Angst

I had a lot to worry about for this weekend's Somerset Circuit time trial.

On paper, the course looked really difficult, with screaming downhills and sharp turns onto climbs. Previous year participants talked about the turn near the end (which you come into downhill at 35 mph) that is really sharp on a very narrow road. I was a bit worried about the course.

All three races I've done so far had no turns and were relatively flat. As a result, I could just plan for an average power target. Since this course had several turns and downhills (where my power would drop), I could not rely on average power as much. I had to use normalized power  as well, which gave me one more mental task during the race. So I was worried about pacing.

Since I was treating this as a training race, I didn't really rest much this week. Going into the race, I was a bit tired.

Yesterday morning when I woke up, something in my mid-back hurt so badly that I could barely turn my head. I spent the morning barely able to focus and was able to see a massage therapist to fix the worst of it. It was still really sore.

Last night when I was doing my equipment run-through, I found that my front wheel was suddenly badly out of true enough to be rubbing the brakes, so I had to swap it out for another less-aerodynamic wheel. There goes a couple of seconds in the race.

Oh yeah, and with lots of strong results in the last few weeks, there was a little pressure to perform well.

I was pretty much a wreck, even though I didn't want to admit it to anyone. I didn't want to be negative before a race.

So I did what I always do when I'm worried: I prepared.

I spent the whole week looking over charts and maps, learning the course. Where were the steepest climbs? How long did it take riders to climb them in previous years? How should I plan my pacing for the course? By the time I drove the course this morning, I knew exactly what I was looking for and just confirming what was in my head. While it had a few tricky spots, it was not nearly as bad as I'd originally thought.

I got there in time to get a good warmup and go over my strategy in my head a few times. I had a pretty strong suspicion from previous results that the guy starting 30 seconds behind me would be the winner. We'll call him Orange Guy, for his uniform color. I fully expected him to catch me on the course. If he was strong enough to catch me, it was unlikely that I could stay with him, but I at least wanted to use him as a guide so that I could watch the line he took through the corners ahead so I could gain a little from him being ahead of me. It didn't exactly turn out that way.

My other goal was to catch the guy starting in front of me. I'd seen him in previous races. With a $13,000 bike and $600 helmet, he looked pretty intimidating. I came within 5 seconds of catching him in a previous race, so this time I was out for him. We'll call him Giant Guy (for the brand of bike he rides).

The race starts with a 2 mile descent. I took it fast, but not working too hard. Then a series of quick turns into the first real climb. I was surprised to find that I could stay in the big ring and on the aero bars for the climb. I held onto a lot more speed on the rise... and I spotted Giant Guy and another rider just reaching the top of the hill ahead of me.

Up and over the top, down the next descent, and back up hill again through a cute little neighborhood. Going through an uphill turn, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Orange Guy behind me slowly gaining. I was also gaining on Giant Guy... and passed the other rider along the way.

On the next descent, Orange Guy passed me. As planned, I watched him take the next corner at high speed and followed him through it about 60 yards behind.

The next couple miles were gently rolling hills. Orange Guy was not pulling away from me as I'd expected and we were both gaining on Giant Guy and another rider. Going into the next turn, the four of us hit the turn in rapid succession, just seconds apart.

At the bottom of the hill, I looked at the three riders in front of me. In my mind, I knew this hill was about 2 1/2 minutes long and we were about 8 minutes from the finish. I smiled to myself and thought "what the hell?".... and attacked with everything I had.

Orange Guy had just passed Giant Guy and the other rider. I stood up on the pedals, accelerating past the other rider.... then past Giant Guy.... the  past Orange Guy. I kept the pressure up to the top of the hill, then hitting the downhill section. It was very steep and very fast.... right into that sharp, narrow turn.I jammed on the brakes, took the turn as fast as I could, and glanced over my shoulder to see who was there. Orange Guy was gaining fast, but no one else.

On the next straight section, Orange Guy passed me again. Going into the last turn, he was maybe 5 seconds ahead of me. The last section was uphill and he seemed to be bogging down on the climb. I poured on everything I had and passed him again. I crested the top of the hill and could see the finish line ahead. I was pushing as hard as I could... and just seconds before the finish line, Orange Guy passed me again, beating me by just a few yards.

Keep in mind, he started 30 seconds behind me, so he had already beaten me. At this point, it was just for fun.

In the end, Orange Guy won. I got third, with an official time of 31 seconds behind him. The guy in second beat me by 10 seconds.

This race actually had a podium that we got to stand on at the end. It really made it feel like an accomplishment to be on it. I felt a little goofy waving at the crowd, but the picture looked really cool.

Looking back at my power download, I didn't attack as hard as I thought I had on that last climb. I was just hitting my power target.The other riders around just gave me incentive to do it and to not slow down (and made it feel a little cooler). I definitely worked a little harder than I had planned on the last two minutes, but since I had it in me to do it, it just tells me that I'm capable of more than I realized.

That's my third podium finish in four races. While I want to be annoyed that I "only" got third this week, it's a damned impressive start to the season.

Oh yeah, and thanks to Joe Wentzel at Breakaway Bikes for talking me into the new skinsuit. I used to wear an XL and now wear a medium. That was exciting on its own, but the new one is also a lot more aerodynamic!!

What Went Well:
Planning my race pacing
Maintaining the pace I wanted
Staying over the night before (90 minute drive, 8:39 start time)
Driving the course before the start
Checking my equipment before I left the house
Not panicking when I was caught

What to Work On:
High speed turns in the aero bars
Getting my wheel fixed
Not getting caught ;-)

The Numbers:
Distance: 9.6 miles
Time: 23:33
Avg Speed: 24.5 mph
Avg. Power: 280 watts (305 watts, Normalized)

My rankings after this event:
 

Two In One

This weekend had two races at the Jersey Shore: the Long Beach TT and the Cape May TT. 

In preparation, I went out Wednesday night to practice my starts. I did not want to repeat my embarrassing start from last week. As the season goes on, those seconds will matter more and more.

Long Beach Time Trial

This 13.4 mile course was almost completely flat and straight, so much so that I could see the flashing lights of the police cars at the turnarounds from over a mile away. The biggest challenges on this course were the 14 mph crosswind over the entire course and that it is the longest time trial that I have done in a while. With an expected 32 minute finish time, I have not done anything in training that gave me a way to estimate what I could do with any certainty.

The course was a bit strange: 1.7 miles to the first turnaround, 6.7 miles back the way you came (past the start), then a second turnaround, and 5 miles back to the start.

I got there on time (I followed the GPS this time), used the rest room, got set up and got in a good warmup. As a slightly longer race, the warmup did not need to be as intense as it does for the shorter ones but it was still really important.

The winds coming off the bay were really strong, so I opted for a shallower front wheel. The logic was that I would sacrifice better aerodynamics (higher speed) for more control over the bike. At the time I was really sure of the decision. It turned out the winds were a lot stronger in the parking lot than they were out on the road.

I got to the start and the guy scheduled to start in front of me (who last week started in front of me with a $13K bike) did not show, so there was a minute gap between the previous rider and me. "See you soon" I thought as he took off.

I stepped up to the line and the holder grasped my bike. I clipped in, and focused....5....4....3....2...1.. released the brakes and stomped on the pedals. I took off and quickly reached my target speed. I smiled at the success and then focused on the first leg.

The crosswinds were pretty strong, as I'd expected. I was fighting against them quite a bit in that first leg. It went past pretty quickly. I could see the flashing lights of the police car at the turnaround almost from the start, so I had a visual target to aim for.

Going into the first turnaround was a big mistake. I stopped pedaling about 50 feet before the turn. It was far enough that I had time to realize my mistake and start pedaling again. I lost an easy 10 to 15 seconds there. Damn.

The second leg just felt like it was endless. It was 6.7 miles long with no grade and just a slight bend in the middle. The crosswinds were annoying but I could control the bike. I kind of wished I had kept the deeper profile wheel. I'd bet I lost another 20 seconds to that decision.

A much bigger mistake on that section was my pacing. The winds, which were now slightly behind me, gave me a sense of false confidence, giving me a higher speed. I let my power drop several times and then had to ramp it back up when I noticed. Looking at the download later, my average was 15 watts lower on this segment than I was the rest of the race. I had planning on being a little lower here, but not that much. This screw up was probably another 10 to 15 seconds.

On the plus side, I caught the guy who started a minute ahead of me on this section. I really needed that little boost to keep my focus on that section.

The second turnaround, I think, went perfectly. I was annoyed about the first one and I knew the second one was a lot easier. The first one was a U-turn. This one was a left turn down a short street, another left turn onto an angled street, and then a slight right turn back the way I came. I went into the first turn at nearly full speed, barely let up in the second turn, and was out of the saddle for just a second to get back up to speed.

The last leg is a blur to me. I was annoyed about letting my power drop in the last segment. Coming out of the turnaround, with 5 miles to go, I just tucked myself as low as I could on the bike to get under the winds as much as I could and focused on keeping my power up.

With about a mile and a half to go, I could see the police lights in the distance for the finish. I gritted my teeth and pushed as hard as I could with everything I had left.

I hit the finish feeling like I had done a decent race even if I made a few mistakes. These early season races are the right time to make these kinds of mistakes.

They put up the results not too long after the finish. I finished in 5th place, about 30 seconds behind the next rider and a full 2 minutes behind the winner. I'm thrilled with another strong result... and starting to think about what it will take to climb to the top next year.

What Went Well
Much improved start
Got one of the turnarounds right

What to Work On
Turnarounds (don't slow down too early)
Don't second guess your equipment.
Pacing (especially with tail/crosswinds)

The Numbers
Distance: 13.4 miles
Time: 31:52
Avg Speed: 25.2 mph
Avg Power: 275 watts

Cape May Time Trial

Yesterday went really well. Today, I decided to see if I was pushing myself hard enough. Instead of pacing conservatively based on what I've seen in training, I decided to go a little harder and try for a win. I aimed for a power that was the same as last week (290 watts), even though today was almost 2 miles longer.

Today I was back on the deep rim wheel. The winds were about 15 mph against me on the way out and then with me on the way back. There is a VERY slight downhill on the way out (and the reverse on the way back), but for the most part it's a flat course with the wind being the major factor.

My warmup was a little bit sloppy. It was a lot colder than I'd expected and only had thin spandex gloves and shoe covers, so I had a hard time focusing on it. My hands and feet were slightly numb. I needed to go pretty intense to get ready for this short, fast race and had a hard time doing it. Adding to that, the pavement was a bit uneven and the trainer kept rocking back and forth. With 5 minutes to go, I packed up and headed over to the start... and sat in the cold for a while longer.

I stepped up the start line feeling focused and calm. The holder grabbed my bike, I clipped into my pedals, pressed Start on my power meter, and got into my start position. 5.... 4.... 3.... 2....

If you've ever seen the Avengers movie, there is a great scene near the end when Captain America tells Dr. Banner, "This might be a very good time to get angry." Dr. Banner looks over his shoulder and says, "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry." He then changes into the Hulk as he turns around and saves the day, roaring at the top of his lungs as he does it. That went through my head as I hear. 1....Go!

I took off from the line without even a thought, accelerating smoothly up to my target speed and settling onto the aero bars.

The race went by really quickly. I was pushing harder than I did yesterday, trying to find that line between pushing too hard and being able to maintain it. Fighting into the headwind on the way out, it was not hard to push pretty hard.

My biggest mistake on the way out was at the train tracks that cross the road. They cross at a bit of an angle and I stopped pedaling about 5 seconds before I hit them, trying to make sure I didn't crash on them. I did not need to give up that much time or speed to reduce the risk. On the way back, I only stopped pedaling for a second and flew right over them.

I hit the turnaround and had a dumb moment. I was moving towards the center of the road instead of the edge of the road so I could take it at full speed. I slowed a lot and and still almost hit the guard rail. I got back up to speed but lost several seconds in the turn. I really need to work on that.

The way back was a blur. All I thought was "pedal harder." I'd look down, make sure the power meter had a number I wanted, then try to keep my head as low as I could. The tail wind pushed me a lot faster on the way back, but this time I kept my focus on the power.

I hit the line and was totally done. Other than a couple minor mistakes, I thought the race went really smoothly and I paced it almost perfectly.

One other mistake: since I pushed the Start button on the computer a little early, my power read low the entire race (it had about 10 seconds of zeros at the beginning). When I hit the finish, I thought my average power was 289 watts. When I downloaded it, I realized it was a little better: 293 watts.

I was really happy with that.... until they posted the results. I got 2nd place again by only 2 seconds, a gap I easily could have made up by taking the train tracks more smoothly or not messing up the turn. (I could also mention the winner had a deeper front wheel, a disc wheel, and a more aero bike frame, but I'm OK with that.... for now).

All told, it was an awesome weekend of racing, letting me fine tune a little bit, and getting some great results. The perfectionist in me wants to complain, but getting 5th and 2nd are really good results.

What Went Well
Start
Predicting the power target
Aggressive pacing
Staying focused on what I needed to do and not the results when I felt I was a contender

What to Work On
Staying focused on the warmup
Getting to the start closer to the start and not getting cold again
Turnarounds (again)
Not coasting over potential hazards


The Numbers
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 17:29
Avg Speed: 25.1 mph
Avg Power: 293 watts

Well, I didn't win...

One thing this winter has done for me is that it made me a preparation lunatic. I always kind of was, but now I really am. As I mentioned last week, by making my training more mathematical I've been able to make it more effective and build my confidence in it.

I'm still trying to forget the race I did last fall (my only race for the 2012 season), so this was the first race that I can say I felt even remotely prepared for since fall of 2011.

My winter training this year was probably the best I've even done. Over the last couple months, I've spent two or three rides a week on the time trial bike (including wearing my helmet on the trainer to get used to the weight). I had an idea of how long it would take me to finish the event and worked out what power I thought I could maintain for that duration. I was guessing around 290 to 295 watts.

The morning went pretty smoothly except that I thought my 6AM half-asleep brain knew better than the GPS and took a 15-minute detour, which cut seriously into my warmup time. I got my race number, got in a decent warmup for the amount of time that I had (about 15 minutes, half of what I'd wanted), and got to the start just 2 minutes before my start time.

I had a rough start. The start was slightly uphill and I have never done well with held starts. I need to practice them a lot more. I was in a small gear, too small for this case. I had this dumb idea that I could start in the small ring, get moving, and then shift right into the big ring. It wouldn't shift. I was in too big of a cog and the bike just wouldn't cross-gear like that. Instead, I quickly shifted the rear instead and sprinted up the hill. At the top, I was able to shift enough to get into the gear I wanted. Probably 5 or 10 seconds gone to a rookie mistake. Damn.

After that, it went smoothly. I held a high pace on the way out. The course was slightly uphill and the wind was lightly against me on the way out, so I pushed a little harder on the way out than I would have otherwise. I was having a bit of a hard time keeping my pacing steady on the rolling hills and the slight winds. I was not used to pacing when I could not see the power meter. Something to work on.

I also found that I was a bit wobbly at top speeds. I need to get a little more stable.

Still I did OK, hitting the turnaround, I was averaging 295 watts and 24 mph.

I hit the turnaround of the very narrow, two-lane road with no shoulder. I took it as fast as I could and really didn't think about it much.

The way back was FAST. With the return slightly downhill and downwind, even at a slightly lower power, I was able to keep the speed higher than it was on the way out, pushing over 26 mph. My power dropped a bit because, as planned, I went a little harder on the way out and expected to let the descent and wind do some work for me on the way back.

I saw a rider ahead of me and decided I wanted to catch him. I dug as deep as I could, but I was already going pretty much full speed. I hit the line maybe 10 seconds behind him (seeing his number, he started a minute ahead of me).

I was completely wiped out and felt like I did pretty well for my first race of the year.

Going back to the "preparation" motif: Last weekend, I looked at my power output on past events on other courses and calculated what I thought I could do on this one. I was guessing around 12:30 to 13:00, depending on the wind (which turned out to be harsher than I'd expected and it was a hillier course than I'd expected. I thought it was dead flat until a couple days ago).

Winning time from last year was 12:31. My high speed target would make me the winner; my low speed target of 13:00 would have put me in 5th place last year. So yeah, I was expecting to do well today. It was all I could do all week to not tell my friends that I might be a contender in a time trial when I've never finished in the top half of the results sheet in one before. I didn't entirely believe it anyway. I thought maybe my math was off. But there was a chance...

That's the only reason I stuck around for 45 minutes to see the results sheet. Otherwise, I would have been long gone when they put up the results sheet. When I saw the results, a smile slowly spread across my face and I pumped my fist. "Yes!"

I finished in second place. 

I was second by a pretty substantial margin (35 seconds, with the winner at 12:26), so I don't think doing something more smoothly today would have gotten me the win. But I'm not worried about that now. This is not a day to worry about not winning. This is a day to celebrate improving from finishing dead last in my last time trial to finishing at the top end of the event.

What Went Well:
Remembered all my gear
Training.
Predicting power target
Predicting duration to maintain power
Preparing/packing everything the night before (using a checklist)

What to Work On:
Not enough time for a good warmup
Held starts in a variety of conditions
Time outdoors on the TT bike, pacing more smoothly and holding a straighter line

The Numbers:
Distance: 5.4 miles
Time: 13:01
Avg Speed: 25 mph
Avg Power: 290 watts

Building Confidence

One of the biggest issues I've dealt with in years past was my lack of confidence on the bike.

Perhaps the best example was last fall. I only did one race all year and it was the Deep Blue Time Trial. My confidence was so non-existent that I didn't ride my time trial bike, wear a skin suit, or a time trial helmet. I showed up equipped for a road race and I finished last in my category. No surprise. The way I showed up for that race, there was almost no pressure to perform... which is a common trick for people with no confidence.

I've mentioned before that my training this winter was completely different from what I normally do. It had an interesting side effect: for the last 6 months, "speed" never crossed my mind. I was focused on power. The courses I set up on the CompuTrainer were all uphill, so my speed was not really relevant to riding outside. I just focused on hitting my power target for the day for the amount of time I was supposed to hold it.

Power and time. That was all I focused on. Each week, I increased the target just 1 or 2 watts. No big deal. Small steps that I could handle. Not to say it was easy, just that I could handle it. After 7 months, my power targets were up dramatically and I have absolute confidence in how much power I can put out for any set amount of time because I've done it a dozen times in training.

I learned an incredible lesson: that success in training builds confidence. Success in really hard training builds really solid confidence.

Since my races are all time trials, I can plan for them by knowing roughly how long it will take me to finish (within a couple of minutes) and then base my power target off the training I've already done. I might add a couple of watts considering it will be race day and I will be a little better rested and more motivated than I am for routine training. But I know what power to aim for.

For example, next week's race is only 9 km (about 5.4 miles, according to the mapping sites). I'm guessing that I will finish somewhere between 13 and 15 minutes, so all I have to do is pick the power I think I can hold that long and then show up and do it. It might be cooler or windy, but I know the power that I can hold for that long so I can pace for it.

In years past, I've been a nervous wreck, worrying about placement. This year, I'm just focused on power and duration. If I hit the power target, it's a good day. We'll just wait and see where that goal gets me on the result sheet.

Progression

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,

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):

• 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 

 As I've said many times before, my major goal is a sub-hour 24.8 mile time trial. The Church Creek time trials are dead flat with no turnarounds, so it should be my fastest course. I'm aiming to reach my goal there. They hold the event twice, so I get a second chance if I don't make it the first time or in case one of them is rained out.

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.

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.

Two in a Row

Yesterday's post was about last weekend, so today's will be about yesterday :-)

Yesterday I tried out a new workout that I've been wanting to do for some time and I think the time is finally right.

Many of you know that my major goal is to complete a 40K time trial (24.8 miles) in less than an hour. I'm not picky: 59:59 is a good enough time for me.

My training all winter has been focused on that goal and I've made tremendous improvements along the way. Most of those workouts have used intervals from 5 to 20 minutes in length with decent recovery between them. A 5-minute interval might have 5 minutes of recovery before the next one. A 20 minute interval usually had 10 minutes.

Yesterday's trainer workout was about incomplete recovery. The goal was to accumulate 60 minutes of racing intensity by spending 5 minutes at race pace (103% of FTP, 275 watts was my goal) and then 1 minute at an easy soft-pedaling pace (around 130 watts). That means 12 repetitions of 5 minutes to each 60 minutes.

On paper, it's simple. In reality, it's a lot harder.

Probably the hardest part was remembering to keep the pace down in the beginning. The first few intervals were not that hard. I had to keep reminding myself that I was going to be doing a lot of them. Sure enough, the later ones were MUCH harder to keep the pace.

Second was keeping track. It's pretty hard to remember how many intervals you've done when you are having to consciously focus on your breathing and pacing. I have a large pile of safety pins from all the races that I have done over the years and I set them on the stand next to my trainer. At the end of each interval, I moved on pin to the other side of the stand.

Me being me, I gradually set them in 4 rows of 3, so I could tell how many intervals I had done at any time with a glance.

In the end, the hard work and focus paid off: my average power for the entire collected group was 276 watts. My first interval was the lowest at 270 (I was probably not warmed up enough) and my highest was 282. Most of them were 275 or 277.

It's not a workout I will do all the time,  but I definitely think it has a place in the workout library. I'm thinking that next time I will either increase the target intensity slightly or change the work/rest ratio (maybe 6 minutes on, 1 minute off).

Starting Early

Last year, I barely rode my time trial bike. I rode it a couple times in July in preparation for my one race in early September... and that was about it. I might have logged 50 miles on it all year.

Not exactly the best way to get used to the very different position required for a solid aerodynamic position.

This year, I'm starting early. I have a possible race in March and two definite races in April and I spent two days on the bike this week: 2 hours on Sunday and 1 hour on Monday.

My position was not perfect, but it was also not painful or uncomfortable. I just got on the bike, got comfortable, and rode for two hours.

At first my power was kind of low, but if gradually climbed throughout the ride. I also threw in a 1-minute burst of power every ten minutes or so to get a feel for the higher intensities.

All told, I'm thrilled with how I did. If I do this just a couple more times, I'll be much more prepared for the spring:

I'm sure the experts can pick apart my pedal stroke and position. Just remember I have barely ridden that bike and I'm still re-adjusting:

Better than the Best

Yesterday was my first threshold test since the end of November. With our travel schedule, it didn't make sense for me to test in December.

It's been about 9 weeks since my last test. My power numbers through January were good, but a little lower than I wanted. My previous test I hit 282 watts for 20 minutes and I was ecstatic. It was the best 20 minute power I had ever seen in my life. Given my records for January, I thought I might be able to hit 275 to 280.

Like all my tests, I do them on the Computrainer for consistency. I want the exact same conditions and course. If I did them outdoors, a warm or cold day or a change in wind (or a freak rain or snow storm) could completely ruin the value of the test.

I did my normal warmup, about 30 minutes on a varying course with some short climbs, some short descents, and some flats to get me thoroughly ready.

At the end of the warmup, I recalibrated the Computrainer in order to make sure that the readings were accurate. As it turns out, they were way off. Without going into the details, the values were off in a way that would make all my power numbers lower than they actually were. I was really focused on the test, so my brain didn't quite register the significance of that.

I try to pace the 20 minute by breaking it into quarters, usually going hard the first one, backing off a bit, and then gradually increasing throughout. Watching the average power over the course is abit strange because usually the average is increasing the first 5 minutes, dropping the middle 10 minutes, and then either gaining or holding steady for the last 5. This lets me practice the way I usually try to race as well, starting off strong, and then settling in a rhythm that lets me slowly gain speed throughout (instead of starting out too hard and burning out).

At the end of the first 5 minutes, my average was at 298 watts. I was worried that it was a little high, but I felt good and kept going.

At the end of 10 minutes, my average was at 294 watts. At that point, I was pretty sure that I could beat my old record. As long as I did not completely crack, I should be able to hang on for at least 290. That was quite a challenge, since I was already giving it everything that I had. I was breathing hard and my legs were burning.

At the end of 15 minutes, my average was at 291 watts. It annoyed me. Somehow, I had decided that I wanted to hit 292, not 291. My legs were starting to really ache and my breathing was really hard. Still, I dug as deep as I could.

With a minute to go, I saw the average power tick back up from 291 to 292. Just hang on.... I thought. I picked up the pace just a little more, to be safe. I saw the power tick up to 295 to 300 watts. Just another minute...

I felt the resistance from the trainer shift under my legs, telling me that the test was over. I looked at the average power: 292 watts. A new personal best by 10 watts.

To see the graph for the workout: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/QV4ENHSVE6BOQYJ7VO7NIO4KUQ

Over the next few minutes, as oxygen returned to my brain and I could both breathe and think at the same time, I realized the significance of my calibration being off. For the last month, I thought I was putting out less power than I actually was. I thought I was doing well, but I was actually doing even better. The trainer was reporting lower power numbers than I was actually generating. Most likely, I never reset it after one of our power outages.

The significance of the new power number goes even deeper when you consider that I lost 8 pounds since the last test. Watts per kilogram is a major metric for cyclists. Comparing the two tests:
 

Watts	Weight (lbs)	Watts/kg
282	178.0	3.49
292	170.0	3.78

That's an 8.4% increase!

I'm also starting to see races show up on the calendar.  It looks like my first race could be the Readington Time Trial in New Jersey, a 9 km (5.6 mile) time trial. It's short, but will be a good time to see how well my position on my bike is working and how well I can do under race-day pressure.

A while back, someone asked me what my goal was. Kind of kidding, I said 300 watts for 20 minutes. Now, I think I might just get there.