Her name is Lexi!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
2011 TdB Stage 2: Rolling Hill (Time Trial!)
Today was going to be a rough day. There were several elite riders in my bank and I knew I was going to have to work to stay with them.
Except that I didn't. I missed a surge in the first couple miles and instantly found myself 20 yards behind them. At the speeds we were moving, I was not going to bring them back. So, I found myself going a 36-mile time trial over rolling hills.
I'm pretty happy with how I did, really. I finished in about 1:47:00, which gave me an average speed of about 21.4 mph. Not bad for the rolling hills that we had to contend with. That was an average power of about 240 watts, which is really good for that duration and my heart rate stayed about 160 bpm for most of the day.
My legs are killing me after that. I'm looking forward to the final stage on Sunday just because it will mean that I'm done!
On the plus side, I got a new kitty tonight!
Except that I didn't. I missed a surge in the first couple miles and instantly found myself 20 yards behind them. At the speeds we were moving, I was not going to bring them back. So, I found myself going a 36-mile time trial over rolling hills.
I'm pretty happy with how I did, really. I finished in about 1:47:00, which gave me an average speed of about 21.4 mph. Not bad for the rolling hills that we had to contend with. That was an average power of about 240 watts, which is really good for that duration and my heart rate stayed about 160 bpm for most of the day.
My legs are killing me after that. I'm looking forward to the final stage on Sunday just because it will mean that I'm done!
On the plus side, I got a new kitty tonight!
2011 Tour de Breakaway Stage 1
It's that time of year again: time to punish myself to help raise money for our JMI group.
The Tour de Breakaway is a 3-day event held on CompuTrainers at Breakaway Bikes. The first day is a 10K time trial, the second day a 60K rolling hills day and the third day a major climbing day. I also wrote about it last year:
Stage 1: TT
Stage 2: That's More Like It
Stage 3: Hanging on for Dear Life
I really had no idea what to expect tonight. I have been training, but more focused on the type of surges and sprints that happen in a crit, not on the type of long endurance for a time trial. Luckily, this was a pretty short time trial. Based on the numbers I've been seeing in training, I expected to hold about 270 watts. My weight was up a little (largely from eating salty snacks all week in strategy meetings), so I that was going to hurt me a little on the climbing portions of the time trial.
The one thing that should have sounded an alarm for me was how warm it was in the room when we got there. I never deal well with warm temperatures when I'm riding.
The first 4 miles or so, I was doing really well. I felt like I was pacing well, my power was holding sky high (about 300 watts average) and it felt like I was barely pedaling.
Then at about 4.5 miles, I started to not be able to breathe so well. It felt like every lung-full of air was super hot. I was sweating like crazy but not getting any cooler. When the oscillating fan blew on me, it felt like the heat was on. My power started to drop.
So, I collected myself and didn't panic. I dropped my power to about 230 watts (not really intentionally, but that's what I could hold onto) for about a mile. Once I reached the final climb, I jumped out of the saddle and gunned it as hard as I could.
I finished with a time of 16:40 and averaged 282 watts. My average heart rate was a whopping 173 beats per minute.
That was enough for 12th place (against a crowd of largely Cat 1,2, and 3 riders). I felt miserable but I was really happy with the results.
Next up, the long road day!
The Tour de Breakaway is a 3-day event held on CompuTrainers at Breakaway Bikes. The first day is a 10K time trial, the second day a 60K rolling hills day and the third day a major climbing day. I also wrote about it last year:
Stage 1: TT
Stage 2: That's More Like It
Stage 3: Hanging on for Dear Life
I really had no idea what to expect tonight. I have been training, but more focused on the type of surges and sprints that happen in a crit, not on the type of long endurance for a time trial. Luckily, this was a pretty short time trial. Based on the numbers I've been seeing in training, I expected to hold about 270 watts. My weight was up a little (largely from eating salty snacks all week in strategy meetings), so I that was going to hurt me a little on the climbing portions of the time trial.
The one thing that should have sounded an alarm for me was how warm it was in the room when we got there. I never deal well with warm temperatures when I'm riding.
The first 4 miles or so, I was doing really well. I felt like I was pacing well, my power was holding sky high (about 300 watts average) and it felt like I was barely pedaling.
Then at about 4.5 miles, I started to not be able to breathe so well. It felt like every lung-full of air was super hot. I was sweating like crazy but not getting any cooler. When the oscillating fan blew on me, it felt like the heat was on. My power started to drop.
So, I collected myself and didn't panic. I dropped my power to about 230 watts (not really intentionally, but that's what I could hold onto) for about a mile. Once I reached the final climb, I jumped out of the saddle and gunned it as hard as I could.
I finished with a time of 16:40 and averaged 282 watts. My average heart rate was a whopping 173 beats per minute.
That was enough for 12th place (against a crowd of largely Cat 1,2, and 3 riders). I felt miserable but I was really happy with the results.
Next up, the long road day!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
You know you're training hard enough when...
Athletes often wonder whether they are training hard enough. I think and easy way to tell is by measuring how much you look forward to recovery days and recovery weeks in your training plan.
Today is the last day of Week 3 of my training cycle, and let me tell you, I'm REALLY looking forward to the recovery week that starts tomorrow.
For the last three weeks, I've been increasing both the intensity of my workouts and the amount of time that I spend on the bike. I've been doing a lot of high speed, high intensity work and my body is really not happy about it.
So, for the next few days I get to take it really easy. No long rides, no sprints, no tempo work, not threshold work, no heavy weight lifting. Just some short, very easy rides on the trainer.
Next weekend is the Tour de Breakaway, our annual fundraiser for our juniors team. It's three days of racing on the CompuTrainers at Breakaway Bikes. I did it last year and really enjoyed it. Hopefully this year will be as fun!
As of this morning, I'm down to 183.6 (from 190) and my body fat is holding around 21% (from 22.5%. I think last week's 20.4% number was a fluke since I only saw it for one day).
Today is the last day of Week 3 of my training cycle, and let me tell you, I'm REALLY looking forward to the recovery week that starts tomorrow.
For the last three weeks, I've been increasing both the intensity of my workouts and the amount of time that I spend on the bike. I've been doing a lot of high speed, high intensity work and my body is really not happy about it.
So, for the next few days I get to take it really easy. No long rides, no sprints, no tempo work, not threshold work, no heavy weight lifting. Just some short, very easy rides on the trainer.
Next weekend is the Tour de Breakaway, our annual fundraiser for our juniors team. It's three days of racing on the CompuTrainers at Breakaway Bikes. I did it last year and really enjoyed it. Hopefully this year will be as fun!
As of this morning, I'm down to 183.6 (from 190) and my body fat is holding around 21% (from 22.5%. I think last week's 20.4% number was a fluke since I only saw it for one day).
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Lego
In case you think I do nothing but ride my bike, this was a fun project Shelli and I did a few weekends ago.
It was my first attempt at this kind of thing (making a movie from a series of photos) but I think it turned out pretty well. If it's too small, you can watch it full screen by clicking the button in the lower right of the movie player.
It was my first attempt at this kind of thing (making a movie from a series of photos) but I think it turned out pretty well. If it's too small, you can watch it full screen by clicking the button in the lower right of the movie player.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Little More Intense
This week, I added a little more intensity to the training diet, ranging from 1 kilometer sprints (only about a minute and twenty seconds, but HARD) to 30-second bursts at 400 watts to 15 second bursts at 620 watts to long 45 minute climbs at or above threshold.
Yes, my legs are a bit tired from it!
I have to say that it feels great. I'm really happy at how well my body tolerated the extra abuse. Within each session, I actually found myself able to go a little harder after the first couple, telling me that I was pacing myself too low early on. Of course, now I'm making the other mistake and starting out too hard and then struggling to maintain. I'll get it right eventually!
I'm still doing light plyometrics, trying to work up my explosive power. I'm not getting much additional power, but I am consistently hitting 5-second power in the 1040 to 1050 watt range. That used to be a personal best, now I do it three or four times a week.
One more week of really hard training and then a week of recovery before the 2011 Tour de Breakaway
In other training news, my weight bench and adjustable dumbbells should be here on Friday. I've already received by stability ball and elastic cords. Next weekend, Shelli and I should be able to start doing solid strength and balance workouts at home. (I'm sure FedEx will enjoy delivering the 108 pound package!)
And finally, my weight is down to 184.4 (from 190) and my body fat is down to 20.4% (from 22.5%).
Yes, my legs are a bit tired from it!
I have to say that it feels great. I'm really happy at how well my body tolerated the extra abuse. Within each session, I actually found myself able to go a little harder after the first couple, telling me that I was pacing myself too low early on. Of course, now I'm making the other mistake and starting out too hard and then struggling to maintain. I'll get it right eventually!
I'm still doing light plyometrics, trying to work up my explosive power. I'm not getting much additional power, but I am consistently hitting 5-second power in the 1040 to 1050 watt range. That used to be a personal best, now I do it three or four times a week.
One more week of really hard training and then a week of recovery before the 2011 Tour de Breakaway
In other training news, my weight bench and adjustable dumbbells should be here on Friday. I've already received by stability ball and elastic cords. Next weekend, Shelli and I should be able to start doing solid strength and balance workouts at home. (I'm sure FedEx will enjoy delivering the 108 pound package!)
And finally, my weight is down to 184.4 (from 190) and my body fat is down to 20.4% (from 22.5%).
Sunday, January 30, 2011
37
I turned 37 this week. Most people my age (maybe the more mature ones) start to think they are getting older. I thought "let's see what I can do".
I started off the day with a one hour tempo workout on the trainer. It's a long, uncomfortable workout that usually ends with my legs pretty beat up. This particular time, I felt great at the end, so I did a couple sprints. What can I say, I'm just not a sprinter. I could only hit 1050 watts. (a good sprinter in my category would beat that by 50% or so)
That night, I went to the gym and got on my favorite machine: the incline leg press. Once I got a decent warm up in, I did:
I started off the day with a one hour tempo workout on the trainer. It's a long, uncomfortable workout that usually ends with my legs pretty beat up. This particular time, I felt great at the end, so I did a couple sprints. What can I say, I'm just not a sprinter. I could only hit 1050 watts. (a good sprinter in my category would beat that by 50% or so)
That night, I went to the gym and got on my favorite machine: the incline leg press. Once I got a decent warm up in, I did:
- 3 sets of 5 reps at 850 pounds
- 3 sets of 4 reps at 1030 pounds
- 3 sets of 10 reps at 580 pounds (at maximum speed on the way out so the weights actually left my feet for a split second)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Racing Sim
Today I tried something new: An ErgVideo race.
ErgVideo is software that runs on my CompuTrainer, so it's yet another way to control my trainer through my laptop. The neat thing about them is that they use video of actual bike races (or group rides) and tie the intensity that you feel from the trainer to the race. Even better, the software records all the data from the ride so that I can analyze it with my WKO+ software just like I would any other ride.
Today's ride was a simple 4-corner criterium, so every time the group sped up, I felt more resistance. Whenever the group slowed down, it got easier. Like most crits, you pedal like crazy in the straights and coast through the corners. Once in a while someone would attack and I had to go after them.
The shock to me was that it felt REAL. Just like a real race, your goal is to pedal easily and as little as you possibly can, saving your effort for when it matters. From the download, the most common power during this race was 130 to 140 watts, which is my common wattage for an easy Sunday ride. My average for the day was 201 watts (240 normalized), so you can imagine the intensity I must have been going the rest of the time to raise the average so much. I had portions at 520+ watts for a thirty seconds or so, 400+ watts minute or so, and 300+ watts for two or three minutes at a time.I could never really find a rhythm. It was constantly changing from hard to easy to hard to medium to very hard to hard to medium, and on and on for an hour and ten minutes.
I did a thirty minute warm up and a twenty minute cool down giving me a total of two hours on the trainer today.
Considering how much I liked this ErgVideo, I'll probably pick up a few more. They are not cheap, at $45 each, but they offer race-like training that's hard to find any other way when there's snow and ice all over the place.
Tomorrow's ride will be two hours again, but MUCH easier, with a goal of an average of 140 watts or so.
My weight this morning was 185.6, bringing me down from 190 in four weeks. I'm aiming to be 182 or less by the end of my next four-week training cycle ending Feb 19.
ErgVideo is software that runs on my CompuTrainer, so it's yet another way to control my trainer through my laptop. The neat thing about them is that they use video of actual bike races (or group rides) and tie the intensity that you feel from the trainer to the race. Even better, the software records all the data from the ride so that I can analyze it with my WKO+ software just like I would any other ride.
Today's ride was a simple 4-corner criterium, so every time the group sped up, I felt more resistance. Whenever the group slowed down, it got easier. Like most crits, you pedal like crazy in the straights and coast through the corners. Once in a while someone would attack and I had to go after them.
The shock to me was that it felt REAL. Just like a real race, your goal is to pedal easily and as little as you possibly can, saving your effort for when it matters. From the download, the most common power during this race was 130 to 140 watts, which is my common wattage for an easy Sunday ride. My average for the day was 201 watts (240 normalized), so you can imagine the intensity I must have been going the rest of the time to raise the average so much. I had portions at 520+ watts for a thirty seconds or so, 400+ watts minute or so, and 300+ watts for two or three minutes at a time.I could never really find a rhythm. It was constantly changing from hard to easy to hard to medium to very hard to hard to medium, and on and on for an hour and ten minutes.
I did a thirty minute warm up and a twenty minute cool down giving me a total of two hours on the trainer today.
Considering how much I liked this ErgVideo, I'll probably pick up a few more. They are not cheap, at $45 each, but they offer race-like training that's hard to find any other way when there's snow and ice all over the place.
Tomorrow's ride will be two hours again, but MUCH easier, with a goal of an average of 140 watts or so.
My weight this morning was 185.6, bringing me down from 190 in four weeks. I'm aiming to be 182 or less by the end of my next four-week training cycle ending Feb 19.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Annual Goal Post
It's just not a new year without a bunch of stuff on goal setting. Of course, the whole point of this blog is to keep me on track for my goals, so I have to list mine for the year!
To set the stage, in 2009, I dropped from 198 to 174 pounds. Over 2010, I drifted back up to 190 (with a little 5-pound burst between Thanksgiving and Christmas). As I write this, I'm back down to 186.4.
I have a wide range of goals:
One of the biggest ingredients that I lost in 2010 was weight lifting. I was riding and getting pretty fit, but my weight was not staying off. I found that just in the last few weeks, most of my success came from being back in then gym. I've been debating getting adjustable dumbbells so that I can do more weight workouts at home.
Another ingredient is intensity. I spent most of 2009 and 2010 doing tempo and threshold rides. I did very little VO2max, anaerobic endurance training, and sprint training. I've already started doing a little of that this winter so that I'm not caught off-guard in the early crits like I was last year.
Somewhere in there, I'd like to fit into my 34-inch waist jeans again :-)
Wish me luck! (and of course, support me along the way!!!)
To set the stage, in 2009, I dropped from 198 to 174 pounds. Over 2010, I drifted back up to 190 (with a little 5-pound burst between Thanksgiving and Christmas). As I write this, I'm back down to 186.4.
I have a wide range of goals:
- be down to 180 pounds in time for the first crit on March 6
- finish 6 crits (note: FINISH, not start ;-) )
- Get in the breakaway in at least one of them
- be down to 170 in time for the time trial June 4
- finish a West River Time Trial (8.35 miles) in less than 19:42 (25.4 mph)
- finish a 42K TT in less than 1:05:00 (24.2 mph)
- finish my season (August 6) at 165 pounds (probably around 12 to 14% body fat)
- keep my weight at or below 170 for the foreseeable future
One of the biggest ingredients that I lost in 2010 was weight lifting. I was riding and getting pretty fit, but my weight was not staying off. I found that just in the last few weeks, most of my success came from being back in then gym. I've been debating getting adjustable dumbbells so that I can do more weight workouts at home.
Another ingredient is intensity. I spent most of 2009 and 2010 doing tempo and threshold rides. I did very little VO2max, anaerobic endurance training, and sprint training. I've already started doing a little of that this winter so that I'm not caught off-guard in the early crits like I was last year.
Somewhere in there, I'd like to fit into my 34-inch waist jeans again :-)
Wish me luck! (and of course, support me along the way!!!)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Year
It's a new year and here we are again: me complaining about losing weight :-)
I can't really complain about my fitness. I'm doing very well on the CompuTrainer ((3) 3x3:00 @ 280 watts) and I'm pushing major weights in the gym (12 reps at 850 pounds). For January, that's more than I could hope for. It's still 8 weeks until my first training race of the year.
Of course, I'm complaining about my weight. When I got back from Christmas, I was up to 190 pounds. All the candy and snacks while I was back in Erie added a few pounds onto me (and I was already complaining about my weight!)
For the last 6 days, I've been training like crazy. I've been on the trainer every day, trying out each of the workouts from my favorite workout menu. I've been to the gym twice and spent one night doing balance work on the Bosu. In the process, I've dropped one of those pounds already. Hopefully I can keep losing weight at that rate until I'm back where I want to be (at or around 170 pounds).
I can't really complain about my fitness. I'm doing very well on the CompuTrainer ((3) 3x3:00 @ 280 watts) and I'm pushing major weights in the gym (12 reps at 850 pounds). For January, that's more than I could hope for. It's still 8 weeks until my first training race of the year.
Of course, I'm complaining about my weight. When I got back from Christmas, I was up to 190 pounds. All the candy and snacks while I was back in Erie added a few pounds onto me (and I was already complaining about my weight!)
For the last 6 days, I've been training like crazy. I've been on the trainer every day, trying out each of the workouts from my favorite workout menu. I've been to the gym twice and spent one night doing balance work on the Bosu. In the process, I've dropped one of those pounds already. Hopefully I can keep losing weight at that rate until I'm back where I want to be (at or around 170 pounds).
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