Much Better

After fighting a cold for nearly three weeks, it's nice to feel back to normal.

Of course, sitting around and eating for a few weeks, plus the Thanksgiving holiday, I've managed to climb back to 189.6 pounds. Not good.

On the plus side, I've just begun to train a little more aggressively. Yesterday, I did a test on the computrainer to see how long I could hold various power levels. Shelli was kind enough to help out, adjusting the power levels and recording when I couldn't maintain the effort anymore.

• 300 watts - 3:02
  
• 350 watts - 1:52
  
• 400 watts - 1:12
  
• 450 watts - 0:59
  
• 500 watts - 0:43
  
• 550 watts - 0:33
  

I'm not judging these numbers at all. They are just a starting point for me. I didn't push to failure and I didn't watch the recovery to make sure I was fully recovered between each effort. I just did it as a starting point to see how I progress over the next few months.

Today, I went out for a two hour and forty minute ride, covering about 46 miles. It was cold, about 31 degrees when I started, so I was not expecting any record speeds. My power levels were right where I wanted: I recorded an average of 203 watts for two hours (215 normalized). Granted, it's not the best ever, but considering that I haven't been on the bike much for the last month, I'm more than happy with it!