Bit of a cockup

Bit of a cockup Sunday.

The weather was mid to high 50s so I planned on doing a road ride. Had a crazy busy morning and my body screamed Nap!  So, I did the workout indoors. But, I incorrectly entered it into the Garmin. The workout called for 2x 10 min intervals with 5 min RI. During the interval, I was supposed to alternate 2 minutes @ 60rpm then 2 min @ 100rpm. But what I actually entered  was (2 min@ 60 rpm then 2 min @ 100rpm) x 5, RI, repeat.

Luckily I realized after I had repeated the 100rpm for the 3rd time that something was note right (maybe it was the agony). Decided to lapout of the 5 min rest interval and the second 20 minute interval and get straight to the cool down.

In the end, I did the 20 minutes of alternating 60/100 every 2 minutes, just all in one go rather than split into two. Phew.

Distance: 17.56 km
Speed: 24.01 kmh
Cadence: 82 rpm
AVG HR: 162 bpm
Weight: 204.8 lbs

Some promising early observations

Good solid effort on the road Saturday. During the 2x 15 min intervals. I got about 7K in on each 15 min effort using the sections of the route with the most climbing. Of the 385 meters of climbing, ~220 was done during the intervals.

I had difficulty maintaining the cadence zone given the terrain and bike handling was sketchy with my constant shifting. I'm thinking it might be better to find gearing that approximates the desired cadence for the route profile and go with that rather than struggling to maintain a particular cadence. As long as I keep the HR in the right zone I should still be accomplising the desired task.

The other cool thing about the ride was that I did this route at a pace that I had not reached until the end of June last year. The average speed included the intervals, the ~20 minutes of gentle warmup riding and ~20 minutes of easy easy gear cool down. I'm really interested in how I'll do when I get to give it full gas.

Lastly, some notices for charity, and other event, rides are starting to roll in to the LBS. I think I'll check/adjust my training schedule to achieve one of my peaks sometime during the 6 week TT series being put on by MOB this year. A TT should be good personal best type competition in a context of a realistic race event (i.e., fans cheering, crossing a line, cow bells etc.) that should be a fun introduction to bike racing without making myself feel bad.

Distance: 32.23 km

Speed: 26.51 kmh

Cadence: 87 rpm

AVG HR: 160 bpm

Weight: 205.6 lbs

Please. Save yourself! I'm done for.

Tough endurance ride after a tough Mock night Wednesday. About 15 minutes in I got a little light headed and I knew it was going to be hard from that moment on. Bore down, gritted my teeth and suffered through it. Did the 45 minute ride in 39-19, 90-95rpm, 78-80 %max HR.

My legs are weak. My hamstrings are very tight and sore. My quads are thinking of leaving me. Mentally, I'm loving this. Physically, I'm a litle tired. Thankfully Friday is a rest day!!

Distance: 24.84 km

Speed: 22.93 kmh

Cadence: 92 rpm

AVG HR: 151 bpm

Weight: 205.6 lbs

Psychopathology

Sorry for the delayed posting. This was a brutal week on many fronts but I survived to make another post.

Another typically brutal mob turbo workout on Wednesday. Getting better at judging the gear to effort required on the TT duration and rpm calls. Did better on the sit/stand interval in terms of recovering from standing and the ILT's were done @ a higher gear for the first time.

The workout had a new element tonight. Five 1 minute intervals of 45" at a given rpm then a 15" sprint. Tough. My cadence fell below the suggested rpm after each sprint but was able to recover to the rpm by the time I got to the next sprint.

OW! I was exhausted at the end of this nasty little event. Everyweek I curse the guys @ Mock for their brutality. Then I experience some improvement and I praise them. Then I come back for more. I'm pretty sure this is some type of pathology. I'm just not sure what type.

Distance: 25.22 km

Speed: 22.31 kmh

Cadence: 79 rpm

AVG HR: 165 bpm

Weight: 204 lbs

Problems, Propitiousness, and a Push

Tough 2x 15min @ 55-60 rpm intervals today. It didn't help that I pressed the wrong button on my garmin and blew workout. It happened right at the start of the first 15 min interval so that one ended up being a few minutes longer.I had to cycle through, restart and get to about the same spot again.

Well, this was a chance to test out something I thought about yesterday on changing how I planned my workoutouts on the road. I needed to figure out if the data from the first part plus what I was doing while I got things setup again plus starting in the middle of a second attempt would all be recorded in a single session. Good news. It worked fine.

In the future I think I'll also modify the road workouts by requiring my to tap the lap button to start the segment rather than having it atart automatically. That should give me a little more control over when and where I do things.
On the plus side I did the first 15 minute interval in 53-15, which I think is a first. I was really focussed on keeping the upper body still and relaxed. The legs did not like that one bit. I also noticed that when I started to tense up the HR started to creep up but when I relaxed and got a smooth cadence going again it dropped back a bit (~2%). The rest interval was done @ 100 rpm and my HR above 80%. On the second interval I didn't think the legs would let me do the same gearing so I backed off one and did it in 53-17. I could feel my form slipping at the 5 minute mark but could not get my legs to smooth out my stroke. I actually think that is a good thing since I feel I was really pushing my LT effort and while I was able to complete the interval, it was not pretty. But, it was the longest one I've ever done (and consciously tracked). The form will come as I get more accustomed to the longer efforts.

Distance: 20.35 km

Speed: 20.67 kmh

Cadence: 76 rpm

AVG HR: 161 bpm

Weight: 205.6 lbs

A day I shall call "awesome"

There are so many things to log in today's ride I don't know where to start. First, on the purely performance side of things, I finally broke the curse of February. As of today I've ridden further than I did the previous 2 Febs. combined (0 km in 2009, and 98 km in 2010). It's only Feb. 7th and I'm still motivated.

Second, I almost equalled my best time for this loop even though I did it in reverse and spend a good 2 minutes doing little slow circles idling at the bottom of a hill waiting for my interval on the garmin to begin @ the 10 minute mark. If I had gone straight at the course I'm sure I would have crushed the time.

Third, I did this loop in reverse in the hopes that the first "big" hill would last the required 10 minutes. It did not. I actually had a hard time keeping the cadence low enough while getting the HR into the desired zone on the "big hill' . This hill that used to scare me so much I started going the opposite way to avoid going up so early is now a pimple. Holy cow! This training stuff really works!!!I was not winded at the top. I was not dying. I actually was a little pissed it wasn't long enough and had to get into harder gears as I screamed over the flat to the next short hill.

 

One the learning how to train on the road side of the ledger, given the local terrain around here I'm going to have to adjust how I plan my workouts on the road. It just does not easily lend itself to RI's of long high cadences and the hills are too short for any sustained effort longer than 4-5 minutes (at least the first 2 hills going in either direction, maybe further out I'll find some). I'm having to elevate my cadence on the descents to keep my HR in the desired zone. I'm going to have to do a little testing with the garmin to see if I can find a solution that works a little better. Forceably spinning high cadences on ascents with I should be on a rest interval and bringing the HR down strained my right knee a little today I think (heat pack here I come).

I'm tickled with today's ride though! Felt very fast and it was over too soon.

Distance: 19.02 km

Speed:  26.26 kmh

Cadence:  76 rpm

AVG HR:  165 bpm

Weight:  207 lbs

Mixing it up to keep it fresh

Another slight modification from the F7(x4) workout. To get more practice climbing out of the saddle then sitting and continuing a hard effort, I modified where the standing element occurs in the interval. Now, each 4 minute interval starts with 2 minutes sitting @65-75rpm,  53-17, 1 minute standing in 53-14, followed by 1 minute sitting in 53-15 then the 2 minute RI.  Repeating this 4 times.

It went faster than I realized.  As I was getting through what I thought was the third interval I was thinking that the next one is going to be really really tough... then I looked down and it was cool down time.

I went above 90% HR for the last 2 intervals during the standing phase but only by 1-2%. I was trying to start the standing part @ about 86% max HR since the data shows that my HR increases 4% each minute while standing (surprisingly consistently) but later interval I started @ 88%. Very happy with this workout. Had to push the burn out of my mind and keep it out while keeping the cadence smooth and pedal in circles when it got harder in the second minute of the interval and keep the breathing under control, juggling these three elements relatively successfully for the first time.

Distance: 17.09 km

Speed:  23.85 kmh

Cadence:  78 rpm

AVG HR:  150 bpm

Weight:  209.4 lbs - don't believe it. I forgot to do this at my regular time and it was therefore under non standardized conditons.

February Weight Goal: 205 lbs

Ruminations

A fairly nondescript day on Thursday.

A 30 min endurance session with max HR @ 80%. Gearing 39-19, cadence 90. A little smaller gearing than laast time I did this session but last time I did not have the MOB workout the day before.

While riding, I was ruminating on Wednesday's workout. I'm either going a little too easy or it's time to up the gearing difficulty. My HR was under control. When I was spinning out @ 135 rpm the HR was 96%. That makes sense. When I was doing the TT interval, the HR settled in @ 93%. That makes sense. Each of these efforts were doable but were also capped by my desire to keep the burn in my legs to a minimum.

I've experienced a lot of the good burn lately and I'm realizing that I can handle it for longer than I though I could. For example, on the TT interval the burn plateaued @ the 2 minute mark but I was able to sustain and even raise the cadence on the last minute with no increase in HR or discomfort.

I think I'll start paying more attention to this in the future and play around with it.

Distance: 19.07 km

Speed:  22.88 kmh

Cadence:  93 rpm

AVG HR:  153 bpm

Weight:  203.6 lbs

I've exceeded my jnd

Noticable improvement over last week's MOB workout. I'm getting dialed in to where my efforts and gearing should be to accomplish each element and still get through the entire workout. I was tired at the end but not completely exhausted. There were some elements I will increase the difficulty on next time, others went more smoothly, and some were still difficult but noticeabely improved.

I was successful on the 5x30sec increase, 5x30sec decrease progressions. Last week I went through the progressions but was not able to hold the rpm. This week I started in 39-25 and kept the 100rpm throughout. Next week I'll maybe try starting on 39-23 or 39-21.

The scary monster that is the 10min sitting/standing progression intervals went better as well. First, I found the right gearing (in terms of being able follow the instructions of down 2, up 1) by starting in 53-21. The other improvment  was my ability able to hold the starting sitting 85 rpm goal and the standing cadence goal (my form is definitely improving, had good form for the first 2 standing intervals - very little weight on the handlebars and smooth(er) cadence without blowing my HR through the roof). Then things got rough. I could shift down 2 and stand for the minute as the gearing got harder, but the sitting and shifting up one was killing me. The workout called for 75-80 rpm and I was doing 40-50.

I kept grinding it out, focusing on the completing the progression rather than worrying about cadence, that will come. As we came out of the hole for the last 2 minutes (up 2, then up 1) I was able to dig deep and finished the final minute at the suggested 75 rpm. So I completed successfully, and started and finished in the right cadence. Now to start working on the recovery from standing elements and get those sitting cadences up.

Finally, ILT's were better this week. quite smooth and consistent and mostly held the 50 rpm. I'll try to bring it closer to the mid 50's next time then try increasing from 39-25 to 39-23.

Distance: 24.43 km

Speed:  20.66 kmh

Cadence:  79 rpm

AVG HR:  164 bpm

Weight:  205.0 lbs

You don't frighten me english pig dog!

Decided to make my first substitution today. The workout recommended by the primary book I'm using called for 20 minutes @ LT but I decided I would get just as much bang for my buck, it not more, by doing 4x5min with 2 min RI's. While not a sustained 20 minutes, what I liked about this was the information I could gleen from repeatedly starting below 80% and finishing around 93%. I could find the right gearing that allow me to do this (53-17 it appears) and pay attention to how I was feeling each time I started getting toward the top end of the range.

But, another/real reason I wanted to do the 4x5's is because I suck at pedaling out of the saddle. Back in the summer I would get out of the saddle for what seemed like a minute, but was actually 15-20 seconds, at a time before it felt like my legs were going to drop off and my lungs explode. I started to do something about that late last year in anticipation of the hell that was to be MOB Wednesday night workouts. I was right about the hell that is MOB and the earlier work did help. I was able to stand for longer but it still hurt like hell. I knew I needed more work. The MOB nights are getting more difficult and I do not want to be left behind.

The 4x5's had me sitting for 4 minutes then shift to one gear harder and stand for 1 minute. It went really well. I actually felt ok standing. The first two times I was able to have very little weight on the handlebars. The next two were not as good but I certainly was not leaning on them for absolute and utter support like I was two weeks ago. Sure it was just 1 minute at a time but I can easily use this to build on. Standing and climbing is not as frightening as it used to be. Bring on the 'morrow MOB! You don't frighten me english pig dog! Go and boil your ...... you know the rest.

Distance: 17.05 km

Speed:  21.77 kmh

Cadence:  77 rpm

AVG HR:  159 bpm

Weight:  205.6 lbs

The day that almost was

The weather was awesome Sunday. Warm, very little breeze and sunny. A perfect day to get out and ride. No tights. not base layer needed. just one layer of gloves. I was really looking forward to the chance to try some intervals on real hills.

Unfortunately, the nap monster came for a visit and the compulsion to lay my head on a comfy pillow for a short time was stronger than the desire to expend and burn some calories in the open air. The nap started in early afternoon and I fully expected to wake up in plenty of time to still get out on the road. 30 minutes, 45 minutes tops. Well...... 90 minutes later the sun was going down and it was too late for a ride :(. Oh well. There will be more days in the future.

So I did the workout indoors instead. Today called for another 20 minutes in LT zone but it was split into a 2x 10 @ 83-90% max for the first time. First set was relatively easy and successfully focused on keeping the upper body loose and keeping the cadence smooth @ ~58 rpm in 53-15. Second set as more difficult and had to really focus in the first 5 min. The arms felt a weak and wobbly. Keeping the body as loose as last time was more challenging. Focused on keeping the breathing regular, consuming my liquids and putting the power in through the legs rather than my back and arms as much as possible and not getting worked up over the the loss on one element when the rest were still under control. The first half of the second set was rough and was wondering if I would have to gear down to keep that cadence and HR in the desired zones. But, I seemed to break through some sort of effort barrier and got into a zone for the second 5 minutes. Everything seemed to get easier. Well not easier but more of a rhythm that made it seem just that little bit more bearable.

Distance: 16.24 km

Speed:  21.18 kmh

Cadence:  75 rpm

AVG HR:  159 bpm

Weight:  207.8 lbs

Another Double Day

The weather was pleasant Saturday. Temperatures soaring to a balmy 56F. I was looking forward to, the currently 3 week old habit of, riding around the lake with Eric. Given the temperature, I was expecting trail conditions to be quite different compared to the last two "freezing my testicles off" rides and I was not disappointed. The soft ground made for some slick, mucky and wet sections. We had to really focus and pick our lines as the wheels slid side-to-side through mud puddles on downhills, corners and lake shore.

Our speed was slower than past rides but was enjoyable and the effort noticable. I don't know what it is about mud but the more chunks of mud that fly up and hit my back, into my glasses and spatter my jacket the more fun I have. As another bonus from the weather, Eric felt he could do the longer distance today so we were able to include the tennis courts leg and add a few more K's to the ride. Then, to top it off, the last hill seemed easier than last week. I don't know if I chose a better gear, if I was steadier on the effort, or my fitness has hit the sweet spot for that hill but it was slightly exhilarating going up and thinking, "Wow, this is good today!".

While the ride was good, it did not accomplish the training goals for the day of being in the LT zone for 20 steady minutes. So after lunch I hit the trainer and put in official training as well. Today called for the longest time @ LT yet, 20 minutes sustained 83-90% max HR. It was a more difficult that I expected. I was only able to hold a 53-23 gear for the workout part of the session and it was a good thing I was permitted to keep my cadence with a 10 rpm range since I had difficulty holding a steady rhythm. I was most stable @ ~87 rpm, keeping the HR @~87% max but I popped over 90% a few times and under 83% once or twice while the cadence variance was way way larger than normal. I'm thinking the ride earlier in the day might have had someting to do with that.

On the plus side, the longer lake ride and the longer LT workout meant I was over 30K today and probably staved off further weight gain as I start to put my eating habits back on track.

Kona Ride

Distance: 22.6 km

Speed:  16.6 kmh

Cadence:  81 rpm

AVG HR:  139 bpm

Weight:  207.6 lbs

Orbea training

Distance: 13.75 km

Speed:  21.7 kmh

Cadence:  87 rpm

AVG HR:  159bpm

Weight:  207.6 lbs

Good News/Bad News

As if anticipating that Thursday would feel a little rough, the training program I'm using has today an easier endurance training day. After 3 LT workouts + the brutal workout from last night I was dreading another LT workout. Imagine my surprise (and might I say joy) that today's schedule called for 15 minutes of steady riding at a HR below 81% for this particular workout. It took some real focus to stay on track but I'm glad I chose to workout today and build off the push I gave last night. I'll reap the longterm benefits and Friday is a scheduled rest day to wash away all the lactic acid and start the next week's LT building block.

Today had other good news for me. Today I popped over the distance I rode in January in 2010, so a goal of riding more each month than the year before remains viable and there are 2 more scheduled training days and 2 days where I'll be using the Kona to commute between classes to push that even higher. The other thing I liked about this month was that, as I compared this year's calendar with last year's, I consistently rode more days. The distance per ride was lower but I think the greater consistency will give me a better base. Last year was my best ever on overall distance, avg overall speed, best speed at several different distances, best distances on a single ride and several other metrics so this start will give me a little ray of sun bask in as I head into the dark dreary days of coming February.

On the bad news side, I got a little off track with my heathier eating habits. Had a bag of chips Wednesday, pizza Thursday, did not have my morning smoothie this morning. This it will show up in the weight over the next few day's I'm sure. Not too concerned though since my weight goal for January was 210 and I'm confident I'll be below that come Jan. 31.

Distance: 10.86 km

Speed:  18.62 kmh

Cadence:  95 rpm

AVG HR:  141 bpm

Weight:  206 lbs

Memories of summer ... and not the good ones

Brutal workout last night. Beaten on by the MOB crew. We skipped a week in the training buildup and hit the week 4 session instead of week 3. It included (amongst other easier elements) 3x3min TTs, a 30 sec per gear progression down then up (starting @ 100 rpm and trying to keep the rpms high) and, the biggy for the day, a 10 min alternating sitting standing gear down 2 then 1 up progression. This one we started in 53-17. It became clear after about the 2nd minute that starting in 53-17 was wrong. So, when I shiffted up I went up 3 gears rather than the one and carried on. I also was not keeping the desired rpm. Not anywhere close in fact (when it called for 85 rpm - the very first step - I was @ 70).

It was tough but I was getting through until about minute 6. At that point, I was leaning heavy on the handlebars, Grinding over the gears, and any semblence of smoothness in my cadence had evaporated. Joe saw I was struggling and barked at me to keep going.  That gave me enough time to call up memories of last summer. I reminded myself that this training is to get over a cat 2 mountain this summer and I thought about how I was feeling during the worst moments of that cat 3 climb. I was in my easiest gear, barely ticking over, heart rate 1% off off complete explosion. I just remembered the searing pain in my legs, the laboured breathing and how I focused on only one revolution. Don't worry about form, just focus on completing one more revolution. One more revolution.

Both last summer and last night were absolutely excrucuatingIy painful but I got through it. Those memories, and being convinced that this interval was not as hard as the one from the summer when in fact was probably just as hard, got me to push through a mental barrier I think.

Legs are very very sore but I'm very happy with the overload effort I put in. Joe suggested afterward I am ready for Hanging Rock, about 1.5 months earlier than I thought I would be.

Distance: 22.86 km

Speed:  20.19 kmh

Cadence:  79 rpm

AVG HR:  170 bpm

Weight:  207.8 lbs

Getting dialed in

Another day of LT training. Starting to get the groove. It looks like I can get into 53-17 @85rpm and have the HR slowly build up to desired max 15 min later (today's duration). I popped over 90% with 30 sec left.

I'm starting to see improvements on all fronts. Relaxing the upper body went better. Cadence was definitely smoother. Able to to keep the breathing and HR under control during the last few minutes.

Oh, and in case anyone has been tracking my weight... I've seen the return of sub 210 after this weekends bacchanalian wine consumption (2 bottles), and gorging myself to a state of bloatation on rich and creamy lamb, goat, and cheese Indian dishes with overloaded sideboards of naan. That really pushed up the pounds rather quickly and it looks like it took several days to work its way through the system but all is better now.

Distance: 15.07 km

Speed:  27.4 kmh

Cadence:  86 rpm

AVG HR:  157 bpm

Weight:  209 lbs

My legs are burning!

Second day doing LT work. Spend most of the very short "easy" day trying to determine gear ratios to allow my HR to start low and end high after a 10min extended steady effort @ 55-60rpm. So far 53-13 keeps me around 78-81% for 3-4 minutes and moving into 53-11 for the final minute raised it from ~80 to 88%.

Also tried to keep the upperbody and arms relaxed and focus on putting the power in through the legs and core alone. Not completely successful. I tended to tense up over time but, when I noticed, I was able to re-relax everything.

By the end the legs were starting to feel the burn, my upperbody was relaxed and HR was increasing @ the desired rate. I think I got everything about right for maybe 30 secs. Now for improvement....

Distance: 13.53 km

Speed:  26.2 kmh

Cadence:  75 rpm

AVG HR:  143 bpm

Weight:  211.8 lbs

Salem lake AND a trainer ride all in one day

Bit of an oops day. Went around the lake with Eric on the Kona but forgot to reset the Garmin when I got home to do my scheduled training workout on the Orbea. So both rides are part of a single data set.

Wanted to do a separate workout on the Orbea rather than trying to work it into my ride with Eric since he is a little less fit and today was the first LT/strength workout. My effort was going to get up there and a 15 minute ride at this level would have left him behind. Not a desireable outcome if I'm trying to encourage others to ride more. So I just came home and hopped on the trainer without getting out of the tights, wool socks, and underlayer.

Distance: 27.59 km

Speed:  21.41 kmh

Cadence:  87 rpm

AVG HR:  147 bpm

Weight:  208.2 lbs

Road Trip!

First road ride of the year! Thursday's workout called for 75 minutes of 73-81% max HR and a cadence between 90 and 110. That was going to be utterly monotonous on the trainer, especially since I haven't received my latest netflix dvd to distract myself. Fortunately the weather cooperated and by early afternoon the temperature had risen to a balmy 44 F with very little wind. A perfect chance for me to get outside and actually ride my bike. It's been really chilly here lately and not really conducive to riding outside so there was no way I was going to pass up this narrow window of opportunity.

The terrain around here is not condusive to being able to achieve both the cadence goals and the HR goals so I had to choose one or the other. I chose HR. The purpose of the training was endurance not technique so I preferred HR over keeping the cadence high. When possible I brought my cadence into line but I spent a lot more time looking down at the Garmin and willing the HR number not to pop over 81 and give me the dreaded: BEEP "Your HR exceeds desired value" message.

Don't pop! Don't pop! Damn, I popped :(. I popped over and under the zone a few times (typically ascending/descending a short steep hill) but I was actually pretty impressed with my ability to gage that effort.

While I didn't keep my cadence within the zone all the time, I did pedal constantly. My legs did feel the burn of constant motion which I'm telling myself was a good secondary goal. In the past I would coast the descents but yesterday I shifted into gears that allowed me to pedal on the descents as well, which is something my little book as suggested I should try to achieve.

The overall workout was a little ragged but not bad for my first time trying this. Lots to improve, lots to smooth out. Glad I got out rather than doing this inside on the trainer.

And so ends Week 2, the end of the endurance building segment. Time to move to LT work next week.

Distance: 33.40 km

Speed:  22.26 kmh

Cadence:  84 rpm

AVG HR:  155 bpm

Weight:  208.0 lbs

Stand and Deliver

Week 2 of Mock's indoor turbofest last night. Another evening of spinups, TT and climbing intervals. A bit harder than last week. We had two 2 minute TT intervals @ 80 rpm then added two 3 minute TT intervals @ 90 rpm with just 2 minutes rest in between each interval. Did well on that part. I'm pretty well dialed in to how hard I can go and not blow up during defined efforts. Currently I can do these in 53-17 and finished each interval with a HR of ~95%. 

The toughest part for me was the 5 minute standing interval. I had a really rough patch @ around 2 minutes. The legs went a little wobbly, and I lost my rhythm. The dreaded Despair Demon came for a visit and I thought about sitting down but shortened my time horizon from 5 minutes to "just do 15 more seconds" and worked through what was probably going on. I figured I started too hot and was focused on keeping my weight off the bars rather than on finding a sustainable rhythm so dialed back the effort, slowed the cadence, focused on breathing and found the sustainable zone. Back Despair Demon! BACK! It wasn't a pretty 5 minutes, I leaned on the bars quite a bit, but I actually detected improvement over last week. The interval was brutal but bearable while last week if was brutal and almost unbearable. So on the "unbearable to joyous-happy-days" scale I moved up a notch. What made it even more satisfying was that I even made it through the two 15 sec sprints thrown in @ the 2'45" and 4'45" marks. To be fair, I would not call what I did during those 15 secs sprinting but I did increase my cadence so I'm calling that a win.

ILT's were better as well. Smoother and more consistent for longer periods. I'm still using 39-25 and cadence is still on the low side but I want to get the stroke right before increasing the cadence and gearing.

Distance:  22.99 km

Speed:  21.49 kmh

Cadence:  80 rpm

AVG HR:  164 bpm

Weight:  210.6 lbs

Movin' on up

Today I began basing HR training zones on my LTHR. I realized the book I am using for training workouts used both measurements but recommends LTHR if possible. The endurance LTHR zones are a little higher and than simple %Max.  Since last week was so successful I felt I could move the effort up a notch but not have the increase be too great to disrupt my microcycles.

Today was an easy day of Endurance E4 level so it was a good day to switch.

Distance: 23.69 km

Speed:  21.9 kmh

Cadence:  95 rpm

AVG HR:  152 bpm

Weight:  209.8 lbs