As I was driving to work this morning, a migraine headache attach started.

I pulled off of the freeway and parked until the visual ran it’s course. Then I turned around and headed for home. I went directly to bed and stayed there until the early afternoon.

On Wednesday evenings, Joanne and I lead a night ride. I skipped it. Riding with a migraine is not fun, especially at night because of the bright lights.

Luckily, today is a scheduled rest day – no hard workout on the trainer.

Well, I’m beginning my second of sixteen weeks of Winter Cycling Training. This workout was an easy one for me judging from my average heart rate of only 126 beats per minute.

Notice that the five warm up intervals went from high output down to a lower output. I felt good and decided not to worry about keeping my work down to the 242 watts that workout called for.

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!

Veteran’s Day.

I have the day off, so I went for a bicycle ride. Joanne and I did 45 cold, flat miles. The pace was easy and we stopped at a Silverton coffee shop for a mid-ride break.

Distance: 45 miles
Average Heart Rate: 110 bpm
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Time: 3:12

Details at GPSies. com.

I did the second day of the first week of a 16 week training program.

Power Graph

This is still break in week and I had no trouble doing the routine. In fact, my average power remain higher than what is being called for. None the less, this workout was a bit more difficult than the first. My average heart rate (red line) was up by 8 bpm and my average power (yellow line) was also up by 16 watts.

I have been doing the workout without the benefit of a fan. I object to the noise and I want my body to become adjusted to the heat. However, my average heart rate increased for each interval. During my sixth and final interval, my heart rate was 11 beats higher than the first interval. I was not winded or gasping for breath, but I was breathing!

Six of us rode the Salem Bicycle Club Wednesday Night Ride. The good turnout was due to dry weather. I rode at recovery pace with a heart rate less than 100 bpm.

I am beginning a sixteen week Winter Training Plan put out by Jorge Martinez on the Beginning Triathlete web site. No, I’m not adding a new sport but I will be using their cycling training program.

The first two weeks is easy, getting you ready for the first power test in week three. Today’s workout included some intervals, shorter ones during warm up and longer ones during the main set. I found it difficult to hold my wattage to the low levels called for in the training plan, but the long main set was not as easy.

Anyway, I am using this as a method to keep my training focus during these long, dark and wet winter months.