OK so we have a company x-mas party today and hell should freeze over if I'm not goin' there to have a PARTY Decided to push my SAT bike workout to FR afternoon (right now basically) and take SAT off and do my bike test on SUN evening instead of Monday. Just shifting around by one day so no big deal. Plan was to do 2x14'+7' @ Z4 plus ABP until 1:30 total time but my legs felt like concrete after the VO2-workout yesterday evening ... I already struggled during the 12' of sweetspot riding during the warmup. First 14' interval seemed like it would never-ever-end ... seconds crawled down the clock like minutes and I really needed to bring up all of my EN-learned-suffocation-self to fight through that. During my rest I was already planing to split the rest up into 5' segments and playing around with some time and power numbers in my head but as the second 14' interval started I just focused on my movie I was watching (Breaking Bad) and tried to break it into 1' segments without recovery ... so I never had more than 59'' left which felt nice in my head. In the end the second interval was still brutal hard and I barely hit my target but it's done. Finally this gave me some more MOJO for the last repeat and I decided to do it with a higher gear / lower cadence to have a bigger force ... even that went pretty well ... astonishing thing ... but this was all I had to give today! There was no gas left in the tank and even worse - NO MOTIVATION! But the MS was all this WKO was about so I'm happy and looking forward to my party
Total: 1:16h / NP 267W / IF 0.89 14' Z4 as IF 0.99 / NP 298W 14' Z4 as IF 0.98 / NP 295W 7' Z4 as IF 0.98 / NP 295W
So, I was not exactly thrilled with my recent bike test. My work schedule conspired against me and I was not properly prepared for that test day. I really should have skipped it. I did a re-test today and am much happier with the results. My goal was 285 NPW for the 20 minute test. I hit 282. That really feels more like what I have been producing in the workouts. I finished the workout with a 20 minute ride at .828 IF. Now if the snow generating machine (Lake Ontario) will take a break for a day or two I could get a good run test in.
Good going Ed. Sometimes you just have a bad day (let alone all the stuff you had going on) and it would be a shame to hook the next 7 weeks performance on it! I am glad you retested that's what I would have done. I normally do until I get the number I want! Not really!
had to resort to a hotel spin bike, but got the job done. no Power, so relied on HR for the intervals:
EN w/up including 12' @ 129bpm (average) 2x12' @ 144bpm, 149bpm 1x7' @ 153bpm 1x10' @ 130bpm
80' total
144-153bpm during the Z4 intervals compares to 133bpm and 144bpm during my 2x20' intervals earlier this week, so I should've been in the ballpark power-wise
Well, that was ugly. First ride back after almost two weeks (bronchitis knocked out my entire house). Visions of a reduced intensity version of a sufferfest video turned into spinning the pedals just enough to have the garmin stay on while watching Breaking Bad on netflix. Ended up with about 30 minutes @ around 65-70%. Its a start.
Going to see what the run legs feel like tomorrow. Next week is going to be focused only on actually working out, not any intensity goals. Fun times!
Hey Roy....I feel your pain. Both kids, wife, and myself are starting to get over being sick for the last week and a half. My wife and I are elementary school teachers so we know those germs are coming home and we try to do the best we can to be proactive, but sometimes you just can't stop it.
I think I will follow your lead and change my goals to actually getting on the bike and treadmill and not focus on intensity until I am back at full strength. I am pushing my testing (obviously) week back, but not sure when. Are you doing the same?
Take care and stay healthy! It's still VERY early in the racing year and what we are doing is all bonus!
Yep, Roy, hang in there. It's a very big picture that we're working on. A couple of slow/crappy weeks of coming back from illness will be long forgotten in a month or so. Life on Life's Terms.
Ed- getting up the mojo to test is hard, so great job doing it again and getting the results u have earned.
Mike-sometimes u take what u can get when traveling. Getting something in is better than raiding the motel mini bar and watching tv. Lol
Roy- smart to take it slow getting back. Doing any training with a lingering cough is no fun.
Chris- good wko!
Got my 12', 12', and 7' on the bike done all at 1.00IF then 10' Z3.
After yesterday's coughing fit on the treadmill, I dialed back the run a bit to more like Zone 1 1/2. 2.5 miles in about 28 mins. Felt ok w minimal coughing.
I got about 20 minutes into today's ride and bagged. Legs felt like they'd been run through a cheese grater, heart rate spiking, struggling to hit my numbers. With testing next week, I decided to limit the damage. I'll do the run and try again tonight. Maybe.
Changed up my schedule a bit and did my testing today. At the beginning of the OS was 165w, tested today to 197w, and couldn't be happier. Keep up the solid work everybody, as after this testing, our workouts are only going to get that much harder. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/415591732
Good news is I'm finally a power athlete! Bad news is, I started today's workout using TrainerRoad for the first time and failed miserably due to user error. I got about 45 min of work in before frustration won and I decided to call it. Still a lot to learn. Headed to the wiki now to educate myself more. Chopping at the bit to test Monday. Good work gang!
Had my wife's office christmas party last night, and paid for it today on the bike. 15 min at IF 1.03, called it a day 6 min into the second set. I'm ready to crush the test on Monday!!
Hey nothing wrong with a Pint of Post Workout Ice Cream & Beer!
Emily..no worries...once you get the hang of it (and be patient...I'm 1.5 years in and still learning how to ride with power effectively)...you will love it.
Today I substituted the appropriately named Hell Hath No Fury Sufferfest video/workout for my Saturday ride...brutal..but I loved it...then a short & generally easy... 3mile scurry through the flurries brick run....time to eat and rest!
Since the Army-Navy Game hasn't started, GO ARMY BEAT NAVY! Since Navy is favored by 14 points, I hope Army at least beats the spread. When your eggnog is 50% Southern Comfort, you can take a beating and still manage to smile.
So - since today is the last hard workout before Test Week, I pushed it extra hard at 4 X 14'(4') @ Z4 and my thoughts pretty much were the same as Stefan's. I managed to squeak out: (IF/Pwr) 1.06/297, 1.05/295, 1.00/281, 1.00/279.
Time to kick back and enjoy the start of the game with that Eggnog!
Pushed out the intervals at 1.00, 1.00 and 1.01. Did not run. My tready is broke and it is to cold outside for this buttercup. Bah, its only 30minutes. Besides, used that time well. Went to the mall, bought 4 presents and dropped them off at Toy Mountain (for under privledged kids)
I so appreciate the EN coaches! Especially when the comments for the workout include: "Fine to ride less, or more than time prescribed, depending on your personal circumstances!"
Today was a tough day and I only had time for the main set - my eldest daughter had an invitational swim meet, where she PR'd in her 50 back and free!
We are in day 3 of lots of snow! I hope everyone is warm and cozy!
I tried to do today's workout again, but it was still terrible. I actually felt better after I moved my seatpost back to where it usually iss (I've been moving stuff around as I experiment with different saddles). The changed fit is probably why I was struggling so much this morning. However, when I got into the main set interval, I could feel the struggle. I decided with a test 36 hours away, discretion is the better part of valor.
Howdy all, I realized I did not report anything yesterday. I did my bike wko and I felt pretty strong through all three sets. There is something to be said for the mental part of all of this in that the 20 min set seems like such a bear but the 14 min set doesn't seem like too big a deal. As with most things in life the biggest obstacle to overcome for me is what is between my ears. Anyway, I hit all my paces, then tacked on 30 min of z3 for good measure. Today I will be doing a hot chocolate run (since it is frigid here it is well named and timed) I did not run yesterday. Then on to the testing!
Brad + Ray - THX for all to MOJO! I was already training the last month with my FTP dialed to 300W because I knew my first test didn't reflect what I'm capable of but I wasn't expecting THAT Just noticed that the public workout on TP doesn't show the graphs of honor and glory .... so here's the Garmin-Connect log -> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/415858604
BTW - I'm already afraid of the upcoming 5x5'@100% workouts
Comments
Decided to push my SAT bike workout to FR afternoon (right now basically) and take SAT off and do my bike test on SUN evening instead of Monday. Just shifting around by one day so no big deal.
Plan was to do 2x14'+7' @ Z4 plus ABP until 1:30 total time but my legs felt like concrete after the VO2-workout yesterday evening ... I already struggled during the 12' of sweetspot riding during the warmup.
First 14' interval seemed like it would never-ever-end ... seconds crawled down the clock like minutes and I really needed to bring up all of my EN-learned-suffocation-self to fight through that. During my rest I was already planing to split the rest up into 5' segments and playing around with some time and power numbers in my head but as the second 14' interval started I just focused on my movie I was watching (Breaking Bad) and tried to break it into 1' segments without recovery ... so I never had more than 59'' left which felt nice in my head. In the end the second interval was still brutal hard and I barely hit my target but it's done.
Finally this gave me some more MOJO for the last repeat and I decided to do it with a higher gear / lower cadence to have a bigger force ... even that went pretty well ... astonishing thing ... but this was all I had to give today! There was no gas left in the tank and even worse - NO MOTIVATION!
But the MS was all this WKO was about so I'm happy and looking forward to my party
Total: 1:16h / NP 267W / IF 0.89
14' Z4 as IF 0.99 / NP 298W
14' Z4 as IF 0.98 / NP 295W
7' Z4 as IF 0.98 / NP 295W
http://tpks.ws/rFgj
So, I was not exactly thrilled with my recent bike test. My work schedule conspired against me and I was not properly prepared for that test day. I really should have skipped it. I did a re-test today and am much happier with the results. My goal was 285 NPW for the 20 minute test. I hit 282. That really feels more like what I have been producing in the workouts. I finished the workout with a 20 minute ride at .828 IF. Now if the snow generating machine (Lake Ontario) will take a break for a day or two I could get a good run test in.
EN w/up including 12' @ 129bpm (average)
2x12' @ 144bpm, 149bpm
1x7' @ 153bpm
1x10' @ 130bpm
80' total
144-153bpm during the Z4 intervals compares to 133bpm and 144bpm during my 2x20' intervals earlier this week, so I should've been in the ballpark power-wise
next time we get on the bike, it's testing time!
Going to see what the run legs feel like tomorrow. Next week is going to be focused only on actually working out, not any intensity goals. Fun times!
Hey Roy....I feel your pain. Both kids, wife, and myself are starting to get over being sick for the last week and a half. My wife and I are elementary school teachers so we know those germs are coming home and we try to do the best we can to be proactive, but sometimes you just can't stop it.
I think I will follow your lead and change my goals to actually getting on the bike and treadmill and not focus on intensity until I am back at full strength. I am pushing my testing (obviously) week back, but not sure when. Are you doing the same?
Take care and stay healthy! It's still VERY early in the racing year and what we are doing is all bonus!
-Pete
2x 12'(4') and 1x 7' at .98, .99, .99
20' at .83
go get the work done, peeps!
Mike-sometimes u take what u can get when traveling. Getting something in is better than raiding the motel mini bar and watching tv. Lol
Roy- smart to take it slow getting back. Doing any training with a lingering cough is no fun.
Chris- good wko!
Got my 12', 12', and 7' on the bike done all at 1.00IF then 10' Z3.
After yesterday's coughing fit on the treadmill, I dialed back the run a bit to more like Zone 1 1/2. 2.5 miles in about 28 mins. Felt ok w minimal coughing.
Rest day tomorow is going to be weird!!
A snowy day, post-workout haiku: Bike and run are done. Time to put feet up and rest. Soon enough to test.
I got about 20 minutes into today's ride and bagged. Legs felt like they'd been run through a cheese grater, heart rate spiking, struggling to hit my numbers. With testing next week, I decided to limit the damage. I'll do the run and try again tonight. Maybe.
http://app.strava.com/activities/100145824
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/415591732
Had my wife's office christmas party last night, and paid for it today on the bike. 15 min at IF 1.03, called it a day 6 min into the second set. I'm ready to crush the test on Monday!!
Hey nothing wrong with a Pint of Post Workout Ice Cream & Beer!
Emily..no worries...once you get the hang of it (and be patient...I'm 1.5 years in and still learning how to ride with power effectively)...you will love it.
Today I substituted the appropriately named Hell Hath No Fury Sufferfest video/workout for my Saturday ride...brutal..but I loved it...then a short & generally easy... 3mile scurry through the flurries brick run....time to eat and rest!
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/...June-2013-
So - since today is the last hard workout before Test Week, I pushed it extra hard at 4 X 14'(4') @ Z4 and my thoughts pretty much were the same as Stefan's. I managed to squeak out: (IF/Pwr) 1.06/297, 1.05/295, 1.00/281, 1.00/279.
Time to kick back and enjoy the start of the game with that Eggnog!
Yeah that's right!!! GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!
Rich -Class of 96
I am now in Prince George's County, Maryland for my daughter's cheer competition. Truth be told, it hurts more than the bike
Today was a tough day and I only had time for the main set - my eldest daughter had an invitational swim meet, where she PR'd in her 50 back and free!
We are in day 3 of lots of snow! I hope everyone is warm and cozy!
1 hr 10 min / TSS of 119
Did 2x14' (4') + 1x7' and added 15' sweetspot
Below is the Breakdown:
NP IF (referred to 196W FTP)
Int#1 213 1.09
Int#2 215 1.10
Int#3 211 1.08
Added Time 180 0.92
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/415655810
After that went for run
I tried to do today's workout again, but it was still terrible. I actually felt better after I moved my seatpost back to where it usually iss (I've been moving stuff around as I experiment with different saddles). The changed fit is probably why I was struggling so much this morning. However, when I got into the main set interval, I could feel the struggle. I decided with a test 36 hours away, discretion is the better part of valor.
Very happy with the result - even better than what I was expecting:
)
5' Vo2 = 369W Avg (Prev 378W so down by 9W but I know I overcooked on the first test in that segment)
20' FTP = 332W Avg (Prev 294W so up by 38W!! .. now back into the >4W/kg club
http://tpks.ws/vcmc
I realized I did not report anything yesterday. I did my bike wko and I felt pretty strong through all three sets. There is something to be said for the mental part of all of this in that the 20 min set seems like such a bear but the 14 min set doesn't seem like too big a deal. As with most things in life the biggest obstacle to overcome for me is what is between my ears. Anyway, I hit all my paces, then tacked on 30 min of z3 for good measure. Today I will be doing a hot chocolate run (since it is frigid here it is well named and timed) I did not run yesterday. Then on to the testing!
Just noticed that the public workout on TP doesn't show the graphs of honor and glory .... so here's the Garmin-Connect log -> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/415858604
BTW - I'm already afraid of the upcoming 5x5'@100% workouts