a passable impression of a road cyclist and went for a ride. A casualty of my mental health issues my Roubaix was sat in the corner of the garage gathering dust but a nice pace 30km ride from home to the far end of my training lake blew out some cobwebs and opened my eyes again to just how beautiful this part of Sweden is. Outdoor cycling is now part of my SUP training routine.
Training with Michael has motivated me to get out much more than I would have and that is a huge health benefit. When talking to people who I regard as much more focused on their sporting goals than I am I have realised that the contact with a coach who takes an active role in my results is something very valuable, I no longer train alone even if I am the only person on the lake that day. There is someone watching my progress and encouraging me through this process. When I have had a less good day he often sends a message via Final Surge that picks me up and when I’ve nailed a session he is quick to give positive feedback.
Sadly during week 9 I picked up a cold virus resulting in time on the couch with a book which has been very frustrating! Up to this forced rest period I feel that I have been making good progress, I feel stronger, healthier and faster. I feel good. As I type this I am really looking forward to the next month of training, fast is fun!
This blog is to give you and idea of what it is like to train on your SUP under the guidance of a professional, and very successful coach. I will be sharing as much as I can with you while obviously not giving away any of Michaels training secrets, you’ll need to sign up with him to get the full benefit of his knowledge. You can find some of his workouts on his YouTube Channel Booth TV and you can find out more about his services on his website here.
EO SUP https://eo-sup.com/
McConks https://mcconks.com/
Booth Training https://www.michael-booth.com.au/