Next week marks the end of the "off season," when I am focused mostly on building fitness for the coming racing season and when most of my training is planned to be on the trainer. After that, racing season begins and I will see the results of all this work. The first race is just 3 weeks away!
In November, on a test day when I was well-rested, I set all all-time best for myself: 20 minutes at 282 watts. It was an amazing result for me and I was thrilled beyond words.
I use the results from the 20-minute power test to give me targets for the workouts that I do the month after the test, using some percentage of that number to determine how hard I am trying to go each workout. The next month I would test again, get a new number, and then train at some percentage of that new higher number.
For workouts that were focused on spending as much time at threshold as I could, I would use 90% of the test power. First it would be 2 intervals of 12 minutes (24 minutes). Then 2 of 15 (30 minutes). Then 2 of 18 (36 minutes). Then 2 of 20 (40 minutes). Then 3x15 (45 minutes). Between each interval, I would pedal easily for about half the length of the work (10 minutes easy between 20 minute intervals). All of it was aimed at helping me reach 60 minutes at threshold, roughly the effort of doing a 40K time trial.
At the same time, I was doing VO2 max workouts to help increase my body's ability to process oxygen and, hopefully, increase my ability for future threshold gains. Those intervals, which were done around 103% of the test power, were between 3 and 8 minutes each. On weekdays when I only had an hour, I did a set number of intervals that fit into an hour workout. On weekends, when I had more time, I would do them until the average power for an interval dropped by 5% below target.
My normal training cycle is three weeks of gradually increasing difficulty and then one week of very easy training to rest up and let my body fully adapt to the training. For as hard as I was training this winter, I grew to love my recovery weeks.
Yesterday was the last day of the third week of this cycle, so I was pretty tried from three weeks of successively harder training. That did not prevent me from doing a record-setting workout: I did 3 intervals of 20 minutes, with averages of 284, 287, 290 watts.
That's three intervals in a row with each one being better than my "all time best" from November.
Back in the fall, I mentioned that I was trying something new, that went against traditional winter training. I never imagined hitting numbers like this and now I do it almost every day. I think I can consider my off-season training program a success!
I have to take a moment thank Hunter Allen, without whom I don't believe I could have done this. Hunter (along with Andy Coggan) wrote the definitive book on training with power. His work gave me the tools to push beyond every boundary I have ever known. His support on Facebook inspired me to push just that little bit harder,
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Season Ahead
I said last year that I was not going to pick racing goals until the spring. I didn't know how the winter would go and whether I would focus more on road races or on TTs.
Spring is here and so is the decision: Time trials.
I spent the whole winter focusing on raising my functional threshold power, which is more or less the power I can consistently generate for an hour. I've spent very little time on short anaerobic efforts that would make be better at criteriums. I've spent a LOT of time on sustained 8 to 20 minute intervals that should improve my time trials.
That focused effort has made a huge difference. My best 20 minute power last summer was 258 watts. My best 20 minute power from a couple weeks ago was 302 watts, a 17% increase.
Even better is that I lost 25 pounds. The last time I was 168 pounds in March was 2005. Most years, even when I trained well that winter, I was 170 to 171 this time of year.
Probably the best comparison of progress is in the force I can generate for my weight. Converting to kilograms (since that's usually how all the comparison charts are measured), last summer I could generate 2.93 w/kg. Now, I am generating 3.95 w/kg, a staggering 34% increase over last fall.
Not only should I be better as a time trialist, I should also be a much better climber too.
Keeping all that in mind, these are the races I'm planning on doing this year (barring rain or other issues):
In years past, I have not ridden my time trial bike until April or May when I start riding it outside. This year, I'm spending 3 or 4 hours a week on it on the trainer. I'm able to adjust my position slightly and see how it affects my power output pretty quickly. I've finally replaced my old saddle that was held together with electrical tape, so I've been trying to get that adjusted properly at the same time.
Considering the power that I am putting out on the time trial bike, I believe that I can actually do pretty well under an hour (maybe by as much as a minute), but only time will tell. It will take some work to make sure that the position that is comfortable on the trainer actually works outside and is actually aerodynamic enough to help me be faster.
Spring is here and so is the decision: Time trials.
I spent the whole winter focusing on raising my functional threshold power, which is more or less the power I can consistently generate for an hour. I've spent very little time on short anaerobic efforts that would make be better at criteriums. I've spent a LOT of time on sustained 8 to 20 minute intervals that should improve my time trials.
That focused effort has made a huge difference. My best 20 minute power last summer was 258 watts. My best 20 minute power from a couple weeks ago was 302 watts, a 17% increase.
Even better is that I lost 25 pounds. The last time I was 168 pounds in March was 2005. Most years, even when I trained well that winter, I was 170 to 171 this time of year.
Probably the best comparison of progress is in the force I can generate for my weight. Converting to kilograms (since that's usually how all the comparison charts are measured), last summer I could generate 2.93 w/kg. Now, I am generating 3.95 w/kg, a staggering 34% increase over last fall.
Not only should I be better as a time trialist, I should also be a much better climber too.
Keeping all that in mind, these are the races I'm planning on doing this year (barring rain or other issues):
- 04/13 Readington TT, 5.5 miles
- 04/20 Long Beach Island TT, 13.4 miles
- 05/04 C-130 Hercules TT, 21 miles
- 05/18 Seaside TT, 13.4 miles
- 06/01 Philly TT, 8.1 miles
- 06/22 Church Creek TT #1, 24.8 miles
- 07/21 PA State TT Championship, 24.8 miles
- 07/27 PA Masters State TT, 12.8 miles
- 08/17 Church Creek TT #2, 24.8 miles
- 09/02 Deep Blue TT, 11 miles
- 09/08 Ernie Simpson TT, 12.4 miles
In years past, I have not ridden my time trial bike until April or May when I start riding it outside. This year, I'm spending 3 or 4 hours a week on it on the trainer. I'm able to adjust my position slightly and see how it affects my power output pretty quickly. I've finally replaced my old saddle that was held together with electrical tape, so I've been trying to get that adjusted properly at the same time.
Considering the power that I am putting out on the time trial bike, I believe that I can actually do pretty well under an hour (maybe by as much as a minute), but only time will tell. It will take some work to make sure that the position that is comfortable on the trainer actually works outside and is actually aerodynamic enough to help me be faster.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Better-er than the Best-est
Just four weeks ago, I set a new 20-minute power record at 292 watts.
It was an amazing record for me. For years, my best ever had been 278 watts, set at a hill climb race in 2010. I figured that was unassailable.
Now I'm starting to set a pattern of ever-higher numbers.
Then in January, I broke it, hitting 282. In February, I hit 292. Today, I hit 302.
I never imagined in a million years that I would hit numbers like that. In the fall, I was telling people that I wanted to reach 300 watts for 20 minutes, but I didn't know if I would ever get there. Now I've broken right through it.
Making the number more impressive, compare that with my current weight: 168.4 pounds, which is about 76.5 kilograms, which equals out to 3.95 watts/kg.
Of course, being that close to a nice round number, my next goal will be to break 4.0 w/kg. That could mean gaining a few more watts or losing a couple more pounds (or both). If I can hit 306 watts at 167 pounds, that will do it. It's kind of a small goal, so I'm sure I will come up with something more aggressive in the next month.
Once I'm there, then I need to start working on building endurance for my coming 40km races and make the transition to doing it on my time trial bike. That position is much harder to maintain power, so it will take some work to get the same power on it.
Today's results definitely indicate that this could be a good season for me.
It was an amazing record for me. For years, my best ever had been 278 watts, set at a hill climb race in 2010. I figured that was unassailable.
Now I'm starting to set a pattern of ever-higher numbers.
Then in January, I broke it, hitting 282. In February, I hit 292. Today, I hit 302.
I never imagined in a million years that I would hit numbers like that. In the fall, I was telling people that I wanted to reach 300 watts for 20 minutes, but I didn't know if I would ever get there. Now I've broken right through it.
Making the number more impressive, compare that with my current weight: 168.4 pounds, which is about 76.5 kilograms, which equals out to 3.95 watts/kg.
Of course, being that close to a nice round number, my next goal will be to break 4.0 w/kg. That could mean gaining a few more watts or losing a couple more pounds (or both). If I can hit 306 watts at 167 pounds, that will do it. It's kind of a small goal, so I'm sure I will come up with something more aggressive in the next month.
Once I'm there, then I need to start working on building endurance for my coming 40km races and make the transition to doing it on my time trial bike. That position is much harder to maintain power, so it will take some work to get the same power on it.
Today's results definitely indicate that this could be a good season for me.
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