Heathpack 

Oh man, so sorry to hear this. It really blows.

Heathpack 

Sorry for my lack of posts, I've been running around a bit in the last day or so.


Spent the weekend on the island in good company. Nice riding with @Racer Ex, who brought his fat bike to handicap himself a little bit and then broke his derailleur hanger and converted the fat bike to a single speed to handicap himself further. Lol, all to no avail.


I almost ran over a rattlesnake, we saw three foxes and one buffalo, ate and drank too much and got to sail (as in actually use the sails) most of the way home.





Yesterday I did an opener ride on the TT bike in prep for this morning's workout, which in the end was frustrating. I was supposed to do a single 10 min 116% interval or at least hang on to that number as long as I could. Short workout so I started later and had way more traffic than usual, then it was crazy windy which I didn't notice when I checked the forecast. Everything conspired against me and I missed by target by a good margin- although I did manage a total of 8 out of 10 minutes at 116%, so that's something. Now I want another crack at it.

IBOHUNT

Thanks. Had my weight within 2kilo's of what it was at the race last year with a CTL of 74 and an ATL of 89 going into that ride. Was going to taper this week some... not as much as I will be doing now
Now that will make you more frustrated than an Amish electrician...

Amazingly my head hurts no more after the ride than going into it. The headaches from the last accident in April 2016 where I got the helicopter ride I don't recall had come back prior to this one. I'll probably be going back on those meds as soon as I see that Doc again.

IBOHUNT

8/10 is a good thing.
Only target I see there is big and brown. That's a freezer full and a nice blanket <ask me how I know >

globecanvas

Oh **** that! Sorry to hear

revchuck 

+1. Heal quickly and well!

Cleave

@IBOHUNT, that is a passel of bad luck, not training! Heal well soon.

Hermes

Heal up fast IBO. That just really sucks.

Hermes

VSC track workout - warmup, 2 jumps and 4x500 meter chase the motor drills. Plus lots of clowning around.

revchuck 

Slowed down the last few days in preparation for Arkansas. Saturday was a recovery ride, Sunday was three hours at endurance pace, Monday recovery again, yesterday was two hours at endurance pace with a ten-minute threshold interval and another ten minutes at 105%. Driving to the place I'm staying today, will try to recon tomorrow's ride once I'm there. I'll be riding in the area north of Clarksville.

Looks like I'll be off Saturday due to thunderstorms starting Friday night and continuing all day. Rain is predicted for Sunday, but I can ride in that.

IBOHUNT

Thanks @globecanvas, @Hermes, @Cleave, and @revchuck.
Reckon I will just race vicariously through you all. I can see a trainer in my near future just to spin my legs.

Heathpack 

Have a great trip, @revchuck!

Well I asked Ex if I could have another go at the 116-117% interval today and he said to have at it. Was planning on meeting up with some friends for a tempo ride already, so I just headed out a little early to try that interval solo.

The instructions were to shoot for my 116-117% power target for 10 min or as long as I could sit on that number. I figured 5 min was a gimme and I did 8 min yesterday but in a surgey manner that gave me multiple little recovery periods in the interval (making it easier in my mind). So I wasn't sure I could make 8 min of steady output. Ten seemed like a stretch and I decided in advance not to be disappointed if I couldn't make I that long.

Five minutes in, I was over target and it was starting to feel hard. I backed off a little.

Seven minutes in, I was thinking that 7 min was way more than 5 min, I thought about stopping

Eight minutes in, I figured I should at least exceed yesterday's effort, since I had already come so far.

Eight thirty in, I thought about stopping but wondered if I could make 9 min.

Once I got to 9 min, might as well finish, right?

At 10 min, I landed nicely on the exact power target I was shooting for. Hit some HR numbers that are very high for me. Felt like someone should high five me, but I was out riding solo and even if I had been with someone else, doubtful they would've gotten it.

It's interesting to see revealed what your legs and heart/lungs are capable of. It really is your brain running the show out there. It tells you to STOP when there honestly is no need. At some point you have to train your brain to just let you go.

Then I met my friends for an easy ride to the coffee shop. I let them drop me on an uphill section to stay within my tempo range. But then once we got on the flats, I was on the fastest bike and it was nice to show them why I bother with all those aero business and adapting to those position, just was flying along with a pretty easy effort.

IBOHUNT

So @Heathpack.. What's the fuss? :-)

Heathpack 

Hermes

@Heathpack Very well done. Great observation. We are all limited mentally.

Here is a fast read and feel good book. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Bed...=make+your+bed

This is about Navy SEAL training. Yes, it is military but some great inspirational stories about the most demanding mental and physical stresses that we humans can possibly place on one another. IMO, required reading for all bike racers.

sarals 

+2 on that!! I miss a day here, and look what happens. Valygrl was right on about doctors and closed head injuries. Keep on top of that!

Heal fast, buddy...

sarals 

@Heathpack, yes ma'am, you got it!!

Heathpack 

Thanks @Hermes, I'll check it out.

Thanks @sarals, it was very satisfying to get it done. I thought it would be painful but it wasn't, more just "hard". Hard is preferable to easy sometimes...



Recovery ride for me today in gnarly wind.

sarals 

Yes it is!

sarals 

In sticking with the "track sprinting is technically hard" theme, I had a decent session Tuesday at Hellyer in windy conditions. My speed is coming up, which according to some, is good. However, I learned a few things yesterday (they'd been floating around in my head) about speed vs. quick. It's a drag race analogy. Whoever gets to the line first wins. That person may not have the top speed of the person they just beat, but they may have covered the distance in less time. This is only a small piece of the many variables that I'm learning go into track sprinting, and I've had it "done to me" a few times already. Case in point. Barb and I had a discussion following the first of three planned sprints on our training ride yesterday, which boiled down to her telling me that she always beats me in a sprint, and I make excuses about it. Point taken. I told her, okay, the gloves are off, the next sprint we'll start shoulder to shoulder and see what goes. We both threw down one really hard sprint, which started on a "dip" in the road we were on and from speed, about 20 MPH. We were geared equally, 50/17. We were side by side as we accelerated, then she slowly opened a gap, and then I started to reel her in as we hit our agreed upon line. She got me by a bike length, although I was carrying a little more speed at the end. And that's usually what happens. Why is that? She weighs 27 pounds less than I do, and she can make at her peak wattage right at 700 watts where I can do 740. Clearly, she's got the power to weight advantage. She is quicker as a result. I almost lumber along in comparison.

That was a good lesson in SO many ways. It showed how important technique is and how raw speed really isn't all the important. There is so much to this track sprinting game....

IBOHUNT

Just more recovery rides in the chair for me.

sarals 

globecanvas

My own sprinting (and racing in general) improved a lot when I really grokked a couple of things, which I continue to work on:

1. Quickness isn't about strength. When sprinting or attacking I try to mentally focus on flicking the bars back and forth, flicking the foot through the top of the pedal stroke. Engaging the wrists and ankles. If it feels like rowing the bars back and forth or mashing down on the pedals, that's wrong. It shouldn't feel muscular, like weightlifting. Other activities I have done that are about quickness are drumming, table tennis, squash -- I try to get in that sort of mindset.

2. Quickness kills. When attacking or closing a gap, if the punchier you can make it, the harder it is for anyone on your wheel, because they have to match your acceleration watt for watt. Obviously this applies to the max in an actual sprint -- you never want to be ramping up, you always want to be either holding position or punching it.

I have also found that quickness is strongly correlated with restedness (positive TSB). The ability to be sharp and punchy at the end of a race is the first thing to go if there's too much fatigue coming into the race.

sarals 

@globecanvas, great points!

I'm focusing on track sprinting, which is a different animal than road sprinting. I'm not working to sprint from a pack, I'm working on individual sprint events. Some are flying starts, some are standing starts. There is an enormous amount of technique to learn and then hone. Perfect? No, I won't go there! I've been told and have read that it can take years to get close to getting this discipline right!

One of the successful sprinters from the velodrome I train on wrote a "lesson plan" for sprint clinics he was holding some years ago. He had a section on match sprints in the plan, and in it he mentioned some of the points you've made. Positioning, knowing your body type and your advantages, knowing the other riders capabilities, trying to put yourself in the best place you can to either exploit a weakness (yours or theirs) or put a strength you have to advantage. It's quite a chess game!

echappist

@IBOHUNT, speedy recovery

@Heathpack, well done on the interval