WEEK 3
GOAL: 'Max effort aerobic before skiing'
That is, the goal was to fatigue my aerobic system more severely than usual given the upcoming week of recovery. I think that was accomplished.
Monday: Turbo inc 1h @ tempo
Data: tempo hour: 278 W, hr 150, cad 92
Notes: Beginning of a really cold snap, which inevitably lowers HR for the same exertion (as most of my turbo work is done outside)
However, the power was good for the RPE and I felt like I could have continued for a long time at this level.
Tuesday: 2x20' @ threshold - TT bike on the turbo
Data: 1: 287 W, hr 164, cad 88 (suggest actually 310-315 W). 2: 293 W, hr 163, cad 87
Notes: Power sensor slightly off for first one, reading should have been 25 W higher (so ~310 W)
Frustrating to be going hard for 20' and see low numbers. I had been in town all day and was very cold to begin with which made the first interval even harder (and explains the low average HR compared to threshold). I was pretty smashed after it so did the second one closer to sweetspot, which was OK but tougher than ideal.
Wednesday: Turbo inc 2x45' @ tempo
Data: 1: 266 W, hr 145, cad 92. 2: 277 W, hr 154, cad 91
Notes: First was 15' @ 80%, 30' @ 85%. Second all @ 85%. 5' TT bars, 5' base bars. Long session!
Yeah, it was long. Definitely the type of session to do given enough motivation, though.
Thursday: travel
Friday: skiing
Saturday: skiing
Sunday: skiing
Bike totals: 4h19m, 309 TSS
Summary: As planned, I got some pretty extensive aerobic work done before Thursday. I was pretty tired after it, but by the end of the work I was feeling very strong (i.e. 280 W for less than 160 hr). I get the feeling that doing more of this type of work will help my threshold, but I don't have the time to do another 4 or 8 week block as it won't leave me with enough race preparation sessions.
WEEK 4
GOAL: 'Skiing & weekend racing'
Planned to get back from skiing and then just race both days of the weekend for some fun. However, we got back in good time on Thursday so I was able to fit in a quick session then, plus it was raining all day on Saturday so I decided not to trek to Hillingdon and instead go on the turbo and sort out the TT bike for its first race!
Monday: skiing
Tuesday: skiing
Wednesday: skiing
Thursday: travel + rollers 50' steady
Data: 220 W, hr 134, cad 94
Notes: Felt nice in TT pos. Need to straighten stem & move pads closer together
Work on the rollers will be useful for honing in the TT position, will try and do one day a week.
Friday: Road 70' inc rollouts
Data: 221 W (236 NP), hr 133, cad 86
Notes: Pads too close (narrowest setting), move to middle
Second ever ride on the bike outside! As said above, I put the pads on the narrowest setting to see how that affected things, but it was too narrow. Moving them to the middle setting made them feel OK. The rollouts felt good and were 350+ W but no speed sensor.
Saturday: Turbo 1h inc rollouts
Data: 206 W (214 NP), hr 135, cad 96
Notes: Power seemed a bit down today, but we shall see tomorrow! Too wet for Hillingdon.
Didn't feel amazing (or even average!) Xmas dinner the night before might not have helped.
Sunday: Race: Farnborough & Cambereley CC '10' (H10/8)
Data: Official time: 23:42, 325 W (328 NP), cad 91, hr 170 (jumped around a lot so don't believe the exact numbers)
Notes: Windy, hilly, poorly paced. Need to examine power file + photos to find improvement strategies.
I'll leave the race report & analysis for a separate post, as I want to consider all factors carefully. However, this is my slowest performance on a TT bike by a decent margin. I need to work out what to change.
Bike totals: 3h58m, 235 TSS
Summary: Got back into things nicely after skiing, but a disappointing end to the week.
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