Start of ski week. At 7000’, slept okay but have an altitude headache. SpO1 95%.

FTP test; 212, up from 209 eight weeks ago. Hoping for better, but only a 1.4% improvement.

My fitness seesaws between leg strength and cardio. This test my cardio was cooked during the last 5 minutes, last test it was my legs.

raining in San Diego this morning (and dark at 5:45 AM ride time....) so guess where I did my three hour endurance ride?

^^^^You're a better man than I, Gunga Din!

Things have been going well, though not perfectly. Sunday I had zero motivation, barely made it to the gym, and only did 2/3 of the workout. All I wanted to do was lay around the house and nap. I slept well that night and Monday went out and did a 2x20' threshold workout, and while it was appropriately hard, I wasn't that tired and probably had another one in me. Today was a recovery ride and it felt nice, average heart rate was 89 bpm. :) Two-hour endurance pace ride and a gym session tomorrow, a 1x40' threshold workout (with the option of breaking it up if necessary) Thursday, and three-hour endurance pace rides Friday and Sunday with a gym session Saturday because I have to work. Coach gave me the option of starting my recovery week either Friday or Sunday depending on how I feel - we're pushing the ramp rate and don't want me to bite off more than I can chew.

HAH!
Memory and math need some workouts! Previous FTP was 201, not 209, so improvement was 5.4%.
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Pretty solid VO2max workout on the trainer today. It was hard, but not so hard that I couldn't complete it, so good job TrainerRoad AI.

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Took the morning off so I could get in some volume, ended up with about 4.75 hours. Trying to manage my fatigue so I put a cap on average power (low z2), and rode right up to it towards the end of the ride, with plenty left in the tank. Body and mind were a bit uncooperative in the beginning, but eventually I loosened up and enjoyed the ride.

A break in the weather so the pool was open again today. 2500 yds, mostly steady state, really focused on reaching and breathing.

Back from skiing and on the trainer. Today was 3 sets of 5x(30”on 1’off). Max on was z3. I found a higher z2 power and for the off segment bumped the power 25 watts for the on.

I put my Garmin Vector 3 power pedals on the trainer bike and connected the power meter to my Garmin head unit. I put the Garmin Neo Tacx in ERG mode and controlled trainer power from my iPhone.

The Garmin head unit with the Vector 3 was reading 20 watts higher than the power reading from the Neo via my iPhone. I knew it. I completed the warmup.

I recalibrated the Vector 3 and started the first interval. Hmmm, the Garmin head unit is now reading about 8 watts higher. I recalibrated the Vector 3 again and now the Garmin is 6 to 7 watts higher than the Neo. Hmmmm. I would expect the Garmin Vector to read a few watts higher than the Neo due to drive train losses. So it seems like it is reading about right. But I would NEVER use the Neo or any other power coming from a trainer on Zwift.

I definitely feel more force in the bottom of my feet riding the trainer versus riding on the road for the same power. F it. I suck on the trainer. Get over it.

The good news is I am on the trainer again tomorrow for even a longer ride. Yeah baby, I cannot wait for that action.

Felt a cold coming on yesterday, but not so bad I couldn't ride. We'll see about today. 😉
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Another z2 trainer ride - 2x20’. Meh

I also rode the trainer yesterday, 2x20' on the TT bike, in position. I actually had decent power on my second one, aimed for low z4 and felt good and hit 13 w over target.

Today, more trainer, just zone 2. Going for 3 hours and change. Off tomorrow, strength routine.

3hours on the trainer is total Beast Mode.

Easier than starting outside (~5:45 AM) in the dark and wet!

Have good power again today, feeling great. 30 min left. Resting tomorrow, I should be poised to finish off the week strong before resting next week.

Trainer warmup and the 3 sets of 15’ of (30”on 1’ off) cadence > 90 rpm. Low set point z2 upper set point low z3. I will equate the workout to getting 3 cavities filled using laughing gas versus novocaine.

What I have found using the Tacx in ERG mode is that running the big ring and an 11 or 12t rear cog provides the best road feel. I try to keep the rear flywheel going fast. Also, right now my HR is very sensitive to cadence since the power is set by the trainer. Increasing the cadence during the low set point at times resulted in a higher HR than at a higher power setting during the “on” portion. And I know the power is correct.

Also, the trainer tends to impact my knees more. I get more under the knee cap pain on the trainer than on the road. I tried an experiment where I taped my left knee with KT tape when I started to get a little pain after the 2nd set. For the 3rd set, the pain went away. One data point so may be just coincidence.

Well, that 40' threshold ride made it to 23 minutes. I kept pushing on the pedals and watching the numbers go down for a couple more minutes, then took a five-minute break and tried again, and got two more minutes out of it, and hung it up. Z2 was all I could do the rest of the way home. So my recovery week did start on Friday. I did a strength workout Friday, took Saturday off, and did a solid 2:15 endurance pace ride Sunday. Monday was off, and today was an hour recovery pace ride. Even with the blowout on Thursday, the ramp rate was +10%.

I'm at that stage where the only way I can find out how much I can handle is to take it to the wall and bounce off. Strength workout tomorrow, then nose returns to grindstone Thursday.

No fever today so I did a 50 minute Threshold Interval ride. Couldn't quite do the last 10 minute warm-down all at high Z2, but what doesn't kill you makes you sweat.

I totally thought this was a pregnancy test when I first looked at it.

I’d go easy if I were you, no need to unnecessarily f*ck yourself over, covid is no joke.

2 climbs up Mount Soledad via Soledad Mountain Road. It was cool but a great day.

Despite my relative success doing a TT workout indoors earlier in the week, I reaalllly wanted to venture out and get some real world time in at SST and then race pace. It didn't really work out, I guess it rained more last night than I thought it would have. Total Armageddon on fiesta, dried mud with like 1-2" bumps, lots of wet mud and water on the ground, now my bike is filthy.

Instead, I rode up and down east mission bay drive a bit. The long southern stretch is (barely) long enough for me to get a 3' interval in, so I did 4 or so of those in at low VO2 max level power, and kinda cruised around z3 in between. Did another interval in position closer to home by the Montgomery airport and onto tech way, got lucky with stoplights there.

Working my way back, today was supposed to be 4 hr @ Z2. Got to 1:45 and felt that was enough for the day.

2 hour endurance ride up the coast from PB to Swamis and back. Nice day but cool starting out.

Easy aerobic intervals, perfect for the post-flu re-entry.

Won a TT yesterday, M35+ category, fourth fastest time overall. I'll start a thread for 2023 race results in a bit.

Coach wants me to ride for 18-20 hours this week. Shooting for 20. Gonna take a half day W and full day off Th to make that happen. Then, rest/taper into the Valley of the Sun Stage Race 2/15-2/17, minus some crit racing on 2/12. Looking forward to it!

Threshold intervals today, felt strong and HR was normal. My endurance rides haven't returned to pre-covid level but hoping this weekend is better. Fitness curve is tilting upward again.

Returned from skiing on Friday and this AM did 20km at Fiesta - higher cadence / endurance effort.

Ski conditions were perfect with sunny skies and groomed slopes. We got 4 days of skiing in a row with some gym work. Back to the mines.

First group ride since before Thanksgiving. I got dropped towards the end, but I am pleasantly surprised that I was able to hang as long as I did.

2 x 4hr Z2 rides this weekend. Saturday's hurt a bit with the 2 x 20 min threshold efforts mid ride. Covid, get thee behind me!

20km TTT at endurance pace on Fiesta. Legs feel pretty good. I think I am back from skiing.

Starting to feel human again after my peak volume last week. Took two days off, today just a light 45 min on the trainer with a 25' high z2 effort in TT position. Some more light riding ahead, and then come crit racing on Sunday!