Track workout this AM and 3x20 on the rollers at the cycling gym in the PM. Both workouts felt chainless.

Intervals this morning at 0600. Whew. Kicked my butt! I might not have been completely warmed up when I started them. I blew the third interval, had to slow down and breathe. After that, I felt okay and hit the targets. Then came sprints, starting from an almost dead stop. Talk about hurt. My legs feel like rubber. Thank heavens for the foam roller or they'd feel worse.

Still recovering from a workout class that became a personal training session when I was the only one signed up. TallWife was in the preceding class, and told the instructor, Cola, to make me cry. Cola said she'd have me crying in the fetal position, and she almost did. Yowza. It had been many many weeks since a workout of that type, and I had done FTP intervals that morning. Massage and recovery ride yesterday helped, as did the opener this morning.

A local club decided to do something about our ridiculous lack of spring races, and they are running two crit's: tomorrow and the Memorial Day weekend. I'm racing 60+ (combined with the 55's) and then the 45+, after a one race gap. It's a fast and flat course, with short duration races because the venue needs to be cleared early afternoon. Plan in the 60+ is to start or join the winning break, so I'll want to stay near the front constantly. If it's together at the end, I'll need to attack at ~3 to go. Plan in the 45+ is to not get dropped (typically only the P12 is faster than our M45+), and help our fast guy.

I felt the effects of work, a week of increasingly hard training, and an early, early morning on the training ride this AM. 0600, on the TT bike, got a good warmup, and then 20 minutes max effort. That was the plan, anyway. My lower back is sore, my legs are sore in places they usually aren't sore, and my shoulders are sore! My heart rate wouldn't go above 149. Power was way down. I'm learning to read my body, and all of that tells me I'm tired. Work weeks are the worst, because work stresses me out and I have precious little time to get in some training. I make do. At least I don't go backwards. Ex has has had me on the TT bike a lot this week, and apparently I use enough different muscles in my legs and back that different things hurt. Today's hurt was NOT lactate, it was just plain old sore muscles! Well, it didn't kill me, so I must be getting stronger. Right?

Right!!!

I was able to read this...so, good! ;)

Saturday's Goal: 3 hour solo endurance ride with focus on maximum speed possible with 3x3 minute max power efforts.

Typically, we have a coach supported group ride on Saturday or Sunday but last weekend, Dmitriy was attending and supporting two races that his athletes were competing in. So the other athletes scatter to their respective activities and favorite rides.

I am sitting with Dmitriy and we are talking about my training and the weekend and he says, "you must exactly do ride at maximum speed possible on this course for an average speed of X". I say, that speed is done on our group rides when we have our really fast guys driving the pace. Yes, but you can do it. Okay, but would it not be better to focus on tempo power? No, exactly must focus on speed. Not win race with power but speed.

I rejigger a Garmin screen to focus on speed and average speed and off I go. And it is really windy.

The way out is mostly uphill with our standard 60 feet of climbing per mile with the wind at my back. I am on target speed and find that focusing on speed resulted in using a lot more power. However, it did not feel that hard. I did cheat a little an look at power just to make sure I did not overcook the meal on the way out.

The way back was into the wind and I kept losing speed to time but found myself constantly looking for speed in position and cadence - anyway I could get it. I did the 3x3 minutes on the most difficult sections of the course.

I ended up 1 mph under target but the fastest solo ride of my life over that distance. Also, I had the most Kj per hour and greatest average power for a tempo ride. I felt great at the end and did a 20 minute high cadence low power roller workout the next day.

Heavens, Hermes - that's impressive!

4 x 5 minute intervals above FTP were on tap for today, on the TT bike. The later part of this week has been less than easy because of fatigue induced by work stress. I wasn't exactly looking forward to today's ride, because I had doubts I could sustain the power levels four times in a row. I did some considering, in that the important races are getting ready to start, and I need to do the intensity.

So, I did. It was hard to maintain an even power output because of the nature of the course I chose, but I mostly kept the power above FTP for each interval (remind me to select Avg Pwr on the Garmin display so I stop chasing it), and I was going some kind of fast. I also was able to do all four intervals.

That was encouraging!

Alright, Sara's getting her groove on! :)

I hope so, Chuck! I surely want it.

It might be too early yet to say anything is different, but todays ride, even in (what's probably going to be record) heat was pretty good. I'm getting up hills and sitting in that Pain Cave with more tolerance than I did just a week ago. I don't want to be too encouraged, it might just have been a good day. But, yesterday was better than I expected, too - especially considering where I am in my work week.

You build from days like this. Please send some of that weather out this way. This 40 degrees and rain crap is affecting my training.

It's 68 and sunny down here. Just sayin'...

AKA "worst known combination of conditions and temperature."


It drove me onto the trainer today where I failed to complete the prescribed workout (2x8 vo2max). I have no doubt I could have done it outside.

Failing at vo2max intervals is a double whammy because you still get the fatigue. :(

It's headed your way. It should be there in four or five days. :)

I was thinking as I was going up the rollers for the second time "this isn't hurting as much as it should". Begs the question what "should" really is!

Globecanvas, vo2max on the trainer? Ohhhhh, my.....

Four would be great. Race day. Back to a course I won on many years ago. Haven't been back since.

:)

Here's to winning on your return!

+1!

I attended a racing clinic put on by my race team today. We covered all sorts of items, from "argy-bargy" to different sorts of pacelines, to getting your sprinter over the hard climb, and finally a lead-out train. We also did some motor pacing, which was not easy! It was one HARD day in the saddle. The power numbers weren't that high, neither was the heart rate, but the TSS? 204. Ugh....

I would have loved that clinic!!!!

I thought of you, I really did!

wow sara your clinic sounds great!

I did the BRAC women's road clinic yesterday - we did skills drills on grass and pavement and some paceline practice - which was terrifying, because my little group had some people who never rode in a group before, it was really sketchy. But way better they are learning that stuff out there with some friendly people coaching them than trying to figure it out for the first time in a race.

Me too, I need something like that...except for the part about getting your sprinter over hard climbs, we don't have any. Of either. :p

So what's this "training" thing?

Been off the bike for several days. Life and travel stuff. This season is a total wash out so far. Got my epidural tomorrow, today I am going to try to get out and ride after doing some work on the bikes.