What a difference a day makes

I usually find it more difficult to produce any power on the trainer than the road. At least in warm weather. But we don't have warm weather. Yesterday, I did a 20 minute effort, which was really pretty crappy, even for me. It was the worst 20 minute effort I'd ever recorded as a matter of fact. And it hurt a lot. I felt totally destroyed afterwards.

Today, I did another one, and it was significantly better. Not great, but a reasonable number for me in November. Strange. And it didn't sap me nearly as much. I felt significantly better afterward.

There are a few factors that might contribute.

One. Yesterday was thanksgiving, and I did my effort after the feast. You might think there was something wrong with my head. But it was not right after. Several hours later. And I didn't really eat all that much. So it was just kind of a normal meal for me. But there still might be something wrong with my head.

Two. I did my effort in the garage, thinking I might be able to dissipate heat better in there. I think it was actually too cold though. Even though the sweat was rolling off me, I think the air was cold enough to mess up my breathing, because I found myself coughing afterward.

Lesson learned. Even though hard efforts like that always make me feel like I'm overheating on the trainer, don't try to compensate with a colder ambient temperature.

Intervals are here

It's been a while. I almost forgot how much I hate/love them. I can't decide if doing them on the trainer makes them better or worse.

It does have some benefits. Once it's warmed up, it stays consistent. No stop signs or hills. Don't have to pay attention to traffic. The surface never changes. No potholes or railroad tracks. No bad weather.

On the other hand, it's a trainer. And I'm sweating on carpet.

Trainer season is coming back.

Saturday it was 30s and raining. ...sigh...

It was warm inside and there were hundreds of DVDs. I only watched Bourne Identity. Damn, that's a sweet movie. A gym just opened on the first floor of my apartment building. 24-7. That's cool. I joined it. I'm new to weights. It will probably hurt.

Other news, I'm finally getting my car fixed. It's been out of comission for a good month. It was the battery. I thought we checked that. Good thing bikes are reliable for getting to work.

It sure does get dark early these days.

And then there are the good days

I'm back from my one day vacation. I'm rejuvenated. (juvenated before, lost it, and then juvenated again. rejuvenated.)

Nothing like a performance enhancing red bull to get things moving. I got my race bike back from the shop. The wheels are true, and the cracked carbon is all covered in epoxy.

Awesome.

I started my ride just as the red bull was really kicking in. After the warmup, I did my prescribed 30 minute effort. Train your weaknesses they say. I've been doing a lot of 20 and 30 minute work. Even though I'm still relatively weak for these durations, it's fun to do them on oft-traveled bike routes. Most people aren't really doing hard efforts, so you just cruise past people with a 10mph speed differential.

Awesome.

After I cooled down from that, I unleashed a sprint just for fun. I haven't measured one in a couple of months. Because I've been training my weaknesses. And I don't race with a computer. Anyway, in one try, I increased my best 5 second effort by over 150 watts.

Awesome.

And I was paranoid that I was losing strength with all this long training. Then I saw a comparitively fast looking guy. Ususally on training rides, I'm able to pretty much ignore everybody else. But I was on the home stretch with no further particular plan, so I chased him down. When I passed him, he sped up. It was on. Definitely not a race, but fun. He hung on my wheel for a mile or two. I rode on. I had a gap. I rode on. He was gone.

Awesome.

CSG wants help picking out a bike.

Awesome.

I'm exhausted.

I'm not sore. I just have no energy. I abandoned my training program of the day less than one minute in. I am not feeling it.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a rest day anyway, so maybe I'll just swap days. Or take an extra rest day.

Soon I'll blog about oatmeal.

And my cracked race bike's all epoxied up and ready to go. I'll pick up that ghetto fabulous beast tomorrow. That's going to be so pro looking.

Must be something in the water

Today, I set a personal best 20 minute power. Twice. After accidentally setting a new 20 minute power last week, I bested it again today by 13 watts. Then I rested 9 minutes and did another 20 minute interval. I went out way too hard. My average was like 50 watts higher for the first 5 minutes, but I held on to average another 1 watt higher again.

And then I got the number of the girl from the coffee shop. I mean, but I already knew her. Still seemed like a fitting end to the ride.

Powertap's busted

Before it stopped communicating entirely, it was fun being able to hit 1300w with a light spin, and killing myself to hit 90w. I think the torque sensor went bad or something. As a bonus, I had no idea if I was doing my hill climbs yesterday. Perceiving exertion is hard. Let's go shopping.

Get Out

Yesterday, I had to do some intervals. Evidently I had taken leave of my senses, because my first thought was "What can I watch on TV while I'm doing them?" That's right. I was going to ride on the trainer. Indoors. Yesterday. Luckily, I returned to my senses before I actually set up the trainer.

So I did my favorite quick 20 mile loop. Yup. Still weak on 2 minutes.

My weekend as a triathlete

My weekend as a triathlete is complete. I put in about 90 miles this weekend, most of it on aero bars. I even went for a ride today with a known Ironman tri-guy. It's been uncomfortable weekend. Physically. I'm comfortable enough with my roadie-ness that riding with triathletes doesn't bother me.

Anyway, I've come to realize that saddles can feel quite different with aero bars. The crappy Planet Bike saddle I have on my training/rain bike is displeasing to me in this capacity. It's way too squishy. Saddles should be hard. Like life. Cuts down on chafing.

Starting tomorrow, back to the unadulterated drops. My wrist can totally take it. I still have a sweet-ass bruise though.

2x20

I did my 20 minute intervals today. I was a little worried about doing this one on aero bars because I can never seem to really get comfortable on them. In general, I "like" doing these types of workouts though, because it's easier to assess progress than with most others. As compared to my baseline maximal single 20 minute effort during the winter, my first 20 minutes was 3 watts greater. The second was 6 higher than the baseline. And that's a distinctly sub-maximal effort on aero bars. It's nice to have evidence that all the training is worth something.

In other news, my wrist is sufficiently recovered to support the weight of a Spotted Cow, purchased direct from the brewery.

Back in the saddle

I talked to a doctor affiliated with the team yesterday. He said that given the type of injury I likely have, the only limitation to my riding will be my own comfort. Score. Tomorrow, I'm going in to get my splint replaced with a cast, and I'll find out for sure.

But today, I hooked up the aero bars and put in two easy hours on the trainer. Well, easy intensity anyway. I can't get comfortable on the bars. I was trying to focus on form and position. But the wrist was feeling great though. Muskego is in 11 days. I really wanted to do that one. But now I'm just getting greedy. I'm just glad I didn't end up having to spend too long off the bike. I guess it was only like two days, and I was already getting paranoid feelings of losing fitness. Ridiculous.