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Power File 4.30.09: Numbers good, legs bad

The plan was to do 3x10s or maybe even 4x10s today. I've been off the bike for a couple of days and expected to be rested. But I started my ride and didn't feel rested - I felt like I trained really hard for two days. All sluggish and blocked. It's pretty amazing how much off-the-bike stress can contribute to on-the-bike fatigue. I haven't been sleeping great and have been on my feet (and on the stairs) more than usual, which probably explains today's malaise. Still, I did the first 2 10-minute intervals and the numbers were good, which I knew at the time as well. In the first one especially I felt like I found an extra gear. But the rest in between hit me hard, and going into the second one I felt increasingly like ass. I decided to pull the plug after 2, betting on aiming for form this weekend through reducing fatigue, rather than increasing fitness.

Power File 4.27.09: Until Failure +3

I wanted to do 1-minute intervals today because I'm anaerobically challenged. So I decided to do crank them out at a couple of notches below eyes-bleeding intensity so I could do a fair amount of them, and then proceed "until failure." That occurred after the 8th one, about one hour into the workout. As I was ready to noodle home, it occurred to me that I felt at the end of that interval about the same way I feel at the end of a 60-minute race, when it's time to sprint but I typically have nothing left to give. "Until failure" is coming a little too soon. So I did one more. And then one more. And another one after that. They weren't as strong as the first 8, but I think that's OK. You can sprint in the first 1/3 of the race when you're still fresh, but it probably won't put you on the podium.

Power File 4.25.09

Power File 4.24.09: Hill. Repeat as necessary.

Power File 4.23.09: 3x10s

Power File 4.18.09: Syn-Fit Cat 3 Race

I recorded an average speed of 27.4mph - pretty hot. (The max speed here of 143mph was a 1-second data blip, probably incorrect, and not long enough to affect the average speed calculation.) My average power for the race was 249 watts. I don't know what that is normalized because I don't have WKO, but 249 for a race like this is pretty high for me. But the types of efforts here were different - a lot of crits have 20 or 30 or more spikes over 500 watts. This one had fewer big spikes, but the efforts were extended.

Minute 21 is me attacking after a preme and getting a gap by myself. 22.5 is me deciding to bag it, probably because going faster than 27.4mph by myself for the second half of the race wasn't a likely scenario.

Minute 38 is me catching a ride on the Kyle Express with about 3 laps to go. He shot by on my left and I just slid into his generous draft. I've got no business in a 2-man break with 3 to go really, but I didn't think it would be a 2-man break. I wasn't sure it would be a break at all. I figured the pack would shut it down and I'd be near the front when they did. Kyle pretty much rode me off his wheel (minute 41) after which I hid in the pocket for a while to see if I could recover enough to contest the sprint.

Minute 44 is me contesting the sprint at about 360 watts. So there's your answer.

Power File 4.19.09: Recovery Ride

Power File 4.17.09: Warming up for the Weekend

I think my biggest problem last season wasn't lack of fitness, it was excess of fatigue. I went into most races just too run down. Not because I was overtraining, but because I was under-resting. With a (poorly sleeping) baby in the house and 2 other kids, I need to make a concentrated effort to stay off my feet before a race, or at least minimize trips up and down stairs. To my brethren with new babies, take heed - and rest, rest, rest. This year I'm paying more attention to how my body feels, and making sure I have more rest going into races. I know I'm not going to have the same fitness, but if I can reduce my fatigue I should at least have comparable form. These "openers" aren't really the same as they were last year, which were pretty structured shorter intervals to get all the systems firing. Now they're just rolling around to make sure the legs are a little loose, and to get a sense of how a couple hard efforts feel. They're easy rides, even by my wussy standards.

Power File 4.16.09: Training for Training

I've done very few longer (2+ hours) rides this season. It's a choice, but I miss them sometimes, particularly when I plan a 75-minute interval workout and run out of steam at 45 minutes. So I'll try to work in some more TITS if I can. I think of these longer rides not as training for racing, but training for training.

Power File 4.13.09: Shut 'er down, quick.

Today was supposed to be "Race Winners." Actually, Saturday was but I didn't get out then, or Sunday. So I had them queued up for Monday. Race Winners are a sort of anaerobic interval where I push my HR up high before I start the anaerobic effort. The pushing-the-HR-up part I was ok with, but when I started to ramp it up after that I had a system failure. Nothing was firing right and I felt like ass. So I shut it down and decided to just roll around for another hour or so. Just as well - I'm pretty sick of intervals and haven't just ridden my bike around in months. I think I'll build on my lack of momentum right now and turn this into a rest week. That makes this aborted workout look like it is by design.