This has been an above average tough week for me. Life stress and work stress have really teamed up against me. My days have all began and 3:30 am and ended late. The results were I came down with a very nice sinus bug and my bike work is definitely off. I ran 5 miles last night and that went well. Although I did not take in any alcohol for the New Years celebration, I did have to stay up until after midnight so I could pick up my youngest from a party. When I started the warm-up for today, my legs were not on. I tried to go easy during the first 5' interval, but that didn't really help. On # 2, I could not really push it up to the 1.10 IF. I did finish all 5 intervals but only 1 & 2 were in the Z5 range. I went 285W, 287W, 281W, 274W & 278W for an average of 1.033 IF. Definitely not the results I had been planning earlier this week. When I got off the bike, I jumped on the TM and finished the wko with a 3 mile GRP run. That felt good. Happy New Year to everyone.
Had to miss the Tuesday WKO this week due to a combination of a GI illness and a big work project wrapping up. Wasn't about to miss today, though. Got all 4 5' intervals in at 1.00-1.02, but it was tough. Finished with 10' of 0.87.
4x 5' is tough, especially as the first TR workout in almost 2 weeks. Hopefully that will go a little easier next week. 4 x IF 1.07. Didnt have 1.1 in my legs.
Kind of goofed on the FTP test. Grabbed a higher gear at about 10 minutes and thought I could hold it. Nope. Lasted about 6 minutes. My cadence was totally falling off. Dropped to the previous gear and held on for dear life. The puddle on the floor indicated a good test.
Really solid work Jackie. It is hard to get the pacing on the 20’ test. Still, impressive numbers. I got yesterday's 4x5' Z5 done this morning. That is one tough session. My effort was a bit variable, but my average powers for each interval were right on the money.
The 4X5' 1.10 intervals are still proving very difficult for me. I tried to do them on Wednesday and got through 1 at 1.08 but when I started the second one I couldn't make it to that level again and stopped it at 3:41 with a IF at 0.99. Even the one thing or the pacer on the computrainer couldn't motivate me enough or make my legs fire enough to hit the numbers so I shut the ride down and decided to try again today. Wednesday was the 4th day in a row that I'd done a workout so that may have had something to do with it. I've also had a low grade crud for a couple of weeks and I gave blood last week so I think there's some residual stuff going on there.
Yesterday I did a 40 minute easy run with my wife at about a minute slower per mile than my Z1 pace. We also did quite a few walks on the beach the last couple of days, but nothing strenuous at all.
Today I hit the bike again and it was a little better. I hit the first two 5' intervals at 1.10 and 1.11 but when I started #3 I knew I was in trouble again. I started out having a hard time hitting my numbers and it just got worst from there. I did finish the 5 minutes but it was at 0.99. It was disheartening to watch the numbers fall even as I was doing all I could to push the pedals as hard as I could. I decided to try #4 to see what I could do. I started off slightly above my goal but the power just kept dropping and so I stopped it after 1:51 with a resulting IF of 1.07.
So I noticed that after the 2nd interval my heart rate had come down but I was still breathing pretty hard at the end of the recovery interval. I looked up how long it takes to replace the red blood cells after a blood donation and it turns out that it takes 4 to 8 weeks. Since I'm just a little over a week after giving blood I'll chalk it up to that.
@Mark - no need to rush back to high-intensity too fast. Give your body enough time to rebuild and just focus on body-composition and do only cruising-speed aerobic workouts with super-short bursts/strides. There's a lot of interesting (technical) work out there that's far from that intensity but still will make you a better athlete by doing it (plyometrics, cadence works, run-ABCs ...)
For this bike-week is officially over - Man this 2x20'+8' is NO JOKE here!!
Saturday ride went well today - knocked it down to 95% as I had cross country in the afternoon. I loaded wk11 in trainer road by accident as I was half awake. that was no joke. Maybe next week it will go a bit better than it did this morning. I am learning, more and more, that I really can't drink more than about a pint of beer the night before a workout and expect to not feel like garbage. This is not good for my FAUs.
Had to stop twice during the 2nd 18' interval today due to coughing spasms; still not completely recovered from the enteroviral crud I've been dealing with the past week. After getting some albuterol on board, the ABP time went much better.
If I ignore the breaks, 2 x 18' went at @ 1.00 and 1.01, and ABP 22' went at 0.88 (with no breaks). Time for some power recovery before the long run tomorrow.
I took yesterday totally off, skipping the core work as well as getting almost 11 hours of sleep. The extra recovery was needed in order to attack today's gorilla. Got it done with each of the 3 intervals (2x20', 1x8') at IFs of 1.0. Also did 12' @ 0.84 during the warm-up and 5' @ 0.83 afterwards to finish off the 90 minutes. Wasn't easy and glad to have it done!
@Mark, the last time I donated whole blood it took me at least 10 days to feel back to full strength again. I don't know if it was psychological or physiological but I haven't donated whole blood since then. If you want to continue to donate something to consider may be platelets (if you are eligible). You don't lose your red blood cells and your blood is back to normal in 7 - 10 days or something. The downside is that the procedure takes around 2 hours.
I thought I was finally getting acclimated to the FTP from our recent test. The numbers felt somewhat "easier" on Tuesday. But today was TOUGH. The first interval was a battle. The 2nd interval felt slightly better. Something clicked and the third interval actually felt the best for me.
2 X 20'(4') @ .984, .987 1 X 8' @ 1.025 1 X 20' @ .844
My knee is feeling better so I will hit the TM a little later for the run.
@ Stephan, I'm taking your advice and going to the gym this afternoon to do plyometrics and weights instead of the FTP session. I haven't given blood when I've been doing such intense sessions so it's taken me a little by surprise. I did read that it takes 4-8 weeks for the body to replace the red blood cells. I also found out that the UK makes men wait 12 weeks and women wait 16 weeks between donations while here in the US the wait time is 8 weeks. This is the third time I've given blood since August since I was on the 8 week plan. It may be that has had a cumulative affect as well.
@ Doug, I have given platelets before as a directed donor for someone with leukemia, so I think I'm eligible. I have thought about donating platelets since it does return the red blood cells. The good thing about yesterday is that I was able to double the amount of time in Z5 from a couple of days earlier. Hopefully I'll be back to near full strength next week.
Bike completed this morning. I've been feeling pretty good on the bike this week once I get through the first interval. This is most likely since I've barely run this week while resting my ITB. Nevertheless, very satisfying to be hitting my numbers well. Planned on a semi-long run tomorrow to test things out, but snow today followed by a lot of rain overnight may make things messy.
2 x 20' @ 1.0 and 1.0 NP right on the nose 1 x 8' @ 1.004 1 x 10' @ .858
2 x 18 Z4 done at IF 1.01 and 1.02 without many tears or drooling - definitely better than 3 x 14 on Tuesday. Still found that my upper leg muscles were pretty toast at the end of the Z2. Happy to put this week in the bag and get back to a regular routine when school starts on Monday.
With returning home from Christmas took Fri/Sat off so moved bike/brick to today and am dropping the long run.
WU w/ 12' Z3 @ 244 watts (IF 0.81 - was screwing with my wifi trying to get some videos to stream) MS: 2x 18' Z4 @ 300 & 300 watts (IF 1.00) No extra time today.
This has been a tough week in terms of hitting all the workouts. Being sick last week, I hope is the reason and not something else. Felt good on the first 18' interval, done at 0.99. 2nd interval I really had a hard time maintaining the target. Ended up breaking it up into 8'/3'/3'/3' segments all at 1.00. In total did 17' worth of FTP work. Also broke up the 85% work into 3 x 5' intervals. While I had to take some breaks to get the work in, I still felt I got a lot of good work in.
I did a 54 mile, 3 1/2 hour ride today. IF 0.77. It kicked my butt! It was by far my longest ride in over 4 months. Garmin 910XT is refusing to transfer the file ??. REALLY looking forward to no leg work tomorrow.
Comments
Target @110% was 275W and got there and a little above on each interval
1) 282W (1.13)
2) 280W (1.12)
3) 280W (1.12)
4) 279W (1.12)
5) 281W (1.13)
6) Added 11 min @222W (0.89)
total 1hr 11min for 96 TSS
Link---> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/662013187
Now...to prepare for the Buckeyes game !!! everyone is crazy around here ! I hope Alabama has a bad night !
This has been an above average tough week for me. Life stress and work stress have really teamed up against me. My days have all began and 3:30 am and ended late. The results were I came down with a very nice sinus bug and my bike work is definitely off. I ran 5 miles last night and that went well. Although I did not take in any alcohol for the New Years celebration, I did have to stay up until after midnight so I could pick up my youngest from a party. When I started the warm-up for today, my legs were not on. I tried to go easy during the first 5' interval, but that didn't really help. On # 2, I could not really push it up to the 1.10 IF. I did finish all 5 intervals but only 1 & 2 were in the Z5 range. I went 285W, 287W, 281W, 274W & 278W for an average of 1.033 IF. Definitely not the results I had been planning earlier this week. When I got off the bike, I jumped on the TM and finished the wko with a 3 mile GRP run. That felt good. Happy New Year to everyone.
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/ac.../661915078
For some reason this 4x5 was much harder than last week, especially that last one! Then we got to have fun running hills. Done though.
Man, those 4 x 5' are not easy. Didn't do them last week due to illness so this was my first go at it. Got it done.
1.08, 1.09, 1.09, 1.10
4x 5' is tough, especially as the first TR workout in almost 2 weeks. Hopefully that will go a little easier next week. 4 x IF 1.07. Didnt have 1.1 in my legs.
Good start to 2015. 4x5'@z5 - 270, 276, 276, 278. (Last yr in same wko: 246, 246, 243, 236)
Finally, I was able to do my FTP test today.
VO2 max 11/11/2014 01/02/2015
NP 285 NP 311
w/kg 3.58 3.88
HR 132 151
FTP test 11/11/2014 01/02/2014
NP 200 249
IF 1.15
Kind of goofed on the FTP test. Grabbed a higher gear at about 10 minutes and thought I could hold it. Nope. Lasted about 6 minutes. My cadence was totally falling off. Dropped to the previous gear and held on for dear life. The puddle on the floor indicated a good test.
I got yesterday's 4x5' Z5 done this morning. That is one tough session. My effort was a bit variable, but my average powers for each interval were right on the money.
@ David-Thank you! Over reached a little bit. I'll get it next time.
Wow. You guys are putting down some serious work. Took yesterday off so I could test today. Sounds like i missed some fun.
The 4X5' 1.10 intervals are still proving very difficult for me. I tried to do them on Wednesday and got through 1 at 1.08 but when I started the second one I couldn't make it to that level again and stopped it at 3:41 with a IF at 0.99. Even the one thing or the pacer on the computrainer couldn't motivate me enough or make my legs fire enough to hit the numbers so I shut the ride down and decided to try again today. Wednesday was the 4th day in a row that I'd done a workout so that may have had something to do with it. I've also had a low grade crud for a couple of weeks and I gave blood last week so I think there's some residual stuff going on there.
Yesterday I did a 40 minute easy run with my wife at about a minute slower per mile than my Z1 pace. We also did quite a few walks on the beach the last couple of days, but nothing strenuous at all.
Today I hit the bike again and it was a little better. I hit the first two 5' intervals at 1.10 and 1.11 but when I started #3 I knew I was in trouble again. I started out having a hard time hitting my numbers and it just got worst from there. I did finish the 5 minutes but it was at 0.99. It was disheartening to watch the numbers fall even as I was doing all I could to push the pedals as hard as I could. I decided to try #4 to see what I could do. I started off slightly above my goal but the power just kept dropping and so I stopped it after 1:51 with a resulting IF of 1.07.
So I noticed that after the 2nd interval my heart rate had come down but I was still breathing pretty hard at the end of the recovery interval. I looked up how long it takes to replace the red blood cells after a blood donation and it turns out that it takes 4 to 8 weeks. Since I'm just a little over a week after giving blood I'll chalk it up to that.
@Mark - no need to rush back to high-intensity too fast. Give your body enough time to rebuild and just focus on body-composition and do only cruising-speed aerobic workouts with super-short bursts/strides. There's a lot of interesting (technical) work out there that's far from that intensity but still will make you a better athlete by doing it (plyometrics, cadence works, run-ABCs ...)
For this bike-week is officially over
- Man this 2x20'+8' is NO JOKE here!!
Total workout 85' / TSS 117.8 / NP 285 / IF 0.91
20' @ NP 310 / IF 0.99
20' @ NP 307 / IF 0.99
08' @ NP 310 / IF 0.99
http://tpks.ws/YHB5
I am learning, more and more, that I really can't drink more than about a pint of beer the night before a workout and expect to not feel like garbage.
If I ignore the breaks, 2 x 18' went at @ 1.00 and 1.01, and ABP 22' went at 0.88 (with no breaks). Time for some power recovery before the long run tomorrow.
I thought I was finally getting acclimated to the FTP from our recent test. The numbers felt somewhat "easier" on Tuesday. But today was TOUGH. The first interval was a battle. The 2nd interval felt slightly better. Something clicked and the third interval actually felt the best for me.
2 X 20'(4') @ .984, .987
1 X 8' @ 1.025
1 X 20' @ .844
My knee is feeling better so I will hit the TM a little later for the run.
@ Stephan, I'm taking your advice and going to the gym this afternoon to do plyometrics and weights instead of the FTP session. I haven't given blood when I've been doing such intense sessions so it's taken me a little by surprise. I did read that it takes 4-8 weeks for the body to replace the red blood cells. I also found out that the UK makes men wait 12 weeks and women wait 16 weeks between donations while here in the US the wait time is 8 weeks. This is the third time I've given blood since August since I was on the 8 week plan. It may be that has had a cumulative affect as well.
@ Doug, I have given platelets before as a directed donor for someone with leukemia, so I think I'm eligible. I have thought about donating platelets since it does return the red blood cells. The good thing about yesterday is that I was able to double the amount of time in Z5 from a couple of days earlier. Hopefully I'll be back to near full strength next week.
2 x 20' @ 1.0 and 1.0 NP right on the nose
1 x 8' @ 1.004
1 x 10' @ .858
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/663601172
Felt ill Thur. thru Sat. Got Sat. workout done today, still not 100%.
2 X 18 Zn 4 both at 1.0 + 15' Zn 3 at .82 for a 90' wko.
50' run as a brick. 65 deg. and sunny!
WU w/ 12' Z3 @ 244 watts (IF 0.81 - was screwing with my wifi trying to get some videos to stream)
MS: 2x 18' Z4 @ 300 & 300 watts (IF 1.00)
No extra time today.
http://www.strava.com/activities/236794805
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1427703-10-Sat-2x18-Z4
This has been a tough week in terms of hitting all the workouts. Being sick last week, I hope is the reason and not something else. Felt good on the first 18' interval, done at 0.99. 2nd interval I really had a hard time maintaining the target. Ended up breaking it up into 8'/3'/3'/3' segments all at 1.00. In total did 17' worth of FTP work. Also broke up the 85% work into 3 x 5' intervals. While I had to take some breaks to get the work in, I still felt I got a lot of good work in.
It was by far my longest ride in over 4 months.
Garmin 910XT is refusing to transfer the file ??.
REALLY looking forward to no leg work tomorrow.