Sunday moto

The legs this morning were pretty hammered from yesterday so I went out for an hour to spin before getting behind the scooter. They were a lot better once I got going. Last year I did a couple workouts like this but did it before work and kept it at around 40'.

Today Rob K was my driver to get him dialed in for when Casey gets back. I basically went out Bluff road to the cricket store and back. Going out I felt really good and kept the speed at just below what I could handle. We had a cross tail going, cross head coming back and the difference in speed was 32mph vs 27mph. It took about 50' to get out there and I was getting tired after the turn around and was getting hammered by the wind. It was about 90 minutes total before I sent Rob ahead and I just cruised in easy. I did run out of water and I stopped at one of the houses on Bluff where a guy was watering his plants...asked to fill my bottles and he went in and got me a nearly frozen bottle of water. Awesome!

This is a type of workout that a powermeter doesn't really show the physical cost...I'm always trashed after one of these sessions. Nearly 3 hrs total workout and I *only* got 127 TSS. Easy day tomorrow.

My charts on the left are up to date. This week was tied with my highest TSS week (850) this year but with a much lower miles/time which shows the higher intensity intervals.

Saturday 75

Hooked up with Jay and 6 other fast guys and we did the usual jaunt through the N.E. I was taking hard, Vo2 type pulls and paid for it at the end when the legs seized up when everyone was attacking. A fun day, felt very comfortable and happy on the bike.

SST

The legs were toast yesterday from the hard 3 day block so I took an unplanned rest day. This weekend I've got some big rides planned so today the question was what to do...go too hard and you're no good for the weekend and too easy and it's a wasted day. With that in mind there's only one choice...Sweet spot.

I rode over to the crit course and did 60' at 251w which is 90% of my FTP. Easy? Try it and get back to me! The legs were really good tonight and I really had to dial it back to keep from going too hard except for the last 15' where I needed to focus on putting pressure on the pedals. There was also a strong tailwind up the final stretch of the crit course which is always good for intervals cuz it's effortless speed up to the start/finish. A great workout.

Off

Took a rest day...legs are fried. Gonna do some easier SST tomorrow then have a big TSS weekend planned.

Level 6

Last year at nats I got killed by the dozen or so 30" to 1' efforts at around 430-480w (150-160%). I did a few Level 6 workouts in 08 but after the race I knew I needed lots more for this year to be there at the end.

I had planned on doing this workout this morning but when the alarm went off I moved my legs around to evaluate em and they HURT so I rolled over and slept. After work I sat around till the rain stopped and headed out to the crit course. Legs felt good with the extra 8 hours of "recovery" at work but on the first pedal stroke of interval #1 I had the thunk...thunk...thunk: Flat. That sucked but got it changed and did a lap to rewarmup.

I had planned on doing 10x1' but ended up doing 12 cuz I felt good and the watts kept flowing...I never faded. My numbers were great...much better than last year. I felt really strong.

The effort went something like this: Start at the turnaround down down by the stoplight...Stand and semi-sprint for 20s trying to keep it under 500w. Hammer thru the little S turn and then sit and start driving it up the final stretch...focus on that large "for lease" sign and then once there stand and give it all for the last 15". Easy spin around the course then do it again. I like to break up intervals into chunks like this. 3' rest.

tnwc

The threat of rain kept most people away tonight. I did my 30' @ FTP and the legs felt good. I really just wanted to sit in tonight but with the wind and the small crowd it wasn't meant to be. After 35' there were only about 10 people left in various groups so I just cruised home.

I've got 10x1' tomorrow...I might get up and do them before work.

It's go time

Had a great workout today...finally. I wasn't exactly looking forward to Vo2 work but I put out some really good numbers. Kindof lost it mentally on the last one which was discouraging so it turned out to be 5x4'. I always do this...on the last interval I talk myself into just continuing on in the fort and not just sticking to tank hill. It's always a disaster. Vo2 work is hard, very hard so I need the same landmarks and points to concentrate on or I lose it.


This week's gonna be big with lots of TSS. Gonna do a 30' FTP interval before the crit then on Wednesday I'm starting my level 6 work: 10x1' at 150%. These are crucial for masters natz. I'll do some more Vo2 before the group ride thursday. Rest friday then do some big TSS rides this weekend with some motorpacing. Getting psyched for Nats and to go fast again.

I've sketched out my training plan for the next 5 weeks HERE.

Easy week

Since I haven't been going that well I decided to just call this a rest/easy week and start over this weekend. Wednesday I just rode around for an hour, no intensity. Thursday I did the group ride which is basically easy riding with 3 hard five minute sections in there and I started feeling better. Friday I had a few margarita's.

Most everyone is headed to the mtns so a few of us are gonna go roll around for 4 hours on Sat morning. I don't plan on anything over threshold but hope to be near there for a lot of the ride.

Crit

Legs still not 100%...not sure why. Just sat in tonight at TNWC and chilled which can be pretty boring so once the final break went up the road I bridged to it. Waited around till the finish then decided I'd either win or just cruise in.

Funny...the Harrells guy was going super hard on the 2nd to last lap and killing it into the wind...I was thinking wtf is he doing? Until he did a bike throw at the line...with one to go. D'oh!

Coming into the final lap MW was sitting on my wheel which is a definite "you won't win" situation in a sprint...so I let a gap open to see what he would do...nada, so I just cruised in. I'm gonna try to get out and do some VO2 intervals tomorrow to see if I can jump start the legs this week.

Weak-end

Kind of a crappy weekend for me ride wise...Rolled with a good group early saturday morning but was just feeling flat, no power. I just tried to sit in and at least enjoy the day and not worry about it. 70 miles and 220TSS. 3 days of 2x20's last week really took it out of me.

Sunday I forced myself to head out at 9am and did a loop in the fort pretty easy. I'm gonna try to do a similar week with probably 2 threshold workouts and the crit. Charts over there are updated and here's a summary of the last few months:


Good luck to all the Mt. Mitchell riders on Monday...should be some good stories.

Friday morning 6am

Took a rest day on thursday...that felt good. This morning I rolled out at 6:15 to the crit course. It was foggy and muggy but cool-ish, my legs were pretty blocked and it took a while to warm up which is not easy at 100% of FTP. Did 2x20...first went well but struggled on the 2nd...last 5 min was more like SST. No matter, got a decent workout in. I don't see how you "suits" do this...my core temp was jacked for a couple of hours at work.

No monster plans this weekend but hope to get 400TSS when it's all said and done.

transition to rest

I did 1:30 with LL today...just cruised & chatted and the legs were actually painful trying to push the pedals. It's funny...with all the training I've done with LL we hardly ever talk on rides (riding too hard). Got in 75TSS and am taking tomorrow off. Friday will be another 2x20 workout (gonna try an early am workout) then the weekend long rides. I'm feeling motivated and am on sort of a roll with my training right now.

TNWC and 1x30'

The plan was to do 2x15' at FTP before the crit tonight...I figured that even if I wasn't feeling that great I'd be motivated to ride hard due to other people cruising around. I ended up with good legs and once I got rolling I easily held 284w for 30'. I didn't feel the need to stop for a break.

I rolled around for 15' then started the crit. I tried to ride hard...tried to attack and bridge but as it wore on I was really feeling it. It was a fast TNWC at 25.9 mph. I sort of chilled the last 15' to recover for the sprint. We all lined it out (and btw...you know who, trying to muscle someone off a wheel in a training crit is lame) and I followed Marc W (who won...I think) up the final stretch then jumped to the right gutter and somehow managed to find myself coming up to the front. I thought--Hey, I could win this thing then .0001 seconds later I exploded with 50m to go and basically threw out the anchor. Trouble was that Jamie was on my wheel and I royally S-C-R-E-W-E-D him as he was boxed in...sorry dude! He would have definitely won if he had gotten through.


Video: I only got the first 16 minutes. It's uploading and will be HERE when it's live (30' to go at 10:30pm). I'm happier with the shot as most of you will be too! I tried to get my PT data in the frame but the cpu was too far from the lens...I think that will be cool to see in the future.

killer 2x20's

It really nice when things work out...I took a pretty easy day yesterday in order to recover for some hard intervals. Today was one of those days where I couldn't wait to get on the bike and hammer. I feel that way less and less as the season drags on. I normally take a rest day on mondays but I'm gonna do a 2 week block of intense training to ramp up my CTL so today was gonna be a hard day.

To mix things up I did my 2x20's in the Fort. Not as easy cuz you have to really hammer down the hills and there are 2 places where I spin out my 53x12. No matter, it's got a lot of variety and mentally it's easy to keep it going if you're feeling good. Today I felt really good and did 285w on the first and 286w on the second interval. If I can hit these numbers again later in the week I'll bump my FTP up in WKO+ a couple watts.

I felt so good after the workout that I *almost* turned around rode another loop in the fort (I actually did turn around...) but the little coach-voice in the back of my head veto'd that idea after 100m. Riding around an extra hour would just be "junk" miles and only serve to wear me down so that I'd be less likely to kill it tomorrow. Gotta train smart.

I've also been thinking a lot lately about tapering for "A" events using CTL/TSB...here's a blogpost from Joe Friel that is pretty good.

recovery

Headed out with the 9am group then just did a loop in the fort. Rode easy and just chilled to some good music. I felt good but tired...could have ridden longer and harder but wanted to recover for some hard intervals this week. I've decided that this week will be "hard".

300 TSS

Last night I got went to bed at about 9:45 (before ella!) so when the alarm went off at 6am I was wide awake. I did mention to LL that it's nice doing these rides when it doesn't feel like a 4am start. The sun was very up when we rolled at 7.

We had a larger than normal group with Rob, Casey and Brian C. joining the usual suspects. I thought that we were going slower than usual due to the heat...it got pretty warm but our average speed was where it usually is, over 22 mph.

I felt pretty good for the most part and tried to take pulls at my FTP or higher...went through a couple not so good spots but ended up finishing feeling strong. LL get's the kJ award for 4100! He did a 20' FTP interval on the way out, and a 10' one on the way in...plus pulling like a madman... an impressive amount of work. I'm pretty happy with a 300TSS day, I wonder how I'll feel tomorrow.

TNWC + SST

On tuesday before the crit I did a 30' interval at 93% of FTP. I felt good and crusied. During the crit I felt flat and had a hard time getting up to speed for any attacks/bridges. I'm glad it was a small field and we went pretty slow.

On the last lap Sam came tearing by so I jumped on his wheel for the leadout but he actually got us a good gap and I should have went earlier but waited and had to go from just after turn 4 and was caught and passed pretty easily by Ward and Ken.

The video is a little bizarre since it's all me all the time. An interesting perspective for 5 minutes, but not that interesting from a racing standpoint. I think I'll go back to the rear shot (or shooting fwd) for the next crit. Video is HERE.

Today I did 2x20 at the crit course...I was shooting for 95% ala Cannell and really suffered through em, glad they're done and I can chill for a couple days.

Weekend Update

Last wk: I did some SST on Wednesday, 2x20's on Thursday then took Friday off.

Saturday with Chris/Karl, Mike E, Rob & Casey and we did a nice 3+ hour ride. Mostly just cruised with threshold-ish pulls. Felt pretty good.

Sunday with Ward, Karl, Nutty, Rob R. We did perceival to screaming eagle/601 to congress etc. We were drilling it today and I tried to take VO2 type pulls to mix things up a bit. On the climb up Congress I followed Karl then after the top Ward/Nutty rolled away while we waited on RR. The ensuing chase gave me a NP of 292w for 20'. That hurt. I was feeling pretty strong today but so was everyone else and I got really tired near the end as I tried to work hard on the front. The Nut was killing it today.

I got a chance to ride around on Ward's new Dura Ace electronic group and it's pretty amazing/sick/awesome/etc/etc. Can't wait till mine comes in...Ha, just kidding.

<-- My PMC chart is updated and you can really see how a crash and 2 weeks off can affect your CTL. It's on the way back up though.