When I stopped riding my bike some time around June 2011 I was eating pretty terribly for my body and for my health. The health thing that occurred to me was at first a great mystery. I went to literally a dozen specialists and most of them said I was the picture of health. Blood work was normal, EEG, EKG, stress test (heart), all were normal. I even wore the EEG for three days because they thought I had seizure activity on their initial test. In any case, all negative. However, I still felt like I was dying at times, literally. Sometimes I would eat something and it would feel like I was poisoned. Without going into very lengthy detail, I eventually cut out everything but fruits, veggies, and meat and ate a stricter version of the Paleo diet. My diet was actually significantly stricter than that for a while, I started with bone broth and chicken for a month before adding other foods in. The only test that showed any clue to my issue was a food allergy test I took that told me I was allergic to all sorts of things I eat a lot of. In any case, after a few months of strict diet I began to feel better and slowly started to recover. I will most likely write a blog post in gory detail about my health issues, but I want to focus on my diet and how it affects my endurance training these days.
Since switching to Paleo (no grains, no dairy, and no legumes) I have cut out a lot of sources of carbs I was previously eating. Although I have been gluten free for a few years, adding (or removing) everything else was quite a switch. Interestingly, I rarely miss grains except when I think of something like pizza. My only consistent source of carbs these days is apples, some other fruits, and veggies. I cheat and sometimes have some raw sugar in a coffee but that's pretty rare. I usually just have raw honey (or Manuka honey) if I need something sweet. For a while after I got better I was eating a ton of vegan chocolate because I just needed the Paleo vacation after over a year of 100% strict dieting. That being said, now that I am training again (and plan to continue to train throughout the year) I am cutting out the crap and significantly decreasing the booze intake (which I recently ramped up after cutting for 18 months). I'm wondering how good my body is at burning fat as a source of fuel these days.
My first commute home I tried to ride 22 miles with 2000 feet of elevation change and a 20 lbs pack. I bonked hard after about 80 minutes. I rode another 20 in a state of stupor, barely going 5 mph in some places. My new house is at the top of a frickin hill and it's overkill for a first ride to do what I did. What I was worried about, though, is that I bonked after only 80 minutes and I was not hungry. At least I did not feel very hungry. It appears that my relatively low carb diet might be affecting my endurance exercise more than I thought. I have done some long runs (over an hour) on no food and I used to be able to step out the door and ride 2+ hours with no food without a problem. I know there are many Paleo athletes out there that have low carb lifestyles and still are able to train and race competitively. My goal is to eat strict Paleo and still perform for my workouts and races. Let's see how the season progresses.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Back in the Saddle
I'm sure there is a major percentage of cycling blogs that at one point or another do this, so here is my turn.
I have started riding again with the goal of racing CX this season. The first goal is to make it to my team's training camp and not get dropped on the first hill of every day, at least on the "B" ride. Coming off of an 18 month layoff is not as bad as I thought, though. Sure, my power is down and I bonked after 90 minutes on my first ride, but the motivation is really there. I actually have a feeling I will hit PB power numbers this season (altitude adjusted) but that won't be for another 3-4 months.
Speaking of power, my best 20 minute this season is a whopping 204 watts. The caveats are that I was on a trainer, I was not doing an all out effort (2x20s), and I now live at altitude. Regardless, even if I do a "trainer sucks" adjustment and an altitude adjustment, my FTP is at best 210 watts right now. That is about 25% off of my previous best, set sometime around the last time I blogged. This time around I'm not going to post pics because it truly is depressing to be killing myself for 200 watt 20 minute intervals.
This week is my 3rd week on the bike and by the end of the week I hope to do a proper outdoor FTP test, although I'm not really sure what for since I will be most likely doing most of my training on the trainer or on a spin bike. Yes, a spin bike. It's a fancy one, but it's still a spin bike.
So the nice thing about this is that it actually measures power. Well, sorta, it throws some numbers at me that look vaguely correct and consistent. There is no way I can manage to do something like 2x20s or 6x5x1s on this but it is good for Z2, tempo, Tabatas, and even SST (somewhat by RPE but using power to hold the right intensity). The reason I am using the spin bike at all is due to efficiency. It's much much easier to throw on kit, sneakers, and a shirt and go kick my ass on this thing then it is to go for a ride or even set up a bike trainer. I've been doing my trainer rides in the mornings (6:15-7:15 or so) but I can't manage to do that every time I need a workout.
Ah, Tabatas. I have been wondering what to do to get back into fitness. All the traditional plans have me riding base for at least 3-4 weeks before doing any intensity. I decided that for my "A" race this year, which is training camp in March, I'm going to have to get going a lot faster. I tried a bike commute (21 miles one way, 2000 feet of elevation change one direction and 1200 feet the other) and even a half commute (tough to structure some intervals) by driving half way with the bike and riding to and from work but only 10 miles each way. the full commute was miserable. It took me 1:45 to get home the first day at something like 13.1 mph. It was brutal, I bonked, I wanted to throw the bike in the ditch, call momma, the usual. Anyways, it was going to take me to long to get to any sort of fitness the traditional way. I decided Tabatas on the trainer would be the ticket.
Tabatas are quite simple, short lived, but surprisingly difficult if done right. The protocol includes 8 rounds of 20 seconds all out, 10 seconds rest. That is it, 2:40 of work and 1:20 of rest. One set of Tabatas takes 4 minutes. If you've never done Tabatas, you can do practically anything as a Tabata. Air squats, pushups, jumping rope, sprints, cycling, rowing, skating, etc. The other nice thing about Tabatas is that they scale. What I mean by this is that no matter the individual, if you truly go "all out" during the 20 seconds on you are pretty blasted after one set of Tabatas. For trained individuals, you should be able to take a 5 minute break and do another 2-3 sets (with breaks in between). Getting 4 sets of Tabatas on one day is pretty impressive and even the most fit individuals would get their asses kicked by this workout. The only remaining question is do they work? Tabatas original study synopsis is here:
Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max
Tabata found that both anaerobic and aerobic systems were highly stimulated compared to riding tempo 60 minutes a day. Not a very good test versus a comparison of more modern or more relevant workouts such as 2x20 @ 100% FTP or 6x5x1 @ 106% FTP, however still a valuable result. Since I cannot easily do 2x20 and 6x5x1 at work, I figured shocking my system into shape slightly by doing some Tabatas when I can't do a proper trainer workout is not a terrible experiment. We'll just see how bad I get dropped at training camp!
I have started riding again with the goal of racing CX this season. The first goal is to make it to my team's training camp and not get dropped on the first hill of every day, at least on the "B" ride. Coming off of an 18 month layoff is not as bad as I thought, though. Sure, my power is down and I bonked after 90 minutes on my first ride, but the motivation is really there. I actually have a feeling I will hit PB power numbers this season (altitude adjusted) but that won't be for another 3-4 months.
Speaking of power, my best 20 minute this season is a whopping 204 watts. The caveats are that I was on a trainer, I was not doing an all out effort (2x20s), and I now live at altitude. Regardless, even if I do a "trainer sucks" adjustment and an altitude adjustment, my FTP is at best 210 watts right now. That is about 25% off of my previous best, set sometime around the last time I blogged. This time around I'm not going to post pics because it truly is depressing to be killing myself for 200 watt 20 minute intervals.
This week is my 3rd week on the bike and by the end of the week I hope to do a proper outdoor FTP test, although I'm not really sure what for since I will be most likely doing most of my training on the trainer or on a spin bike. Yes, a spin bike. It's a fancy one, but it's still a spin bike.
Ah, Tabatas. I have been wondering what to do to get back into fitness. All the traditional plans have me riding base for at least 3-4 weeks before doing any intensity. I decided that for my "A" race this year, which is training camp in March, I'm going to have to get going a lot faster. I tried a bike commute (21 miles one way, 2000 feet of elevation change one direction and 1200 feet the other) and even a half commute (tough to structure some intervals) by driving half way with the bike and riding to and from work but only 10 miles each way. the full commute was miserable. It took me 1:45 to get home the first day at something like 13.1 mph. It was brutal, I bonked, I wanted to throw the bike in the ditch, call momma, the usual. Anyways, it was going to take me to long to get to any sort of fitness the traditional way. I decided Tabatas on the trainer would be the ticket.
Tabatas are quite simple, short lived, but surprisingly difficult if done right. The protocol includes 8 rounds of 20 seconds all out, 10 seconds rest. That is it, 2:40 of work and 1:20 of rest. One set of Tabatas takes 4 minutes. If you've never done Tabatas, you can do practically anything as a Tabata. Air squats, pushups, jumping rope, sprints, cycling, rowing, skating, etc. The other nice thing about Tabatas is that they scale. What I mean by this is that no matter the individual, if you truly go "all out" during the 20 seconds on you are pretty blasted after one set of Tabatas. For trained individuals, you should be able to take a 5 minute break and do another 2-3 sets (with breaks in between). Getting 4 sets of Tabatas on one day is pretty impressive and even the most fit individuals would get their asses kicked by this workout. The only remaining question is do they work? Tabatas original study synopsis is here:
Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max
Tabata found that both anaerobic and aerobic systems were highly stimulated compared to riding tempo 60 minutes a day. Not a very good test versus a comparison of more modern or more relevant workouts such as 2x20 @ 100% FTP or 6x5x1 @ 106% FTP, however still a valuable result. Since I cannot easily do 2x20 and 6x5x1 at work, I figured shocking my system into shape slightly by doing some Tabatas when I can't do a proper trainer workout is not a terrible experiment. We'll just see how bad I get dropped at training camp!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Training Update - FTP Work
Had two heavy days of FTP work thrown in between getting work (that pays the bills) done. I've been finding some time to train and making the best of it, although I'm still at a sub 90 CTL. I don't think that is going to go up this season, every time I produce more kJ for the week my FTP estimate has gone up and my CTL is lower.
The whole reason why I'm working on my FTP is to actually not be DFL in time trials this season. My previous season I was able to get some wins by sneaking away while no one was looking. That might work in crits but it sure as hell is not going to work in road races and time trials. My lack of power was evident whenever it was me against the clock, usually finishing in the bottom 20% of all racers in my category. Cat 4s. Yes, my time trialing is that pathetic.
Well, time to bust out my e-wang. Right now my FTP is about 280 if I use my best 20 minute power and take 95%. Today I think I proved it to myself by doing my first set of 3x20s ever, and really nailing the third 20 minute effort at 290 watts and using a pretty solid negative split of 284/296. I know I could have gone better and it was the third set of 60 minutes of FTP work today, so 280 is pretty realistic as an FTP with which to set training zones by. That means my 6x5x1s need to get up to about 302-305 watts, which is doable considering yesterday I did them at 300 watts average over the 6 intervals, +- 3 watts variation between reps.
Anyways, that puts me at 4.21 W/Kg. Not that great, but better than ever for me and also within reach of 4.5 W/Kg for Washington County. I'm dropping weight pretty well at about 1.5 lbs per week since laying off the sauce, something I'm sticking to for the next few months. Another 12-15 watts FTP and 3 lbs and I'm at 4.5. the 3 lbs is going to be easy, the 12-15 watts not so much. I basically only have one more build cycle before TofWC and another 5% increase is really pushing it. One day if I get to 4.75 I'll stop posting my numbers or just grossly exaggerating them :)
Anyways, here are the two workouts... Pretty pictures.
The 3x20s showed an interesting trend. Here are the splits for each set and also the cadence for each split.
Interval 1: 281W/288W = 285W
97 rpm/95 rpm
Interval 2: 278W/284W = 281W
93 rpm/91 rpm
My cadence seems to be dropping as I get tired. I'm happy to see I'm still above 90 rpm when I thought I was grinding away at 75 rpm.
The whole reason why I'm working on my FTP is to actually not be DFL in time trials this season. My previous season I was able to get some wins by sneaking away while no one was looking. That might work in crits but it sure as hell is not going to work in road races and time trials. My lack of power was evident whenever it was me against the clock, usually finishing in the bottom 20% of all racers in my category. Cat 4s. Yes, my time trialing is that pathetic.
Well, time to bust out my e-wang. Right now my FTP is about 280 if I use my best 20 minute power and take 95%. Today I think I proved it to myself by doing my first set of 3x20s ever, and really nailing the third 20 minute effort at 290 watts and using a pretty solid negative split of 284/296. I know I could have gone better and it was the third set of 60 minutes of FTP work today, so 280 is pretty realistic as an FTP with which to set training zones by. That means my 6x5x1s need to get up to about 302-305 watts, which is doable considering yesterday I did them at 300 watts average over the 6 intervals, +- 3 watts variation between reps.
Anyways, that puts me at 4.21 W/Kg. Not that great, but better than ever for me and also within reach of 4.5 W/Kg for Washington County. I'm dropping weight pretty well at about 1.5 lbs per week since laying off the sauce, something I'm sticking to for the next few months. Another 12-15 watts FTP and 3 lbs and I'm at 4.5. the 3 lbs is going to be easy, the 12-15 watts not so much. I basically only have one more build cycle before TofWC and another 5% increase is really pushing it. One day if I get to 4.75 I'll stop posting my numbers or just grossly exaggerating them :)
Anyways, here are the two workouts... Pretty pictures.
 |
| 298W/298W/301W/303W/300W/302W = 300W Average |
The 3x20s showed an interesting trend. Here are the splits for each set and also the cadence for each split.
Interval 1: 281W/288W = 285W
97 rpm/95 rpm
Interval 2: 278W/284W = 281W
93 rpm/91 rpm
Interval 3: 284W/296W = 290W
90 rpm/89 rpm
My cadence seems to be dropping as I get tired. I'm happy to see I'm still above 90 rpm when I thought I was grinding away at 75 rpm.
 |
| 285W/281W/290W - Negative Splits! |
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Jefferson Cup Race Report and Analysis
Jeff Cup was a lot of fun this year... more fun racing it than last year, although my result sucked I was overall pleased with how the race went. I guess it's a good thing I didn't have every high expectations and was looking at this as a "training" race. I went into it with pretty sore legs, having missed my Tuesday workout and essential riding very hard Wed/Thu/Fri before the race with about 350 TSS for those 3 days. Nothing major, but I'm only doing about 500-700 TSS per week so it was a decent block.
The race started out very fast and part of that was my fault. I was pushing the pace, knowing what I was doing was stupid. However, there was a number of us working at the front trying to catch folks off guard. Honestly, for a 60 mile 3/4 race it was too much too early. I did 250+ watts for the first 10-12 minutes, which is not much but definitely wakes up the legs quickly.
For 3 laps I tried to pedal 0s as much as possible and was pretty successful doing 0-5 watts for over 30% of the time for those laps. Furthermore, I was able to move from the back of the pack to the front in about 10 seconds due to the rolling enclosure and the fact that there was only 50 or so riders at this point.
At one point, I go OTF after counterattacking a break attempt that had just been caught. I dangle about 15 seconds in front of the pack and decide since no one is coming to join me, I'll sit up and wait. Decent sized match was burned attempting this. After that I decide to sit in and wait for the field sprint, nothing was getting more than 200 hundred yards up the road if that before the group chases it down. The racing was pretty negative the whole day. The reason why 3/4 races end up as bunch sprints 90% of the time is because no one lets a break form and when they do, some dumbass drags the whole pack up to the break thinking they are "attacking" or "bridging". One guy pulled a break back (only guy on his team in the race, by the way), looks at me, and goes "We got em, you can thank me for that!" I just rolled my eyes at the guy...
Well, after I had all buy given up, Avery Wilson (a fast junior) goes OTF with one lap to go. Immediately an All American Bicycling Club guy goes with him. I knew this move had a chance. So, I actually attack when the break is 50 meters up the road to make sure it doesn't drag the pack up to them. I put out my peak wattage for this attack, and it worked. I made it to the break and recovered for a minute before working. Within 5 minutes we were out of sight of the pack and had probably 30 seconds or more! It was the winning move, I could feel it. We were working really well together and I was pulling us up the final climb, feeling great, when the moto ref told us to pull over so the 1/2/3 field could pass us. Argh!!!! Ok, not a big deal... he says we have 30 seconds on the group. "Ok... " we say, "but how do you know?", they haven't even made the turn onto the climb and we are more than half way up, almost over the top. He says they checked it and it was 30 seconds and they will keep that gap. Still, 30 seconds is pretty good since we are out of sight.
We wait 5 minutes, the 1/2/3 field goes by, and then the 3/4 field starts coming up the climb. The ref had told us they would bring them up to us and then stop them and recreate the 30 second gap. Well, when the field is 1/3rd of the way up the climb and about 15 seconds from us, the other moto ref yells at us to go! We complain but he just yells "Go Go Go!!" Great... now we are in sight and the pack has momentum coming up the climb.
Well, long story short, we got caught, I recovered, was 5th wheel going around the final turn, and then blew up on the "sprint to the sprint" with 1k to go. Really what happened is my motivation went out the window. In retrospect I might have finished in the points if I didn't sit up.
Anyways, here is the ride file for the race with some comments.
The race started out very fast and part of that was my fault. I was pushing the pace, knowing what I was doing was stupid. However, there was a number of us working at the front trying to catch folks off guard. Honestly, for a 60 mile 3/4 race it was too much too early. I did 250+ watts for the first 10-12 minutes, which is not much but definitely wakes up the legs quickly.
For 3 laps I tried to pedal 0s as much as possible and was pretty successful doing 0-5 watts for over 30% of the time for those laps. Furthermore, I was able to move from the back of the pack to the front in about 10 seconds due to the rolling enclosure and the fact that there was only 50 or so riders at this point.
At one point, I go OTF after counterattacking a break attempt that had just been caught. I dangle about 15 seconds in front of the pack and decide since no one is coming to join me, I'll sit up and wait. Decent sized match was burned attempting this. After that I decide to sit in and wait for the field sprint, nothing was getting more than 200 hundred yards up the road if that before the group chases it down. The racing was pretty negative the whole day. The reason why 3/4 races end up as bunch sprints 90% of the time is because no one lets a break form and when they do, some dumbass drags the whole pack up to the break thinking they are "attacking" or "bridging". One guy pulled a break back (only guy on his team in the race, by the way), looks at me, and goes "We got em, you can thank me for that!" I just rolled my eyes at the guy...
Well, after I had all buy given up, Avery Wilson (a fast junior) goes OTF with one lap to go. Immediately an All American Bicycling Club guy goes with him. I knew this move had a chance. So, I actually attack when the break is 50 meters up the road to make sure it doesn't drag the pack up to them. I put out my peak wattage for this attack, and it worked. I made it to the break and recovered for a minute before working. Within 5 minutes we were out of sight of the pack and had probably 30 seconds or more! It was the winning move, I could feel it. We were working really well together and I was pulling us up the final climb, feeling great, when the moto ref told us to pull over so the 1/2/3 field could pass us. Argh!!!! Ok, not a big deal... he says we have 30 seconds on the group. "Ok... " we say, "but how do you know?", they haven't even made the turn onto the climb and we are more than half way up, almost over the top. He says they checked it and it was 30 seconds and they will keep that gap. Still, 30 seconds is pretty good since we are out of sight.
We wait 5 minutes, the 1/2/3 field goes by, and then the 3/4 field starts coming up the climb. The ref had told us they would bring them up to us and then stop them and recreate the 30 second gap. Well, when the field is 1/3rd of the way up the climb and about 15 seconds from us, the other moto ref yells at us to go! We complain but he just yells "Go Go Go!!" Great... now we are in sight and the pack has momentum coming up the climb.
Well, long story short, we got caught, I recovered, was 5th wheel going around the final turn, and then blew up on the "sprint to the sprint" with 1k to go. Really what happened is my motivation went out the window. In retrospect I might have finished in the points if I didn't sit up.
Anyways, here is the ride file for the race with some comments.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Status Report - 6x5'x'1 Efficacy Update
I haven't done an official 20 minute FTP test in a long time. The last couple of times in previous seasons went so badly. Had I set my training zones based on those numbers I'd be doing VO2 workouts at base. Therefore, I traditionally used NP for hour long hard group rides to estimate my zones.
Well, after several weeks of 6x5s it looks like my ability to TT is actually beginning to match my VO2 capacity. After an easy weekend with only an hour of racing I felt a little flat today but after 15 minutes of warmup decided to try a 20 minute all out effort just for the hell of it. My previous 20 minute best was 3 seasons ago and only 278 watts. Here is today's workout.
Negative split 288/296 and still felt like I had a lot to give. Probably should have kept going as long as I could, but for now I'm still surprised I was able to hit my first real goal of 290 Watts. This puts my FTP at greater than 275, which puts my power to weight at the 4 W/kg mark!
I also like the fact that I averaged 23.9 MPH on a windy day on a road bike. I really hope this transfers to the time trial bike, I have some stage races to go to this year.
I'm beginning to think a 315 Watt 20 minute (and 300 Watt FTP) is completely achievable this season.
Hurray 6x5s!!
Well, after several weeks of 6x5s it looks like my ability to TT is actually beginning to match my VO2 capacity. After an easy weekend with only an hour of racing I felt a little flat today but after 15 minutes of warmup decided to try a 20 minute all out effort just for the hell of it. My previous 20 minute best was 3 seasons ago and only 278 watts. Here is today's workout.
Negative split 288/296 and still felt like I had a lot to give. Probably should have kept going as long as I could, but for now I'm still surprised I was able to hit my first real goal of 290 Watts. This puts my FTP at greater than 275, which puts my power to weight at the 4 W/kg mark!
I also like the fact that I averaged 23.9 MPH on a windy day on a road bike. I really hope this transfers to the time trial bike, I have some stage races to go to this year.
I'm beginning to think a 315 Watt 20 minute (and 300 Watt FTP) is completely achievable this season.
Hurray 6x5s!!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Fulton Category 3/4 Race Report
Taken from my club forum:
A couple of us - Jeff Erler, Luis, Brian Meadowcroft, and myself - went up to "Peach Bottom" PA this weekend to race in the cat 3/4 road race. With a name like Peach Bottom it was hard to resist. What I thought was going to be a rolling, mellow course ended up being one of the hardest road race courses I've done.
As usual, we spent some time talking about cassette choices, the course profile, strategy, and tactics. Little did we know that a lot of that would go out the window once we saw the course! We showed up almost 2 hours early to see the start of the women's open and the 4/5 race. I'm still not sure whether the decision to pre-drive the course after the 4/5s was a good idea, but off we went to check it out. At this point the 4/5 race had 7-8 minutes on us and we knew we'd catch them and pass any stragglers. Barely 2-3 miles into the course, the carnage was already becoming apparent as we were seeing popped riders hanging off the back of the pack and unable to catch back on. Long story short, probably 25% of the 4/5s were dropped on the first lap. This course was muuuuch harder than the course profile suggested. It was very intimidating just to drive the damn thing, riding it was going to suck big time! There was one great part of the ride, which was at the top of one of the climbs - as one of the dropped riders was suffering off the back, a group of dogs came up and started nipping at his heels while he was in the red zone! Awesome image, you had to be there to get the full hilariousness of the situation. I was tempted to bark out the window as we drove by the poor guy.
As we lined up for the race, the self deprecating excuses starts in earnest - no one was very confident they will be finishing this one. It seemed like it would be a race of attrition and as we rolled off, mood was great but confidence was not particularly high.
The race starts on some nice rollers and I begin paying attention to who is in the race. The main person I was marking was Jeremy who now rides for Haymarket, so I was trying to stay near the front and near his wheel. Although I can't really follow him if he really wants to go, he does not always get tactics right and it's possible to stay close. The four of us, Luis, Jeff, Brian, and I were all pretty much together for the first part of the lap, but in short order the center line rule was ignored and people were shooting up the far left side of the course and all came around me. I did not want to be at the back of the pack up the climbs but looks like I would be.
After the doing the first lap it was very clear that the course is as hard as we thought! I put down personal best 2 minute power pretty much each time up the main climb. The other climb wasn't a slouch either, I actually think it did more damage because if you were close to the rivet the false flat that followed would pop you.
A couple more laps into the race, and I was sure that the next time up a climb would be my last. As I looked around, the group was shrinking each lap but somehow managed to stay with it. Overall the pace of the race was not fast, with a couple of moves going off the front here and there. I did not have the confidence to try and bridge and one time Luis went off the front and I at least went to the front and controlled the pace of the race. I would rotate into the front and just ride tempo, when people came around I let them gap me so that others were forced to move around me. Yeah, a little cheap but the point was to let a break get established and not just have the regular old race. Jeremy tried to "bridge" up to about 5 different small groups but instead dragged the whole pack with him... sigh.
By the time the last lap came around, though, I was getting more confident and moved to the front and began to really watch my position. On the last climb there was three off the front that we probably wouldn't catch and the chase group split into 3 different groups. I ended up in the 2nd group and accelerated out of it after recovering a bit, making sure not to let anyone sit on my wheel. I reached the front chase group and started to position myself for the sprint. I knew people would go too early, and when everyone jumped out of the saddle I stayed seated and in their drafts until the last 50m or so and sprinted for 5th in the group, 8th in the race. Pretty happy with that result given my winter training and how much more season is in front of us. One place out of the points but $30 richer! Luis bagged 18th and although he was disappointed, I think he's doing awesome this season and will have his podium finishes really soon.
Overall, this is a great race, highly recommended. Next year I'll play around in some of the breaks of the front for sure.
A couple of us - Jeff Erler, Luis, Brian Meadowcroft, and myself - went up to "Peach Bottom" PA this weekend to race in the cat 3/4 road race. With a name like Peach Bottom it was hard to resist. What I thought was going to be a rolling, mellow course ended up being one of the hardest road race courses I've done.
As usual, we spent some time talking about cassette choices, the course profile, strategy, and tactics. Little did we know that a lot of that would go out the window once we saw the course! We showed up almost 2 hours early to see the start of the women's open and the 4/5 race. I'm still not sure whether the decision to pre-drive the course after the 4/5s was a good idea, but off we went to check it out. At this point the 4/5 race had 7-8 minutes on us and we knew we'd catch them and pass any stragglers. Barely 2-3 miles into the course, the carnage was already becoming apparent as we were seeing popped riders hanging off the back of the pack and unable to catch back on. Long story short, probably 25% of the 4/5s were dropped on the first lap. This course was muuuuch harder than the course profile suggested. It was very intimidating just to drive the damn thing, riding it was going to suck big time! There was one great part of the ride, which was at the top of one of the climbs - as one of the dropped riders was suffering off the back, a group of dogs came up and started nipping at his heels while he was in the red zone! Awesome image, you had to be there to get the full hilariousness of the situation. I was tempted to bark out the window as we drove by the poor guy.
As we lined up for the race, the self deprecating excuses starts in earnest - no one was very confident they will be finishing this one. It seemed like it would be a race of attrition and as we rolled off, mood was great but confidence was not particularly high.
The race starts on some nice rollers and I begin paying attention to who is in the race. The main person I was marking was Jeremy who now rides for Haymarket, so I was trying to stay near the front and near his wheel. Although I can't really follow him if he really wants to go, he does not always get tactics right and it's possible to stay close. The four of us, Luis, Jeff, Brian, and I were all pretty much together for the first part of the lap, but in short order the center line rule was ignored and people were shooting up the far left side of the course and all came around me. I did not want to be at the back of the pack up the climbs but looks like I would be.
After the doing the first lap it was very clear that the course is as hard as we thought! I put down personal best 2 minute power pretty much each time up the main climb. The other climb wasn't a slouch either, I actually think it did more damage because if you were close to the rivet the false flat that followed would pop you.
A couple more laps into the race, and I was sure that the next time up a climb would be my last. As I looked around, the group was shrinking each lap but somehow managed to stay with it. Overall the pace of the race was not fast, with a couple of moves going off the front here and there. I did not have the confidence to try and bridge and one time Luis went off the front and I at least went to the front and controlled the pace of the race. I would rotate into the front and just ride tempo, when people came around I let them gap me so that others were forced to move around me. Yeah, a little cheap but the point was to let a break get established and not just have the regular old race. Jeremy tried to "bridge" up to about 5 different small groups but instead dragged the whole pack with him... sigh.
By the time the last lap came around, though, I was getting more confident and moved to the front and began to really watch my position. On the last climb there was three off the front that we probably wouldn't catch and the chase group split into 3 different groups. I ended up in the 2nd group and accelerated out of it after recovering a bit, making sure not to let anyone sit on my wheel. I reached the front chase group and started to position myself for the sprint. I knew people would go too early, and when everyone jumped out of the saddle I stayed seated and in their drafts until the last 50m or so and sprinted for 5th in the group, 8th in the race. Pretty happy with that result given my winter training and how much more season is in front of us. One place out of the points but $30 richer! Luis bagged 18th and although he was disappointed, I think he's doing awesome this season and will have his podium finishes really soon.
Overall, this is a great race, highly recommended. Next year I'll play around in some of the breaks of the front for sure.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Boom #2
Today's workout was a repeat of the last several weeks, a 5x5'x'5 set @ 115%-118% FTP. This means that if my FTP is set correctly, I should be doing them at around 305-312 watts. My latest thing is to definitely value quality over quantity, and this was another instance of following that philosophy.
The first interval was lower than I'd hoped but still on target @ 310 watts. Last week I started with one at 310 as well, so things looks ok.
Just to compare, this was last week's workout:
310/315/315/308/312 Watts
Well, this week, 2 minutes into my second interval, the lights just went out. It could have been mental at that moment, but my legs were just screaming and I could not get the wattage above 300 for any period of time. After 2 mins, I lost my willpower and bailed. After looking at the power for the first 2 min it wasn't terrible at 303 watts, but I knew I was going to blow up. I rode home and actually struggled to maintain 160-180 watts and rode at more like 125 for the remainder of the ride, 30 minutes or so.
Last week I went into this workout with much less fatigue in the legs, and most likely that made the difference. While I had 3 days off the bike completely last week, I have been on the bike since Friday, making that 7 days in a row. Time to recover again according to my new technique and avoidance of junk miles. No scheduled rest weeks, just reacting to my ability to complete my exercises. Last season and every season before that, I would have stayed out for another hour or so and probably ridden harder even though my legs were sore. This way I hope tomorrow's opener goes well and I am fresher for Fulton RR up in "Peach Bottom" PA. Love that name.
So, boom #2 in my new training philosophy happened today, hopefully I can slowly learn how to adjust my workouts and intensity to manage this well. I assume that as I continue to train and recover sufficiently, I will be able to take on more and more TSS per week. Right now I'm averaging what looks like 650 TSS per week, my CTL has gone up from 32 to 81 in 6 weeks and it's still climbing. Last season when I got to 100 CTL I blew up, so I'm wondering if I can hold that this season. Either way, I'm not going to force TSS down my throat for the sake of TSS. This week will likely be light since I missed most of today's workout, tomorrow is just an opener, and I'm not riding Sunday.
The first interval was lower than I'd hoped but still on target @ 310 watts. Last week I started with one at 310 as well, so things looks ok.
Just to compare, this was last week's workout:
310/315/315/308/312 Watts
Well, this week, 2 minutes into my second interval, the lights just went out. It could have been mental at that moment, but my legs were just screaming and I could not get the wattage above 300 for any period of time. After 2 mins, I lost my willpower and bailed. After looking at the power for the first 2 min it wasn't terrible at 303 watts, but I knew I was going to blow up. I rode home and actually struggled to maintain 160-180 watts and rode at more like 125 for the remainder of the ride, 30 minutes or so.
Last week I went into this workout with much less fatigue in the legs, and most likely that made the difference. While I had 3 days off the bike completely last week, I have been on the bike since Friday, making that 7 days in a row. Time to recover again according to my new technique and avoidance of junk miles. No scheduled rest weeks, just reacting to my ability to complete my exercises. Last season and every season before that, I would have stayed out for another hour or so and probably ridden harder even though my legs were sore. This way I hope tomorrow's opener goes well and I am fresher for Fulton RR up in "Peach Bottom" PA. Love that name.
So, boom #2 in my new training philosophy happened today, hopefully I can slowly learn how to adjust my workouts and intensity to manage this well. I assume that as I continue to train and recover sufficiently, I will be able to take on more and more TSS per week. Right now I'm averaging what looks like 650 TSS per week, my CTL has gone up from 32 to 81 in 6 weeks and it's still climbing. Last season when I got to 100 CTL I blew up, so I'm wondering if I can hold that this season. Either way, I'm not going to force TSS down my throat for the sake of TSS. This week will likely be light since I missed most of today's workout, tomorrow is just an opener, and I'm not riding Sunday.
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