Heathpack 

@Cleave @Hermes

They finally set the date for Santiago Cyn TT. May 7.

I'm super-irritated, that's the same day as Breathless Agony, which is the only big climbing thing I was planning this year. I spent months keeping April free just in case. And now they move the damn thing to May.

Not sure what I'm going to do.

revchuck 

5x5' intervals at 105% of threshold this morning. I did four of these last Tuesday and they felt really hard, this morning they were no big deal. I've noticed a hump I need to get past at about three minutes into threshold and above intervals, once past the hump the effort gets down into the "dull roar" category. 1:30, TSS 105, IF .83, 1010 kj.

chasm54

I'm similar. It feels as if these old blood vessels need to be forced open the first time, but then cooperate, so the repeats are easier than the initial effort. Until I'm knackered, of course...

Takes me longer to warm up these days, too.

Racer Ex 

Got out on the new TT bike yesterday. Did a few tweaks but mostly had it spot on. Waiting for the disc then will post pics. Today work got away from me. Stage race this weekend so a little more rest won't kill me, plus it's going to be a balmy 60+ tomorrow.

sarals 

Yesterday was the first day on the bike in three days. Oh, how my body appreciates the rest! PR'ed lots of Strava segments (segments because other people ride where I do and made them segments), climbed really well, held Barb's wheel (until she attacked, and then, well - she attacked!), and felt great. Obviously, rest is a good thing for me. TSS 105

Heathpack 

Everybody must be on a rest week or injured. Is it just me and @shovelhd riding this week?

I was off last weekend for a sail trip, in which I literally did nothing to the extent that my spouse referred to me as "Cleopatra, lying around on her barge". Peel me a grape, would ya?

The trip caused some kind of reset with my sleep patterns, I had been waking up increasingly early and been lacking for sleep. Suddenly this week, I'm sleeping like a log to the extent that Ive "slept in" all the way to 6:30am twice.

Monday was on the TT bike- some short intervals, then a 20 min TT interval. Expected to rock it, but it was surprisingly hard.

Tuesday some difficult intervals on the road bike, which went well. Yay.

Yesterday was a warm up on TT bike, then a strength workout. Which I always find hard but yesterday was less hard. Yay again.

Group ride with the racer boys tonight if I get out of work in time. Then off Friday, a long climbing ride on Sat, around 70 miles/5000 ft I think. Then a scout of the state TT championship course on Sunday.

Have been super busy at work. Very glad that Thursday is my Friday.

Heathpack 

Lol, we were posting at the same time. Great minds think alike, I guess.

Welcome back to the bike!

revchuck 

I was off Tuesday. I did two hours at Z2/3 yesterday, TSS 117, IF .77, 1302 kj. Today was two hours with 3x20' threshold intervals...the last one was pretty ugly but my power was in the required range. TSS 142, IF .85, 1337 kj. How come the kilojoule numbers are so close when today's workout was so much harder, I wonder?

Racer Ex 

There are holes in the algorithms. TSS and Kj run off two different formulas. Likely "formula kj" uses either a low burn rate during "rest", or undervalues the threshold efforts relative to TSS.

Not everyone burns X kj at Y watts. People have different metabolisms.

It's why you can't take the numbers as gospel.

revchuck 

Well, everybody knows that Al Gore has no rhythm, so I guess it's no surprise.

ETA: Thanks, Ex.

sarals 

Thank you, Heathie!!

I just haven't posted in while, I've been, as everyone knows, very busy the last few months (make that a year).

Today - sprint intervals - I cranked out some really good numbers, very close to my all time maximums. My 15 second number was actually higher than my previous best. I don't know what switch got thrown by the rest I had, but if I could bottle it...

There have been times where my body just snaps into a "hidden gear". It feels loose, supple, and I feel like I can do anything. That's the "rare good day" that we all have. Yesterday was NOT one of those, it was the kind of day that I had often last season. To follow it today with good sprint numbers is very encouraging!

Madera Stage Race next weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

TSS today, 71. 58 minutes.

Heathpack 

Crazy day at work yesterday in which a little encephalitis patient of mine came in semi-comatose after being discharged happy and bouncy the day prior. Much triple-tasking trying to deal with that critical situation and also see my appointments until I got the idea that if the owner had mixed up two of the meds, she would have given the little Chihuahua an 8x overdose of one of her seizure meds. So I gave the antidote for that kind of overdose and the dog woke up within 1 minute. Sent owner home to count the pills and yep, it was a medication mix-up. (Which should all be fine by today.) It was that kind of chaotic day, I think we also had something like 15 phone messages taken for me by 10am.

But I still somehow managed to get out of work on time and make it to my Thursday night group ride. Twenty-ish people, the only other woman who regularly rides with this group couldn't make it, so it was just me and the boys. It was a pretty hilly route, about 2000 ft of climbing over 30 miles. Thankfully, the hills were all short, 1 mile or less and I was able to barely hang on. Lol, until the end, a handful of the non-racing men got chicked on the last hill because they were tired, I guess. C'mon boys, we've only ridden 25 miles so far.

(I kid, I was tired too. Just less tired, I guess.)

It was fun. I am still not super-comfortable descending at 40 mph in a pack of 20 people I don't know, so I really prefer to be towards the front. If I wind up mid-pack at the start of the descent, I just find myself shuffling towards the back of the group to gain some distance and that's not the best place for me to be when the ground gets flat again, too easy for me to become detached from the group. Which is what happened once last night, then I missed a light and the group was just a bunch of blinkies flashing on the horizon. I thought about just calling it a night, I was not that far from home at that point, and I figured I was going to be so behind by the time I got to the next climb, I would be majorly holding up the show. But I'm glad I didn't, because they stopped to wait for me a few miles up the road, once they realized I had missed that light I guess. So lesson learned, the rest of the descents I kept myself near the front and had a lot more fun.

Rest day today, I've got a zillion things to do as usual, though.

sarals 

I came down with something yesterday. I started feeling sneezy and sore throatish not long after my workout and by yesterday afternoon I was full blown sick. Last night was hard, sweats, I have a big scratch on my face from something, and I ache. I feel better, though. As much as I hate to (because it puts the base out of service) I'm calling off from work today - and doing what Coach ordered - REST.

Heathpack 

Feel better! Its always huge drama if I call out sick at work, but it really is necessary when you are sick. So don't sweat it, just rest up.

sarals 

sarals 

I was home from work yesterday, napped a lot, drank a lot of herbal tea. This bug is a "body ache" bug, baseball bat across the shoulders kind. Today, I'm much better. Coach said REST, no bike, so I'm off the bike today. I'm feeling more than well enough to go to work, so I will. Tomorrow is another day, we'll see if i can get on the bike or not.

valygrl

heathpack - good catch on your Chihuahua! My work is all about troubleshooting and problemsolving, and I love it, but lives literally depending on you getting it right, that's a lot of pressure and it must feel great when you get it right.

I had plyos and sprints yesterday, and they went great despite legs feeling a little tired. today i am psyching up for my TT bike VO2 intervals, and have somehow given myself a hangover from 1/2 a margarita last night. boooooo. oh well, better get out there before the wind starts.

sarals, hope you feel all the way better soon, rest is good for you, much as we all hate it.

shovelhd

Get well Sara.

Bandera

This PM I was out riding a favorite route on the FG when I came upon a young fellow in full kit with his machine's rear wheel off on the side of the road miles from anywhere. I stopped and asked:

"You OK?"
"Expletive No! These expletive CO2....expletive...." and so on.

It seems that in ineptly attempting to repair a flat he had succeeded in venting his sole CO2 cartridge into the atmosphere instead of his spare tube.This is both environmentally unsound and stupid for a wide variety of reasons.

"Do you have a CO2 cartridge?" he asked.
"Yes, but you can borrow my frame pump to inflate your tube." I replied, removing my faithful Silca from it's perch of 37 years.

"I want a CO2!" He petulantly moaned.
"You can borrow my frame pump, it will get you home: Final Offer." I said.

"Expletive" He said.
I wonder if he's still out there on the side of the road?
The sun is going down and the coyotes are coming out......

It was a lovely late winter day for a fixed gear ride in the Hill Country.
Felt good climbing out of the saddle and spun out good fluid RPM on the descents: solid Old School, like carrying a pump.

-Bandera

revchuck 

+1!

Recovery ride yesterday for an hour, TSS 16, IF .40, 331 kj.

Today was the last set of intervals for this build, 4x12' O/U with each interval broken down to 4x2' at 95-100%/1' at 105+%. I made it through 2-3/4 intervals. I was pushing down on the pedals and the numbers just weren't moving, so I backed off and finished the ride in Z3. My body verified that I hadn't just wussed out when I had to climb a flight of stairs at work today and it friggin' hurt. 1:40, TSS 118, IF .84, 1177 kj.

Heathpack 

It's been a pretty decent week for me on the bike- a couple a hard interval sessions, a hard (for me) group ride, and a strength workout. Went into the weekend with 500 TSS and am riding both days.

Today was a really nice ride, 70 degrees and sunny. I was supposed to do this club climbing event but the start was ~1 hr from my house and I just didn't feel like bothering with the drive. So I gathered a few friends for a local longish climbing route up into our hills. Just a beautiful day, wildflowers blooming and actual flowing water in the rivers. Overall the route is 70 miles and around 5000 ft climbing, with almost all the climbing in the first 45 miles.

I hit the start of the first climb and my legs were immediately protesting. My first thought was "yikes, this is not going to go well". Felt sore and tired from the start and the first climb is 22 miles (it has some descents). But the cool thing is that it just didn't seem to matter. Zero trouble keeping up with my friends and I PRed the 22 mile climb by 12 minutes. And almost all HR zone 3 or less. And the entire time had tired legs, I never really came around, I was just amazed at how functional I was. Sweet. Love my coach. And oh BTW, why are you boys breathing so hard?

Something like 0.75 IF and 220ish TSS. But mostly just a nice ride on a gorgeous day on a a favorite route with some good friends.

shovelhd

Bandera, ya gotta love it.

sarals 

Thanks, everyone.

This is a strange bug. I woke up this morning feeling almost normal, just a slight amount of head congestion. On tap was a strength workout preceded by a 30 minute warmup "on the TT bike would be good". I was admonished to "err on the side of caution if you still feel mucky". I got up, walked around a bit, felt okay, so I got dressed, got in the car with the TT bike and drove over to the gym. I got it out, got it ready, and easily rode up the street, paying close attention to everything my body was saying. It was fine. I rode the 30 minutes, put in one good effort, HR and all normal for the amount of effort I did. I evaluated how I felt - normal. Utterly normal. Happy that I could ride and that I felt good. I put the bike back in the car, went into the gym, got set up and started the strength workout. Right way I noticed that the high energy sets taxed me, I got light headed. The big thing was my joints. I didn't feel it on the bike, but in the gym my neck ached, my wrists ached, my hips ached and my elbows and knees ached. Not severe, but noticeable. I did one set of the workout, and called it good.

I'm at work now and still feel, well, okay. My neck is still sore, my wrists are oddly sore, and I'm a little stuffy. Getting better, though.

Rain is forecast next weekend for the stage race. Not good! The weather for the past three years that I've done it has been spectacular. The weather has also been spectacular for the last two weeks! It just figures that for the first meaningful race of the season the weather may play a role. Along with being ill.

It can only get better, right?

Heathpack 

@sarals, a bunch of people I know have gotten this super-fast illness like you had. Strange stuff, people sick as a dog for around 24 hours and then suddenly way better. Too bad if it rains for your stage race. Fingers crossed.

I went out to scout the Lake Los Angeles state TT course today. Sounds lovely, right? Not. Out in the desert, the type of place where people get attacked by a pack of pit bulls.

I was not feeling any love for cycling today. Just tired and didn't feel like riding. The course is a rectangle and you ride the last side of the rectangle twice. I just rode 4/5 legs, skipped the duplicate leg 5. Glad I did it, helpful to see the terrain and course and start thinking about how to approach it. Even if it was a pathetic ride for me.

Off tomorrow and that's fine by me.

revchuck 

From my ride report this morning:

This is one of the toughest builds I've done in terms of intensity. I decided today would be an endurance pace ride with no heroics to close it out. 2:53, TSS 153, IF .73, 1774 kj. I was pretty tired the last hour of that ride...of course, that part was into a headwind. Looking forward to the recovery week.

ATL (91) and CTL (61) are the highest they've been in a while, CTL went up 6 since last Sunday. I'm hoping to have the CTL level off at around 70 once I get those 42 days in. 11 hours this week, TSS 651.

VO2 max for the next build.