shovelhd

From what you have been posting, I could have told you that.

Cleave

Assuming the race is in NorCal as the Eldo race is off this week.

Cleave

Thought I should do an FTP test as I hadn't done one in almost a year. Failed it miserably.

revchuck 

Openers for the stage race this weekend, first race since the crash. 1:10 at endurance pace, with 3x1' VO2 max and 3x30" sprints. Strava link if you want to chuckle at my sprint power.

IBOHUNT

2:18 ride. 42 mi/3100' gain
IF 0.92
TSS 173

Included
15:30 @ 100%
40 seconds rest
12:00 @ FTP

Then 1 hr at @ 90%

Did some rFTP (raft FTP) work in the pool then a 5.2 mile recovery ru*

My raft FTP is pretty strong.

IBOHUNT

Good luck and please, stay safe

IBOHUNT

IBOHUNT

I listened to all ya'll and will continue to do so.

IBOHUNT

3 hrs of just riding ended up being 50 miles with 4200' gain
IF 0.82
TSS 177

sarals 

sarals 

Work has had me buried this week. My riding has been early, early and I've been so busy and have gotten home so late at night I haven't had a chance to stick my nose in everyone's business here. Oh, I and I bought another old motorcycle. A 1989 NT650 Hawk GT. It was way less money than my least expensive bicycle!

Ex and I are going to try to build my aerobic capacity. He told me earlier in the week that I'm up 10% over last year, which was a real surprise, because my perception of this season is that it has been worse than last year (it has been, but mainly because of unrealistic expectations on my part and tougher competition). Anyway, the schedule said to do some ten minute TT's above FTP yesterday, so I went out at 6AM to get them in before work. Fail. Because. The power meter. DIED. That hub is so fond of batteries.

New batteries in the hub, new morning, and I was tired from work yesterday, but so what. The first TT interval was not so good, I had to back out half way through it to recover and then go back in. My warmup wasn't there, yet. The second TT interval was much better. I mostly held above FTP for the allotted time.

I was also looking for answers as to why my right leg goes numb on me during TT's. I tried different shoes this morning (no wedge under the right cleat) to see if that made a difference. Nothing definitive there.

I am liking my position on the bike better as I get used to it. My elbow pads were moved in, and the saddle up and forward. I think the saddle might be able to go up slightly more, but, small changes, one at a time!

shovelhd

10% is a really nice improvement. Gains like that don't come easy.

My groin pull continues to heal, but it's still sore. I took today off to enjoy day 1 of vacation but I will be back in the bike tomorrow. I will try some tempo intervals. The finger is still splinted and will remain so until next Friday. When I take the splint off the finger is still swollen and red. I'd be really surprised if it wasn't broken. My left eye pressure is still too high even though I'm on four different eye drops. Today is a good vision day, which has been exceedingly rare of late. When I go from a lit room to a darkened hallway it blacks out almost completely. I don't know if it's the eye or the drugs. I want to see a different doctor.

My LBS gave me a pro deal on a new saddle which I will try out tomorrow. Looking at 11speed wheels, it's almost impossible to get 11 speed without wide rims. I don't know what my frame can fit. CDR has been helping me out as his frames are super tight and he runs wide wheels. I may have to go custom. But that's a problem for another day. First I need to heal, then I need to decide what to do about the rest of my bike racing career. Everything is up in the air. It's a curious time in my life.

IBOHUNT

10% is awesome.

Give the shoes some time. I was told to use a different pair for my Morton's garbage but I'm to old and stubborn (read, the bike shoes I'm using have done well for me the past 2 TTs, not changein!)

IBOHUNT

Hope you recover quick. The eye thing would bother me.

Hermes

ShovelHD, Is the eye problem a result of the crash and / or medication given for crash symptoms? I suspect you hit your head when you crashed even if it was inconsequential at the time. Stay on top of that situation.

Hermes

Sara, Your right leg going numb when TTing is not normal and is bad. You may be getting some nerve compression in your back. And if your leg goes numb, I do not see how you can make as much power even though I suspect there is compensation from your other leg.

sarals 

Hermes, I appreciate that. I'm concerned about it. I just don't know what to do. It doesn't happen on the road bike, and it hasn't happened yet in training on the TT bike. I'm doing something different when I'm racing the TT bike. As for power, there is most definitely "a hitch in my giddy-up" when that leg goes away. I've found shifting up to keep pressure on helps. It happens around twenty minutes or so into a race. It starts as a "falling asleep" tingling in my right foot, and within a few minutes the whole leg is tingling, and then it's asleep.

Shovel, your eye issue has me concerned, too. As for your racing career, you do what you need to, but you are such a gift and a force in this sport, at least to me/us, that there would be a huge void if you hung up your cleats. Just so you know.

I *** this morning. Just twenty minutes, 10:30 or so pace, as directed by the Coach. I enjoy ****ing! Even though my hip plexors don't.

Hermes

Sara, Try training on your TT bike as a dress rehearsal for a race - helmet, skin suit and etc.

sarals 

I will.

shovelhd

No, I have glaucoma. I never hit my head in this crash. I have been treating it with drops and surgery for several years. My right eye is fine. 20/15 and stable pressures. My left eye after three laser surgeries is not good. I don't know if it had anything to do with the crash. The rider that chopped me came from the left. It's hard to say. The next step is surgery with a knife. Unfortunately hard exercise drives up the pressures. If I can't get this fixed my career is over.

revchuck 

For my TT last weekend, my average power was 285 watts (3.8 miles, 10:31). My FTP based on the CTS field test I did shortly after getting back on the bike in May was 230; using the CTS method of AP of an eight minute TT*.9= FTP, my FTP should be 256 - just over a 10% increase. I mentioned this to my coach in my post-race email but haven't heard back from her yet. I guess I know now why the workouts have felt relatively easy. If she adjusts my training ranges to coincide with this, I'll be back in the hurt locker again during intervals. I've got over-unders and climbing repeats coming up. Wunnerful!

Racer Ex 

IBOHUNT

I was encountering the same issue of using an incorrect FTP number for training. The scenario was

Test in early Feb = 258
Then surgery and 8 or so weeks off the bike
Ride a crap load and base a number off a 20 min hard effort = 273. I didn't believe it at the time because I'd never though one could gain like that
Ask for help here at the end of May when Hermes, AzTallRider, shovelhd, yourself and others were answering my noob questions and the number is now 290. One of the things I recall being written was, and I'll paraphrase "An entire weeks worth of TSS in a day"

For the record I *still* don't believe the number, the progression is way to fast. Feb 2013 was my first ever test and that number was 239 so how do I gain ~20 over a year then go from 258 > 290 in months?

My guess is your coach will be changing you number and I look forward to that.
Feel free to print out one of those stem stickers now #AWESOME

IBOHUNT

6.5 mile of ru**i*g yesterday. Morton's neuroma sucks. Sure hope the orthodic comes in soon.

dadof7

Sara, my very rare 2 cents. try psoas stretches and piriformis stretches. Tingling is usually a "soft" nerve pressure which would be a muscle.