Back in the Groove

After the disruptions I complained about in my last post, I'm starting to get back into the rhythm of things.

I'm getting in all my scheduled workouts, working hard to build an aerobic foundation for the harder workouts to come later in the winter. For the last three weeks, I've been able to get in 11 hour weeks, which I'm really happy about. (and yes, most of that is on the trainer)

Looking at my heart rate and power numbers from last year, I'm definitely not in the same place as I was last November. My numbers are good but not AS good... but I'm also taking a different approach, so that's not really a surprise. Last year I was mixing in some higher intensity workouts (5 and 8 minutes at VO2 max, to be specific) almost every week. This year I'm focusing more on lower intensity, focusing on longer tempo and sweet spot efforts. I'm also experimenting with some of Joe Friel's aerobic decoupling concepts on my longer rides.

I have to remember that most of the races I'm doing next year are in the 20 to 40 minute range. I only have one race that will be longer than 45 minutes and another one less than 15 minutes. I'm looking for that "Goldilocks zone", with efforts that will improve my performance primarily in events of that time duration, not for shorter efforts and not for longer efforts.

Adding to the strangeness for this season, due to my travel schedule over the next month I decided not to do any testing until the new year. If I test now, I'll need to take several days to rest up for it so that I do my best and then the test numbers would be wrecked by the week of travel right after it when my fitness will drop. There's just no benefit to doing a test right now and the cost of losing another week of improvement is more than I'm willing to lose.

I haven't focused on weight loss nearly as much as I was last year. Of course, last year I was in the middle of a huge weight loss project, losing 30 pounds in the end. I regained 7 of those pounds and I'm hovering around 171 pounds.

While I'm planning to lose 9 pounds before racing season (to start the season in April at 162 pounds), I'm just not worried about that right now.  After the new year, I should have 14 weeks of dedicated training when I can easily lose that much weight without feeling like I'm rushing it. One of my big concerns is the 5.5 mile hill climb in April, where weight will definitely be a factor.

I'm starting to plan out my races for next year. The schedule is rough because none of the races ae officially scheduled yet, but I'm using the calendar from last year to get an idea of what to expect.

It looks like I'll have 14 races total. There are 9 races from mid-April through early June (with 3 weekends that have races both Saturday and Sunday). After that there is a 5 week break when I can get some quality training in. Then there are 5 more races from mid-July to mid-August. I will probably end my season in mid-August again.  I really liked having the late summer/fall to just ride for fun and the races in September are just ones that fit my strengths.

For comparison, I did 11 races this year with 3 that I'd planned to do but missed for some reason or another, so it's about the same.

I think the big challenge will be maintaining or even gaining fitness with so many races so close together.

Behind Schedule

The chaos continues!! Many of you know that our trip in October was one of the worst, most chaotic weeks of our lives with just one hit coming after the other. As soon as we got back, I was on doctor's orders to stay off the bike and doing nothing but lying on the couch for 5 days.

It put a huge dent in my fitness. I've been gradually getting back on the bike over the last few days, with my heart rate dramatically higher at lower power numbers. I'm hoping that my fitness comes back quickly but I will definitely not be ready for the threshold test I'd planned next week.

Looking over my training plan, I'm about 3 weeks behind. Making matters works, I have a business trip and a family trip in December which only leaves me about 2 weeks to train in December and the other two weeks just losing fitness.

This winter training season is definitely not going as planned...