Training Log Archive: veinbuster

Seriously distracted this morning, and last night planning how to prepare for two unexpected guests for an unknown period of time.

C • Who? 3

At -1C with 30km/hr winds, it seemed like a good day to see how wind proof my winter bike stuff was.

I started with a tail wind to give my body a chance to warm up. North in a big figure eight around the river. There were quite a few frozen pools so I was a bit surprised by how slick a couple of spots exposed to the sun were.

On the way home I detoured to get a sample for Mrs from a new cup cake shop. It as a bit of a balancing act trying to keep them upright riding the 4km or so home into the wind.

I was plenty warm. The weather channel’s declaration of a -8C wind chill seemed about right for the coldest weather bike jacket I have. Colder will need a ski jacket.

Day 2 soloflex and free weights

Sufferfest: rubber glove

This is their FTP test, which they’ve replaced with 4 dimensional power.

Warmup:
Long gradual warmup, ramping up to 210 watts. My heart rate average for this was 126 (first two intervals on my Garmin chart).
Power: avg-157, max-242

Test:
I started at the same level as last year (240) and felt pretty good so bumped the power up by 10 watts every 4 minutes. Last year I did 5 minute bumps (as suggested by the video), but couldn’t maintain the last interval so dropped back to 250. This year I managed to take each of the power bumps and the trainer chart shows my actual power overshooting slightly most of the time. I was ready to stop at the 20 minutes, but wouldn’t say I was really spent. Heart rate average for the test was 159, which is close to the max I’m comfortable maintaining.
Power: avg-259, max-310

So...the lazy heart rate I’ve seen on rides the last couple of months might be as much being stronger as being lazy. The traffic on the path out back puts a limit on how hard you can ride without being a manage.
Maybe the long days on my feet at Habitat are making my heart stronger.

Regardless, I feel pretty good about still being able to put out better numbers at my age.

A bit short so I could get out early in the heavy fog (Habitat day). I was very surprised how many people were on the road without having turned their lights on - 10-15% of cars. Visibility at its best was about five car lengths.

Sufferfest: the way out

I did this one exactly as prescribed based on last year’s FTP. I had thought based on the two test rides that my FTP might be lower this year, but this session suggested otherwise. It was a bunch on climbs with Mike Cotty and mostly under FTP but I can certainly support an average heart rate in the 150s for an hour so will start this year’s test at last year’s level and see if I can ramp up from there.

Power: avg-185, max-271

C • Great Stuff! 2

Day 1 soloflex and free weights