Armstrong High Cadence on your low intensity rides - Page 3

Holy Crap...Swampy, I had no idea that you were getting up to these levels. A big congrats goes out to you. I thought you were still having some health issues last I remember and you said you were taking it quite light.

Again really nice numbers...you did this during a race or a training ride? I have to look up some of your recent posts but were you doing the 20 minute intervals?

What do you think your FTP is? Going to get back into TT?

-js

Thanks

To be honest I felt f#$king great the past few weeks - not really sure why but they just have. I've noticed that I go through periods of good and bad form and I can't figure out why... I keep fairly good records of diet, rest, training, when I've forgot to take medication, weather (noting air quality advisories) etc... but I can go from a couple of hours at 280+watts to struggling to hold 260 for 20 minutes. It still feels like the breathing is hindered and the pulmonologist is somewhat mystified as to how I'm doing what I'm doing on my bike. But, I'll take what I have and let him think about it.

I did a Monod test a couple of weeks ago and it spat out an FTP of approx 348watts... so, I was in the market for bumping up the training a little and felt motivated. It wasn't the best of nights but then again you rarely get them during races anyway. I actually set out to just to do 90 minutes but I just decided to do one more lap and go for 2 hours...

Right now my legs feel like solid blocks of iron - lots of 2.5 to 4 hour rides that too be honest have been a little too hard. I've got just over another week of training before backing off a bit for the Alta Alpina 200 mile dash through the mountains... I got WKO+ a few days ago and took a look at the Performance Manager Chart and it's, well, not the best... LOL. That TSB line is telling me exactly what my legs are telling me. The past three weeks have been like being on a training holiday in the Tenerife or Majorca back when I raced.

Racing - that's a tricky one. I stopped racing cars so I wouldn't have to spend a whole day out and about racing and neglect the wife n kids. I got back on the bike so I could do something and not get caught up in that... So, I might do some races that are real close but apart from that I'm not looking for a full seasons worth of events. There's a mid week timetrial series about 30 miles from here. One I lose the gut and can actually reach the armrests on the time trial bike with my elbows once again, I might give that a go. I figure the old campag shamals and vittoria tubs might need some new glue though!

Based on the results of the medication I would say KEEP TAKING IT! I mean the results are amazing. 2 hours above 300 watts is quite a feat and to have an estimated ftp about 350 makes you wonder how you could have any medical issues really.

As far as the racing I understand completely but with your numbers and your obvious love of TT based upon your posts I would say you should definitely give it a try. When I was trying to race I was doing those daybreak races so that I could be home before the wife and kid woke up.

Good luck on your dash through the mountains...so not to bring up a soar subject vut do you attest any of your results to the powercranks?

In anycase great work and good luck going forward.

-js

I'll give some of the TT's a go. Not sure about this year though but I'll get around to something. Maybe some local crits and roadraces too... just don't expect any race reports from racing in SoCal or Nevada though.

As far as the pulmonary issues go, I know I have a reduced lung volume - 4.2liters and apparently for a guy who's 5'11" that's way below average. My FEF 25/75 and FEV 6 are 61% and 50% of "normal" - how this effects me I don't know but that hasn't changed much in the past year. I passed out just before the 6 second mark of my last set of tests. LOL The doc thinks that losing weigh could be my best bet in this oddity.

As for the PowerCranks... I certainly feel more 'at ease' when going hard. Does this mean I got better because of them? Not sure... but I definitely not expecting numbers like that this year. But the best thing is that automatic "getting that gear over nicely - I'm flying" feeling when you're back on regular cranks.

But still top of the priority list - get rid of more weight. Down to 175lbs... from a high this year of 192.