Jon Morrison: Training, & Racing Blog

Eurgh... The common cold rears its ugly head...

2012-02-26T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well I had planned to ride with the Essex Road lads this morning however my cold has prevented me due to the fact that I sinply can't breathe properly.

A rest day for me it seems. With the Wisbech race at the weekend, and my first event of 2012 - my week preparation will go like this:

Monday: Weights on legs & Back + Skating at Maldon
Tuesday: Cycle into work + Wattbike Easy half hour
Wednesday: Cycle into work + Chest, Arms & Core
Thursday: Cycle into Work + Wattbike sprints (5x500m)
Friday: Hour Wattbike session
Saturday: 25 - 30 Mile cycle into the morning before travelling to my Dad's in March.
Sunday: Racing 10, 15, 20 & 20 lap races.

.... Busy week!

Jon

Feeling stronger!

2012-02-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well I had a pretty decent days training:

12 miles cycle into work - 15k on the WattBike - Chest & Abs - 12 mile cycle home.

I am definitely feeling stronger, however I think that i'm lacking the intensity of interval training in my program. I do have a concern as too whether this will go against my prep for indoor and track (marathons should be fine!)

Anyway, sleep time for me - morning aches will probably dictate my training tomorrow!

Jon

A mixed week!

2012-02-17T13:26:00.001-08:00

Well its been a bit of a weird one this week in terms of highs and lows:

Monday's skating session was one of the best I've had in a while, 10 minute warm up and then something I like to call "bundling the whole senior men's indoor champs races into one nice pyramid interval session" or BWSMICRONPIS for short....

Basically it went:

100m
2min active recovery (AR)
500m
2 min AR
1500m
2 min AR
3000m
2 min AR
1500m
2 min AR
500m
2 min AR
100m

Basically 2 X 500m (heat & final) 2 X 1500m (Heat & Final) 1 X 3000 (Relay Distance) and then two 100m (TT distances).

It was a really solid session, although my back went towards the end. Aside from that, it was DECENT :)

Well, the back actually got worse the next day, which lead to an unplanned 2 rest days. However, I managed to get out and do 30 miles on the bike yesterday, with a 30 and then a 50 mile outing Saturday & Sunday (Not attending the Sutton Bonnington Indoor Race due to lack of funds)

My back is a lot better, but still not 100% - when it is, some extra back work outs will be added to the training plan!

Jon

And the season begins!

2012-02-13T01:08:00.000-08:00

Well it's the week before the start of the Indoor Season, training will be a mixture of hard and easy - still need to challenge the body, but at the same time allow for some recovery!

The races i'm planning to enter are:

Sutton Bonington (19/2/12)
Wisbech (04/03/12)
British Indoor Championships (25/3/12)

After that i'll have about 5 days off training from the 1st April to recover mentally and physically - then start training for Outdoor.

My outdoor training will look to try and put on around half a stone of muscle, at the moment i'm staying leaner for indoor due to the tight/slippery corners, however outdoors I can afford to be heavier - as long as its functional (muscle) weight and not dead (fat) weight!

I'll hope to be upgrading my bike soon and start racing some Sportives, Criteriums and Road Races at Cat 4 level - this should help prepare my legs for the long distance stuff on skates. I really want to get below an hour and a half on a Marathon this year, hopefully if I don't fall this year then I can achieve that!

Today's training was Chest, Core and light cycle this morning with a planned skating Session at Maldon tonight! Tired legs!

Jon

Long overdue post!

2012-02-08T04:12:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a bit quiet in the blog front!
I've been a busy bee - working lots, training lots and generally not having much free time!

What i've been up to:

Cycling: Went 50 miles on my bike with the Essex Roads boys, my longest so far - felt great! and also broke into the 40,000m bracket on my Hour WattBike session! :)

Skating: not much on skates, however been doing at least 2 slideboard sessions a week, up to 5 x 6 minutes, with a 2 minute recovery, pretty happy with that!

My first race of the year will either be in Sutton Bonnington or Wisbech - looking forward to looking at where my indoor skating is at before champs on the 25th March in Maldon, home track (which I frustratingly don't get a lot of time at!) so a bit of pressure there to perform!

Also a certain skate manufacturer has been in contact, and a club sponsorship deal looks promising!

Jon

Ah - 2012! here at last!

2012-01-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I last posted, injuries, illness and general busyness are my excuses!

Training-wise, I managed a few slideboard sessions and a couple of longish rides on the bike (25 & 28 Miles) which felt good and kept away most of the seasonal sins!

I've also started to plan my year training, hard at the moment as I haven't decided on what races I'm attending, when they even are and because this year I am racing on the bike too!

I've been reading up on the Road licences - Basically as a newbie i'll start in Cat 4, which leaves me the task of acquiring between 10 & 40 points to qualify for a Cat 3 lincense next season! That shouldn't be too hard, 1 win in a Cat 4 race would get me 10 points, so I will be aiming for top 10's/5's to grab those precious points... I now just have to find some races to race! :)

Jon

It's good to know where you are, so you get to where you want to go.

2011-12-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of actually getting to skate yesterday, and was doubley excited for 2 reasons! first, trying out the new Bont Velocity Wheels and second, getting to set up the Fusion Sport Timing Gates to record some 100m times (using 4 gates to break up each time at 25m points).

So the wheels: they claim to grip where other wheels can't, and this is most definitely true. The wheels felt like glue, and actually provided too much grip where I needed to have a smoother push/crossover. Because of the surface of Madison, which isn't like most indoor circuits, this wheels probably arent the best choice, at least not without the combination of other wheels, on their own on a sports hall surface they would probably be immense, however I will have to invest (or hope some grant money comes in!) in other wheels to mix and match for the British Indoors in March.

Onto the times!

The timing gates (for those who don't know) are incredibly accurate, and as such are going to play an integral part in improving my 100m. Observationally, I need to work on my start and my entry/exit into corners, most notably the last corner into the finish. The problem is, I was actually producing too much power leaving me unable to effectively navigate the track... this actually leaves me pretty happy for the outdoor track time trial, however - for champs, I simply CANNOT go 100%, because the track simply isn't wide enough to get a decent entry into the corners.

Anyway - i'll put a proper analysis of the times up later, for now - i'm off to teach some applied physiology!

Jon

Not a great week, but better than nothing!

2011-12-09T04:07:00.000-08:00

Well, the DOMS hit me MASSIVELY this week - essentially stopped any decent training for occuring Monday & Tuesday. All I did was two really (and I mean really!) light 20 minute cycles on the WattBike, just to keep the legs moving, circulating all those precious nutrients around my legs!

Wednesday however, I managed a double day! morning was upper body: chest, biceps, back and abs and in the evening I hit the WattBike for 30 minutes. Still sore, but a lot better.

Yesterday, I started warming up in the morning to do another WattBike session but saw that my heart rate was at 130bpm and I had only been cyling for a minute or two! this coupled with me feeling really tired, decided that I wouldn't train, on the chance I was picking up a cold.

This worked well, as I awoke this morning feeling a lot better (energy-wise) and was able to do a plyometric session before work! :)

Later I plan to test the effects of Beetroot juice on an hour wattbike cycle, the Nitric Oxide is supposed to improve blood flow to the working muscles - hopefully, i'll see an improvement!

Jon

Good week!

2011-12-03T05:12:00.001-08:00

This week has been a bit of a "reminder" to my muscles that I intend to punish them repeatedly over the course of next season. Fingers crossed my bad streak illnesses and injury is behind me, with my knee feeling better each day and (touch wood) my abscess has long gone!

Monday & Tuesday saw me do an easy 30 mins on the Wattbike, building on my skate session with the National team on Sunday in Nottingham. Wednesday, I gave my upper body a work out, which had been log overdue for about 4 weeks! (abs are still aching a bit now!) Thursday I gave myself a day off, making sure my body got a bit of recover time. Yesterday I got my hour on the WattBike done an it felt great (killed me... But you know what I mean!) and this morning I blitzed my legs with some plyometrics:

3 x 12 30kg side lunges onto a bench/step up box

Superset:

3 x 12 box jumps
3 x 10kg split squat box jump

2 sets of 10m low walk & frog jumps
1 set of 20m low walk & frog
Jump

Dead.

Now I'm on the train heading to Hyde park London for winter wonderland! Woo!

Full week of training next week - cant wait!

Jon

Squad Sesh!

2011-11-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! after 3 weeks of poor to no training through injury/illness I finally felt good and had a semi decent skate with the British Squad today! just a simple "hour continuous skating" session but I have learnt to treasure any time in my skates at the moment! (and speaking of them, I think i'm overdue a new pair!)

So aside from a minor knee ache (due to an inadequete warm up) I felt strong! and it has motivated me to get back into hard training now, something which I am really looking forward to over the next few weeks!

Jon

Winter Training (and myself) takes a turn for the worst...

2011-11-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

My blog has been a bit inactive lately, mainly due to my returning illness... injury or whatever you want to call it.

Well "it" as my Doctor diagnosed last night, is a suspected infected abscess, which if it doesn't heal/reduce in size by Thursday, I need to go to A&E to get it surgically removed.

Then it could be time spent in hospital, which could be a few days to a few weeks. Fantastic! Merry Christmas Jon! as soon as I'm better, its back to training for the 2012 season on the Bike & Skates.

Stay positive Jon.... Stay Positive.

Jon

A good few days!

2011-11-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Well I seem to be back on track with training! (whoopie!)

Friday morning, I managed a plyometric/off skate session - followed up with an hours cycle on the Wattbike after work!

Saturday, featured some MUCH needed rest, before hopping on the bike, and getting 18miles in the legs on Sunday!

This morning I just did a light half hour on the Wattbike, with possibly a slideboard session after PGCE tonight! (maybe...)

Jon

Training is going well again!

2011-11-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Right, after a bit of a "messy" few weeks, i'm beginning to get some momentum back with training!

Monday: 30 Minute WattBike Cycle
Tuesday: Slideboard + Leg Freee Weights
Wednesday: Chest, Biceps and Core
Today: 30 Minute WattBike Cycle (planned 4 - 5 mile run later!)

And tomorrow, hopefully I'll do either: Plyometrics and/or Interval Sprints.

Saturday: Rest/light skate
Sunday: Slideboard/Cycle

Also bear with the design changes of the blogg! just trying for a more "slick" look!

Jon

I'm back! (kinda...)

2011-11-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

Well its been over a week since my last post, mostly out of frustration, but a little because I haven't had much to say!

To put it out there (as this blog should document the truth) my Haemorrhoid's returned last Monday and have complete messed up all my training (because I couldn't do any...)

I've had to deal with these annoying things for the past 3 years, they come and go... sometimes not too bad, but sometimes, last weekend included, they are unbearable. So enough is enough! I was Lucky they struck off season, god knows what I would have done if it was the week before a championships! so I have booked a consultation with a specialist regarding surgery under the advice of my Doctor, it would mean a further week off post surgery, but it might mean that I'll be better off in the future!

In other, and more positive news, is I have been entrusted with the marketing/sponsorship side of South Woodham, and although early doors at the moment, I have already established a link with a very reputable company and now sponsor for 2012 (all will be revealed before Christmas!) and I'm hopeful that a few more will come on board to help support the club into the future!

Really looking forward to 2012! (for soooooooo many reasons!)

Jon

Frustrating end to a training week...

2011-10-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays session of my 30mins with sprints, turned into a 10 minutes of light hill work on the WattBike due to my left knee feeling awkward during any kind of sprinting. I was disappointed not to complete my desired training, but at least I was able to do something, allbeit not very hard.

With that in mind, I was a bit apprehensive of my Plyometric session this morning! Yet actually found my knee got through it with no pain other then that of tired muscles.

I can only then attribute my knee pain to exercise that is high rpm and duration, meaning any work for 30 minutes of longer might have to be done following a rest day, or day where I don't train my legs.

Jon

Slow to update this week! 3 days worth of info in one post! :)

2011-10-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, I haven't had a lot of time to update this recently, so here goes my activity for the past 3 days!

Monday

On Monday I did my second lot of 5 X 500m Sprints on the WattBike (trying to build up to 2, then 3 lots of 5 X 500m in one session!)

Here are the results in comparison with the previous week:

WattBike 500m Training (Interval Training - X 5, with 1 Minute Rest)
Date	Time	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
12/10/2011	33.35	1030	575	134	158	141	19.1	54.2
Wind Resistance 3	34.55	684	529	130	136	152	18.2	52.2
	34.65	620	510	128	133	156	17.6	52
	34.53	617	513	129	136	157	17.7	52.3
	33.97	666	541	131	140	163	18.3	53.2

Date	Time	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
17/10/2011	32.24 PB	849	642	138	150	136	20.7	55.9
Wind Resistance 3	34.51	838	531	129	150	158	18.2	52.4
	38.83	1003	482	124	154	159	17.2	50.4
	36.9	1038	454	122	162	158	16.7	48.9
	37.76	1192	440	119	167	163	16.6	47.8

There were several positives, most notably a new PB time (which I have just compared with my PB in March and was 37.54! so big improvement!), but more importantly the results showed that I need a better warm up for sprints. This was evident with my Peak Power being the highest during the last 500m, so either my legs took longer to warm up or I didn't give it my "all" in the others, should explain that.

Tuesday

Tuesday I did my 30 minute session on the WattBike, here are the results:

WattBike 30 Minute Training Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
7/10/2011	20,553m	567	267	99	133	156	480.6	41.1
18/10/2011	21.539m	720	276	96	136	162	485.7	44

I decided to push myself, and do the 30 minutes on the wind resistance "4", instead of the "3" from the previous session (shown above). The increase was obviously going to help me beat my best by giving me more power, but only if I could maintain the same rpm of the lower resistance. I managed to achieve my goal of keeping above 90 rpm and get an average of 96, plus increase the Wattage from my legs - all of which contributed to adding nearly a 1000m on to my PB distance! very pleased with this!

Wednesday (today!)

This morning I just did 20 minutes on the bike between 85 - 90 rpm to give my legs a "mini" rest, then did some light chest and core work. Hopefully will do some slideboard stuff when I get in (if my knees can take it!)

Jon

Off-Season Training: Why it’s so important not to switch “off”

2011-10-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

As athletes our fitness is our most important asset, it allows us to perform the incredible things that we love to do and gives us the strength to push ourselves to the next level, in short, fitness must be maintained and progressed, if we are to succeed.

The phrase “easy come, easy go” comes to mind, and although it was originally applied to acquiring, and then losing money, it also loosely relates to fitness. It is EASY to train during the season, when competing is frequent and the weather suited to keeping fit, but as a season ends and the weather becomes that little bit more unpredictable it is also EASY to put off training, which makes it EASY to lose fitness so in that sense, it really is easy come and easy go.

Of course, in reality we know that training is not easy, well at an elite standard anyway! So maybe easy come, easy go still isn’t the best way to describe why in-season and off-season should be so important. Perhaps another “well known” phrase is even better suited, a phrase known as “Use it, or Lose it”. In sport, this phrase can refer mainly to a little thing called “detraining” which is the process of the bodies muscles, bones, heart & lungs, basically ALL the bodies systems “resetting” to a state at which they were before they were trained, so if you don’t USE your muscles – you will LOSE them (or at least the strength anyway!)

The rate in which our fitness declines after stopping training links in to how often we trained before, elite athletes will have a much slower and less dramatic decline than beginners because their bodies have been conditioned for exercise for a greater amount of time (which is one more reason to maintain our fitness!) A rough time comparison between elite and beginners would be if they both stopped training for two months, the elite athlete would probably lose around half of their previous fitness levels, whereas beginners would lose near enough all of what they had gained through training (based on the beginner doing at least 8 weeks of training before hand).

I myself have experienced this, I tested my body fat as part of my monitoring, and was unlucky enough to then catch a bad cold 7 days later – I then took 5 days off training, and then re-tested my body fat and found that I had lost 1.5% lean muscle in that short period of time. This means that even just 5 days between sessions, my body started to decline.

So – we know it’s important, but “what can we do?” you ask?

Well, for starters ANYTHING is better than nothing – you should always try to maintain your competition sport for as long as you can, but there are alternatives, that in my opinion (and I’ll explain why!) should be chosen ahead of others.

For Skaters:

1. Skating – Obviously the top choice, it will help build sport specific fitness and make sure technique is maintained and can be worked on.

2. Cycling – Biomechanically similar, great for muscular endurance (a big part of skating) and you can do it anywhere, in any weather! (plus they wear lycra too!)

3. Running – Possibly THE best thing for improving lung functioning during sport, be careful with overuse injuries and joint damage due to the high impact nature of running, good quality running shoes are a must!

4. Rowing – Fantastic for a complete body workout, will ensure every muscle is working which leads to a great winter training session!

5. Swimming – Also another activity that targets lots of muscles, however it also has been shown to reduce leg speed, and for sprints this might not be a great thing, every now and again is ok but I would chose one of the others as your regular cardio activity.

Apart from the equipment, Skating, Cycling and running are all FREE which means you can train without gym membership! Cycling and Running can be done anywhere as well – so if you can’t skate, cycling and running would be my top choice because of their fantastic fitness benefits, the fact they are free and you can pretty much do them anywhere!

Alongside the cardio, these other training elements should also be included to compliment the gains in aerobic fitness:

1. Weight training – Helps build raw strength, develops bone density and helps the body to work against a resistance.

2. Plyometrics – Exercises that turn that raw strength from weight training, into explosive power, exercises will mimic skating positions and skating muscles, great training for every type of skater.

3. Slideboard – if you’re lucky to have one, this is a great tool for developing and maintaining skating technique - essential if you are off skates for a while. Weight training can also be applied to the board, to make a good double session!

That’s the “why” of why winter training is important! Without it, all the hard work over the season is lost – this can lead to athletes peaking late or sometimes not at all! A good winter session keeps the fitness to build on in the next season! Don’t give yourself a disadvantage by being lazy this winter!

Coming soon – What training exercises to do during the winter!

Thank you for reading!

Jon Morrison BSc
Sports Lecturer & Inline Speed Skater

Feeling the aches!

2011-10-15T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ahh rest day has come again! and is definitely welcome after yesterdays Plyometrics session! (whilst wearing 1.5kg ankle weights)

Session Plan

10 minute warm up on WattBike

Platform jumps X 10
Lateral Skating Jumps with hop X 10 each leg

1 minute rest

Platform jumps X 12
Lateral Skating Jumps with hop X 12 each leg

1 minute rest
Platform X 15
Lateral Skating Jumps with hop X 15 each leg

2 minute rest

Double Squat Split Platform Jumps (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell) X 8
Calf Raises X 40 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)
Lateral Chair step ups X 8 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)

1 minute rest

Double Squat Split Platform Jumps (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell) X 10
Calf Raises X 40 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)
Lateral Chair step ups X 10 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)

1 minute rest
Double Squat Split Platform Jumps (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell) X 12
Calf Raises X 40 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)
Lateral Chair step ups X 12 (with ankle weights and 20kg Barbell)

10 minute cool down on WattBike
Done!

Was a great workout actually, felt really good (by that I mean painful!) and targeted all parts of the legs & bum - the prime skating and cycling muscles! Looking forward to transferring all this power into skating/cycling when I can get out on my skates/bike!
Jon

Sliding last night, easy(ish) cycle this morning...

2011-10-13T00:59:00.001-07:00

Managed to get a slideboard session in last night, 2 minutes with 1.5kg weights in each hand, then 1 minute fast without weights - both with 1.5kg ankle weights X 3

This morning was just a 30 minute WattBike cycle, not too intense, as my left knee had shooting pains after the slideboard yesterday, during the first 3 reps of some 1 legged squats, so I didn't want it too intense. My distance was over 20,000m so happy with that!

Jon

Need to push HARDER.

2011-10-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

Well, lets start with yesterdays efforts, a 30 minute (first 15k with 200m sprints at the end of each 1000m) WattBike session.

The results were as follows:

WattBike 30 Minute (15k with Sprints) Training Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
6/9/2011	19,870m	782	255	97	146	158	458.3	39.7
13/9/2011	20,364m	815	265	101	154	160	477.4	40.7
20/9/2011	20,421m	806	269	100	150	167	484.5	40.8
11/10/2011	20,243m	675	262	99	136	166	470.9	40.5

I was a little disappointed with the session, in that I didn't beat my PB of 20,243m - but it did feel the hardest one so far, which would suggest a slight decline in fitness.

My slideboard/weights on Sunday could have contributed to the lack of power, due to a possible inadequete recovery. The results are something that will use to motivate me to push harder, and when I re-test next week I hope to set a new PB.

For this mornings training, I've reintroduced the 500m intervals:

WattBike 500m Training (Interval Training - X 5, with 1 Minute Rest)
Date	Time	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
12/10/2011	33.35 PB	1030	575	134	158	141	19.1	54.2
Wind Resistance 3	34.55	684	529	130	136	152	18.2	52.2
	34.65	620	510	128	133	156	17.6	52
	34.53	617	513	129	136	157	17.7	52.3
	33.97	666	541	131	140	163	18.3	53.2

I will gradually do this twice, then possible 3 times over the course of the next few months - keeping intensity high, and working on developing pure power in the legs (Watts Peak) which I can then convert to skating via sessions on skates or on the slideboard.

Generally pleased, but probably could have put out more during the first 5 - 10 seconds and will work on that aspect of pushing myself asap!

Alongside the 500m, I did some chest work on the bench, along with some core training.

Jon

Grrr!!

2011-10-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Incredibly annoyed that I forgot my cycling shoes today, so I couldn't do interval sprints on the bike. I did do some chest work, and then tried to do my rowing session instead - but my knee still felt sore from yesterdays run.

Maybe a blessing in disguise. Rest up & extra hard session tomorrow!

Note to self, PACK all my training gear the night before...

Jon

Good to be sliding again'

2011-10-09T15:01:00.001-07:00

Got to do some slideboard work this morning! Was hard, but felt good! Just a simple 5 x 2mins technique work, with 3 x 12 shoulder press with lateral leg split and 3 x 1 legged squats (15kg)

All that after a run (interval 1 min fast, 1 min slow) so a good day! WattBike sesh tomorrow!

Jon

Plyo's and Cycle to end the week!

2011-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh good days training today!

First I got a decent plyometric session in, adding an exercise and ankle weights to make it harders:

10 - 12 - 15 reps of Box Jumps with Lateral Skating Jumps after each set.

8 - 9 - 10 of "Double Squat" Split Platform Jumps with 30 Calf raises after each set (both using a 15kg Barbell)

I then managed to fit in a 30 Minute Wattbike session with encouraging results:

WattBike 30 Minute Training Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
7/10/2011	20,553m	567	267	99	133	156	480.6	41.1

I did it without the 200m Sprint every 1000m since I had a power session already today, and now I can look forward to a nice relaxing rest day tomorrow! :)

Jon

Everyday is feeling better!

2011-10-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've had a bit of a late end to the days this week, PGCE Monday evening, College open evening on Tuesday, Yesterday I trained my friend Becka (who did well!) and tonight I'm doing some running coaching.

The weekend can't come quick enough!

That said, yesterday I fitted in some core stuff (Weighted Crunches, V sits, slow Jack knife sit ups & some press ups for good measure) and this morning I ache! really need to maintain some upper body stuff! :)

Even though I woke tired and sore this morning, I managed to fit in a 5 X 1000m sprint + 15mins on the WattBike before work, reasonably intense so i'm pretty happy!

Jon

Not a bad morning!

2011-10-04T04:47:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try the "Tapata" training method (Sprint 20 seconds, rest 10 secs X 8) for a while now, and for some reason, this morning felt right to give it a go!

I could only set 6 sets of 20 seconds on the WattBike, so I thought since its my first go that would probably do the trick! And it did! this training is HARD, but even though I was dead at the end, it felt right, like its the training I should be doing more often.

I will probably do this once a week, and see how it goes - fingers crossed that it does the trick come Indoor Champs in March!

I also had the pleasure of being a test subject this morning, I had to cycle for 15 minutes just like last week, but this time I did it in my Skiing jacket to replicate exercising in hot conditions. I ended up being 100m worse off than when I did it in "normal" cycling clothes, with a higher max HR which was to be expected. I enjoy finding out what affects my body, and If I raced in a hot country and didn't hydrate myself or acclimatise my body to the conditions, that 100m could make ALL the difference between winning & losing.

Good to know that.

Jon

Good day of cycling & skating!

2011-10-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Phew...

Big day today! I'm about 90% over my cold - so I'm pleased with what I did today!

First I did 17 miles of Sprints and Hills on the bike, in the glorious Essex sunshine! :) and then popped down to the Maldon rink to have a skate with my brother, and ended up being done there for 2 hours!

Legs are tired, just need to rest up for tomorrow when the training begins again! :)

Jon

Frustrating, but moving forward!

2011-09-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

Did some plyometrics this morning (Box Jumps, Split Jumping Box Squats and Calf Raises) to accompany my 5 lots of 1000m sprints I did on the Wattbike yesterday.

Next week I will try and get some double sessions in, and start building my fitness up back to where it was! I might even be able to get out on the bike this weekend! (fingers crossed!)

Jon

Personal Season Review (2011)

2011-09-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Personal Season Review

Events

British Indoor Championships (Relay)
Birmingham Club Meeting (Cat 2)
London Inline Marathon (Senior Men, Elite)
FISS Race Tatem Park (Cat 1)
Birmingham Club Meeting (Cat 1)

British Indoor Championships (Relay)

Ahhh this was my first race back after nearly 4 years out! In terms of physical preparation there was none, Errol and I were entered to just do what we could do! And despite tripping over my own feet whilst watching Errol for a relay exchange, it actually went pretty well. Change overs were smooth and we didn’t get lapped, my 100mm wheels weren’t helpful but It was a nice event to use to get back into the sport!

Birmingham Club Meeting (Cat 2)
My first race outdoors was quite exciting, having anticipated being put into category 2 I felt I needed to go and prove myself fitness-wise. My tactics were to hit the front, and hit it hard – not great for my results (as I got two 2^nd places and a 1^st) as I could of easily have won all 3 races if I had sat in the pack to conserve energy, but that wasn’t where I wanted to be!

London Inline Marathon (Senior Men, Elite)

Right. I started this race well, keeping with the pack for the first two laps and then I was unlucky enough to get my wheel caught in a crack in the floor and come down straight on my knee. I slowly made my way back to the start, got patched up and then decided to finish the race (I guess I had something to prove and wanted to finish the distance!) I eventually did in a time that was almost identical to my last marathon before I stopped skating! That made me happy in that if I hadn’t had fallen I would have had a new PB on my hands!

FISS Race Tatem Park (Cat 1)

Well this was my first race back after falling and I was trying a taper down preparation, and didn’t really do to much leading up to the race – this turned out to be the wrong thing, and my legs felt heavy and stiff and I didn’t race well at all! It took 3 races for my legs to loosen up (got 5^th in the 10,000m!) and then Harry, Rob and I won the relay – frustrating, but I learnt a valuable piece of information about my body! So for that it was a good days racing!

Birmingham Club Meeting (Cat 1)

The last race of the season was fairly decent, a wet 5k in which my only set of wheels did not grip to – leading to an 8^th place finish, a 2k which on a dry track was my best, 6^th place but could have been higher had I timed my sprint better and have more faith in my legs! Also the 2^nd time I have ever lunged for the line (the first being the cadet boys half marathon British Championship, in which that lunge stopped Matt Wate making a clean sweep of all the championships! – shame I fell after the line!) and then a 1k sprint which my tactics were wrong and I left myself to far down the pack to make an impact. Great day for several improvements, can’t wait for an injury free season in 2012 of both cycle and skating racing!

Goals to be completed this season

1. To be competitive in UK events (by end of 2011) GOAL COMPLETE

I feel I did achieve this, considering I missed champs through injury and had few races to test myself. I started by being well off the pace in Cat 1, but eventually was up there and pushing for higher places as shown in my 2k race in Birmingham and my 5^th place in the 10k in London (not forgetting I medalled in Cat 2! and finished a marathon after falling) so yes, my first goal of being competitive in UK racing has been achieved, making 2011 a success!

2012 Goals

Necessary Goal: A medal in Cat 1
Bonus Goal: Achieve a 1st place medal in Cat 1

Jon

Shattered!

2011-09-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well last night I got a very light skate in, mainly due to trying out the Fusion Sport Smartspeed Timing Gates with the South Woodham Skaters. It went really well, and the level of competition it intices is incredible - everyone beat there times after several goes, it also showcased how much quicker the TT start is compared to a regular start!

This morning I did a 30 minute cycle, did about 18,000m. Then did some testing in my Applied Physiology class and had to try and cycle as far as I could in 15 minutes: did just over 10k - so 45 minutes of exercise for the legs today, great for rebuilding my fitness up after this cold business (which is still lingering!)

Jon

Damn cold has made me lose weight!

2011-09-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

Well here are the results of this mornings body fat analysis:

Athlete Physiological Measurements (Body Fat)
Date	Fat (%)	Fat Weight (kg)	Lean Muscle (%)	Lean Muscle (kg)	Total B.W (kg)	Est. BMR (Kcal)	Est. Req. (Kcal)
14/09/2011	8	6.6	92	75.4	82	2278	3873
26/09/2011	9.5	7.5	90.5	71.5	79	2170	3689

As you can see, over having 5 days off ill in the 12 days since taking the previous test, I have managed to lose 1.5% lean muscle (3.9 kg) and gain 1.5% body fat. You probably would notice anything by looking at me, but deep down there have been changes! its amazing what illness can do!

All I can do is go for a light skate tonight and then increase my training back up to what it was... a minor set back, but I'm glad i'm feeling better and only missing days off training, rather than weeks!

Jon

I am now on Twitter!

2011-09-24T01:36:00.000-07:00

For those who read my blog, and are on Twitter here is my add: @morrisonjon

Still struggling with a cold, hopefully Monday i'll be better to train!

Jon

Beaten by the cold...

2011-09-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the cold has pretty much set in, fantastic.

Under the advice of my esteemed colleague, Mr Greg Deacon I will put my training on hold for 2 - 3 days, simply because:

Training whilst ill will affect the intensity of how I train, leading to a poorer quality session.
My recovery will be imparied, affecting the amount I can train if aim for 2 sessions a day.
Training temporily weakens the immune system, if I train with a cold i'll have a less chance of getting rid of it, and prolong the time I am ill and can't train properly.
3 days off training, is far better than 3 weeks of poor training.

All I can do is simply eat healthy (dinner tonight was a trimmed bacon & red pepper sweet potato mash, with roasted carrots and fine beans - yum!) and try and beat the cold quickly, so that I can get back to training!

Jon

Great picture from the weekend's racing!

2011-09-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

Michal Roman of Birmingham Wheels, Myself and Errol Spence on the line (2000m, Cat 1)

Jon

An athletes favourite friend - the cold! :(

2011-09-21T03:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the results from yesterday's Wattbike session:

WattBike 30 Minute (15k with Sprints) Training Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
6/9/2011	19,870m	782	255	97	146	158	458.3	39.7
13/9/2011	20,364m	815	265	101	154	160	477.4	40.7
20/9/2011	20,421m	806	269	100	150	167	484.5	40.8

I was absolutely dead, a lot more than when I did it the previous time. My guess would be I was still a little fatigued from Sunday's racing or (as what I have found today!) that I have picked up a little cold.

Today's session was a little rowing, then on the bench - but still felt tired, as I am typing this I am beginning to get a sore throat, which cold be why I have felt drained the last couple of days! Still, I did beat my last go in terms of distance (just) but failed to produce as much raw power (as seen by the peak watts) - will hopefully see greater improvements once this "cold" has passed!

Jon

Hard hard sesh!

2011-09-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I did my 30 minute sprint interval session, which absolutely destroyed me! not sure if it was my intensity or whether I still needed some recovery, but a good session that tested me - I will need more of those this winter!

Training stats to come!

Jon

Day of reflection!

2011-09-19T00:56:00.000-07:00

Well I just did 15 minutes on the bike just to keep my legs ticking over, and as I raced and I have my PGCE class tonight (won't be getting home until 10!!) Today is going to be an easy one!

Well yesterday's event in Birmingham was fairly positive for me and the club! Robert ended the season with a Cat 1 win, Louise raced competitively after moving up a category, Dan won the handicap race and Jordan got 3 firsts!

As for me, well I don't think i have done to badly this year! considering I only competed in 5 events (Indoor champs relay, London Marathon and 3 Club meetings) was injured for the best part of 3 weeks after my fall in the marathon, hardly had any "skate" time this year, having only the Monday club session indoors (which I have now lost!) and have had a good 4 years off skates over my competition - despite this I am up there, maybe not competiting for medals - but keeping with the skaters in most distances.

So onto my races!

5000m - The 5k was interesting, as it had just rained 5 minutes before and all the skaters had a wet track to deal with! Having only one type of wheel, I didn't have the luxury of switching to rain wheels or mixing with other types, and well my wheels didn't exactly give the best grip! as a result I was powering the straights, and then coasting the corners essentially losing everything I had gained in terms of speed. Still everyone was in the same boat, and Rob managed to break away for the win, so a victory for Woodham made it worthwhile! I placed 8th.

2000m - This was arguably my best race, kept with the pace better and skated the track easier thanks to it now being dry! misjudged how much energy I had left and should have gone half a lap sooner, ended up hawking for the line and just missed out on 5th. Quite happy with this!

1000m - One of my former favourite distances, and to date the distance I have got my only Senior medal in (Bronze, 2006) However at this point I didn't have a great amount left in the tank, poorly judged the race and didn't skate the corners, a terrible race for me, my sprinting will be worked on next year! I think I came 9th.

Well thats the season over! I will be writing up my personal seasional review as well as my training goals over the winter!

All in all, looking forward to racing in 2012!

Jon

Just a light one!

2011-09-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

Well last night I got to have a light jog, I think I'm going to work on my running over the winter as a way of pushing my aerobic system, its benefits in that area are second to none! and if it transfers to my skating then that will be a major bonus next season.

I wanted to do my Hour Wattbike test this morning, but 10 minutes into it my knee felt awkward. With racing Sunday, I didn't want to push it so I ended up doing a 1000m, rest, 3000m, rest, 5000m session to mimic Sunday's racing distances.

Tonight i'll get some core stuff in, with a rest day tomorrow in preparation for Sunday. Tonight and tomorrow means lots of carbs so for that alone I am a happy bunny!

Jon

Glad to get a cycle in!

2011-09-14T15:23:00.001-07:00

Well the weather was fantastic this evening! Was able to get on the bike and do 17 miles, I'm which I attacked every hill on route! One of my favourite sessions!

Jon

Morning Sesh + Results!

2011-09-14T03:48:00.000-07:00

This mornings session, included a little circuit session of 10 minute row, 3 X 12 55kg Bench Press and 3 X 8 25kg Barbell squat jumps onto step up boxes.

It felt good, and I'm pleased to say my lower back is a lot stronger now! :)

Also here are my results from my new Wattbike workout (30 mins, sprint last 200m of every 1000m up to 15k, then push hard, then sprint last 30 seconds) and also my body fat analysis which i'll try and do every now and again to look at any changes there.

WattBike Results:

WattBike 30 Minute (15k with Sprints) Training Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Energy (kj)	Speed (Av)
6/9/2011	19,870m	782	255	97	146	158	458.3	39.7
13/9/2011	20,364m	815	265	101	154	160	477.4	40.7

Body Fat analysis:

Athlete Physiological Measurements (Body Fat)
Date	Fat (%)	Fat Weight (kg)	Lean Muscle (%)	Lean Muscle (kg)	Total B.W (kg)	Est. BMR (Kcal)	Est. Req. (Kcal)
14/09/2011	8	6.6	92	75.4	82	2278	3873

Jon

Good morning, achey afternoon!

2011-09-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well I started the day in fine form, beating my previous scores for my newly designed Wattbike session (15k with sprints, then finish off the rest of a 30 minute cycle)

That was a killer though, my legs were still struggling from a mixture of the plyometrics on friday, and the cycle/skate yesterday!

So that set the standard for the day - spending all day at work sore and tired, which left me with hardly anything left for my slideboard session which I had to cut short.

Hopefully a good night sleep and rest for my legs tomorrow morning (but upper body stuff instead!) i'll have energy for some kinds of cardio session in the evening!

Jon

Not a bad day!

2011-09-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well today's training was pretty good.

Started with a 30 minute cycle on the Wattbike, gradually increasing the intensity to about 105 rpm.

Played 30 minutes lacrosse (wasn't planned, but I guess it all adds up! the joys of being a sports lecturer!

Finished with an hour session indoors, my main concern was getting my frame placement right... which I think I got towards the end! was a nice session though, bit of technique, endurance and sprinting. Probably not ideal all at once, but it was my last session before I return to my evening studies! (Booo!) and its all time on skates! :)

Tomorrow morning: cycle,
Tomorrow evening: Slideboard/road skate

Jon

Damn you DOMS!

2011-09-11T02:46:00.000-07:00

Well my plyometric session on Friday really has taken its toll! I am still experiencing the DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) from saturday, and as such can barely walk up stairs, let alone do any hard training! I will attempt some upper body stuff, but my legs will need another day of rest before tomorrows indoor session - my last one before my PGCE starts again Monday evenings! (sad... sad Jon)

During the winter, cycling and slideboard are definitely going to play a massive part of my training - not too mention those lovely plyometrics! :)

Jon

All done for another week!

2011-09-09T13:45:00.001-07:00

Well, I didn't quite get to hit the slideboard this evening, mainly due to the fact that this mornings session destroyed what was left of my legs!

Instead I did a core session, abs and lower back were on the menu!

My workout was:

40 x inverted V sit crunches, 12 jackknife's and 12 x weighted (30kg) crunches. X 3

Then I did 3 x 20 reverse crunches for my lower back.

This was done with a minute recovery.

Now all that's left is too enjoy a rest day tomorrow, before the fun begins again on Sunday!

Jon Morrison

Plyometrics... such great training, such great pain!

2011-09-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

Well today I was on the plyo's, my session went like this:

10 minute cycle on the Wattbike to warm up (started slow but increased the pace throughout)

12 X Box Jumps, 12 X Skating Star Jumps (3 Sets, 1 minute rest inbetween)

5 Bunny Hops/Frog Jumps with 15kg barbell, 12 steps low walking with 15kg barbell (3 Sets, 1 minute rest inbetween)

5 Minute cycle cooldown.

Due to the high intensity, the duration can be kept low - and as always I will add reps, sets and reduce recovery time for my progression,

I felt ok, it was hard (but then thats the point!) yesterdays light run helped me recover a bit for this session, and hopefully I can add some slideboard stuff to it tonight and then enjoy my rest day tomorrow!

Jon

Morning rest, then a run or cycle (hopefully!)

2011-09-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I awoke this morning aching and feeling the toll of hard training!

With this is mind, I have given myself the morning off - not a sign of weakness, but just acknowledging what my body is telling me.

I remember Bill Begg saying never train for the sake of training, and this is echoed by my colleague Greg Deacon, who has also said be careful about going out and doing "junk miles"

Training hard, 6 days a week is the norm for elite athletes, however that is built up to overtime and elite athletes will always train smart - have plans well thought out and have a purpose, if any extra rest period is needed then so be it, especially if it improves the quality of effort for the next session.

That said, if I feel fine and the weather lets me - I'll try and get out in the evening!

Jon

Road Skate!

2011-09-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

Just got back from skating the South hanningfield road again, was hard - soreness from the intense slideboard yesterday did me no favours! Did a half hour skate with a few sprints in between! Not spectacular but gives me something to build on during future skates!

Jon

Location:South Hanningfield

Hurting, but going good!

2011-09-07T03:34:00.000-07:00

Well, my booties for my slideboard arrived yesterday! woo! they are basically overshoes for your trainers so you can slide on the board, and well I had been putting plastic bags on my feet which give moreor less the same effect!

Although having got on the board, it seems that the booties are a little grippier than the bags, and I have to push that little harder to slide! I actually is a better work out due to the fact i'm working harder to move! but i'll have to re-assess my method of lubrication the board to see if theres something better out there!

My session went:

Pyramid Intervals (1:30secs recovery)

2 Min - 3 Min - 4 Min - 3 Min - 2 Min

5 Minute Rest

3 Sets of 8 X Lateral Leg Abduction with 20kg Shoulder Press and 12 X 1 Leg Squat (20kg each leg)

This felt really good, and I generally enjoyed it! will progress onto longer on the pyramid intervals for the next slideboard session!

This morning I gave my legs the morning off (a little!) and did 4 X 2 Min Hard effort rows, with 1 min recovery on the rowing machine, followed by 3 lots of 12 X 40kg Chest Press and 3 X 12 Bent over rows, body is definitely hurting now!

Tonight I plan to either cycle or skate (preferably skate!) on the road I tried on Saturday, will just work as hard as I can for an hour, focusing on technique and power!

Jon

Not even the rain can stop me!

2011-09-06T01:40:00.000-07:00

Well, as I predicted - the weather this morning was wet and windy! which was a shame because it wasn't cold and I was looking forward to getting on the bike!

However, having back up training (and this is even more important for those who are based in countries with unpredictable weather like me!) Allows me to keep pushing myself day in, and day out!

This mornings session consisted of a 30 minute cycle on the WattBikes, with similar requirements to that session I had planned the other day. Basically it went:

30 Mins (keep above 90 rpm)
Sprint last 200m of every 1000m sprint, up until 15,000m.
Then keep a good pace (HR - around 160) for however long is left
Last 30 seconds - smash out whatever is left in the legs!

Was hard, but felt good after! - finished off with a nice shower, a banana, orange, protein shake and a nice hot cup of coffee. What a way, to start the day! :)

Slideboard tonight, booties still haven't arrived from Canada yet so plastic bags it is! My aim for this session is to keep low, this is one area I want to improve on for next season! low and powerful!

Jon

A pretty good indoor session!

2011-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well todays training consisted of some wattbike sprints this morning when I got into work (4 lots of 20 seconds with a minute in between, and then some easy cycling) mainly to get the legs going for skating.

The indoor session was pretty good, 50 standard lapper followed by 50 with sprints every 5, finishing with a 25 lap drill also with sprints thrown in.

admittedly the first 50 I was playing around with the frame alignment of my right boot, I think its nearly there and I seemed to be getting more push through the heel... the only downside was that with this extra push I lost more grip, and sprinting was pretty difficult! I really can't wait for those new indoor wheels!

Although, actually tonight was my second from last night left indoor training as I start the 2nd year of my PGCE on Monday evenings which means I loose currently the only consistant skating training in my training plan - not good! I'll have my road bike, Wattbike and slideboard to keep me going, but unless the weather stays dry I might not be skating for a while! :(

Tomorrow I'll hopefully be able to cycle in, but if the weather is terrible - It'll be a Wattbike session in the morning, followed by slideboard work in the evening!

Jon

A new place to skate!

2011-09-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

As you can see from my video clip, I managed to skate a random stretch of road that I usually cycle on! and it's actually not too bad!

Aside from the usual stones and sticks on the road, it actually proved a decent work out and is a fairly smooth surface - theres even a small road coming of the middle which you can sprint up! all in all very happy with it, and if its not wet - i'll try and get down here once or twice a week!

I managed 6 miles (the road is 1.5 miles, so 4 lengths) and will hope to get at least a half marathon plus sprints during a proper session!

Today i'm taking it easy, had a meeting with the Great Britain coaching team in Northampton earlier today and after driving for 4 hours+ i'll allow my back to return to 100% for tomorrow, which means I can start training 6 days a week again! bring on indoor tomorrow! :)

Jon

Keeping it easy (for now!)

2011-09-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

To accompany my cycle yesterday, I was able to try out a new car park for training - was nice to get a mid-week skate in! :)

The surface, was not ideal - the corners were tight and incredibly slippery, however the straights were nice and long, allowing for some good leg work against the wind.

The session was more of a trial than hard training, but after my knock to my back it was ideal! One concern is definitely my boots though. being a 2005 model they don't have as much "hold" as they used to, the laces are weak and the boots are getting extremely loose after several laps, which is affecting the way I skate and transferring power into my strides - very frustrating!

Hopefully I can get new waxed laces soon when the club return from Belgium, that should be a temporary fix. However after next season I'll have to look in to getting new boots! (better start the saving!!)

Today I plan to rest my back, which is fine as I'm pretty busy at work anyway! tomorrow however, I'll fit in a cycle and/or slideboard if my "booties" come, and after my meeting with the Great Britain coaching team on Sunday, I'll return to my usual training schedule as of Monday!

Jon

Feeling Good!

2011-09-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

After my Time Trial on tuesday, I felt it was necessary to listen to my body and give it a rest yesterday! Not too mention give my back that little extra time to better.

And I'm sure glad I did! I woke this morning feeling great, did a 30 minute cycle on the WattBike, sprinting every now and again, just testing myself and I felt good! I think i'm gonna incorporate this type of session more frequently, but more structured, so it'll go something like this:

30 Mins Cycle (Requirement: at all times keep above 90rpm)

Sprint the last 200m of every 1000m. (So sprint 800m - 1000m, 1800 - 2000, etc...) Hopefully going further each time I do the session (In terms of overall distance at the end!).

Last Minute of the cycle, ignore the distance and just smash out the last 30 secs.

Should be a decent workout, I'll record stats for it like my 60 minute test, so I can measure my performance!

I'll try and jump on the Slideboard tonight, ordered some "Booties" from Canada to put over my shoes, I think the Co-op will be pleased as I won't be stealing all there plastic bags! :P

I think improving my technique needs to be my focus over the winter, muscle can be built up anytime, but I need to be skating much more efficiently next season and the slideboard, and hopefully an extra indoor session should improve this!

Jon

Time Trial Write Up!

2011-08-31T04:33:00.000-07:00

Well where do I start?

My time trial didn't really go as well as I planned! Unfortunately, having trained Sunday, Skated Monday (and injuring my lower back in the process) and then racing Tuesday, I really didn't have a whole lot to give for this one!

My colleague Greg, kind of summed it up and said that to do well, I would need to treat it like a race (as the others do) rather than part of my training!

I started the race pretty much dead, my lower back and hamstrings were letting me know that they were weak and were not going to give me much back in terms of physical effort! but still, I powered on as best I could! The first lap was ok, but unlike last week though, I didn't have anyone in sight to hunt down - which made things a little hard from a motivational perspective.

When I passed the finish line, I knew that my body was pretty battered and having timed myself during the race, I knew that I was way off my potential time. Excuses aside though, my time trial preparation needs to be improved and like Greg said, I need to start seeing them as races rather than training! However having nearly cycled a sub 30 minute race whilst being injured is a positive, in that fit I could have got a time of around 28 minutes - and anyway! its all experience that will go towards becoming fitter and stronger!

For next season, I'll give road racing a bash! As due to my skating background I feel that pack racing will come more naturally to me! until then, theres a 150km race around Essex at the end of September! might give that a go!

Time Trial Results Table

Posn	Name	Time	Club

1st	J Fitchew	24.57	Ford CC
2nd	C Harrison	24.59	Ford CC
3rd	M Fisher	25.37	Ford CC
4th	B Flack	26.13	Ford CC
5th	G Deacon	27.25	Come & Try It
6th	J Johal	27.39	Ford CC
7th	C Beech	28.20	Ford CC
8th	G Bores	28.23	Ford CC
9th	P Tibbitts	28.44	Ford CC
10th	C Doe	29.15	Ford CC
11th	I Bartram	29.25	East Essex Triathion Club
12th	T Whalley	29.50	Ford CC
13th	K Brown	30.04	Ford CC
14th	C Guest	30.06	Ford CC
15th	D Unsworth	30.34	Ford CC
16th	J Morrison	30.35	Come & Try It
17th	S Jellis	31.25	Ford CC
18th	J Brown	36.17	Ford CC
19th	G Etheridge	DNF	Come & Try It

Jon

Happy Days!

2011-08-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Well how about that!

My back, the absolute bane of my life throughout the latter stages of my skating before I stopped, has healed incredibly!

I woke this morning with a slight soreness, but after coming into work and showering it appears my back is now fine! lots of movement and no pain! :)

I'm so pleased its unreal, considering when my back used to go, I would not be able to do anything for about a week, sometimes two afterwards!

Bring on the TIME TRIAL!!!

Jon

An old problem rears its ugly head!

2011-08-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well here, today's training had a few ups and downs so I'll start with the good!

My acceleration: This aspect of my training felt especially good tonight, I felt I reached a top speed quickly and efficiently!

My Speed: I was told I looked faster, now without times to go against there isn't any hard evidence to support that I was going faster. Still, its a nice compliment and I will focus on that as I now describe the bad!

Equipment: My wheels are ok for the indoor track, however once reaching a top speed on the corner they still don't give me the grip to put anything past 85% of my max sprint, also I still feel I need to fine tune my frame alignment - my left boot still feels uncomfortable in the corners. Will tweak the frame for next Monday, and pray that when I find the funds, the new indoor Bont Velocity "Grip" wheels give me the desired hold on an indoor track!

My Back: Well this was a slight problem, my lower back itself was what forced me to stop last time I skated, and tonight it came back a bit. However it is nowhere near as bad as it was, and it was completely my fault. Yesterdays weights session incorporated dead lifts, which as any good gym goer knows, targets your lower back! although a good exercise, I have now realised that it is not suitable the day before any skating (or activity where I'm bent over for long periods of time!)

Hopefully I'll be fine tomorrow and the cycling time trial tomorrow evening will go well!

Jon

Weights and Writing!

2011-08-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well as I said, today featured weights - an important element of any athletes training!

With regards to weight training, during the season I won't be doing too many sessions - one, maybe two a week tops. The reason being I don't want to "bulk" up too quickly or too much! my racing weight will probably be around 12 and half stone and of that weight, it will need to be lean, functional muscle (muscle built around performing a various exercise, similar muscle movements etc...) rather than just muscle gained from endless bicep curls! I, as like all other skaters must remember to keep the training functional!

With that said, my session focused on core and upper body, working every one of those muscles with various exercises (leaving my legs to other days!)
Off season, I'll probably focus most of my training on building my leg muscle - stripping the fat and creating explosive power! :)

I also managed to write an article for the South Woodham Focus, highlighting the some reasons as too why the town would benefit from a purpose built track, something which would really help the sport, the club and my training! will post a link to the PDF when (if!) it gets published! :)
I'm looking forward to indoor training tomorrow, the rink at Maldon has really allowed me to enjoy indoor skating, something that I didn't particularly enjoy in the past! Its excellent for technique and cornering, and hopefully will help me to add to my solitary Junior Men's 1500m British title - to date my ONLY indoor victory, in the coming seasons!
Jon

Location Location Location!

2011-08-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

Training location that is!

The Woodham boss Alan Moore, just rang me to check out Basildon Sporting Village's indoor hall and outdoor netball courts for club training. Hopefully the price is fair and the surface is skatable!

This is the major problem with Skating in the UK, in that there aren't many suitable places to ply our trade, fingers crossed the Project Community Skatepark can get us a purpose built track in Woodham!

Training today will consist of mainly core and upper body stuff! fun fun fun! :)

Jon

Rest and reflect!

2011-08-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Well rest day has come (and my legs LOVE that fact!)

Yesterdays slideboard sesh was good, kept it simple and concentrated on technique. My session went basically like this:

3 Minutes skating, 12 X lateral leg splits with 15kg shoulder press (looks like a star jump but on the board!) and then 12 X 1 leg 15kg skating squats each leg.

3 sets of this and you're good to go!

My progression will be more minutes sliding, and more reps/higher weight on the other exercises: this session will probably feature quite high over the winter!

One thing that has caught my attention with my training, is that I need to work on my top end speed and acceleration: definitely something I'm going to look at in the coming weeks!

...Now off too see the Inbetweeners movie! apparently its pretty good! :)

Jon

...and the training is working!

2011-08-26T02:48:00.000-07:00

Well here is the data from my WattBike testing, for those who are unfamiliar with the WattBike, it is a British Cycling approved stationary bike, which feels so close to the real thing its scary! the bike is able to record a host of various elements (as seen on the table) and is able to link up with other WattBike to stage races!

The 3 WattBikes in the college Sports Lab!

WattBike 1 Hour Test Results
Date	Distance	Watts Peak	Watts Av	RPM (Av)	RPM (Peak)	HR (Av)	Speed (Av)
21/3/2011	34,780m	518	170	95	145	147	34.8 km/h
30/3/2011	35,052m	598	174	96	140	145	35.1 km/h
1/4/2011	35,422m	456	178	98	133	150	35.4 km/h
8/4/2011	36,172m	447	189	98	130	149	36.23 km/h
15/4/2011	36,660m	448	198	102	133	151	37 km/h
5/8/2011	38,693m	652	229	97	128	154	39 km/h
26/8/2011	39,571m	549	241	98	130	162	39.6 km/h

As you can see from the table, the "key" areas to look at are my distance covered and average speed - which together means that I am going further, because my average speed is higher. My average RPM is encouraging (the amount I pedal in 1 minute) and my heart is working harder each time! all in all! I am happy with the results, and it means that the training is working!

I will try and do this test every two weeks or so, as it does take it out of you!

So! bring on the slideboard tonight! and then a weekend of rest for my legs, with some core and upper body stuff on Sunday! :)

Jon

To work and back!

2011-08-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Today's training was pretty much my usual "cycle 12 miles in, cycle 12 miles out" with a little plyometric stuff thrown in for good measure!

Even though my legs hurt to walk (as i've been punishing them all week!) my cycles in are getting easier, so as of next week, i'll have to throw in some random sprints to up the intensity!

Well, with that said - on to dinner! mmmm!

Tomorrows training is my Wattbike 1 hour sesh in the morning - basically I try to go as far as I can in the hour! and some slideboard work in the evening! fantastic! :)

Jon

Just a little sliding and cycling!

2011-08-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

Fairly easy day today, Greg and I ran some practice WattBike races! we did a 5 and 1k (legs still burning from yesterday at this point!) but was good for keeping the legs going!

I also did a light slideboard sesh, going for more pyramid work! (2 mins - 3 mins - 4 mins - 3 mins - 2 mins) I plan to repeat this Friday evening with the addition of a slideboard weights workout!

Well time to get some sleep, I'm up at 6 to cycling in to work! do a plyometric sesh, cycle home after work and then go for a light run... gonna enjoy eating tomorrow!

Jon

2011-08-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well here are the results of last nights Time Trial race! Not too bad i'd say! (Especially as it was my first one, plus I raced Sunday!)

Posn	Name	Time	Club

1st	C. Harrison	31.07	Ford CC
2nd	J. Fitchew	31.15	Ford CC
3rd	M. Fisher	31.40	Ford CC
4th	J. Johal	33.56	Ford CC
5th	G. Deacon	34.03	Come & Try It
6th	C. Beech	34.18	Ford CC
7th	R. Cook	34.30	Ford CC
8th	I. Bartram	35.51	East Essex Triathion Club
9th	C. Guest	36.35	Ford CC
10th	M. Shean	36.41	Ford CC
11th	D. Unsworth	36.45	Ford CC
12th	J. Morrison	36.46	Come & Try It
13th	K. Brown	36.54	Ford CC
14th	T. Whalley	37.38	Ford CC
15th	E. Jackson	39.59	Ford CC
16th	J. Carvill	42.02	Ford CC

I'm entering a 10 mile time trial next week! Should do a lot better! (Hopefully!) :)

Jon

My cycling time trial debut!!

2011-08-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, well it wasn't quite "Tour de France" but I finally took a crack at a cycling time trial! and, well it was actually pretty fun!

The time trial was 13 miles, two laps of a 6.5 circuit in Hanningfield, Essex and lucky old me got to go off 2nd in a staggered "1 minute interval between each racer" start! basically for those who don't know, each cyclist goes off with a minute between each other... if you catch the one in front, you're basically a minute quicker than them and vica versa if the one behind catches you!

So there I went, I didn't have a clue what pace to start off at so I tried to keep my speed between 18-21 mph on the straights and 12-15 mph on the hills. This worked quite well, as I caught the number 1 cyclist after about 3 miles (although to be fair he seemed to be a beginner like me!) needless to say I was then the one to catch! which actually is quite daunting in a way because you have no one to chase and can only be caught!

I finished the first lap without being caught which I was quite happy with, in a time of roughly 18 minutes, after about half a mile into lap two however, racer no 3 started to hunt me down! He did catch me after 2 miles into the second lap and I then made it my mission to stick on his back wheel for as long as I could!

Whilst chasing I did feel my calf strain a little, which was probably the effects of Sundays skating in London and yesterdays training session indoors, but luckily I was able to keep low and stay right behind racer 3, which gave me a fair bit of rest for my aching legs on the downhill parts!

So here we are, myself and racer 3 reeling in the miles on our own, until roughly 2 miles to go, when racer 7 (yeah racer 7, meaning he caught everyone in front of him!) sped past in his expensive time trial bike and time trial helmet. I did think about chasing, but decided I wanted to save myself to make sure I definitely beat racer 3, who I was still clinging on to! and that's what I did, with about 400m to go, I smashed out whatever was left in my legs and managed to finish about 15 seconds in front of racer 3.

Overall it was really fun, with a rough unofficial time of 37 minutes (pretty good considering I do 12 miles to work in 38) and will definitely be doing more time trials in the future!

Jon

Kinda sore... but feeling better!

2011-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, its almost time for myself to get some sleep!

Not much to reflect on today! a light 20 minute cycle this morning to keep the legs moving and then a fairly decent indoor skating session! Rob and I tried some pyramid style efforts, 1 on, 1 off up to 5 laps then down again!

I do feel a lot more comfortable indoors now, my cornering feels more powerfull and I feel quick out the bends - fingers crossed regular sessions at the rink should encourage some good racing at the Indoor Champs in March!

Well time for some rest - I'm racing my first bike race tomorrow! a 13 mile time trial! hopefully the weather stays dry! :)

Jon

Tatem Race: My Thoughts!

2011-08-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I've just got back from London after what was a semi successful day, although not in terms of race results - but what I learnt during the races!

Before I start, Congrats must go to the Woodham girls, Maya destroyed her Cat with 3 wins, and Louise raced extremely well tactically in her final race to clinch an overall victory for her! both my stand out performances of the day!

Right... onto my racing!

As soon as I got to the track, I knew I had to try and find some way around my inability to warm up my legs properly, and it seems even an hour on skates beforehand isn't good enough!

Basically in my 500m heat, 500m losers final and the 3000m, my legs felt heavy, stiff and quite frankly incapable of ANY speed, as evident by my results. I'd be lying if I said it didn't put me down, because it did - all the training I've done recently only to turn up to a race with legs feeling like two lead poles! and ooooo! what was next? a 10k points? fantastic.

Well actually it kind of was, about 5 laps into the 10k my legs suddenly felt a lot better, almost as if the stiffness just got flushed away - it would seem that the high intensity of the previous races was what they needed to finally loosen up! and I actually didn't race too badly finishing the distance and then going on to win the "fun" mixed relay at the end of the event.

So, the first learning point: Work on warm up!

Linking onto the fact my legs took so long to warm up, it lead me to think about my rest days before the race. Usually I have been training 6 days a week, with Saturday as my designated rest day, however this week (leading up to the race) I decided to taper the training down, reducing the amount/intensity right up to the competition day. This, going by today's performance, I feel was the wrong decision for me, as I suspect my legs became too relaxed contributing to how stiff and "useless" my legs felt. I mean how could I feel physically better on Monday, where I cycled 19 miles in the morning and then skated with the club in the evening, than I did today after several days of resting? it seems that inactivity of my muscles is a major no no, and I need to maintain what my body is used to doing, when leading up to an event.

Learning point 2: Stick to the one day rest! (try at Birmingham!)

The last aspect of my racing performance that became apparent, was my wheel choice. My team mate Robert, hit the nail on the head when he asked "don't you find those too soft?" Well yes I did, however since returning to the sport, those wheels are all I have... skating is a hard sport, however poor equipment choices doesn't help the situation. I think Santa is going to have to get his elves to conjure up some wheels for next season!

3rd learning point: Buy more wheels! (because, well unfortunately Elves don't exist...)

Well those are my thoughts on my performance, overall it wasn't bad, but wasn't great! the important thing for any skater is to recognise where they need to improve - so I'll work on my learning points and keep skating, cycling and working out, to get stronger and fitter!

Jon

First Post!

2011-08-20T02:12:00.000-07:00

Well I suppose I better kick this thing off!

The goal of this blog is to document my thoughts on my training/racing experiences, as I attempt to restart my Inline Speed Skating career after what was a lengthy absence, due to a re-occuring lower back injury and my degree studies (both of which are over with now!).

Today is Saturday, a rest day for me and the day before only my third race since rejoining the sport! goals for today are simple: REST. I've spent the week tapering down my training, easing of the gas if you like, I've done some cycling, skating and slideboard work gradually reducing the amount I've trained to now, my rest day, in which I shall do nothing! (well apart from clean the car and my skates...) combine that with lots of quality eating and I should be good to go! :)

Goals for tomorrow? well, since my aim is to become dominant (or at least competitive!) in the sprint division, I want to have a good race in the 500m - the other distances, those I'll treat as training! as I say to the Woodham lot, time on skates is everything and I won't want to waste any when I've got a track to skate on! :)

Jon