OK, it's been a month since my last blog post and I've not posted any of my "staying on track" reports. Oops. Besides, reports about riding the trainer are usually not all that exciting. Usually.
Still, I've been pretty disciplined with my training. I've been riding 7 to 9 hours a week, including some lunch time rides with the guys from work, so it's a nice mix of the trainer and outdoors. I find it a lot easier to be motivated on the trainer when I get to ride outdoors and remind myself of why I'm doing all this.
My only regret in my training is that I'm not getting a lot of long rides. It's hard to ride 2 or 3 hours when the temperature is in the mid 30's and it's sure as hell hard to ride the trainer that long.
Today was a test day for me. I've been focusing mostly on endurance and threshold work so I can improve my time trials next year. Today was a 20K (12.4 mile) time trial on the CompuTrainer. It does not account for aerodynamics or position, so time was not my biggest concern. It was power. My goal for the day was to match or beat my best 30:00 power from the last 3 months: 255 watts.
I treated it like a race. I warmed up well and paced myself so that I could go harder in the second half than the first. I am surprised at just how well it went.
Total time: 33:19 (22.4 mph) (kind of irrelevant, but useful for future comparison)
Avg Power: 260
1st Half Average: 252 watts (I almost wonder if I held back too much)
2nf Half Average: 268 watts
Mentally, I was focused on keeping my power where I wanted it while remembering to look up (practicing watching the power without staring at it), keeping my cadence where it should be (I kept it around 85 RPM), and watching how much distance I had left to go. Mental focus has been a problem for me, so this was a huge improvement for me.
I'd say my training season is off to a great start. I'm thrilled to see numbers this good.
