Well, there is nothing much to say about this week actually apart from my bike still in need of a crank replacement, and a recent realization about spinning over grinding thanks to my chainring limitations.
Bike Manteinance
After thinking throughly, I thought it would be much better to change once and for all to Shimano (105 for the good cost performance). However, money is a limitation on this issue, and thus probably I should go for the best cost-performance option that still will allow me to ride for a long time. I do not have much watts I can push or going to races lately, so I wouldn't use the 105 equipment as properly as I could. I may be able once I have some money spare, but now I do not have much time to think about it. I just want to keep riding and climb faster. Hopefully, a new groupset will do good on its own when the time is right.
Bike Fit?
When thinking about getting a new groupset, I was suddenly thinking about the basics. The gears would change of course. In addition, I would like to go for 11-30 on the rear gears, and either 36-52 or 39-53 on the front gears. But then I thought about the cranks, and then understood that there must be an ideal crank for each kind of rider since physiology is very individualized.
I find myself comfortable on 170mm crank because I always ride with it and probably got used to it, but I have never tried other crank lenghts. Thus, if I'm gonna get a new groupset and start riding more, I may need a better adjustment on my bike fitting. Usually my self-fitting is fine, but on long rides low back pain is usually there. Hence, I would like to see if I can either increase economy by changing crank and/or get a better posture when riding. I found out it is like 3man worth in Pedal Forth (recommended by friends) here in Kyoto, so if I keep riding long and stay in Japan I will consider this option.
On this graph you can see that Oxygen Cost (energy cost) is minimized at around 172.5 for 200 W, so 172.5 crank length would be the ideal crank for this athlete.
Ref: https://www.alancouzens.com/blog/cranklength.html
Spinning vs Grinding
Lately, my gears limitation set me to mostly spin on the small ring. So, how can I train in this conditions? Well, I decided to make good use of it as an excuse and start climbing more since then I can try to spin faster to push.
In fact, probably last two years I have relied too much on grinding by pushing hard, when I just found myself very comfortable rather spinning on the climbs recently. It feels realtively easier on the muscles, though at a heartrate cost. Indeed, it takes up more cost on the aerobic system than in the anaerobic system. The merit is that I can still push a sprint if I need to accelerate, though my hearrate does not change very much. I have become to enjoy climbs recently cause of this fact. Hopefully, I can push and spin further as I continue with the schedule.
Calorie Tracking
So this last few weeks I have added calorie tracking. I decided it would be best if I can optimize nutrition like last year. High Protein is a given, Carbs are the rocket fuel, and Fats are the ever lasting fire engine. In that case, what would the right ratios for each? What would be the best way to optimize timing? I have become to realize timing is very important. Nowadays, thanks to my schedule, I have become used to certain periods to recharge on carbs, recover with protein, and fuel with fats. I will try to search more information on this topic, but on the meantime I feel good with this.
I set up a daily goal of 2000. At my weight, my Basal Metabolic Rate (burned calories at rest) is probably around 1700 so plus moderate exercise 2500 for manteinance. If I want to lose "weight" (it should actually be lose fat) on a healthy consistent basis, then 500kcal below maintenance calories per day shall give a good -0.5kg per week. Good!
However, results on me experimenting with 2000kcal per day resulted in me uncontiously eating around 3000kcal for this last two weeks. It's not because I have not control. I indeed fought to resist temptation. However, my body was telling me to eat more, and after a few fights with myself and a consistent pattern showed that 2000kcal may not be enough. I mean, I was still losing some weight on 3000kcal, so my daily manteinance calories were probably not accurate. I will still set up for 2000kcal, but if I need to eat more for fueling or my body really asks for it, I'll give it when it really needs it.
Schedule
On this week's remarks:
-> I incorporated some light L1 run on mondays to keep me fresh. However, that monday I sprinted some times, so maybe I did not recover that well cause on wednesday I was totally feeling down. Heart Rate not going up, no willing to push, and weak on the legs. I may have not probably eaten well to recover, so that's also a possibility to explain this. Either way, I got through the ride, and make it back okay.
-> As seen in the schedule, I added some tempo and SST. I probably may have gone into that pace because I felt in the mood rather than planned. It's not bad, and actually it showed some improvements on hill climb time made thanks to the consistent schedule. It was fun to push the limits, though I shall plan it better next time.
-> Recently found that two importance things for a better biological and performance benchmark on cycling (and probably endurance sports in general) are Fat Oxidation Rate(LSD) and Lactate Clearance Capacity(HIIT). I will search more about this. Really interesting what happens at the cellular level! Time to study some biochemistry?
-> I have checked that I have come back to my weight I had last year in July. Indeed, it feels amazing! I am impressed though that this time it took a more consistent and some mix training. But the time cost efficiency this time is far much better than last time! At least, it seems so since I still have time to study and do other duties. I felt happy realizing that this week. I guess what works for me works for me, so I will keep pushing this until a plateu hits, then I will have to ways to pivot fast out of the situation!
Well, that's all for this week! Au revoir!
