Tonight I did an aerobic capacity ride on the trainer. The routine called for a 20 minute warm up but including five all out sprints, then an even effort pace at a heart rate of 137 to 147 bpm and/or 151 to 179 watts. Finally, a ten minute cool down.

For the sprints, I did not shift into a harder gear, but instead increased my pedal speed to the fastest I could do. For the first time in my life, I held the Power Cranks to over 100 RPMs. I was flying!

The main set was at an even effort. However, the data shows a slightly different story. The data shows that for the first half of the 30 minute effort, my power and cadence was higher than the second half. However, my heart rate for the second half was higher than the first half. I must have been getting tired.

Good thing tomorrow is a rest day.

Another night without rain! Yes, it was a bit cool, but the roads were almost completely dry.

Client Tests

My coach asked me to do some weight resistance tests today. Just two, a single leg press and a single leg hamstring curl. I worked hard which lead to some valid numbers. What I found out was that my quads are much stronger than my hamstrings. Yes, I’m a cyclist.

While some of my friends are celebrating the off season, I have officially begun training for the 2013 Furnace Creek 508.

My last 508 was in 2011. I finished. I finished in 46:32, less than an hour and one half to spare. I was five hours slower than my first finish in 2006.

2011 was a very hard ride. I suffered from sleep deprivation. My Morton’s Neuroma was very painful. I had very disturbing hallucinations. But, I refused to quit and my crew got me to the finish line. With an hour and one half to spare.

I want 2013 to be different. I want a good ride. And I know how to have a good ride. Firstly, I had surgery to address the Morton’s Neuorma. It has been removed. Secondly, I have hired a coach to prepare me for this year’s race. Tonight, I did the first of many workouts that my coach will prepare for me.

Basically, this was a long warm up, then five “hard” intervals, with a longish cool down. My coach specified what my heart rate and power output should be based upon the time trial I did a few weeks ago. The problem was that in order to get my heart rate up to the requested level during the “hard” intervals, I had to ride at a much higher power output that he wanted me to. Oh well, I sort of split the difference and had fun!

Joanne and I headed out on a cloudy, drippy Saturday for a bit of a longer ride. I rode my rain bike, the Redline and I did need the fenders but only because of the wet roads.

This ride included the Fishback Climb, a medium length climb up through the forest. The graph below shows only the steepest section ignoring the minor rollers at the bottom and the easy section to the summit.

Food Intake

December 1st, 2012