Jordan's Training

October 26- November 1

The week got off to a strong start as we gathered Monday after work for the final group ride of the season. I stoked on the back of my buddy's tandem road bike and we basically put the hurt on everyone, with only one rider left hanging on at the final sprint. It was my first time on a tandem and an interesting experience.

Tuesday was the usual VO2 and sprint work at spin class. Wednesday the new chain finally came in for the 10-speed and I was able to try out the 404s on a 2-hour ride. Rode at 100% the first hour, with a NP of 310 watts, then rode at 90% on the return tailwind trip. The wheels were great - stiff in accelerations, smooth riding, and they corner so much more smoothly than the old Ksyriums.

Thursday saw 45 min of tempo on the trainer, Friday was 80 minutes of sweet spot tempo, and Saturday was a good 2 hours of endurance and low tempo riding (fortunately no rain!). Today I awoke with a bit of scratch in the throat, so it's rest and recovery, fluids and vitamin C drops in the hopes of fighting off whatever virus is trying to get in.

October 19-25

Another solid week of riding. Keeping the volume moderate, 7-10 hours and about 100-180 miles per week. With weekday evening daylight coming to an end shortly, I'm sure the volume will have to decrease just a bit with the intensity staying in the tempo zone - to get the most bang for the buck.

The weekly group ride remains the highlight of each week's riding, with a good group of 4-5 of us hammering at 24+ mph for 50-75 minutes every Wednesday. This weekend was a bit busy with filming, which consisted of sitting around watching it rain for 6 hours on Saturday and then doing 45-second all-out hill intervals all day Sunday. So those were good training, at least.

One more week of after-work rides outdoors, and then it's trainer time during the week! Yippee!

October 12-18

Last week saw a bit less volume due to traveling down to NC over the weekend, but I did get in a couple of really fine tempo rides as well as a stellar 23 mile race-effort TT on Saturday down near Wilmington. That area of NC replicates the typical VA TT conditions perfectly - flat, windy, and similar road surfaces.

Weight loss continues to progress, although at slower rate than the first couple of weeks. That's good, because too fast and I tend to lose power. So far I am still putting out the same power as before, but with less translational mass.

To further motivate me, I usually invest in something new for the bike each off season, when there's a lot of good, lightly used stuff that folks are unloading because they either never really used it or they've got to have new stuff every year. So I am excitedly awaiting a used set of 404's that I hope to use next season in the crits, road races, and hill climbs. I've got a different plan for the 2010 season than last year (read - NOT the 40-49 BAR) which will hopefully involve more mass start racing, so a faster set of wheels is a must.

October 5-11

Ah, the joys of autumn! Starting the weight loss phase which of course is always a lesson in will power and hunger pains. Once you're there, it's fine, but it's the getting there that is not so much fun. Down to 168.5, aiming for 160 by Wintergreen.

Getting in some good solo rides, anywhere from 1-3 hours usually, and then a great group ride once per week. Weekends are for the longer endurance expeditions. Did 97 miles a couple of weeks ago with a buddy. Fun times.

Well it's Atlantic City for me and the wife this weekend, celebrating 10 years of marital bliss. My goal is to come home and NOT find out that I've gained back all the weight I've lost thus far. I think if I have access to a fitness center at the hotel, I can do that. We'll see.