It's killing me but..........

[jsirabella]

Well I thought today was going to be a loss and while I did not get what I wanted done I am happy that I somehow got in some time. My CT setup is in the factory and today when the snow was coming down I just did not think I was going to get into the factory. I did have some work so I decided to venture out and made it there. Getting back, now that was about a 30 mph venture, sliding left an right but made that too.

Back to the ride though, I was surprised to feel beat up but I did and really wanted to turn my 3x25 to a 2x40 but when I got into my first 40 I knew I was going to finish it but I had a feeling baed upon the amount of effort involved the chances of finishing the 2nd were against me. I am not sure if any of you have gone through it but you know if you take the 5 minute break between intervals that you are not going to get back up to that wattage again but you can probably get more time out of the current interval that you first planned on. Well for me today I am pretty sure I could have probably gotten another 20 minutes out of that first interval but instead was stubborn and went into the second interval and dies about 10 minutes in.

Well if you do go through this, wonder how you folks approach it or would approach it?

Still happy in my determination to get and ride the bike today though and hoping it does to rain so can get back there tomorrow.

-js

 

[maxroadrash]

JS-
I know exactly what you mean. When I feel like it might be really tough to get on top of that 2nd interval, instead of doing a real rest interval, I do a minute or 2 of rest and then start ramping it back up to about 80-85% by the time the next one starts. That's gotten me through on some days when I would've gotten a big fat fail. It's one reason I like to concentrate on 1X40-45. It's just easier to keep my motor running.
max

 

[Sillyoldtwit]

Hi Everyone. Still have not ventured anywhere near the CT. It's as yet locked away in the garden shed. At the mo am just trying to get as many miles under my belt as poss before I start the real "killing me" sessions on the CT. Hope to get in in 3 or 4 workouts on the CT before it is permanently rigged up on Xmas day until the 5th of Jan. I don't anticipate coming in at much above 170 Watts for 30 minutes. However, watch this space on the 5th of Jan next year. JS I'm on your tail, you're my initial inspiration.!:big-smile: Out on the road (flat) am surprised to find I can still cruise solo at 35kph - way better than when I first joined this forum (thanks to Rapdaddyo and others) where I was struggling to draft at 30kph.. If I don't post again before Xmas, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to all on this thread and in particular to Felt who has endeavoured to keep this thread up and running; fast approaching half a million views! Who'd have thought it possible back in 2006.

Tyson

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by maxroadrash
I would've gotten a big fat fail. It's one reason I like to concentrate on 1X40-45. It's just easier to keep my motor running.
max

max, I know what you mean by feeling like it is a big fat fail. I will give the 2 minute rest a try. I just knew yesterday if I stopped that pace I had going, it was not coming back. I actually decided today to change things up just a little. Luckily most of the snow/ice turned to slush around here so I could get in normally enough without sliding all over the place. Since it was Sunday I did not do my usual warm up which usually included 1 interval @ 100% ftp which is ~ 240 and the on/off for >100 rpm and really do not believe that did the trick but I was able to complete the 2 x 40 with no real issues. In fact I decided to put a hard 10 minute effort at the end of 220. I simply just kept rising the wattage the first 20 minutes till I hit 195-200 and kept it for 40 minutes and than 5 minutes off and another 40 minutes in the 195-200 again. It is about 5 watts less on the interval I was trying to hit yesterday but the difference was huge today. I just do not get it sometimes.

sot, looking forward to the reports and a wise decision to set your radar on me, go for the easy target first and than you can graduate to the felt, bp and bg level....

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by jsirabella
sot, looking forward to the reports and a wise decision to set your radar on me, go for the easy target first and than you can graduate to the felt, bp and bg level....

-js

js, I have to correct you that I am the first rung on the ladder as SOT climbs back into fitness. Based on your stated FTP that you are using and the numbers you are sustaining in training you have already surpassed me. It won't take SOT to catch me if he sticks with it.

 

[Sillyoldtwit]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider

js, I have to correct you that I am the first rung on the ladder as SOT climbs back into fitness. Based on your stated FTP that you are using and the numbers you are sustaining in training you have already surpassed me. It won't take SOT to catch me if he sticks with it.

STICKS being the operative word

Tyson

 

[maxroadrash]

Originally Posted by Sillyoldtwit
STICKS being the operative word

Tyson

Come now Tyson, you've never lacked of intestinal fortitude.
Max

 

[Sillyoldtwit]

Originally Posted by maxroadrash
Come now Tyson, you've never lacked of intestinal fortitude.
Max

True, but on the other hand I've never been 71 before.

 

[maxroadrash]

Originally Posted by Sillyoldtwit
True, but on the other hand I've never been 71 before.

And I've never been 65. Age only makes us more stubborn. BTW- with my pathetic 185w FTP I believe I'M
First on your radar. Have at it.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by jsirabella

1 interval @ 100% ftp which is ~ 240 .......

-js

Nice progress!
Seems like not long ago you were using 220.

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider

Nice progress!
Seems like not long ago you were using 220.

Thanks Felt...

That number is based upon my outdoor rides during August. I am really hoping to hit that 220 for 2 hours which I used to do fairly frequently in a former life.

-js

 

[Sillyoldtwit]

Originally Posted by maxroadrash
And I've never been 65. Age only makes us more stubborn. BTW- with my pathetic 185w FTP I believe I'M
First on your radar. Have at it.

So people are now lining up like lambs to the slaughter. LOL

At the front of the line we have max, closely followed by Felt with JS holding up the rear. That should keep me busy well into the new year.

Tyson

 

[Felt_Rider]

Tyson, a few us will be easy prey for you, but for regular contributors on this thread sitting way up there on the top rung is bgoetz waiting for you.

 

[Felt_Rider]

I cannot get a break this December (much like last December). This month frustrates the snot out of me with interruptions of social events that I have to attend, constant rain and self sabotage last week where I overreached training legs and was so extremely sore I could barely churn out L2. Even last night as I was about to get on the bike to train my wife gets home and has an issue with her car that had to be repaired before her commute this morning. I spent a couple of hours working on her car. Then at work there is the year end push from our clients throwing some last moment projects on us.

Good thing is I have the last two weeks off and hope to get in some daily efforts if weather allows and if not will hopefully get in some solid indoor efforts. My blog post a couple days ago reflecting some holes in training and even when I have trained it has not been good quality.

http://thecyclingaddiction.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-reflection.html

Easy prey for Tyson. I am just hoping for a good restart in January for both quality and volume.

 

[Sillyoldtwit]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider


Easy prey for Tyson. I am just hoping for a good restart in January for both quality and volume.

Easy prey? Neigh!! If have you have ambition vis-a-vis cycling, the word "easy" should not appear in your vocab.

This applies to the Computrainer in particular. As I've said in more than one post in this thread, the CT has no compunction when it comes to mercilessly inflicting pain on those who have the temerity to mount it. Stop pedalling or reduce your cadence significantly and wallop, it becomes a lead-laden training animal.
Of course it's possible to considerably lower your power selection, and sail along as if you are on a Sunday School picnic, however, that is not the path to success.

Tyson

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider
This month frustrates the snot out of me with interruptions of social events that I have to attend, constant rain and self sabotage last week where I overreached training legs and was so extremely sore I could barely churn out L2. Even last night as I was about to get on the bike to train my wife gets home and has an issue with her car that had to be repaired before her commute this morning. I spent a couple of hours working on her car. Then at work there is the year end push from our clients throwing some last moment projects on us.

I believe I posted earlier but I go through similar situations. I go through times where I have too much time and over train or have no time and can not train for a weeks at a time and than when I do get on the bike I over do it in a different way to try and make up the lost time. It just does not work either way. I kind of look forward to retirement just to see how far I can take it if I can almost approach it like a job.

Even when I did go way out of my way to try and get that time on the bike when I traveled, I was so tired by fitting it in between working crazy hours that I am pretty sure I really did not see the true benefits. I mean when you are on a set for 18 hours straight, take a nap for a few hours and than get up, getting on a bike will probably not be the best training session.

-js

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by jsirabella
Thanks Felt...

That number is based upon my outdoor rides during August. I am really hoping to hit that 220 for 2 hours which I used to do fairly frequently in a former life.

-js

Stick with it. You'll get there.

I was looking through past rides on WKO and had to smile when just a few years ago I was putting out 300+watts for 2 hours. I just did 3 days of 2 to 3 hours at 210 watts and I'm f**ked. LOL.

I find that doing blocks of 8 to 10 weeks, rather than an infinite block of L2/L3 really helps. I know if I get a nice block of at least 8 weeks in then when I start to mix things up I'll be making bigger gains than I would have done if just sticking to L2/L3. That's not to say that L2/L3 is a waste of time, anything but... but IMHO, you need to put the hammer down and make bigger efforts in bigger gears at some point during your training. If you don't race then at somepoint in time you need to hit some hard 5 minute, 2 minute and 30 second efforts.

Don't be afraid to err a little on the low side when you first start to shorten the intervals. Don't be afraid to try anything with regards to training as long as it makes it more palatable. If you're doing 200watts for 2 hours, 220 for 1 and 240 for 20 minutes (just pulling numbers out of the air here), sit on 250 for a 5 minute interval and see how it feels. Try 260 after that. Heck, make it a 5 minute plus 1 minute ramp up if you need to or, as I used to do, don't let the effort go all the way down to 'recovery'. From what my lactate fried brain recalls, on really bad days on the trainer, I used to keep somewhere mid L2 inbetween intervals just because it made starting the next set so much easier. That it really didn't help me "feel better" after riding on the rivet for 5 minutes is neither here nor there...

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider
I cannot get a break this December (much like last December). This month frustrates the snot out of me with interruptions of social events that I have to attend, constant rain and self sabotage last week where I overreached training legs and was so extremely sore I could barely churn out L2. Even last night as I was about to get on the bike to train my wife gets home and has an issue with her car that had to be repaired before her commute this morning. I spent a couple of hours working on her car. Then at work there is the year end push from our clients throwing some last moment projects on us.

If you get a pattern that's consistent over a couple of years, plan ahead and train around it for next year. Make Sept, Oct and Nov incrementally harder with the expectation that December is going to be a potluck/random month where some training can be had and lots of events will get in the way.

For me, December has become a sort of scavenger month this year. Days off here and there with some unseasonably nice weather... I've been picking off a few extra rides. It's not really the best ploy for steady gains as my legs are toast but I'm enjoying it.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Swampy, I typically view December like you have stated knowing it is going to have these issues. I guess my frustration in that post is really for how the entire year played out. I can only hope that next year will be a bit better.

I cannot wait to get back to some long weekend rides. Whether it is useful training or not I have really come to like sitting down in aero on the TT bike churning out a good pace for 4 to 5 hours. That has become my favorite thing to do. By the time I am done all the stress of the week from work has been flushed out. One of my friends and former coworker that got me into cycling would say "everything is starting to feel good" after we were about 2 hours into a ride. I asked him what he meant one day and he said in was in context of flushing out the work week stress. I tend to agree with him.

I guess I just need some good flushing right now and these short indoor intervals are not getting it done. My wife can tell you I am a bit on the edge at the moment. I imagine she would like for me to get on a long ride too.

 

[swampy1970]

It's killing me... almost turned into I Killed It tonight.

Finally managed to find an ANT+ updater for my old PowerTap 2.4SL that I bought over 5 years ago and the update went well (as per the flashing lights on the updater module), but power didn't work. Figured I just needed to go into setup and get it to relearn the Hub ID. Couldn't find a hub. ****... As a last gasp I changed the batteries as I didn't know how long the old ones had been in the hub, despite it not flashing 'battery low' warning on the head unit. Changed the CPU battery too... Went back into setup and it learned the new Hub ID. I hate it when random **** like that happens. Maybe the fact that the hub no transmits ANT+ and PowerTap data requires a bit more juice from the batteries... Maybe just weird coincidence...

... but at least it's ready for the Garmin when it arrives.