I had a huge dose of reality yesterday and today working in a hospital. Yesterday I watched a young family with 3 kids(8,10 and 12) say goodbye to their 38 yr old Mom who died of metastatic breast Ca. Horrible beyond words. Today driving to work I was stuck on the freeway for one hour. News was a rollover accident. So I sat and prayed. When I passed the accident it was not good. I got to work and the pt was in our ICU. 20 y/o and would most likely not survive. Humbling and so very real.
I came home and with joy and gratefulness got on the bike to ride. Did the work and thought about both of those incidents and drew strength from those people. Knowing they would do anything to still be here now.
Just wanted to share that. We are all so blessed with strong bodies. If some days are not so great it is OK. Just keep plugging along and enjoying the journey.
I did my 2 x 20 in 100% and 95% and the 45 minute run was heavenly. Z1 pace and I are very good friends:-)
Lots of Love to you all,
Carrie
This is a great post that puts everything back in perspective for us. CC, thanks for sharing and leading...........
I had a huge dose of reality yesterday and today working in a hospital. Yesterday I watched a young family with 3 kids(8,10 and 12) say goodbye to their 38 yr old Mom who died of metastatic breast Ca. Horrible beyond words. Today driving to work I was stuck on the freeway for one hour. News was a rollover accident. So I sat and prayed. When I passed the accident it was not good. I got to work and the pt was in our ICU. 20 y/o and would most likely not survive. Humbling and so very real.
I came home and with joy and gratefulness got on the bike to ride. Did the work and thought about both of those incidents and drew strength from those people. Knowing they would do anything to still be here now.
Just wanted to share that. We are all so blessed with strong bodies. If some days are not so great it is OK. Just keep plugging along and enjoying the journey.
I did my 2 x 20 in 100% and 95% and the 45 minute run was heavenly. Z1 pace and I are very good friends:-)
Lots of Love to you all,
Carrie
This is a great post that puts everything back in perspective for us. CC, thanks for sharing and leading...........
Day behind this week and backed it down a little to 2x15. Hit the first one at 100% and 98% for the second. Added 10' at .85 to finish off the hour. Nice job everyone!!
Carrie, Chris, Gordan, thank you all again for the motivation, it is good for me to once in a while keep it in perspective. The shorter days make everything seem harder this time of year. I know that I am not alone in that respect.
Kitboo: I love Ninja warrior!
I've been down with a cold but I am feeling better now so Idid my 5X15 last night, had troublekeeping my heart rate down but it was easy to stay in Z3 for the rest of the ride. Run was ok after but those hill runs are brutal!
Still under Doctor orders to ride the recumbent. Was busy on Sunday so took the day off. Tried to Do the Team Chavez thing and move up the workouts a day to Monday. Also tried a slight increase on the wattage I set on the recumbent. I don't know if the legs were still tired from Saturday, if I just had a really good workout then or what, but I could only make 10 minutes. Eased up a bit thinking I could get back into it, but it just did not happen.
Debated trying to keep pushing but decided to stop after 30 minutes and try again on Tuesday. Did do 2 sets of 9 x 1:30/:30 in the pool deep water running. That may have been a mistake too,
Came back on Tuesday, eased up a little on the wattage setting on the bike, but same result. Did 10 minutes, eased up a bit for a minute then did 5 more at 216W setting on the recumbent. Just couldn't keep it going. Interestingly, I switched over to Heart rate on the recumbent and was able to hold just a few beats below my HR average from the power test and hold that for 30 minutes. Although it was only a couple of beats below what I was averaging on the wattage setting, I was riding at about 20 watts lower per the graph. Oh, well, maybe I will give it another try on Thursday. (Sisyphus ain't got nothing on me) Dave
Feeling a little better about today's effort. It was a real struggle but I managed. I had to move the run from yesterday to tomorrow, though so it's still a bit discouraging how hard today felt after and off day yesterday.
I'm beat! Up at 2:30 am unable to sleep. Mind racing with all the year end stuff going on with work. Did a couple of hours of work on the computer the whole time debating whether to ride today or move ride to tomorrow. 5:30 came and decided to suck it up, get it done and hope for a good, long night's sleep tonight and rest tomorrow. Considering how physically and mentally tired I am from the lack of sleep the last couple of days I managed to get 2x12' @ 275 (105%) done this morning. Did a little easy cool down and called it a day. Happy with the physical effort today but more so with being able to muster enough mentally to first get on the trainer and second push through the fatigue to get the work done. Time to caffeinate and try to get through the work day.
Right with ya Aaron, I'm really beat. Work, Family, etc... have been crazy hectic and then to try and get all the workouts in at 4 and 5am day after day has caught up with me a little. Good thing tomorrow is day off or I would take it off anyway as the PMC chart has me in a huge negative hole. Need some serious recovery. Did manage like Aaron to get in the 2X12 @ 101% and 10 minutes @ 86%.
Glad to see everyone continuing to crush it today.
I still can't walk and can't get a shoe on so I skipped the bike this morning. I've now missed more workouts in the OS this year than the entire season last year. Not the way I wanted to start out.
Anyway, I have an appointment to see the podiatrist, but I may just go to urgent care today instead.
I still can't walk and can't get a shoe on so I skipped the bike this morning. I've now missed more workouts in the OS this year than the entire season last year. Not the way I wanted to start out.
Anyway, I have an appointment to see the podiatrist, but I may just go to urgent care today instead.
Sorry to hear this....take care of yourself now....as you know, it's a long season. Good luck!
We Int. peeps had 3x10. I've been sleeping crappy all week too, but felt rock solid in that workout. Well OK, the last two minutes of the last one felt like 3 hours. Haven't had time to look at the numbers, but I know how I was riding, and I know it went well.
I'm feeling really good overall, but I think that day off tomorrow would be very wise for me to heed. I've been smart recovery-wise so far, and want to keep it that way.
Yeah, today's 3 x 10 was rough. I pretty much spent every interval staring straight at the computer because if I took my eyes off of it I drifted down. And I tried to avoid looking at my wattage and instead focused on the cadence #. Haven't downloaded the data yet but I'm pretty sure today was a success - a giant, wheezy, gasping, completely ugly success, but a success nonetheless.
@ Matt: Yikes! Hope there's nothing serious with your foot! Sending healing vibes your way...
@ Dave W: FTP intervals on a recumbent? Okay, you get the Tough as Nails NOS award!
Sounds like we're all in need of a day off tomorrow AND Sunday too! I'm going to remember all of us pushing through pain and fatigue to git'r done at mile 18 of IMMoo. Mental 2-pack, baby!
Had a professional holiday mixer last evening. I thought I'd just say "hi" to a few folks and go home. "Hi" turned into a couple drinks and a few belly laughs. The laughs were good... the drinks not so much. Predictable outcome I suppose.
So some friends reserved our gym's spinning room for a 2 x 12' workout this morning. Was out of bed at 4:30 and setting up my trainer by 5 am. The collective suffering was kind of cool but it was an awful lot of hauling for a stinking trainer ride. My ride was pretty strong, Overall TSS 71 and IF .94, but now I'm so low on energy...
Need a nap! Looking forward to sleeping 'til 6:30 on Friday.
Matt - Take care of that foot. I hope it feels better soon.
3x10 - I started the second one a little slow and had to take a few seconds to regroup, but I found my speed. Rocked the last one, but that's only because of my new, sekrit pain cave weapon song , "Disco MF" (Penfifteen Club). Yes, I am a seventies child.
Looking forward to Day of Rest and checking out Leigh's core work videos.
Got my 2x12s done this morning and felt pretty solid overall but during the first couple of minutes on the first rep I had one of those "Uh, oh" moments where it didn't look like I was going to be able to get my watts up where they needed to be. Probably the residual effects of the 3x1s at the track workout last night. But once I got going I was able slowly get the numbers up over 100%. I also know I'm a notoriously slow starter on the first rep (probably more a mental thing). I'm definitely a finish strong/2nd rep guy. Makes me wonder if I need to be pushing harder on the first rep.
Lately I've been picking a time toward the end of the last rep (say, with 4 or 5 minutes to go) where I try to pick it up another 5% or so and hold it until the end. Then each workout after I try to add another minute to that time. Something psychologically about knowing the end is close makes that effort more manageable. Didn't download the file yet but feel pretty sure I was over 100% for both reps. Looking forward to a recovery day tomorrow! Maybe a real short/easy swim and some stretching...
Due to a Sushi eating contest tonight, I have to bail on the workout. I'll do some ez short runs at lunch today and tomorrow and resume the plan on Saturday.
No bike intervals for me today. Unfortunately had to have my gums cut open yesterday afternoon and I was not feeling up to the cave this am. I did go for a short slow run in 10 degrees, he said to ice the side of my face so that should count right? Will have to make them up in the am.
I'd rather do 2x12 than 3x10 any old day. Just to get them over with.
3x10 felt durn good today as did 3x1 milers yesterday. Sold my business Tuesday and missed the bike wko. That rest and a massive, mentally taxing burden lifted combine for super fantastic happy trainer time, to the extent that it can be.
I also skipped out today. I'm running a 5k Saturday morning for the VDOT test, and my legs have been feeling dead, so I figured two days rest would help.
Can someone get me the number for National Grid? There's been a power outage in Beverly, MA this week.
I aborted Tues 2x20' 12' in feeling run down, blah, blah, blah. No regrets, it is what it is. Had a great run yesterday, so I thought I'd try the 2x20' today.
1st - 307 and it hurt (not the hurt so good kind)
Getting thru 20' was a mental victory in and of itself. Onto the 2nd 20'
Much like Tuesday, it just wasn't there. I thought about baling again, but I figured, work is work, despite the numbers. I've never worked so hard and seen these numbers. I convinced myself to take it as an opportunity to add to the mental six pack. I certainly wasn't going to be gaining watts, so I might as well do something positive. I sucked it up and finished.
2nd - 269
Over the first few weeks, I self adjusted my FTP up a bit thinking I had a bad test since I could hold higher watts. Up until this week, that seemed brilliant. Now, not so much. Now I hope I don't lose watts on the test come Monday.
Love the "power outage" line. Good on ya for sticking with it, Dave. Like you said, all work is good work (unless you're injured). I might have bailed when I saw those 2nd rep numbers start to drop. Sounds to me like you just need a day or two of recovery to let your body absorb all that hard work!
Maybe think about comparing next week's FTP test to your initial FTP number vs. the self-adjusted one so you can really see what kind of bump you've made. I bet it will be big!
in here trying to motivate myself for tonights bike. i swapped tues and thurs bikes this week to try and get into a better run schedule. i'm also worried about trying to do the power hack bike test tonight. i've done it before and just know how bad it hurts---my lungs are already burning from just thinking about it. this is stressing me out big time!!!!
I'm kicking myself--I skipped the bike today to rest up for a 5k race Saturday morning, but now I see that there's 5 inches of snow in the forecast for Friday night into Saturday. Arrrgh. Maybe I'll get on the bike tonight after dinner after all.
Joined Dan for the morning insanity of 2 x 12's in the spin room. The company was nice and it was nice to be able to blast some tunes instead of having to jam earphones into my ears. Also, there was an extra sense of accountability with people riding next to me on their trainers!
I am looking forward to the test next week. I think i should be able to bump my Pnorm from 265W to something higher.
Hey there! Just had the most awesome ride with friends. Had today off from work and coordinated a group ride of 6 of us starting at a coffee shop(key to the motivation to get back). I have lots of friends who are either laid off, stay at home Dads , work from home or have days off in the week like me due to working in a hospital so it was cool to be able to pull this group together. Group members you would know were Tom Glynn and Aaron Smith( his first ride of any substance since IMAZ- he was cooked, poor guy)
We did an hour out and an hour back for 2:03 total. 39 miles of fun, a little work and occassional chit chat. First gorgeous day in ages...55-60 degrees. Sunny and breezy. I got in one solid FT interval of almost 12 minutes and lots of 85-90% steady riding. Hard to do the FT stuff in a group when some are hanging on for dear life. It is not worth blowing up the group.
We finished with huge yummy coffee drinks and then I got a slice of pizza as I was heading home. W/KG be dammed! So starved after bike rides!
I love my days off from work!
Have a great day off tomorrow everyone, sounds like we need it, or atleast I do.
Comments
This is a great post that puts everything back in perspective for us. CC, thanks for sharing and leading...........
X2, CC, thanks
Day behind this week and backed it down a little to 2x15. Hit the first one at 100% and 98% for the second. Added 10' at .85 to finish off the hour. Nice job everyone!!
Entire workout (178 watts):
Duration: 1:02:06
Work: 664 kJ
TSS: 88.8 (intensity factor 0.926)
Norm Power: 185
VI: 1.04
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 16.942 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 266 178 watts
Cadence: 44 109 75 rpm
Speed: 4.1 19.3 16.4 mph
Pace 3:06 14:38 3:39 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 355 201 lb-in
Kitboo: I love Ninja warrior!
I've been down with a cold but I am feeling better now so Idid my 5X15 last night, had troublekeeping my heart rate down but it was easy to stay in Z3 for the rest of the ride. Run was ok after but those hill runs are brutal!
Still under Doctor orders to ride the recumbent. Was busy on Sunday so took the day off. Tried to Do the Team Chavez thing and move up the workouts a day to Monday. Also tried a slight increase on the wattage I set on the recumbent. I don't know if the legs were still tired from Saturday, if I just had a really good workout then or what, but I could only make 10 minutes. Eased up a bit thinking I could get back into it, but it just did not happen.
Debated trying to keep pushing but decided to stop after 30 minutes and try again on Tuesday. Did do 2 sets of 9 x 1:30/:30 in the pool deep water running. That may have been a mistake too,
Came back on Tuesday, eased up a little on the wattage setting on the bike, but same result. Did 10 minutes, eased up a bit for a minute then did 5 more at 216W setting on the recumbent. Just couldn't keep it going. Interestingly, I switched over to Heart rate on the recumbent and was able to hold just a few beats below my HR average from the power test and hold that for 30 minutes. Although it was only a couple of beats below what I was averaging on the wattage setting, I was riding at about 20 watts lower per the graph. Oh, well, maybe I will give it another try on Thursday. (Sisyphus ain't got nothing on me
) Dave
Feeling a little better about today's effort. It was a real struggle but I managed. I had to move the run from yesterday to tomorrow, though so it's still a bit discouraging how hard today felt after and off day yesterday.
2x12'@FT:
Duration: 12:02
Work: 189 kJ
TSS: 17.5 (intensity factor 0.934)
Norm Power: 262
VI: 1
Distance: 4.118 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 214 304 261 watts
Cadence: 82 99 92 rpm
5:01 Rest
Duration: 12:02
Work: 192 kJ
TSS: 18.1 (intensity factor 0.951)
Norm Power: 266
VI: 1
Distance: 4.151 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 209 318 266 watts
Cadence: 76 95 82 rpm
1x12@85%:
Duration: 12:02
Work: 171 kJ
TSS: 14.4 (intensity factor 0.847)
Norm Power: 237
VI: 1
Distance: 3.964 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 139 283 237 watts
Cadence: 67 93 83 rpm
Entire workout (217 watts):
Duration: 55:23
Work: 718 kJ
TSS: 65.1 (intensity factor 0.841)
Norm Power: 235
VI: 1.09
Distance: 17.226 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 318 217 watts
Right with ya Aaron, I'm really beat. Work, Family, etc... have been crazy hectic and then to try and get all the workouts in at 4 and 5am day after day has caught up with me a little. Good thing tomorrow is day off or I would take it off anyway as the PMC chart has me in a huge negative hole. Need some serious recovery. Did manage like Aaron to get in the 2X12 @ 101% and 10 minutes @ 86%.
I got in 2 x 12 at 320, 321 and then 20' at .873, so a solid workout but am tired!!!
Test coming on Monday baby!!!!
P
Glad to see everyone continuing to crush it today.
I still can't walk and can't get a shoe on so I skipped the bike this morning. I've now missed more workouts in the OS this year than the entire season last year. Not the way I wanted to start out.
Anyway, I have an appointment to see the podiatrist, but I may just go to urgent care today instead.
Sorry to hear this....take care of yourself now....as you know, it's a long season. Good luck!
We Int. peeps had 3x10. I've been sleeping crappy all week too, but felt rock solid in that workout. Well OK, the last two minutes of the last one felt like 3 hours. Haven't had time to look at the numbers, but I know how I was riding, and I know it went well.
I'm feeling really good overall, but I think that day off tomorrow would be very wise for me to heed. I've been smart recovery-wise so far, and want to keep it that way.
@ Matt: Yikes! Hope there's nothing serious with your foot! Sending healing vibes your way...
@ Dave W: FTP intervals on a recumbent? Okay, you get the Tough as Nails NOS award!
Sounds like we're all in need of a day off tomorrow AND Sunday too! I'm going to remember all of us pushing through pain and fatigue to git'r done at mile 18 of IMMoo. Mental 2-pack, baby!
Had a professional holiday mixer last evening. I thought I'd just say "hi" to a few folks and go home. "Hi" turned into a couple drinks and a few belly laughs. The laughs were good... the drinks not so much. Predictable outcome I suppose.
So some friends reserved our gym's spinning room for a 2 x 12' workout this morning. Was out of bed at 4:30 and setting up my trainer by 5 am. The collective suffering was kind of cool but it was an awful lot of hauling for a stinking trainer ride. My ride was pretty strong, Overall TSS 71 and IF .94, but now I'm so low on energy...
Need a nap! Looking forward to sleeping 'til 6:30 on Friday.
Matt - Take care of that foot. I hope it feels better soon.
3x10 - I started the second one a little slow and had to take a few seconds to regroup, but I found my speed. Rocked the last one, but that's only because of my new, sekrit pain cave weapon song , "Disco MF" (Penfifteen Club). Yes, I am a seventies child.
Looking forward to Day of Rest and checking out Leigh's core work videos.
Got my 2x12s done this morning and felt pretty solid overall but during the first couple of minutes on the first rep I had one of those "Uh, oh" moments where it didn't look like I was going to be able to get my watts up where they needed to be. Probably the residual effects of the 3x1s at the track workout last night. But once I got going I was able slowly get the numbers up over 100%. I also know I'm a notoriously slow starter on the first rep (probably more a mental thing). I'm definitely a finish strong/2nd rep guy. Makes me wonder if I need to be pushing harder on the first rep.
Lately I've been picking a time toward the end of the last rep (say, with 4 or 5 minutes to go) where I try to pick it up another 5% or so and hold it until the end. Then each workout after I try to add another minute to that time. Something psychologically about knowing the end is close makes that effort more manageable. Didn't download the file yet but feel pretty sure I was over 100% for both reps. Looking forward to a recovery day tomorrow! Maybe a real short/easy swim and some stretching...
Due to a Sushi eating contest tonight, I have to bail on the workout. I'll do some ez short runs at lunch today and tomorrow and resume the plan on Saturday.
No bike intervals for me today. Unfortunately had to have my gums cut open yesterday afternoon and I was not feeling up to the cave this am. I did go for a short slow run in 10 degrees, he said to ice the side of my face so that should count right? Will have to make them up in the am.
Today was weirdly easier for me......not really sure why but will take it. Fantastic job all!
Interval 1
Duration: 11:59 (12:08)
Work: 193 kJ
TSS: 23.1 (intensity factor 1.08)
Norm Power: 270
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 2.04%
Pa:HR: 0.38%
Distance: 4.625 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 228 422 270 watts
Heart Rate: 123 160 155 bpm
Cadence: 55 102 93 rpm
Speed: 0 25 23.2 mph
Interval 2:
Duration: 12:01
Work: 198 kJ
TSS: 24.2 (intensity factor 1.099)
Norm Power: 275
VI: 1
Pw:HR: -2.8%
Pa:HR: -1.89%
Distance: 4.762 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 242 378 275 watts
Heart Rate: 132 164 157 bpm
Cadence: 55 100 93 rpm
Speed: 22.4 26.6 23.8 mph
85% interval:
Duration: 10:01
Work: 146 kJ
TSS: 15.7 (intensity factor 0.97)
Norm Power: 242
VI: 1
Pw:HR: -2.87%
Pa:HR: -2.09%
Distance: 3.585 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 192 299 243 watts
Heart Rate: 136 155 151 bpm
Cadence: 72 93 88 rpm
Speed: 18.1 24 21.5 mph
Entire workout (238 watts):
Duration: 51:31 (52:12)
Work: 732 kJ
TSS: 84.7 (intensity factor 0.995)
Norm Power: 249
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: -3.13%
Pa:HR: -4.3%
Distance: 17.945 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 422 238 watts
Heart Rate: 116 164 150 bpm
Cadence: 38 108 88 rpm
Speed: 0 26.6 20.9 mph
It got cold, right? Sounds like cryotherapy to me! Nicely done.
Can someone get me the number for National Grid? There's been a power outage in Beverly, MA this week.
I aborted Tues 2x20' 12' in feeling run down, blah, blah, blah. No regrets, it is what it is. Had a great run yesterday, so I thought I'd try the 2x20' today.
1st - 307 and it hurt (not the hurt so good kind)
Getting thru 20' was a mental victory in and of itself. Onto the 2nd 20'
Much like Tuesday, it just wasn't there. I thought about baling again, but I figured, work is work, despite the numbers. I've never worked so hard and seen these numbers. I convinced myself to take it as an opportunity to add to the mental six pack. I certainly wasn't going to be gaining watts, so I might as well do something positive. I sucked it up and finished.
2nd - 269
Over the first few weeks, I self adjusted my FTP up a bit thinking I had a bad test since I could hold higher watts. Up until this week, that seemed brilliant. Now, not so much.
Now I hope I don't lose watts on the test come Monday. 
Dave
Love the "power outage" line. Good on ya for sticking with it, Dave. Like you said, all work is good work (unless you're injured). I might have bailed when I saw those 2nd rep numbers start to drop. Sounds to me like you just need a day or two of recovery to let your body absorb all that hard work!
Maybe think about comparing next week's FTP test to your initial FTP number vs. the self-adjusted one so you can really see what kind of bump you've made. I bet it will be big!
Joined Dan for the morning insanity of 2 x 12's in the spin room. The company was nice and it was nice to be able to blast some tunes instead of having to jam earphones into my ears. Also, there was an extra sense of accountability with people riding next to me on their trainers!
I am looking forward to the test next week. I think i should be able to bump my Pnorm from 265W to something higher.
1 x 12:
Duration: 12:06
Work: 211 kJ
TSS: 24.9 (intensity factor 1.11)
Norm Power: 294
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 4.719 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 2 367 291 watts
Cadence: 39 109 97 rpm
Speed: 5.5 24.7 23.4 mph
Pace 2:26 10:58 2:34 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 503 254 lb-in
1 x 12':
Duration: 11:54
Work: 213 kJ
TSS: 25.4 (intensity factor 1.131)
Norm Power: 300
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 4.598 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 20 425 298 watts
Cadence: 47 106 95 rpm
Speed: 16.3 25.9 23.2 mph
Pace 2:19 3:40 2:35 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 563 264 lb-in
Hey there! Just had the most awesome ride with friends. Had today off from work and coordinated a group ride of 6 of us starting at a coffee shop(key to the motivation to get back). I have lots of friends who are either laid off, stay at home Dads , work from home or have days off in the week like me due to working in a hospital so it was cool to be able to pull this group together. Group members you would know were Tom Glynn and Aaron Smith( his first ride of any substance since IMAZ- he was cooked, poor guy)
We did an hour out and an hour back for 2:03 total. 39 miles of fun, a little work and occassional chit chat. First gorgeous day in ages...55-60 degrees. Sunny and breezy. I got in one solid FT interval of almost 12 minutes and lots of 85-90% steady riding. Hard to do the FT stuff in a group when some are hanging on for dear life. It is not worth blowing up the group.
We finished with huge yummy coffee drinks and then I got a slice of pizza as I was heading home. W/KG be dammed! So starved after bike rides!
I love my days off from work!
Have a great day off tomorrow everyone, sounds like we need it, or atleast I do.
CC