NOS Bike Thread Week 13

Ralph Moore

So, This could go either way... I am tired but I ain't quitting. Not yet anyways.

This is the last week of real work in the OS. Next week is the final test week

Get yourself psyched up for LONG INTERVALS. We will be seeing long interval repeats at Zone 4. You have to get your mind ready because these are a grind.

Ralph Moore

This AM was a bit of a fail. I have been on call all weekend and did not get home till late last PM. I was trying to work in a ride before going in at 6:30 but the planned ride was too long and so I changed to a shorter ride with short Zone 5 intervals. That was still a chore. It felt harder than it probably was. Off to work.

Gordon Cherwoniak

@Ralph Moore hang in there you are almost to the end. I'm in week 3 of the JOS and its just beginning.

Ralph Moore

@Gordon Cherwoniak when I get done with this OS, I am gonna come over and hang with the JOS crowd. The only difference will be that I can race on Thursdays instead of the structured workouts!

Ralph Moore

Today was a challenge, The 6 intervals at Z4 proved a bit too much for me. My HR was creeping up with only 90 sec of recovery so I skipped interval #4 and took the extra recovery before trying Interval 5 which I ended up cutting short and switching out of ERG mode to do interval 6 at best possible effort. The amount of HR in Z4 demonstrates that it was just not working for me today. Run away and live to fight another day. I did muster a slight rally at the very end as an attempted face-saving maneuver.

Well, This brings the weekday structured workout portion of my 5th OS with EN to a close and as one of the last folks on the NOS training block I would like to beg your indulgence as I bring up a couple of points that I have been reminded of this off season and which others (particularly new members) may find useful.

1. As you integrate to the team and spend a few years here, there will be some folks that you get to know (online and in real life) who are here from year to year and some who are here for a while and you do not see anymore. These are your fellow travelers, on their journey towards fitness that shares a route with yours. Their speed of travel down the road and their ultimate destination may be different than yours but they have knowledge of the road that can be very valuable to you. Many of them have been down the road several times. Listen to them, it can save you lots of wasted time and effort. If you are having challenges, do not hesitate to ask them for advice. Thanks to @Sue DeJesus @Janyne Kizer @John Culberson @Bill Manard @Kim DuBord @David Ambrose @Peter Carroll @Scott Imlay @PatKoss @Jennifer Eckert @Gordon Cherwoniak for sharing the OS with me and keeping me (mostly) honest. Also thanks to @Coach Patrick @Brian Hagan @Tim Sullivan @Shaughn Simmons @maurice matthews @Carl Alleyne @John Withrow @Robert Sabo @Sid Wavrin @Scott Giljum for waiting on me during Hang on ride and Cruise and Crush week after week
2. Listen to your body. I have been riding the bike pretty steady for the past few years and decided to try the level 3 OS workouts this year. a month in, I was too wasted to put up a good test without maxing my HR early and blowing up. I made an audible to back down to the level 2 workouts which set me up for a good second test and a FTP bump. By the end of the OS, however, the cumulative training stress made it so I still found it hard to complete the longer interval intervals without HR issues. @Al Truscott has preached the value of modifying the plan so that it works for you. I think that this can become even more important after a few years on the team when you are bumping up nearer your particular physiologic max.
3. If ERG mode on your trainer doesn't seem to be working, go back and read the instructions. Enough said on that.
4. Get the mindset that you are training for life. Races come and go but being able to actually train for a race is a privilege that can be gone sooner than you think. I started in EN to race sprints, moved up to half and full distance races and have watched teammates go on to do inspiring things like Ultramarathons and high altitude mountain bike races and rim to rim runs of the Grand Canyon. Once you have found that you can do more than you thought you could, you wonder what else you can do that you don't realize. Let's see what is next.

Now I am off to run for a couple of weeks to race with my kids then back to join the JOS folks on the bike.

Janyne Kizer

Agreed! This morning was a challenge. 1-4 were OK, 5-6 were HARD.

Thanks for keeping us organized this NOS!

John Withrow

@Ralph Moore Your post above should be mandatory reading for every single member of EN, whether they are in their 1st year on the team or their 11th...

Calling @Brenda Ross or @Coach Patrick ... Maybe some version of this makes it either onto the email blast, or the Instagram feed or something... Pure gold!

matt limbert

@Ralph Moore @John Withrow Well said and well done!

Rob Tune

@Ralph Moore Thanks for your post yesterday. I called the audible after the holidays to skip my FTP test and push up my zones to what I think I should be at. I've struggled to keep up, but I've kept up! I think these have been my most challenging and most fulfilling training sessions since I started training for tri's last year. Yesterday I had to lengthen my recovery, but I still got in some great intervals at Z4!

Seeing how you make adjustments, understanding that there's a bigger picture, not just hitting your workout perfectly has really helped me I think. I'm not sure if I'll hit my goals for the outseason, but it's kicked my ass, and I'm loving it.

Agreed @John Withrow , mandatory read.

Gordon Cherwoniak

@Ralph Moore great post. Looking forward to having you hang with us in the JOS.

Ralph Moore

@Rob Tune It has been very interesting to me as a data nerd to follow my physiologic markers through various training cycles. Setting goals for your training is useful, however, remember that a goal is only a target that you have identified. Many challenges will crop up and how one handles the things that conflict with training is really key in maintaining a long term fitness program. The goal is to construct a lifestyle that allow one to train to the necessary level without sacrificing family time, work, and other necessary obligations. If one's training compromises the other parts of life or if it makes you so exhausted that you cannot function, something needs to be adjusted. Do not be afraid to make adjustments as needed to fit your situation. Listen to your body. Missing a workout or two will NOT mean you cannot be successful in your chosen event. Coach P says never try to make up a missed workout, just rest up for the next workout. That seems counter intuitive coming from your coach but it is good advice.

Sometimes you learn more from workouts that fail than you do from the ones that you complete successfully. Just like you learn what can go wrong in a race and how to adapt from reading other folk's race reports. As @Shaughn Simmons says "Keep Moving Forward".

Rob Tune

@Ralph Moore - Wise words, and really encouraging! Being a new member on this team, I have learned that there is a philosophical approach to training that I hadn't given the appropriate respect to previously. I suspect that contributed to some of the difficulties I was having when training on my own.

Thanks for the guidance, and leadership! NOS has been great!