Monday, March 2, 2009

* Mar 09 Trng Log - Steve

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#3 MUD BATH 3/5/09
Bill and I rendezvoued in the park for the tempo workout. Numerous wet and muddy patches made for some nice splatter patterns on the jersey and shorts. (Hope the red clay comes out of the jersey.) Bill asked what the best part of the workout was and my answer was simply "being outside". What a difference being off the trainer and rollers makes. Despite Bill's superior power numbers we were able to stay together for each interval and remarkably were within 1 watt of each other for average each time. Bill had more/better power over the last ten yards of a rise than I, but I was able to stabilize at higher speeds on the "trough" portions of the course and carry that momentum into the next rise. I believe we both were feeling the effort by the last interval, but it was good. In a piece of lucky bad luck I flatted after the last interval on the way to the car. Bill went up the road to fetch his car to give me a ride back to mine. Some time later he re-appeared. I really appreciated his dedication to discipline by not exceeding recovery power on the way back to the vehicle. It gave me plenty of time to cool down while observing the flora and fauna in the park. Thanks for the lift Bill. It is teamwork like that we will be fostering in camp this weekend.

#2 TIRED LEGS 3/3/09
Because of the inclimate weather I was not able to pick up my bike from the shop until Tuesday afternoon. That concerned me since the LT workouts were on the schedule and I had not been on the bike in over a week. No cycling plus extended fatigue from skiing (should have known better from the January trip) meant a painful re-entry attempt. I was suspicious when my heart rate was a little high during the warm up and remained high during the tempo session. Confirmation followed in the first LT session. My heart rate shot up and I was pedaling squares with painful quads and hamstrings (and a tender knee from a slight mishap in some deeper powder). I finished the session and added a minute of recovery by stretching. Round two saw my heart rate go even higher into the red and my legs were still not functioning. Hmmm says I to myself, perhaps you have not recovered from the skiing and you need to spin the legs instead of punishing them. So that's what I did for another 30 minutes at low tempo. My heart rate never recovered so I know it was the right decision. I will spin tonight and prepare to do tempo work Thursday. On the good news side, I can look forward to camp and the push from my teammates.

#1 NOT BACK IN THE SADDLE YET
It is inspiring to read all of your training posts. Keep it up. Once I retrieve my bike from Dre' I will be back in the saddle and into the program. Although I was not on the bike last week, it was not a "down" week. As my teammates know, I rarely just sit back and relax. My goal every day on the slopes was to improve and push new boundaries. At the end of each day I felt the fatigue from the effort. My goal for this trip was to ski the big moguls smoothly at speed. I improved but their is still work to do. One instructor suggested my natural talent was at Giant Slalom or downhill, that is until he found out I was in my 50's. Then he suggested I grow up (not happening). Although my hull may be riddled with hairline fractures, I am sure that with a little help from my friends I have a few more jumps left in me!

25 comments:

  1. Get some, Old Man (hot on your heels in that dept!)!!!

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  2. Nothing a little Cylon spackling compound can't fix. Keep on keeping on, you are an inspiration to all of us!

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  3. You just need a couple of skin job hotties with trowels to give you a hand!!

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  4. You are the frakin ship!!! Don't you know that 50+ guys throw their bodies into crowds of bike riders?! Broken in like Adama or just broken like Anders?

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  5. I have no idea what you guys are talking about half the time when you go into "Galactica" mode.

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  6. Bike Camp; a Galactica marathon and two cases of yoohoo?


    Obviously, I suffer from Team envy.

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  7. 3/6-3/8/09 Team Camp

    Time Trial Gear, check. Wine and BBQ, check. Race Tactics and impromptu handling drills, check. Beer, beer, beer faces, walk home, check. Pace line, endurance ride, tire change, mechanicals, pump in spokes, heated words, check. Good times, good teammates, good rides, check. Prepared by Coach Bill, we are ready to exit the nebula and roll the hard six. Spool up the FTL and prepare to jump.

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  8. 3/10/09
    Because I am still dealing with fatigue issues, I did the Wednesday E workout on Tuesday and will go to the Park for the LT work on Wednesday. During the E work I have been focusing on maintaining a higher cadence. As Ed noted in his Blog, higher cadences seem to translate into more sustainable power numbers over varied terrain. Guess I may see some teammates while there!

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  9. 3/11/09
    2x20 min LTs in the Park. Bill and I hooked up for the LT workout in the park, but to avoid the "greyhound effect" we started our intervals a minute a part. I was nervous about performing the work since I have been feeling so fatigued lately, but it went well. As usual the cpu information was slightly different from the download data. cpu showed average watts at 268 and 270 for each interval, but download shows both at 269. Interestingly the second interval was .5 mph faster on both the cpu and download. A quick glance at the graph shows that the second run was more uniform in power output and cadence. Re-read the link Greg sent with the Allen Lim interview. It's frakin pacing! Power is a good, but we still need to focus on the right amount of cadence and pacing to create SPEED. I've requisitioned a full load of tillium for the FTL drive on Sunday, hopefully it will arrive on time. P.S. It was good to see my teammates in the Park at the end of the workout. Shout outs to Greg, Jeff, and Ed. Missed Jinksy but heard he was on the way too.

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  10. 3/12/09
    On the advice of Bill, I re-visited the E workout from Tuesday. Probably a wise thing to keep the legs fresh. It is looking like the Dismal Dash will live up to its name AGAIN! Hopefully Saturday will remain dry enough to get a check ride outside on the TT rig. So say we all.

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  11. 3/15/09
    Dismal Dash TT
    I did not have the energy to bother with downloading power data from the TT, but early observations would indicate lower power numbers than I would have liked. That being said, so frakin' watt! It was wet, cold and nasty, but we were racing anyway. This is always a benchmark race for me so despite the below par performance in the third quarter of the course, and some mechanical issues with the bike, I am pleased with the time and placement of my finish (1:01:54 4th place). Special thanks to Jeff for all his help. Shout outs to the Renegades who made the race. Thank the gods for compression tights, arnica oil, and single malt scotch.

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  12. 3/16/09
    Raw and it aint oysters.

    Admiral Adamo? There is an area on my body that is so raw that shower water stings like a mother frakker. I believe this to be directly related to riding on the rivet at the DD TT. After hearing Jordan's review of his ISM Adamo saddle and being The Old Man I have asked Dre' to order the Admiral Adamo saddle. Hears to future comfort.

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  13. OK, three BWR training logs and theres mention of Dead Guys IPA AND! Single Malt Scotch. I was relegated to a 40 of SCHLITZ from the Sulfolk quick mart. Just 'cause I'm a Renegade, aint no reason to treat me THAT bad.

    Hey, nice numbers, you had a great race. I thought you had second place.

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  14. 3/18/09
    2x20 min LT

    I needed the extra day's recovery so I just did an "E" Ride on Tuesday (plus I needed my energy for a night of St. Patrick's Day Dead Guy Ale). Wednesday's 2x20 min LT went better than expected with the first interval at 280 watts average and the second at 278 watts average. I know where the difference was on the second interval because I lost focus on a downhill section and let the power drop, as well as some pedestrian avoidance in the turn around that suspended power delivery. It is becoming ever more clear that power alone is not the recipe for success, but the management of power in terms of cadence and delivery of said power (or lack thereof). Jeff, Bill and Ed were in Park at the same time and Jeff in motor racing terms explained the phenomenon I just tried to describe. Something about torque conversion, aerodynamics, weight etc. Bottom line was going faster using less power is good, such that adding power at a later point will bring higher speeds. Off for some flatland wind riding in the OBX. Be safe, have fun and wish little brother Bill, Happy Birthday

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  15. 3/20/09
    6x6 min LT

    As if these are not hard enough, try adding a 20+mph headwind! Oddly, in order to keep some consistency in power I had to go to a lower cadence. Too much data for this post, but power was 282, 283, 277, 275, 274, 271. Now for a BSG marathon and the big finale. I will frakking miss this show. Spool up the FTL , let's roll the hard six.

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  16. 3/21/09
    Corolla-Duck Classic

    With just a little over 10K to go in the 31K winter classic Corolla-Duck I decided that the peloton was just trying to survive the brutal head winds. Just as Cancellara in Milan-San Remo did last year I Iaunched my attack. No one from the peloton could match the acceleration or pace and for the next 20 minutes I soloed as the 20+ mph winds and 45 degree temperatures drove the rest of the groupetto into hiding. 10.04 K, 18.66 mph, 89 rpm, 154 avg.Hr, 258 avg watts. As I crossed the finish line I made the victory salute of single malt scotch swirling in fine crystal. Phil and Paul were incredulous!

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  17. Wait a minute, was this an actual race? If so, congrats and it sounds like you showed the Carolina boys how BikeWorks rides! Or maybe you were just describing your ride home into a headwind one day and I'm going to look like a fool!

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  18. 3/24/09
    What did Mr. T say? Pity the Fool

    Sorry, it was a Cylon mental projection that allowed me to endure the suffering of the long upwind slog as inspired by Ed and Bill's report from the same day. Thought the Phil and Paul reference would be a clue.

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  19. Steve, feel free to paruse Quadzilla blog. I'm training and blogging. Speaking of which, are you doing the Casey Auto Group Crit at NN?

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  20. 3/24/09
    Easy Big Fella

    Well at least that is the way it felt, easy and I'm a big fella. 1 hour E on the rollers followed by Guiness Steal the Glass Night. 6 x 20oz and roll me home. Quadzilla, yes I will probably hit the Casey Crit on the way home from spring break.

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  21. 6 Guiness? Is that for real? Man, the old guy can TT me into the ground AND out drink me. I guess I'm the only member of the BikeWorks women's squad!

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  22. 3/25/09
    Watt You Got

    Road in the Park this afternoon and ran into Bill. We did the five sprints together and compared wattage. Although I was able to keep Bill on a string (my term for not letting him pull away beyond a bike length)I could not match his wattage numbers. Somtimes I think I'm a flourescent rider in an incandescent world.

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  23. 3/28/09
    Go Go Test

    After some internal debate I decided the gastrointestinal issues had subsided and it was time to test. While warming up I was able to get a shout out from not so big anymore Ben. The test felt hard, but fast and the numbers seemed to bear that out:

    3/28 test:
    316 watts
    22.64 mph
    87 rpm
    176 HR

    Prior test:
    299 watts
    21.32 mph
    86 rpm
    174 HR

    Something seems to be working!

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  24. 3/29/09
    Turning Up the Heat

    Me, Greg, Dre, Ken, Jack and Ben hooked up for a 2 hour fast paced ride Sunday at 11:00. Temperatures were perfect, but the wind was a howlin'. Ken decided it was good kite flying weather so he brought out the deep dish wheels. Single pacelines were difficult into the head/cross winds but we managed a good effort. Downwind was a diesel's delight, just putting down the power strokes. Greg put in a strong pull to bring us to the finish. I was looking to Jens Voight the sprinters in the field, but an ill timed traffic light put an end to that attempt. A good day.

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