Am I ready?

Sandgate jetty last Saturday

A few days ago I was asked by a friend, who is giving me a hand with coaching, if my body is ready for more intensity. I didn't answer his email. He called me a couple of days later. I told him that I honestly didn't know but that I was keen to give it a go because we won't really know until we try, will we?

He has done a marvellous job so far … of holding me back. If it would have been up to me I would have jumped into big training sessions about a month ago. Looking through my training log just now, I realised that I did on average 150 km per week for the past ten weeks, with one week as high as 235 km and some weeks only 80-90 km. I thought I was ready in May and then I was told: "I need you to do the same low intensity thing for one more week." and then another week, and another.

So I was very glad when I finally received the email with the subject: "It IS time to get started". Test week for me this week and I am very excited and also a bit nervous.

I can smell coffee ...

I promised to give an account of my “I will just put a few less of the well known and scientifically proven toxins and processed food into my body for a while” diet. So this post is for Lisa, Lily on the Road and Bluenoser (Blue, sorry, I haven't emailed it through, yet. I'll do so as soon as I finish this post).

The suggested length for this diet was seven days. By day six gut feeling told me to extend for another three days to make it a ten day diet. Don’t ask me why? Maybe I just enjoyed it so much that I wanted to keep going. Therefore today is the last day and I’m all giddy about the prospect of having a cup of coffee tomorrow morning. Should I get up half an hour earlier and make it a big thing? I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight, just like a child before Christmas … or I might stay up till midnight and have a little espresso then?

Even though I’m looking forward to having coffee again, I can’t say I missed it while I couldn’t have it. Caffeine seems just a habit but not an addiction because after the initial withdrawal headache I was not craving it.

It was the same with bread and sugar and I have to report that the most interesting sensation was the lack of hunger and cravings from day three onwards. I normally munch all day and always feel hungry or at least peckish but this diet seems to have restored my natural appetite.

One of the unexpected tough things turned out to be salt. Food just doesn’t taste without salt and after realising that vegetable stock has heaps of artificial flavour enhancers and salt, I used lots of parsley and spring onion and herbs but nothing really tasted that good without salt. I’m looking forward to put salt back into my life, almost more than coffee.

The other interesting thing was my first ride. I was about to grab my usual bar for the mid-ride snack but, hold on, bars have sugar. The only food item suitable for the back pocket turned out to be a banana. And nothing but pure water in the bottle … I wouldn't be able to sustain this aspect if I had to train at high intensity.

All in all I had to be more organised and take lunch to work. Food preparation took a bit longer and shopping because of all of the label reading: try to find dried fruit that are just fruit and not sulphates or find fruit juice that is 100% pure fruit juice and not all sugar or canned corn that has no added salt or sugar. It also cost a little more as I went shopping at Mrs Flannery’s (an organic food store) but that was off-set by not spending any money on lunches and coffees.

It wasn't part of my goal, and in my case I would rather count this as a negative, but I lost about a kilo and a half of weight in ten days, and that's without trying. As mentioned above, I wasn't hungry once and ate heaps.

Now, how did I feel? Apart from the initial headache I felt great. No major discomforts and I had plenty of energy. During the spin sessions on the rollers on day five and six of the diet I felt strong. The good feeling off the bike continued but I can't claim the same for on the bike. The past three days, every little incline I could feel lactic acid building up in my legs straight away, even though my heart rate was only in the 140ies. The legs were missing spring and felt sluggish and heavy. I was still able to put out power but it just didn’t feel good.

Only a nutritionist can probably explain what is happening but maybe I did not get enough carbohydrates from just brown rice, potatoes and vegetables and my glycogen stores are depleted and the heavy legs are due to lack of fuel in form of sugars? I’m not sure how to explain the sensation exactly and whether sugars have anything to do with it. It’s all just my very subjective and unscientific observation.

Oh and one last thing: I don't know if you remember my hair loss problem that started sometime late March and went on and on for weeks? Well, it slowed down a little just before I started my diet and I'm happy to report that it has completely disappeared now. I take this as an equally unscientific proof that the diet has worked and I'm just glad that I've got some hair left.

My favourite breakfast: Fruit salad with natural yoghurt, cashew nuts, goji berries and honey. Usually I had (and will continue to have) flaked brown race porridge with fresh fruit (usually rock melon, strawberries or banana)

This was the highlight of my week: Quinoa, broccoli and salmon for lunch.

About guilt and suffering

Anonymous suggested in a comment on my detox diet post that I'm detoxing because I feel guilty about eating the muffin so I want to make myself suffer. Now this is an interesting thought and felt like exploring.

Guilt - yes! I do feel guilty. I feel guilt about not riding last Sunday because it was raining and I couldn't muster the motivation to get on the rollers. I also feel guilty - still - that almost thirty years ago I took a baby sparrow from its nest and took it home. I lied to my parents that it must have fallen out of its nest and that I had found it in the grass, abandoned. I so wanted a pet and little I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up collecting little worms to keep it alive. I cried a lot when the little bird died. There are some hearts I carelessly broke in my student days and I feel guilty about that (a little ... maybe) and guilt is definitely a constant feeling when I think of my parents some 17,000 km away...

It is correct that I do make myself suffer quite a bit (when I'm well enough) and if you are a competitive cyclist you'll be with me on this one. If I wouldn't make myself suffer in intensive training sessions than others will make me suffer in races (more often than they do already anyway). Since I prefer dishing out the suffering, and I’m sure I’m not alone on this one, I do things that mean suffering and sacrifice.

So for the record: Those who know me, will confirm that I rarely feel guilty about eating, and I eat a lot. I didn't feel guilty about eating the muffin, in fact, I ate six and a half muffins that weekend because Alberto shared his last muffin with me and - nope - no guilty feelings there. I also don't do the detox to loose weight. Hell not, I'm at race weight since Christmas and I'm not even racing!

There is a lot of information, non-information and misinformation out there about Glandular Fever, cycling training principles, detox diets and any other topic under the sky. I figured that I can only try and experiment and do what feels right with the little reliable knowledge available. I read a lot about detox diets, the pros and cons and risks. This is not about ridding my body of toxins. My goal is to give my liver a helping hand to do what livers do best: act as natural detoxifiers for a healthy body. Now, my body hasn't been very healthy for the past six months, fighting this Eppstein-Barr-Virus, and my liver had it's fair share of extra toxins to deal with as a result. Reducing the amount of additional toxins I throw at it, if even only for one week, can surely do no harm and it might help me get better quicker so I can start those guilt-free high intensity training sessions on my bike that will make me suffer.

Detox diet

Last weekend, over coffee and those Pineapple-Ginger-Muffins, I decided to start a detox diet.

It had been on my mind for a long time now, basically since I realised what a strain this Glandular Fever is on the liver. My naturopath had advised against one back in February because the liver was busy as it was dealing with the onslaught of toxins from fighting the virus. Now, that the worst seems over, the time is right to give my liver a helping hand to get rid of some of the toxins that accumulated because I'm good enough to risk having more toxins released in the blood stream during the cleansing. Additionally, my training load is not that high, yet, that a restricted diet could jeopardise proper carbohydrate fuelling.

I researched and found the diet that I wanted to do and set the start date for Friday (yesterday).

Wanted to do? Who am I kidding? I didn’t find the detox diet that I wanted to do because none of these diets allow coffee! AARGH! There is possibly no human being on earth more addicted to coffee. Ask Alberto! Giving up coffee - for seven days - me? No way!

All articles I had read warned me of the caffeine withdrawal symptoms and advised to reduce coffee slowly over several days leading up to the detox diet in order to reduce discomfort. I didn't! I couldn't! Every time I tried to just eliminate the second cup I had a minor panic attack.

Yes, I paid dearly.

Discomfort? They call this discomfort? It was just about lunch time of day one of my detox, maybe five hours after my usual caffeine fix, when the headaches started. And let me tell you: They were the worst headache in my life - for 24 hours! The only time it was bearable was actually when I was riding my bike but I just couldn't keep riding for 24 hours straight.

So here I am, two days in and I questioned myself more than once why the hell I'm doing this. I was close to giving up twice, once for coffee, the other time for bread.

And yes, I did warn all my friends, too, and Alberto scheduled some volunteer overtime.

The headaches eased up this afternoon (day two) and are gone now. I take the headaches as a good sign, though, that the detox is actually working but I'm glad the worst seems over.
So the detox I'm following eliminates, besides the obvious coffee, tea and alcohol, all lactose, gluten, processed stuff, artificial stuff, sugar and salt etc.

I'm eating all fruit, vegetables, legumes, tofu, potatoes, brown rice, nuts & seeds and fish. Crossed off the shopping list for this week are: meat (I'm a vegetarian anyway so no change here), milk, cheese, eggs, cream, butter, margarine, wheat (bread, croissants, cereals, cakes, biscuits, pies, pasties etc), chocolate, sweets, jam, any processed food, fizzy drinks etc.

Snack: fresh apple, beetroot, celery, carrot and ginger juice

Lunch: salad with rice crackers, avocado and smoked salmon and a glass of rice milk

Dinner: pearl barley and vegetable soup

Two days down, five to go ...

As the week progressed ...

Rollercoaster rides are supposed to be fun. This one is not.

Earlier this week I put together a strength workout that I was able to do at home with just a Swiss ball and a Yoga mat. I've always been a fan of using my own body weight for strength exercises rather than sophisticated machines. It just feels more natural and holistic.

I was highly motivated to get back into strength work because I had to burn off these beauties that I had baked last weekend (Kate would have been so proud of me):

So this is what I did:
I warmed up for ten minutes on the rollers, followed by ten push ups and twenty squads.
Then I went swiftly through the following exercises, resting no longer than a minute between sets.

1. One legged squads: 3 x 12 each leg
2. Hamstring curls: 15 repetitions with both legs, than 3 x 8 single leg curls
3. Push ups: 5 x 10
4. Bridge holds and bridge twists: 20 seconds hold and immediately 10 twists x 2
5. Swiss ball crunches: 3 x 30
6. Single leg calf rises: 3 x 15 each leg

I finished it off with 20 minutes on the rollers and felt great. You wouldn't think that a basic strength session like this would cause severe muscle soreness, would you? I was mindful of starting out easy after over six weeks without the gym and did not expect to be as sore as I was yesterday and today.

The big advantage of training at home is that I can jump straight on the rollers afterwards so the muscles might recognise why they are asked to do all those squats and crunches and translate this into circular motions.

All I need now is the discipline to repeat this next week, and the week after, and the week after...
Yesterday, I got glandular feverish, the all too familiar tiredness that sits right behind your eyes, and gave the scheduled roller session a miss. AGAIN! Small setbacks, I know ... Today, I decided to rest as hard as possible to increase my chances to be able to ride tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

Somerset Dam handicap race - A movie report

Alberto had asked me to come for a drive with him, out to Somerset Dam for the Hamilton Pine River Wheeler club handicap race, just a short hour from Brisbane on the other side of Mt Glorious. Even though I don't like going to races when I'm not racing myself, I agreed and packed my bike. I would lie if I said it was easy NOT to race, especially when some club officials tried coaxing me into racing. I almost signed up and I have to thank Alberto, who chained me to the car with a very short leash until the race had started. It was a sensible thing to do, the easy 40 km ride along the race course. It gave me the chance to catch some of the race action on camera:

Assos Roubaix - A short review

The Assos Roubaix was a very good investment. They are my favourite piece of cycling clothing, now that the mornings are chilly. The fleecy material inside makes them super comfortable and perfect for temperatures of 10-15 degrees Celsius. The chamois feels a little bit big and crunches up when sitting in the coffee shop but it feels fine when on the saddle.

Last Sunday, when I rode to Mt Coot-tha in the afternoon, I wore knee warmers that came in handy because I needed to take them off mid-ride for temperature control - yes, I did take them off while riding - but when the mornings are so cold that I want to keep every piece of equipment, nothing beats the Roubaix.

Unfortunately, this week the Assos Roubaix will stay in the wardrobe because the mornings are even too cold for them! Winter has finally arrived in Brisbane with temperatures said to drop to 5C tonight. Right now it's 11C ... inside (!) the house. Brrrrr! I wish Queensland houses had central heating!

The truth about cyclists

I think I've got it now.

It never occurred to me until this morning. After being quite wasted yesterday, heavy legs, teary eyes, not much energy to get up from the couch to ravage the fridge even though there was this insatiable hunger, paranoid and completely convinced that I was well and truly back on Glandular Fever road, I woke up grumpy this morning but otherwise perfectly fine. It dawned on me.

This is how it feels when you train! Perfectly normal! I just had forgotten that last year, when I was training for Bright, I felt like this ALL THE TIME. It was the most normal thing on earth to be tired, wasted and completely spent and since I trained almost every day I never completely recovered.

That’s why I probably didn’t realise that I had Glandular Fever at first. The feeling is so similar and I was so used to being tired all the time.

So, yeah, I’m really happy to let you know that I’m all good. Ahem, and yeah, I didn't get back on my bike this morning to train some more. The fear of getting sick again stuck deep, scared me enough to promise myself (and others) to stick to my training schedule for the next few weeks and to keep taking it easy. Lesson learnt? I hope so.

And beware of cyclists. You are most likely dealing with a zombie. It's probably true for most other competitive athletes, too.

I've been asking for this!

There are two possible outcomes here: I either grow stronger or I end up back in the sick bed! Bloody impatience! I clocked up 70 km today and I only realised it when I got home. That makes it about 220 km in four days and I hardly dare to admit, it involved some uphill kilometers and a few faster kilometers along the Brisbane Corso, too. I loved every single kilometer I rode but since I got home a few hours ago, I'm struggling to recover. I'm cold and tired.

There have been some signs that I chose to ignore. Puffy eyes, high rest heart rate and sore throat in the mornings, slow recovery, tiredness ... I just hope I won't have to pay the price.

Last night Alberto & I rode up to Mt Coot-tha.

Lakeside refurbished

The new smooth surface on the Lakeside race circuit might be old news for most. For me it was the first opportunity yesterday to check it out after the official races had finished. This time I felt more at peace with the fact that I can't race just yet. I was content to watch and enjoy the scenery. With all the rain we had this year I finally realised why Lakeside is called Lakeside. There is now a huge lake where last year there was only a grassy swamp.

Daniel, John and I (Unfit, Invalid and Sick - we are a very cool trio!) had ridden the 22 km to Lakeside at a leisurely pace. The return trip was fast as we tagged on to a group of fit riders. I loved the fact that I had no trouble with the pace but I was worried about Daniel, who hadn't ridden in a year. When I noticed him dropping off the back with pain written all over his face, I dropped back to keep him company. It would have been cruel to leave him for dead and I felt responsible because I had invited him along. Alberto also started hanging back for us. I couldn't help myself. I had to attack on the very last hill before home and fly pass him just to proof that it wasn't me who was that slow. It's slightly embarrassing what a show off I am?!

AMR looked strong and raced well

Reverse direction with a hill top finish

My first Pilates session in the evening and now I can hardly crawl. I never thought this would be so effective.

humble cyclist

Tuesday nights used to be gym nights

As I mentioned in my Sunday post, continuing the gym sessions throughout the Glandular Fever episode had been good advice. Unfortunately I haven't been back to the gym since our holiday one month ago. Sometimes life gets in the way of the important things and it can be hard to get back into a routine once it's broken. The first week after our return, I was still a bit jet-lagged; the week after, John broke his toe; then this important workshop I had to prepare ... and on goes the list.

John and I* have been discussing our gym options over the past couple of weeks. We decided to finish at Race Elements, now that our ten session pack has been used up, at least for now. Lack of discipline and convenience might drive me back there eventually. I have been training at Race Elements on and off for the past two, maybe even three years and I always loved it and found it very effective. Bec, our amazingly motivating and inventive Personal Trainer, has been great but Race Elements is also the most expensive option around. A 45 minute training session costs $40, and that's when you train two-on-one. One-on-one training would come in at $80 per session! So I will check out the “normal" gym prices down the road and see what they have on offer. Since I'm working only four days per week I should be mindful to choose a less expensive gym.

Not being organised enough, I - of course - had no weight training lined up for last night. Therefore I decided to spin my legs. I wasn’t keen on the wind trainer but did want to watch a training DVD that Alberto had received in the mail recently. So I dragged the rollers in front of the TV, where there is no railing to hang on to and no wall nearby. I was able to glance at the TV now and then and only towards the end of the 40 minutes. My arms and neck appreciated some Ashtanga Yoga afterwards. My upper arms were actually sore today from holding to on the handlebars rather tightly. How's that for a home grown strength workout?

Oh, and before I forget: Does anyone know where I can get Clif and Luna bars here in Australia? The samples we brought from California are almost gone and I'm quite hooked on these now. Please help feeding my addiction!

*sidenote: It's not Me and John! That's just how some Australians would say this! ;-)

Instead of a gym session

While Alberto set off to race the Metropolitan (!) Championships somewhere out bush ... and I'm talking way out bush here, somewhere in the distance of this photograph, where the land is dry and the roads are rough and narrow ...

... I was preparing to get out on the bike myself. I had planned it to perfection, had left nothing to chance, had my riding buddy lined up, had timed the start of my ride to coincide with Alberto's departure, had even taken the ten to fifteen minutes into account that Alberto would leave later than he had actually said he would, had carbo-loaded - American style,

and when I was just ready to hit the road, bike leaning against the open front door, tyres pumped, the text message arrived: "Sorry for the late notice but my back is still out."

Phhhhhheeeeewwwww! Like a balloon swivelling through the air and dropping to the ground, lifeless, deflated, that was me ... and then I took procrastination to a whole new level. And it wasn't even raining, just a bit windy and cloudy, my bike leaning against the open (!) front door for another three hours.

It wasn't until 2nd Chances' Mel's tweet that I realised how pathetic I was. Month after month of whinging, whining, moaning and feeling sorry for myself, and then missing the first best training opportunity just because I got stood up?

So I headed to Mt Coot-tha for some strength work. Seated climbing, low heart rate, constant cadence, just concentrating on an even pedal stroke and grinding all the way to the top ... and I felt pretty good. Later the stats confirmed that to my great surprise the numbers are not too far off from back in September, when I trained for Bright. The biggest surprise was an average power output of 207 Watts for the 2.3 km climb with an average gradient of about 7%. So should you get ever Glandular Fever, make sure you continue the gym work. It's paying off now, I think.

I even added twenty minutes on the rollers when I got home.