Settling into a rhythm

Training is getting to a point where it's not all that exciting. It's just slow and steady progress.

My training volume and intensity are slowly increasing. I'm up to about 8 hours and 4500 kj of training per week. For comparison, at my peak I was doing about 12 hours and 6500 kj, so I have a lot of progress still to go.

My threshold and power at VO2 max are slowly climbing. I'm not making the enormous gains I was the first month, but I'm still seeing a few watts per week improvement (which to be honest, is still pretty fast!). My functional threshold now is about 215 watts. For comparison, it was about 275 at my peak.

I'm consistently able to do 2 hour rides on the weekends, but not on both days. Eventually I'll want to be doing 2 hour interval rides on Saturday and 3 to 4 hour endurance rides on Sunday.

My weight... well, it's been stable. With the steady increase in training, I'm eating to keep myself fueled and replenished. I knew that my weight loss would be pretty slow in the beginning, if it dropped at all. It doesn't help that work has been more stressful than usual lately and I tend to stress-eat. (on the plus side, at least I'm not gaining weight!) I am seeing changes in my body fat %, so my body is changing, just not the way it will once I start dropping weight.

I'm hoping that the race in September will actually happen. Right now, I'm confident I could finish it, and it's just a matter of increasing performance as much as possible.

My Progress Graphic EQ keeps showing improvement. I also keep tuning it, so it helps show progress but also doesn't become a source of frustration. You can see the big drop off at 2 hours, because my longest rides right now are about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Rethinking my Training

Over the last week, I've been looking deeper into analyzing past training years, seeing what I did right and what I could have done better, and looking at the training demands of the events I have coming up.

Newsflash: the training will be different.

Previously, I was training for relatively short events, with the longest ones about an hour, but most of them 35 minutes or less.

Training for a roughly-4 hour event with two major efforts of about 25 minutes (in the first hour) and 35 minutes (in the last hour), needs to be different, so I have a LOT of habits to break.

Without thinking, I shift up and hit hills as hard as I can, going anaerobic for a minute or so, then settling back in. I need to stop that (at least for now), and focus on keeping a steady pace. That means downshifting and riding up the hills however slow I end up going at the target power.

One of my new markers is time in zone... I am going to be working on spending as much time in zones 2, 3, and 4 as possible, between 66% and 99% of functional threshold power. Of course, I'll always have some time coasting into stop signs, and hills that are too steep even in my lightest gear, but I'll be paying more attention to keeping it in-zone.

Eventually, I'll be aiming to build up to 2 or 3 hours "in zone", which when you add in the time coasting and such, it could be a 4 or 5 hour ride. Ouch.

With the software I'm using, I can get reports on my rides and see how much time in zone I'm getting, and it scores rides accordingly.

That's really what foundation training is, apparently. It's not all "easy riding." It's just sub-threshold riding... and believe me, holding 90% of threshold for a long time is WORK!

Test Day

It's threshold test day once again!

I kind of did a test about 4 weeks ago, just to get a vague idea of where I was at, but the last "real" test I did was in April of 2018... it's been a while.

In concept, it's simple: I took the week easy in training, and today I did 20 minutes as hard as I could.

Given my performance on the bike over the last week, I was sure I could hit 220 watts, I was hoping maybe I could hit 225 watts, and as a dream I wanted to hit 230 watts.

20 minutes really isn't that long, but it's long enough to really hurt and long enough that you need to think about pacing.

I'm really happy with how I did today. I paced it well, starting out at a safe pace, and increasing the power output a little but for each five minutes.

At 5 minutes I was averaging 218 watts. At 10 minutes, 223 watts. At 15 minutes, I was at 226 watts, and gave it all I had left, finishing at 228 watts average.

When the clock hit 20:00, I felt like I really did do the best I could today.

To put that number in perspective... my last test in April 2018 was 223 watts, so I'm in better shape than then! My best was in April of 2013 when I averaged a stunning 309 watts (and was 30 pounds lighter).

Here are the results:

Avg Power: 228 watts

Avg Heart Rate: 154 bpm

Current weight: 194 pounds (88.2 kg)

Ratio: 2.58 w/kg (I want to get over 4.0)

My Training Graphic EQ is filling in nicely. I've started doing longer rides, hitting the 2-hour mark. My next big goal will be to start losing weight as I slowly increase my training volume.

Bookends

As I start preparing to ride outside, I was looking back to find the last time I rode outside at all... rather shockingly, it was September 2017. I haven't ridden outside in over 2 1/2 years!

The bigger shock was that I only rode outside 8 times in 2017.

The last time I was riding seriously and consistently outside was in 2016... which came to an end when I had my first collapsed lung.

It's amazing to me that basically the first time I had it, it broke me as an outdoor cyclist. None of my training numbers since then have been anything to note.

Now, after the second one, I am back at training seriously and making decent progress in my fitness, but it's all been on the trainer. I am geared up and ready to go for riding outside, I'm just waiting for the weather to cooperate.

Of course, only time will tell if I continue to make progress and stay focused on it, but I lovethe symmetry of the situation!

Changing bike tech

In the few years I was away, pretty much everything about cycling technology changed. The last time I rode seriously was 2014, and it's stunning how much has changed in just a few years.

Power meters cost half what they did, and you can choose between cranks, pedals, and chainrings. Almost no one is using hub-based systems anymore.

Brakes are all disc now. Caliper brakes are almost unheard of anymore. They are supposed to stop way better, but none of my old wheel collection will work with them.

The wheels are carbon all the way through now. Before, they were an aluminum rim with carbon farings on them. 

Drive trains are all 11-speed now. I can't even find new bikes with a 10 anymore. On the plus side, more gears but on the bad side, they seem more spread out.

There is radar for bikes now, so you get a little warning when cars are approaching from behind and you get more of a warning if it's coming fast... I guess so if you are about to get hit, you know.

Sunglasses just all got hideous. They look more like facemasks than sunglasses, and that was before the pandemic started. They are just not my style.

Helmets have crash sensors and can text your location to your loved ones if you are in an accident.

Heart rate training is now being supplemented with heart rate variability training. 

The one tech change I am totally loving is the improvement in power data analysis. WKO3 was nice, but WKO5 is a whole other world. To start, it recommends power and duration for interval training, helping you be more efficient in your training. Then it gets crazy with analysis, telling you things like "how much does my 20-minute power drop on a long ride, after the first hour and after the second hour" to help you find strengths and weaknesses for the events that you're training for. It's completely insane.

I know, I sound like a grumpy old man yelling for the damned kids to get off my lawn.

It will mean a little bit of a learning curve as I come back, and I'm excited for all the new options to help me get fitter and faster again. 

Prep Work

This week was focused on getting ready.

I am still not quite healed enough to ride outside much, so I drove the roads I want to start training on. I wanted to see how much traffic was on them, what condition they were in, and get a rough idea of where I was going.

I've started gearing back up. Little things like my saddle bag that was wearing thin, replacing spare tubes that had dry rotted a bit, and upgrading firmware in my electronics. I got a new helmet with crash detection so my wife knows if anything happens (and where to find me) and a new rear radar unit to help me know when cars are coming up behind me.

I've been watching WKO tutorial videos to make sure I'm getting the most out of my training data so I can plan workouts as effectively as possible.

My major pride and joy this week was the "Training Goal Graphic Equalizer". I realized that when people asked me how training was going or how recovery was going, it really wasn't a simple answer and there's far more to it than how long I'm riding each day.

I listed out all of the goals that I believe I will need to reach in order to hit the performance I will need by September 2021.

The timed sections and times I'm aiming for are:

•  5.7 mile climb with 1278' of climbing, starting 3.4 miles into the event in about 22:00
•  11.4 miles over rolling terrain with 1200' of climbing and 650' of descent, starting 35 miles into the event in about 36:00.

Each column represents a performance measurement that I will need to hit in training or in a test event, including weight, body fat, VO2 max, longest ride, most Kj burned on a ride, and multiple maximum power durations. I expect I'll need to hit most or all of them in order to be competitive (and perhaps win). As I reach each goal, I'll fill in that box. As I get better, the colors change from red, to yellow, to green.

For reference, I listed my previous best values, both to give me a comparison and to remind me that this is possible.

 

Hopefully this helps keep me on track and focused on the right things. 

Starting point

Test Day

Let's be honest... any fitness I have at all is a miracle or purely genetic.

After so long off training and a major surgery, I really should expect much. I put in 6 1/2 hours of trainer time last week, which is way more than I thought I could handle. Since I was doing so well, I decided to be daring and try a 20-minute FTP test to get a better idea of where my fitness really is. 

I averaged 175 watts for the test, and I'm absolutely sure I can do better because my pacing was AWFUL. I shouldn't beat myself up for that... I really had no idea where I was starting from, so I was guessing the whole time.

I started out at what I thought was a safe bet, at 165 watts. I suspected my threshold was at least 150, so I should be able to hold 165 pretty safely. Ten minutes in, I my legs were on fire, but my heart rate was only at 145 bpm. I was breathing deeply, but not struggling.

I gradually increased the power output, 175, then 185, then 195. My heart rate climbed a gradually with the increase, but no major spike. Once again it was my legs that really hurt.

For the last minute I floored it, giving it all I had, holding about 240 watts to the finish.

For a test where the goal is to hold a steady or very gradually increasing power throughout, that was awful, but it also gave me some idea of where I'm at.... which really isn't awful (for comparison, my best 20-minute test when I was racing was 309 watts, so I have some way to go!!).

Goals:

I know we're still in a pandemic and any events this year are questionable, but I'm looking at two right now: The Farm to Fork Dutch Fondo 30-mile and Maryland Gran Fondo 30-mile, which are 15 and 19 weeks away. 

My only goal is to finish both rides, but that requires abilities I used to take for granted:

• ride outside for 2 to 2 1/2 hours
• tolerate road vibration without pain (well, in the surgical areas anyway!)
• tolerate steep climbs without pain

Don't worry, I'm not insane. I know that my recovery progress will determine whether I am able to do one or both rides. If nothing else, having those goals will help keep me motivated to work harder on my recovery. 

My reason to do those events is to scout them out so I can come back next year and be competitive in the longer versions (probably the 70-mile option).

They are nothing like the events I've done before, so I'll be learning the whole time.

Picking up where I left off

It's fitting, really.

My last post from 2016 was about being in the hospital after a spontaneously collapsed lung. In March, the same thing happened again and I had a pleurodesis surgery to correct it. I am now recovered enough from that surgery to start something resembling exercise... but I'm not in great shape right now.

I haven't seriously trained or raced in quite a while. I dabbled in short track speedskating in 2018, but it really just wasn't for me. 

In January, I developed a bulging disc in my neck. That had me off training for a while.

In February, I had a bad flu with a high fever that had me laid up for a few weeks.(it turns out it was COVID!)

In March, I had my next lung collapse and surgery. My surgeon told me to only do my rehab until the 6 week mark, then I could start light exercises, with no weight lifting that required the valsalva maneuver (holding your beath when you lift heavier weights).

So, here I am starting out again.

I'm looking for new performance goals to help motivate me. Probably a Gran Fondo here and there, with a metric century or two thrown in for preparation. I won't be the same rider I was before, I know that.

I'm starting out rough:
Body Weight: 196 pounds
Body Fat: 23%
Estimated Threshold Power: 150 watts

It's a far cry from the 164 pounds and 280 watts I was doing at my peak.

Here we go!

The Hospital Stay

The next few days were pretty boring, so I won't go into as much detail :-)

Thursday
Chest x-ray
back to 95%


Friday
Finally let me sleep
Still bubbling, not going home today
Still bubbling a lot
First attempt at a shower

Saturday
Low heart rate alarm. I forget to tell them I'm an athlete.
Clamped the line to see if my lungs were pressurized.
CT showed no other issues in my lungs.
Chest X-Ray showed 20% deflation
Trying again tomorrow
Changing the dressing hurt like hell.

Sunday
Water seal
 Chest X-Ray showed I was good
 Valve installed.
Going Home!!

Chest Pain Surprise, Day 1

I woke up at 5AM like any other Wednesday, planning to eat breakfast and ride for an hour or so before work.

When I went to the bathroom, I noticed a major pain in my chest on the right side in the pectoral area. I thought I'd pulled a muscle or slept on it funny. It ached each time I took a step going downstairs and it hurt to breathe deeply to the point that I couldn't actually breathe in all the way.

All through eating I wondered if I should go back to bed, but I decided to do an easy ride. I did about 15 minutes at a light 120 to 130 watts.... and the aching just got worse. I got off the bike, went upstairs, and took a shower... it still hurt, so I laid back down in bed. Lying on my back, it was still pretty uncomfortable. Lying on my left side, it was much better. Lying on my right side was EXCRUCIATING.

I went in to work planning on calling my doctor the minute they opened... so at 9:01 I called and got an appointment for 11:00. All morning I noticed I was able to breathe less deeply before it started to hurt and I got to the appointment 15 minutes early to try to get in early.

I also noticed that when I was talking, I had to pause to breathe a lot more than usual. It's odd for me to not be able to talk a lot :-)

I told the doctor the story and they thought pulled a muscle as well but my pain level and difficulty breathing didn't add up, so they ordered a chest X-ray. Luckily they have a radiology lab on site. I was able to see the image through the window... I didn't see any spots or anything but I thought my lungs looked really asymmetrical... that didn't make any sense.

When I got back in the exam room, the doctor was acting weird. She had a second doctor looking at it and they were talking back and forth about stuff I didn't quite catch. Then they told me that I had a collapsed lung. Their instructions: go to the hospital NOW.

I kind of went against medical advice... I went home, picked up a few things, and waited for my wife to get home from work.

Two hours later, she drove me to the ER. With chest pains, I went to the head of the line and was talking to a doctor within 15 minutes. They repeated the chest x-ray and confirmed a collapsed lung that had decreased in volume by 60%.

One of my lungs had a hole in it, allowing it to leak air into the space around the lung. That air built up enough that it was decreasing the amount of volume in my chest for my lung, causing  it to get smaller and smaller with each breath I took. At its current rate, it could have killed me before the end of the day. Yes, I asked :-)

What I had was called a spontaneous pneumothorax. That means it was a collapsed lung that was not the result of any other illnesses, injuries, or any other known or visible cause. It was not a result of hard cycling training, wood working, breathing in wood stains, seasonal allergies, or any other activity. In fact, the two leading causes are lung cancer (the tumors eat a hole in your lung) or being extremely tall and thin (like 6'4" and 150 pounds... I am neither)

Within another hour, they put in a chest tube to drain out the extra air and maintain the proper pressure around my lungs. Putting it in HURT. It turns out the space around your lungs is really sensitive, which is why it hurt to breath and why it hurt to push a 1/8" tube about 12" into it, starting near my shoulder and reaching almost to my stomach.

I could breathe again almost immediately and without pain... except some major discomfort from the tube that was now poked into my chest. When I inhaled all the way, I could feel it in there... and it was kind of a creepy feeling. They also had to cut a decent hole through my right pectoral muscle to out in the tube, making it pretty painful to move my right arm.

Before long they had me hooked up to a suction box with constant vacuum pressure to make sure that any air that got out of my lung was immediately pulled out. The box bubbled every time I inhaled, telling us the hole was still there. I was going to be staying in the hospital until the bubbling stopped, indicating the hole had healed. For most people that takes 2 to 5 days. Being relatively young and healthy, I thought I'd be on the low side. I didn't realize just how large the hole was yet.

Here's the crazy part: I didn't have a single risk factor. I don't smoke, don't drink, don't do drugs, and I exercise regularly. I spent most of the day repeating the same story: I woke up with chest pain. I have no idea what happened.

They officially admitted me to the hospital and I got my own room. It wasn't much, but at least it was private.

They hooked me up to the suction in the room, ran the tubing around the bed, and got my vacuum box all set up, then handed me the TV remove/call button. Note to designers: it's easy to mix up "turn TV on" and "call nurse".  They also hooked me up a half dozen leads for a portable EKG machine they kept me hooked up to the entire time I was there.

I didn't get out of the bed for quite a while. I had so many wires from the EKG on me and the tube was taped down so much, I was almost afraid to move so I didn't pull anything out... and the tube hurt so much going in I was afraid of putting any tension on it at all. 

Various doctors and nurses who would be involved in my care came in and introduced themselves. They all seemed really nice and were all shocked that an otherwise-healthy, 42-year old person would have such a severe issue. I started to wonder if they didn't believe me.

The pulmonary specialist said the soonest I should expect to go home would be Friday. Ugh.

Shelli stayed with me until about 10. She really wanted to stay with me, but there wasn't any decent furniture for her to sleep on and we figured at least one of us should get to sleep at home, especially since the hospital was less than a 10-minute drive from home.

After she left, I decided to try the indignity of going to the bathroom. I paged the nurse and together we figured out how much I was able to move... which turned out was pretty normal except for the limits in my right arm range of motion and strength. She helped me figure out where all the suction tubes ran and how to get them up over the bed so I could get to the bathroom. I was able to go on my own, I just had to get there and back. I watched where every tube went so I could do it again myself and not have to call for help every time I had to pee.

Once I was back in bed, I used a combination of the adjustable bed and the assortment of pillows they gave me to build a position I could sleep in without pulling on the tube. Surprisingly, I got to sleep pretty quickly. Of course, they woke me up every couple hours to take vitals and blood. Thanks, guys, nothing helps you heal like a broken night's sleep!

(The rest of the hospital time will be in a later post...)