Ticking off the to-do list - Bike fitting

Being injured and unable to run has made me re-assess my bike, swim and S&C training, as well as ticking off some long overdue jobs on my ‘Triathlon to-do list’

One of those jobs was a bike fit. I made the journey up to Newark to see Judith Brand of Dr J coaching and bike fitting.

 

Aero wheels clearly giving me the advantage on the turbo

After some biomechanical testing and functional movement checks we tackled my beloved TT bike. It had been fit with all the best intentions by friends with ‘good eyes’ and some bits of string. Before all the adjustments the power output from my left and right leg was quite un-even, mainly due to the seat being too high and too far back. After the tweaking and adjustments made from looking at the data produced from the black sensors stuck on various bits of my body, my pedal efficiency was much better and power output from right and left leg was much more even. Not to mention being in the aero TT position was much more comfortable - happy customer!

 

The Muve



After the TT came the fitting on the muve for my first ever road bike! I’m currently riding a bike which is borrowed from RAF Triathlon, I am really grateful for it since it has enabled me to get in lots of miles over the summer and more importantly enabled me to attend our overseas training camp in Mallorca early in the season, but it is really heavy and not quite the right size. The fitting happened on the ‘muve’ a bike-like machine where all the components can be moved via little handles, so the rider doesn’t need to get off, and the fitter isn’t drowning in a sea of different sized Allen keys! This means lots of changes can be made and data captured quickly and more frequently. After less than half the time on the TT the muve was in the perfect position, and all the angles between hips, legs, ankles etc. were perfect! Now the measurements have just got to be made into a bike! J Moda here I come! :D

Thanks Judith :)

Check out her website here.

Triathlon training weekend

Now I am desperately hoping this weekend of intensive training, feedback and coaching is going to give my training a much needed kick up the bottom! 

I only started triathlon in any serious way in this last year. I am really enjoying the variety of training, and almost bizarrely my running has improved. Maybe this is because I am not massively fatigued and burnt out from relentless running. And I am sure that swimming, although hard (and bloody awful in my opinion) it provides some nice 'off the legs' training.

Practicing good running form

Some really interesting points were raised about running technique, and how improving your form can give you big gains in time, without having to smash yourself stupid doing huge volumes of training or really painful high intensity sessions (you will have to do some though if you want to get faster - sorry)

We were really lucky to have some really good quality swim coaching from Swim Smooth - have a look at some videos on YouTube if you have no idea what I am on about. Some brilliant technique stuff, brilliant but also ridiculously difficult for those with bambi on ice like coordination! This was preceded by a nice off road run and followed by a couple of hours on the bike around the hills of Halton. 

Leda and some of the cyclists

Day 2 was lead by Jez and Leda Cox from howgoodcouldibe.com. Both former pros  (cycling and duathlon) came to dispense some brilliant advice on running, cycling (specifically bike handling) and training. One of the most important things for me, as someone who LOVES training, is the importance of resting; not only for the body but also for the mind. In theory you should then be refreshed to take on the next days session, instead of getting more and more tired, and more and more frustrated with the results.


Train Hard - Rest Hard :)