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Live tracking: see how I am doing it!

1,330 kms | 36 K vertical meters Tomorrow, August 10, start my sport challenge of the year. You can read all the details about it here .  Fo...

Snow

front of my home

If you are in Europe you know what I'm going to talk about: snow. Since wednesday, the snowing doesn't stop. The temperature is around -8 C and I has snowed around 30 cms. So, It means no training whatsoever. Impossible to run and the trainer is not yet setup. Anyway, the back is hurting still and the cold is not getting better...
But in 2 days I will be going to Brasil for the Christmas holidays and I will bring part of the gear. If I get bored I will go for a ride in a very old bike I have there. At least one ride to the Mirante dos Golfinhos I would like to do. But it will depend on the time as I'm going to stay only 2 weeks.

Mirante dos Golfinhos. My turning point on a 60 km ride. Drink a coconut and refill
the bottles with coconut water before going back. 37 C degrees for sure. The photo is mine.

Videos and climbs



I just watched on you tube a piece of the reconnaissance of the Col du Soulor. It looks very tough. It is long. Very long indeed. This is going to break a lot of people. I can see people getting all excited on the beginning, thinking it is a easy cookie. A lot of heroes passing flying by the left side and then they will hit the middle section. 14 kms on the climbing and things gets real. It jumps to 9% incline and doesn't go below 7.5% until the top. It is when we will see a lot of people walking.

My goal is to do it in one go. No walking and no stopping. And one thing that gives me the good feeling is that it looks like climbing Ventoux from Sault side. Around 8% most of the time but if you take it easy and keep your own pace, it can be done.

Take a look at the link below. This guys has a lot of other videos and tutorials. Very nice ones.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cyclefilm

He has previous of the other climbs as well. So, if you have a weak heart, don't watch. I'm not kidding. You will get too nervous and might even consider giving up. last year (my second one in cycling) I didn't manage to climb a piece of 18% at the beginning of the season but climbed just fine at the end of it... It is all about training.

Etape Reconnaissance by brits

The british cycling maganize Cycling Weekly (a very nice one) has a early recognition of the 2010 route of the Etape. I really like to read those reviews because those guys give you tips and especial warnings for things you don't even suspect when looking at the profile of the race. Things like there is a little thing that is not even a little bump in the profile and it is actually a climb of 8% and it is just after a long descend. So, legs will be a bit stiff and cold...

Below you can see the article. This is from an issue from october, so I hope I won't get in trouble :)

If you like the article I recommend buying the magazine. They always have good articles about training, equipment and of course bikes... I'm actually amazed that they have so much to talk about cycling to launch a maganize weekly!
Next: watch the DVD reconigtion...

Injury

The good news is that the injury in my back is just muscular. Nothing very serious or hernia like. The bad news is that it will take aprox 6 weeks to heal. And no exercise during that period...
To top that, a strong cold got me this week. I only hope this is the kind of downturn before the upward spiral to July...
My back is still very painfull. So much that i'm going to the doctor tomorrow (I hate doctors). The whole weekend was about laying down and enjoying the pain. Anyway, because of that I'n not doing any training this week and I'm starting to feel that I'm gaining weight. So, it all sucks.

But to pass the day with a post I decided to talk about the climbs. Actually the first one: Cold du Marie-Blanque. The one I'm actually scared. And you know why? Because if you fuckup in this one. In the first 40 kms of the race, what is going to be the rest? A nightmare for knowing that the car is getting close and you can't go fast...

So, the first lesson since I started on cycling was: never trust the average inclination. They say it is 7.5%. But that is because of the easy beginning and middle. Look at the red parts. Between km 1 and 2 you have 10.5% and the 3 kms between 6 and 9 km it stays between 10.5 and 11%. This is really a killer. 3 kms above 10% it is hard.

The good news and bad news is that I'm comparing a bit with the Cote de la Redoute in Belgium. This is a hard climb also in the middle of the 160kms race. The good on it is that I completed and I was completed wasted on the top but could recover after end complete the reace in a good time. The bad is that after it I had to climb Drolenval (another very tough one = 18%) and couldn't complete. I had to walk and lost a lot of time... 20 minutes to be exact. And if you ever did an etape, you know that is a lot of time to lost...

You can see those climbs in www.climbbybike.com A fantastic website

Last year started earlier

My training last year started in September with already rides as long as 70 kms. I can say that due to a lot of things going on on my life and a bit of lack of motivation this year training is starting later. This picture was taken during the first ride last year, around 30 km from home. After this ride I've actually done a 130 km ride in November. That I'm not repeating this year! It was too cold and miserable for a ride this long.
But I'm looking forward the rides with the team again. I miss riding with other people...

LOG: THURSDAY DEC 3RD.

Training:
30 min spinning
15 warm up
6 x stand for 1min sprint
Rest 3 min.
10 min cooldown
Zone: 2 during rest, 4 during sprints

Comments: very painfull in the lower back when seated but not so much when standing. This injury is actually worring me a lot but I think the spinnnig help to relax the muscles. Taking Ibrupofen and Voltaren gel.

Monday Running Tuesday Injury

Monday November 30th: run 30 minutes around the house. Pace 7:20 min/km. Running is really not for me but it is better then do nothing. Leg pain.

Tuesday December 1st: spinning for 30 minutes. Zone 5 (178bpm) picks for 2 minutes. Then went to do squats and pull a muscle in my lower back. It really hurts…

Plan for this week / Plano da Semana

Monday: Run 30 min. Heart Rate: 160bpm

Tuesday, Thursday: off

Wednesday, Friday:

20 min run

3x20reps lower back push – 75kg

3x15reps squats – 30kgs

3x20reps lat pull down – 40kg

3x15reps Leg press – 45kg

3x15reps Hamstring curl – 40kg

Lowerback floor and bridge

First week of Training

The first week of training started last Monday and it was a complete failure. I only managed to go once to the gym. A had a lot of work to do and on top of if my wife was sick and a had Jooker funeral on Friday that took my whole day. The worst part was that on that Monday I manage to do squats (3x15reps30kgs) and was sore for the rest of the week. Without any recovery training, the pain lasted way longer than it was supposed.

Training Plan ready

My training plan for the next year is ready. It starts in mid January and goes until the etape day. 450 hours of training that should bring me close to the 4 thousand kms. From last week until then, I will be doing a lot of gym work: running for warm-up, squats, leg extension, lat pull downs, lowerback works, etc. My aim is to be able to lift 80 kilos in squats (3x15reps). See below the plan.

Training Plan build using the book: The Cyclist Training Bible from Joel Friel

My impressions from the 2008 Etape

In 2008 I've done the Etape for the first time. It was around the same place: starting in PAU, going across Tourmalet and finishing in Hautacan. Although this year the pacour is different, the area is basically the same. In the 5 days we stayed in France then a couple of things got stuck in my memory: the beauty of the region, the unpredictability of the weather and how tough the climbs were.
We stayed in Aspin, a little village close to Lourdes and a very good spot for training. From there we could reach Col du Tourmalet from Bergeré side and we did half of the climb during the trainings. It is funny that we are going to do it again. But now the whole thing! The road has waterfalls, rocky hills and great visuals every couple of kilometers. It was also very cool to cross the city of Lourdes during the race day with all the people in the sidewalk cheering you up.
On the other hand the weather is something really to consider. In 2008 we have done 2 training rides before the race. The first one on the rain but not too cold. The second one on a beautiful sunny day with 20º C. The race day, though, gave us a rainy cold day: with average 12ºC and 3ºC on the top of Tourmalet. That was very challenging and one need to think carefully about the clothes to wear on the race.
And how hard it was to climb? Well, apart from being my first year on cycling and Tourmalet was my first real mountain to climb, it was very tough. It was also different because it was from La Mongie side. But for what I remember from the descent, it is full of hairspins but the last 2 kms are going to be hard, specially when you had already 172 kms in your legs.
So, to keep in mind: enjoy the food before, enjoy the views during and try to forget the pain. Pace yourself. Especially on the Marie Blanque climb. It is a very tough climb (more to talk on next posts) and you need to be careful not to blow up so early in the game.

Etape 2010 is announced


so, it is out. the etape du tour 2010 is out there with 3 huge climbs: col de marie-blanque (9.5kms) , col du soulor (22km) and col du tourmalet (19km). It is a killer stage for sure. it is a bit disappointing that they will go back to the col de tourmalet only 2 years after the last visit to the mountain. but, it is what it is and now is all about preparing yourself. I will be posting here the results of the training in the next 9 months until July 18th, when the rubber hits the road.

Etapa 2010 foi anunciada
pronto, foi anunciado. a etapa amadora do tour de france 2010 foi anunciada essa semana com 3 montanhas gigantes: col de marie-blanque (9.5kms) , col du soulor (22km) and col du tourmalet (19km). uma etapa matadora com certeza. é um pouco chato que eles tenham escolhido outra vez o tourmalet só dois anos depois da última visita a montanha. mas é o que é e agora é começar a treinar.
Eu vou publicar os resultados do meu treino nos próximos 9 meses at o dia 18 de julho, quando a corrida acontece.
Mad old Man, Mad old Man... on the bike