Day three of the Winter Cycling Program in which I learn that riding 45 miles the day before does indeed impact performance.

This workout included a larger number of intervals in the workout. There were fifteen of them to be done with the fist five at 95% of my Critical Power (CP) of 220 watts, or 209 watts. Then the following ten intervals were to be done 90% of my CP or 198 watts. In the graphic below, the dotted line is at 200 watts.

You will notice that I was often well above the dotted line, which means I was working too hard. My only defense is that it is hard to watch the power meter when the sweat is running into your eyes.

You may also notice that my cadence increased in the last ten intervals. During the first five intervals, I would shift twice to obtain my targeted power. This kept my cadence about the same. However, the last ten intervals, I shifted only once and this caused me to increase my cadence to increase my power output. This means in addition working on increasing my power output, I was also working of increasing my cadence. This is a good thing in my opinion.

In addition to the change in cadence, you may also notice the steady climb of my heart rate. The intervals started off with my heart rate at 122 bpm and it was 147 bpm at the end of the intervals. Another example of cardiac drift.

These intervals were hard. The intensity was higher than other workouts and there were more of them. But I really believe the telling factor was that my legs had not completely recovered from yesterdays ride. While I did have to work harder, I did finish the entire workout – no quitting early!