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!

Almost back to normal

I've spent the last two weeks fighting a bad cold. Well, "fighting" makes it sound more active. Really, I just sat on the couch as much as I could while eating constantly. I barely rode the bike or the trainer at all.

Today was my first attempt at a real ride. I did pretty well.

I rode about 30 miles. For the entire time, my heart rate was about 10 to 15 beats per minute higher than normal for any given power level, so I knew I was not quite back to full power.

I did two harder efforts: one of 7:30 at 250 watts and one of 2:30 at 330 watts. Both of them were pretty rough, but at least I could do them.

Of course, sitting around and eating for two weeks, I gained a pound and a half, and am up to 187.6. At least I'm starting to feel better enough to ride again!

Even colder

When I left for today's ride, it was 31 degrees, probably the coldest weather I've ridden in for a really long time. I went out for a relatively easy ride for about two hours. My legs were a bit stiff from the hard week and I just wanted to spin them out a little bit.

I was a little alarmed to spot a frozen puddle on the road. It made me pay just a little more attention to make sure I don't hit any ice!

Better than I expected

Today was my first RPM ride of the season. I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

For the last two weeks, I've been riding around 9 hours a week, up from 7. I've been spending some of those additional hours riding with the guys from work at lunch, and they like to attack and sprint a lot, so I'm working a lot harder than I would normally. Add in a night at the gym each week, and my legs have been a bit stiff. I wasn't expecting to do too well today.

It was a small group today, with just Todd and I. We did a course that I was not familiar with, that turned out to have a few pretty steep climbs in it (up to 8.9%).

I pushed pretty hard the first hour and averaged 243 watts. After that, I backed off a bit, and averaged 232 watts for 1:30. I forgot to look up my numbers from last year before I left this morning, so I didn't know if that was good or not.

It turned out to be very good. My numbers from the first few RPM classes last fall were in the 204 to 208 range. I'm a full 15% above that.

On the downside, my weight is still hovering around 186 :-(

A Classic in Reverse

Over the last twelve years, the ride from the Philly Art Museum to Betzwood Park has been a staple in riding. It's about 42 miles round trip, with a flat 4-mile section on West River Drive, a 5-mile hilly section through Manayunk, and then a 12-mile flat section on the Betzwood trail.

My first exposure to the course was when I was still skating. Small groups of 3 to 6 skaters would head out together. The downhills on the return were especially difficult, since racing skates do not have brakes. My biggest memory of that course was the day we did it as part of a skating century. Two laps from the Museum to Betzwood and two laps of West River for a total of 100 miles on skates. Ah, the good old days....

As a cyclist, that course is much easier. The hills through Manayunk, either up or down, are not that bad. They just give you a little more to work on during an otherwise flat course.

Yesterday, since I now live so close to Betzwood Park, I rode the course in reverse. It's a lot different!

The differences were more psychological. The long flat section on the Betzwood trail is now the beginning and end, not the middle. West River Drive is no longer the "almost home sprint." It's the turnaround section. It was weird seeing the Museum and thinking "just 21 miles to go!" not "I'm done!"

Most of all, I never realized how hard the hills in Manayunk could be. When you are only 6 miles out, they are not so bad. When you have 27 miles in your legs, it's another story. The little zig-zag hill going from Main Street up to Umbria is a lot harder.

It wasn't all that bad, though. On the way back, I didn't stop at home. I kept going out to Phoenixville, for a total of 52 miles in about 2 hours and fifty minutes. It was a fun ride that I'm sure I'll repeat in the future.

I was just happy that I felt better. I'd been fighting some kind of stomach thing the last few days and I didn't have any problems at all today.

A City Smurf goes to the Country

Saturday I did the suburban QCW ride that left from Betzwood park and went about 60 miles. Let me tell you, it's a lot different starting in Center City Philly and going 60 miles than starting near Valley Forge and going 60 miles.

First of all, there's a lot more country roads. Within about 15 minutes, we were passing stables and cow pastures.

Next, it gets real hilly real quick. I'm not much of a climber, especially since I'm still carrying a few extra points. I really struggled to keep up with the other four guys a few times. I figure that's a good thing, since now I'll work to keep up with them.

We had a few notable experiences. One was the seemingly endless, straight climb that we took at about 8 mph. It was only about a 6 minute climb or so, but felt like forever.

The other was going across the closed bridge around Evansburg State Park. We went a little off-road and were handing our bikes over the railing to each other. Talk about team building!

It was a really great ride and I'm looking forward to doing them through the winter. I do kinda miss that last 4-mile burn coming in West River Drive though...

A bit cooler

Today was the first time I've ridden below 50 degrees in quite a while. When I went out for my morning ride at 8AM, it was 48 degrees.

I was a little overdressed, with a long sleeve jersey (which is fleece lined) and tights over my normal cycling shorts. I could tell I was overdressed and could feel the extra heat the whole time. Combined with the cooler air, my heart rate was running high the whole ride.

It felt good to do a foundation ride. My average power for the day was a mere 156 watts (a out 16.7 mph average), doing 37 miles in 2 hours and 12 minutes.

It felt good to get out on a sunny day and do an easy ride like that. Over the course of the winter, this ride will grow to be 4 hours long.

The down side: in the last month I've only lost a half pound. I'm hoping now that I live right next to the trail and I am settled into the new apartment, I can devote more time to training,

Here we go again

Early Spring 2009, I was just shy of 200 pounds and 28% body fat. I had a great summer, dropping to 173 pounds and 19% body fat. In just a few months I went from couch potato to holding my own on the bike.

Then I got divorced, took a new job, and hit the difficult final semesters of my MBA. I focused a lot on training for performance, but stopped watching what I was eating. I was still reasonably fast on the bike, but I went back up to 189 pounds and 23% body fat.

Over the last month, I've finished up my MBA, spent some easy time pedaling on the bike to relax a bit, and started planning for the next season. I've also managed to drop a couple pounds.

I want to get back into the mid-160's, with a body fat around 15%. My training plan is aimed at weight loss for the next six months as I build an aerobic foundation for the 2011 racing season. I've got my eye on a few races (some criteriums and some time trials) that coincide well with when I will hit peak fitness based on the training plan. I did a two-peak season, so I will have a cluster of races in the spring and another in the late summer.

Today, I'm at 186 pounds. I want to be at 174 (19% fat) by January 1 and at 165 (15% fat) by April 1. I realize those goals are not difficult, just about 3 pounds a month. If I can do better, then I will!

I know that all I need to do is watch my diet, keep the training volume up, and stay involved here and I should be able to drop the weight without much problem.

Starting the foundation

This weekend, I did three "foundation" workouts

From Friday to Sunday, I rode 122 miles:
Friday: 22 miles, 1:10, 170 watts avg
Saturday: 62 miles, 3:30, 168 watts avg
Sunday: 38 miles, 2:10, 180 watts avg

I've been trying to keep my cadence up, too. I got average cadences of about 98 RPM for each of the three rides. My general target is an average cadence above 95 RPM and an average heart rate between 135 and 140 BPM.

These rides are not exceptionally long. I've been doing 40 to 50 miles both days of the weekend all summer long, but the difference is the intensity. I've been doing much lower power and speed, starting to build up for next year.

I have to admit, I'm a bit sore from doing this much long mileage, but I know that if I can keep it up through the winter, I'll be much better for it in the spring. I need to start the low intensity, long mileage now so I can handle the higher intensities that come later.

Of course, I'm still in the Transition phase, so I'm not aiming for real high volume or anything. We just had a few nice days in a row, so I figured I'd enjoy some easy rides!

An Intentional Break

The last couple months, I've been struggling with my motivation a lot. Looking back over my training logs, I realized that I trained straight through from May 2009 until now. I've also been working hard mentally on my MBA since Sept 2008 and my new job since March.

In other words, I haven't had a physical and mental break in quite some time.

So, I decided to at least take a physical break for the next four weeks. To put it in periodization terms, it's Transition time. I'm done racing for the summer and I need a little break before I start training for next year. For the next four weeks, I'm only riding when it's nice out and I feel like riding. I'll ride as far as I feel like it and nothing more.

There's a big mental difference between meaning to ride and not riding and having no intention of riding and not riding.

In four weeks, I'll start training seriously for the 2011 racing season. I learned a lot this year and I'm looking forward to applying it this winter.