November 11, 2008 – 12:10 am
Week In Review
Here is my activity review for the week ended Nov 9th, 2008. If you notice, I am tracking a new stat, Time In Sweet Spot. This is the time I spend in my “high aerobic” zone (85% to 105% of FTP). For me this is around 230-285 watts. I have the WKO+ software produce a chart that shows me ride by ride how much time I spend in each zone along with weekly totals. This will help me stay on track to build my FTP over the Winter.
- Time Spent Training-5:07
- Time In Sweet Spot- 1:06 (new stat I will be tracking)
- Miles Ridden-92
- TSS (training stress score)-368
- Weight-164
- TSS YTD-18155
- Total Miles YTD-4377
- Total Hours YTD-253:27
This was the first “full” Winter training week although I didn’t get a full workout in on Tuesday and Wednesday due to after effects from a cold. I was able to get in a decent workout Thursday on the trainer and the weekend allowed me to get in two rides outside. I was still feeling some effects of the cold on the Sunday ride in the way my legs reacted to hills, etc. They were just a little tired. I think I am fully recovered by now so I hope to get a full week in this week barring any limiting “fit” issues (see below).
Potential Indoor Trainer Issues
In the last week of using the trainer in the basement an old and somewhat reoccuring “fit” issue has reared it’s head. For lack of a better way of saying it, I have some soreness/tenderness in an area that is unique to the male anatomy. It only really happens when I ride on the trainer and I think it is due to the fact that the bike is locked in one position, preventing it from shifting with me while pedaling. I’ve seen the Dr. about it and he said that it isn’t anything to worry about unless it becomes very painful, which it hasn’t. I have been able to mitigate it by adjusting the saddle and I think I’ve got it dialed in. I’ll find out this week. Hopefully “the boys” like what I’ve done to give them more freedom 
If everything goes as planned I should get in 5-6 hours of training this week with close to 2 hours of that in the threshhold zone.
November 4, 2008 – 8:17 pm
Well, tonight I set out to do my 1st 2×20 workout tonight and I FAILED! I was unable to generate any real power and my legs were dead.
I don’t get sick very often but I’ve been fighting a cold for the last 4 days or so and I think it caught up with me tonight. I wasn’t able to even get close to the power I needed in order to complete the intervals so I shut it down after a 10 minute warmup and 6 minutes into the first interval. I’ll try again tomorrow and see if I’m back to “full power”. It’s very interesting how much the cold affected my performance. I didn’t feel real bad but obviously the cold is enough to make a big difference.
I guess I’ll see how I do tomorrow and Thursday. If I’m still not able to produce the power I need I’ll move everything back a week and go from there. I guess the moral of the story here is to not underestimate the ability of a relatively minor illness to undermine your training.
November 3, 2008 – 8:18 am
Week In Review
Here is my activity review for the week ended Nov 2nd, 2008.
- Time Spent Training-4:22
- Miles Ridden-74.55
- TSS (training stress score)- 295
- Weight-164
- TSS YTD-17787
- Total Miles YTD-4285
- Total Hours YTD-248:20
This week was my first week in my Winter training program although it was shorter than average due to travel back from the Livestrong ride in Texas. I recovered fine from the ride (the last real long ride in a while) and felt good when I got on the trainer.
I did indoor workouts on Wednesday and Friday, and rode outdoors on the weekend. My goal was really to just get used to riding the trainer again. I did a couple of 30 minute intervals at a fairly high level. Not super hard but enough to get me working.
The Week Ahead
This coming week will be the first full week of indoor training. I will ride on the trainer Tuesday-Thursday and outside on the weekend. I hope to get in 5-6 hours a week of riding in. That will be the basic routine throughout the next 5 months. As I progress I will adjust the workouts to hopefully put me in a good strong position come next Spring. I am finalizing the first few weeks of worouts and will post those later this week.
October 29, 2008 – 2:43 pm
Week In Review
Here is my activity review for the week ended Oct 26th, 2008.
- Time Spent Training-5:51
- Miles Ridden-101.5
- TSS (training stress score)-361
- Weight-164
- TSS YTD-17550
- Total Miles YTD-4210
- Total Hours YTD-244
This week was all about the Livestrong ride on Sunday, the 26th. I rode the 90 mile option in a little over 5 hours. With the travel, etc., the only other day I rode was on Tuesday which was about 45 minutes and 12 miles at an easy pace. We really enjoyed our time in Austin for the event. We had a team of 8 of us that rode, 7 did the 90 mile ride, and my wife did the 45 mile ride which was her longest bike ride ever. Well done, honey ! :-) The ride was very well organized, as you would expect, and the weather was just about perfect. There was a little wind but it wasn’t too bad, especially for Texas. The roads were rough because they were mostly that chip seal stuff. I was used to that stuff when I lived in Illinois but the last two years here on the smooth roads in Georgia have made me go soft My feet got a little numb at about mile 75 due to the rough roads but I survived. Based on the file from my PowerTap I got in 309 TSS for the ride, which was about what I expected. I rode with most of our group for the first 15 miles and then spent the next 35 miles trying to catch one of team members who needed to finish quickly in order to catch a plane. I really had to push it and finally caught up with him at mile 50. We rode together for the remaining 40 miles. It was a great workout. We had fun riding with everyone in our group and eating/drinking after the ride. All in all a great time. If you have a chance to do one of the Livestrong rides, do it. It is a class event and the cause is well worth it.
Looking Ahead
Now that I’m back home I am ready to start my Fall/Winter training. I will put my bike together and get a short workout on the Kurt trainer tonight. Tomorrow I will do a 45 minute tempo workout and then hopefully ride outside on the weekend. I am finishing up my workout planning and should have it ready by next week. I will post the plan when it is done so you can see how I will be structuring my workouts.
So far 2008 has been a great year training wise. With 2 months left I will easily surpass my goals as far as time spent training and mileage. I hope that in the next two months I can start building a more powerful base that will help me reach whatever goals I set for 2009.
October 21, 2008 – 2:45 pm
Week In Review
Here is my activity review for the week ended Oct 19th, 2008.
- Time Spent Training-3:45
- Miles Ridden-65.3
- TSS (training stress score)-271
- Weight-163
- TSS YTD-17189
- Total Miles YTD-4109
- Total Hours YTD-238:02
This was a very light week. I was busy at work and with the decreasing light in the evening riding outside after work is getting tougher and tougher. I spent Tuesday catching up on work and Wednesday packing up my bike to ship to Texas for the Livestrong ride. I rode a little on Wednesday and Thursday as well as an hour on Saturday. I got in a 25 mile ride on Sunday afternoon to finish the week.
This Week
On Sunday the 26th we will participate in the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Livestrong ride in Austin, TX. I will either ride 45 or 90 miles depending if my wife wants me to ride with her. If she is sick of seeing me by Sunday AM (fairly likely) I will ride the 90 mile ride which should be a decent workout. I plan on riding today and Wednesday at least a little as well. I will end up the week with either 65 or 110 miles depending how far I ride on Sunday. That will pretty much be the end of my “working break” from cycling and I plan on getting back into focused training by November 1st.
