'long time'

It has been a few 'days' since I laste posted some on my training. In chronological order I dit the following:

On Monday 25-11 I did TR Gayley which basically were 4 x 8 minutes in zone 5. I did them at 95% because I did not feel too well.

Total NP 257, AP 235

1)290 W,HR 147,cad 100
2) 290 W,HR 149,cad100
3) 290 W.HR 151,cad100
4) 295 W,HR 154,cad 101 (last 2 min above 300 watt)
PW/HR 1.54%

It felt alright in the end.

On Wednesday I just wanted to do something different so I did TR Mount Major: ''Group ride-like workout where riders spend a total of 33 minutes in the Sweet Spot (upper-Tempo/lower-Threshold) @ 85-95% FTP with the remaining time riding Aerobic Endurance between 55-75% FTP; 2-minute AE stretches between Sweet Spot efforts.
3x10-second Strength Sprints are included at the beginning of the ride to continue Force production capability as well as thoroughly warm rider.''

My first 6 minutes went wrong because TR got stuck. Instead of a WKO image this time a view on how it looks on the TR internet site:

I did not feel too well which can also be seen w.r.t my HR (PW/HR was 6.99%). Anyway, I did the watts and that's w(h)at(t)s important. When training on HR I would be training at too little stress.

Friday I did TR Newcomb: 4 sets of 2x4min Force Intervals between 90-95% of FTP; 2RBI/2RBS. Since I have been doing a lot of cadence work last time this was a nice way to focus on muscular strength. I did them around a cadence of 76. Unfortunately I could not do them with lower cadence, I already had the large chainring and smallest cog. Better would have been a cadence of around 60 but with that my watts would be too low. I nailed them very very easily with quite low heart rate on average 140. PW/HR was -3.96%. This rate is negative which means that in the second half of the workout my power came more in alignment that in the first half, although there was no real difference in the variability in the effort. Just start-up problems you could say ;) At my age I am becoming a diesel.....

On Sunday I did a 100km endurance ride outside. It went quite well, but since the roads weren't too good (it had rained days before) I rode on my X-bike. It went quite well. Halfway I passed a group and decided to stay there for a while since every now and then they did some surges and it was OK to have the feeling of a peleton. And since the roads weren;t too good I had to concentrate myself inbetween the pack. Last hour or so I decided to ride alone again. I guestimated my TSS at 144 (185 minutes, 205 NP).

Last Wednesday I did TR Cardinal. "3x10min intervals in 95-99%FT range where riders spend 1-2min at a time standing. Workout also includes 6min of low-cadence ILT (one-leggers). Target RPM while seated is 90+ and while standing is 60-80rpm depending on ability."

I did not do the standing part since I do not like to put stress on my bike when being on the trainer. It went well again. No problems really. PW:HR was -5.6% and laps were done at 296 watts.

Today I did TR Huffaker. This was basically my first workout coming in VO2max zone. "6x3-minute VO2max intervals done in 2 sets of 3 intervals where intervals quickly ramp up to the highest sustainable yet repeatable intensity you can handle. Adjust the Workout Intensity as necessary once you find this repeatable wattage. Rest between the intervals is 3 minutes and rest between the sets of intervals is 8 minutes; warmup includes 4 high-intensity priming efforts. " As I first saw it I though: Yikes.....

I did have to say I have adjusted my FTP to 315 watts (result I got I few weeks ago). Reason is that I have seen improvement in watts and the HR I have to put in and (interval)training at FTP on 305 seems to become less and less stressful.



1) 345 W,HR 160,cad 110
2) 358 W,HR 160, cad 110
3) 375 W,HR 165,cad 101
4) 375 W,HR 166,cad 100
5) 358 W,HR 166,cad 99
6) 343 W,HR 166,cad 108

Given also my maximum HR went to 182 which has been a long time I have to say it was a hard workout but I did manage to do the watts that were necessary. And guys.....always those last minute. When you enter the last minute of those intervals it always start to hurt. First two minutes I always seem to be able to control my effort and my breathing but as soon as I enter that last minute I just feel my breathing goes more deeply and I just start to feel my lungs. That said I know (I feel) I am doing good.
 

The above table shows my recovery HR for the intervals. It measures the drop (relative and absolute) of the HR at end of the interval untill 1 minute later, between 1 and 2 minutes and between end of interval and 2 minutes. Basically I recovered best in terms of HR from the first interval. After that the drop in HR was quite constant after one minute. The same holds when looking at the drops from the end of the interval until 2 minutes later. To me this figure looks quite good. Quite stable recovery rates so not a real clear sign of acummulated fatigue.

OK in terms of HR and power for the intervals you see that on average my HR stays constant at 166 eventhough the wattages fluctuate. I explained a while ago that I do not cool myself with fans or whatsoever.......

So, a good first VO2max workout. When I have time I want to write a short overview of the last two months and a small look forward to put things in perspective since I ended my first cycle of training and entering a new one.