I knew today was going to be rough.
I felt pretty tired all week. I skipped my morning workouts on Tuesday and Thursday because I was just too tired. I didn't feel great at the gym Tuesday night and I felt pretty bad on the ride at lunch on Thursday. Then we went to see the midnight opening of Toy Story 3 on Thursday night. Last night, I fell asleep at about 7:30.
Warming up today, I didn't feel great. I could barely hold my target 260 to 270 watts, so I knew it was not going to be a record setting day. And it wasn't.
I finished with a time of 20:33 and an average of 250 watts. The time was a little high thanks to a strong head wind on the way back, but the lower power was all me.
On the plus side, my weight this morning is 183.2 pounds, down 2.8 pounds from my peak of 186 pounds just 3 weeks ago. If I keep this up at this pace, I should be around 171 pounds by Labor Day. I'm aiming for 170, so I might have to bump up the weight loss just a little bit to make it.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Long Time Trial: Day 1
After a bunch of logistical hassles this morning, I found myself running really, really late. I only had about 2 hours to fit in a workout, so I did what any sane person would do: A 40K time trial on my CompuTrainer.
I created a course that, in hindsight, was not a great design. It was mostly between 0.5% and 1.5% grade the entire time. Since most time trials are out-and-back, that kind of climbing rarely happens. As a result, my time was a bit slower than I would expect outside. My power, though, was not so bad.
I did the TT at a medium pace, pushing it a little bit, but mostly trying to get an idea of what kind of intensity I could hold. I didn't want to totally burn out and I was not out to kill anyone. I also wanted to gradually increase my average power as the time trial went on, meaning I woudl have to start kind of easy and build it up over time.
I finished the 40K in 1:11:57, an almost embarrassing time outside, but it was the power I was more interested in. My average power was 217 watts. It's hardly ground shaking, since my threshold is over 240 watts. Still, to hold that kind of power on a trainer while watching TV, it's not bad.
I'm hoping it will be nice next weekend so I can take a shot at this outdoors!
I created a course that, in hindsight, was not a great design. It was mostly between 0.5% and 1.5% grade the entire time. Since most time trials are out-and-back, that kind of climbing rarely happens. As a result, my time was a bit slower than I would expect outside. My power, though, was not so bad.
I did the TT at a medium pace, pushing it a little bit, but mostly trying to get an idea of what kind of intensity I could hold. I didn't want to totally burn out and I was not out to kill anyone. I also wanted to gradually increase my average power as the time trial went on, meaning I woudl have to start kind of easy and build it up over time.
I finished the 40K in 1:11:57, an almost embarrassing time outside, but it was the power I was more interested in. My average power was 217 watts. It's hardly ground shaking, since my threshold is over 240 watts. Still, to hold that kind of power on a trainer while watching TV, it's not bad.
I'm hoping it will be nice next weekend so I can take a shot at this outdoors!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
TT Day
It's that time again, time for the annual Amateur Time Trial. It's almost always held the day before the Pro race in Philly and varies in name each year.
The course varies a little too. This year, it started on West River Drive, right where it splits near the Art Museum. It ran out to about 100 yards short of the end barrier. The thing about that is that it eliminates the small hills at each end that usually make it a lot easier to get back up to speed.
It was really hot and humid this morning. At my 8:46 start time, I'd guess it was 83 or so. The light winds felt good at the start, not so good once I was on the road.
The short version is that I went out WAY too hard because I was more focused on speed than power. I should have been watching my power meter, not the speed. I was aiming for 25 mph and 270 watts. By focusing on the speed, not accounting for the head winds, I was hitting 290 to 300 watts on the way out. My power tap download later showed that I went over 400 watts a few times. NOT GOOD.
I lost a few seconds in the turnaround. I've practiced left hand turnarounds more times than I can remember. This was the first right hand turnaround in my entire life. It wasn't like I crashed or anything, but I took it really easy.
I was OK for the first few miles on the way back. Around Sweet Briar (1.2 miles to go), I knew I was in trouble. My power was dropping and I was going as hard as I could. My power was down to 250 watts and my heart rate was at 173 bpm. I'm usually only at 162 bpm , so I was working a lot harder than normal.
I held on as much as I could, but I know I lost a lot of time in the last mile. I crossed the line at just 22 mph and 220 watts. I can honestly say that I went as hard as I could, I just went too hard too early.
I can't complain about the final results:
8 miles, 19:21, 24.9 mph, 256 watt average.
I also lost 1.6 pounds this week and hit all my training targets. (yeah, I didn't really taper for this event and it's a "3-week" on the training plan, so maybe I could have taken it easier this week to rest up for the race).
I'm off to a good start to hitting my goals this summer!
The course varies a little too. This year, it started on West River Drive, right where it splits near the Art Museum. It ran out to about 100 yards short of the end barrier. The thing about that is that it eliminates the small hills at each end that usually make it a lot easier to get back up to speed.
It was really hot and humid this morning. At my 8:46 start time, I'd guess it was 83 or so. The light winds felt good at the start, not so good once I was on the road.
The short version is that I went out WAY too hard because I was more focused on speed than power. I should have been watching my power meter, not the speed. I was aiming for 25 mph and 270 watts. By focusing on the speed, not accounting for the head winds, I was hitting 290 to 300 watts on the way out. My power tap download later showed that I went over 400 watts a few times. NOT GOOD.
I lost a few seconds in the turnaround. I've practiced left hand turnarounds more times than I can remember. This was the first right hand turnaround in my entire life. It wasn't like I crashed or anything, but I took it really easy.
I was OK for the first few miles on the way back. Around Sweet Briar (1.2 miles to go), I knew I was in trouble. My power was dropping and I was going as hard as I could. My power was down to 250 watts and my heart rate was at 173 bpm. I'm usually only at 162 bpm , so I was working a lot harder than normal.
I held on as much as I could, but I know I lost a lot of time in the last mile. I crossed the line at just 22 mph and 220 watts. I can honestly say that I went as hard as I could, I just went too hard too early.
I can't complain about the final results:
8 miles, 19:21, 24.9 mph, 256 watt average.
I also lost 1.6 pounds this week and hit all my training targets. (yeah, I didn't really taper for this event and it's a "3-week" on the training plan, so maybe I could have taken it easier this week to rest up for the race).
I'm off to a good start to hitting my goals this summer!
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