Log: 15/11/2011

Training Principles - 4:

Individualization, Periodization, Progressive Overload, Balance, Specificity, Reversiblility, Evaluation, Rest-Recuperation-Diet. 

Progressive Overload.
"The story of Milo of Croton from the 6th century B.C. illustrates this principle perfectly.  Every morning, according to legend, this greatest of ancient Greek athletes of would lift a
young calf overhead and carry it across a pasture.  As it grew, Milo lifted a little more each day, until he could carry the full-grown bull.

Similarly, training adaptation, and hence improved performance, is induced by stress loads that “challenge” the body (exceed existing fitness levels) and fatigue it to an appropriate degree (see Seth Hosmer’s fine summary of the workout/recovery cycle for more).  As an old and fundamentally useful maxim runs, “Train where you are, or slightly beyond, not where you want to be.”  In response, and after adequate rest/recuperation, the body’s plasticity allows it to “defend” itself, and “supercompensate” or rebound to reach a higher level of fitness.  It is in quantifying the imposed stress load, especially at higher/variable intensities, that power-measuring devices and analysis software are most useful." Howe 


15/11/2011 - Velodrome

Threshold work (SST). Hot out today - felt difficult, high HR & low Power..

    Duration:      1:23:09
    Work:          723 kJ
    TSS:           68.8 (intensity factor 0.707)

    Distance:      38.472 km
    Heart Rate:      76    169    136     bpm
    Cadence:         31    182    94     rpm
    Temperature:     21    30    28.1     Celsius 

15/11/2011 - Road

Recovery with Ol.. 

    Duration:      36:35
    Work:          116 kJ
    TSS:           6.9 (intensity factor 0.339)
    Norm Power:    92
    VI:            1.72
    Pw:HR:          n/a
    Pa:HR:          n/a
    Distance:      9.524 km
    Temperature:     24    27    25.4     Celsius

Log: 23/10/2011

22/10/2011 - Track | BBN

Oliver and I fronted to race, but the rain (which had cleared) put off the number of attendees to a level not worthy of holding a race meet. Instead, the few that were there and keen used the session for training. Lots of motor pacing was on the menu for the afternoon - which was a nice way to get in some leg speed, and a perfect intro for Oliver. Brad James is adding the finishing touches to his Warny prep - and some quality time behind the derny was exactly what he wanted. Ol loved rolling turns behind the bike. Good to get more work in than what would have been accrued for a typical race day..

23/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Team ride - "Cinderella & the 3 Ugly Sisters". Only Mick Villani completed the final climb after coffee, and he was planning to bolt on some extras to boot. I was after ~300TSS for the session, felt bad for not climbing Cindarella and got home to discover 312.. mission accomplished. Garmin have now published update to Edge 800 firmware that displays TSS on the unit. Still waiting for the update for the 500. This metric would be perfect for days like these...

Was a great training ride today - apart from the fog. Spent a lot of time in the fog. 3 solid climbs, all at a good intensity.

Cinderella and 3 Ugly Sisters

Last couple of weeks have acclimatised to what has been a steady diet of ~900TSS/week. This has then seen a couple of weeks with a CTL of only +1 per week - leaving me feeling pretty fresh for each ride and evidently allowing me to crank up the output.

This week TSS 1000 and a CTL +4 but feeling pretty on top of it. Ave watts +2.75% on last week across x2hrs climbing threshold work. Had expected to be gaining at most +1% week (if anything) from here to Tour of Bright, so unexpected but certainly good.


Duration:      4:42:22
Work:          2255 kJ
TSS:           312.2 (intensity factor 0.88)
VI:            1.48
Pw:HR:          0.2%
Pa:HR:          15.47%
Distance:      109.358 km
Elevation Gain:        1694 m


Next week planning for CTL+3 (~960TSS), bringing CTL up to 125.

Log: 18/10/2011

17/10/2011 - Nil(ish)

Rest Day. 20min on the trainer- easy effort.. Didn't happen.. Did roll around a bit on the road to validate swapped wheel operating correctly. Have sent primary Powertap back to meet it's makers as suspect numbers have been plaguing rides for last couple of weeks..

18/10/2011 - Road | Velo

Prescribed 95% FTP for 2x20min, which completed then completed 1x10 at 105%.
Beautiful day (warm), lots of sweat - got to get used to that..


Duration:      1:35:09
Work:          1017 kJ
TSS:           113.5 (intensity factor 0.848)
Distance:      46.471 km
Temperature:     21    29    25.3     Celsius

Minimum 14c overnight. Going to be beautiful morning for mid-week Muntanyes..

Log: 17/10/2011

12/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Running from memory here - x1 word = Miserable.

Cold and wet in the mountains but I got the work done.

Duration:      2:53:57
Work:          1649 kJ
TSS:           191.9 (intensity factor 0.816)
Pw:HR:          7.67%
Distance:      71.633 km
Elevation Gain:        986 m
Temperature:     6    18    8.6     Celsius

13/10/2011 - Trainer

AeT for an hour.

Duration:      1:00:02
Work:          580 kJ
TSS:           42.7 (intensity factor 0.661)
Distance:      29.343 km

13/10/2011 - Track

Thursday night skills sessions are back on at BBN track. Oliver and I headed out to reacquaint ourselves with the single-speed. It's been a while for both of us - 6 months for Ol. I help out Alan with drills etc. and it's great to train with the young one.

Oliver - Flying 200 at dusk

14/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Beautiful morning - stark contrast to the misery of Wednesday. Had a small incident with a bee in the helmet on one descent - had to stop to remove it. Good solid climbing, x2 20minute efforts at >FTP, each followed immediately (No RI) by 6-7 minutes at 90-95% FTP. ~52+ minutes solid threshold work over two intervals - will continue to feature frequently on the training menu from here on in.


Duration:      3:00:16
Work:          1906 kJ
TSS:           215.1 (intensity factor 0.848)
VI:            1.25
Pw:HR:          11.29%
Distance:      79.796 km
Elevation Gain:        1153 m

15/10/2011 - Track | Race

Season opener at BBN. B grade. Format: Scratch, Points and Kierin.

Scratch: I succumbed to a mechanical - DNF (cringe).

Points: Confidence blown to pieces by the previous DNF and an acute paranoia that the gear I was running was too big - we rolled off.. I raced conservatively.. 3rd place and confidence restored. There was a selection mid way through that I chose not to chase, but in retrospect should have - I definitely had the legs.

Kierin: Fun but not my bag - finished with the bunch, the pure sprinters dominated. Need to think about changing my tactics here - sitting in until the bunch kick will get me nowhere..

Ok start to the season - will ride more aggressively from now on as self belief now in a more healthy place (1st racing since accident, etc).

16/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Headed out later in the day - missed the 6:00am team ride due to super poor nights sleep.

4 seasons in 1 ride. Different climbs today - slightly different format. Steeper, slightly shorter climbs (2x20 min >FTP) and x1 10min climb >>FTP. Solid tempo into headwind home.

Less time and CTL than I had planned for, but the late start determined the format as wanted to go and catch the final stage of the JHST with Ol.

Duration:      3:12:28
Work:          2087 kJ
TSS:           240.9 (intensity factor 0.87)
VI:            1.25
Pw:HR:          5.19%
Pa:HR:          -24.66%
Distance:      74.745 km
Elevation Gain:        1421 m

Lygon St - JHST

Great afternoon - good bike racing and primo gelati :)

Log: 11/10/2011

10/10/2011 - Nil 

 

Rest Day. 20min on the trainer- easy effort.. Didn't happen..

11/10/2011 - Road | Velo

 

Per previous post I've started Build2 phase. I have taken the approach of pre-mapping out target watts for each SST or FTP interval for the coming period. In the case of each Tuesday it's SST - and have prescribed 95% FTP for 2x20min, but the Tuesday mantra is strictly to go with the flow.

If I had an intense Sunday I can still be carrying fatigue into Tue - and where I find 95% feels like 9500% which it sometimes can - then just turn the volume down on intensity. Wednesday muntanyes take priority, and I have prescribed target numbers for Wednesdays that I do not want to miss. Target numbers for Wed & Fri climbing intervals aren't overly ambitious (I hope) - but they scare me nevertheless..

So, 2x20min at Balcky Velo. 1st 20 - on the scale of perceived effort (PE) was a bit difficult - but no danger of falling short of the mark. 2nd 20 was nice and easy on the PE scale - more like how I felt the first might be. Probably suffered 1st time round as did not roll the legs out yesterday like supposed to.

Duration:      1:25:24
Work:          857 kJ
TSS:           101.2 (intensity factor 0.849)
Pw:HR:          5.54%
Distance:      38.519 km

Log: 20/09/2011

19/09/2011 - Trainer

Rest Day. 20min on the trainer- easy effort..

Pretty heavy legs from last week - had accrued 1019 TSS. Bit heavier than usual, but I trained on the Monday which is usually not the case..

20/09/2011 - Road | Velo

Still heavy legs in the morning. Once I got on the bike they felt great.

2x20min at Balcky Velo. 1st 20 - Just floated through it, too easy. Easiest since I can remember, no chain interval. Cool - starting to feel strong.

2nd 20 was an effort - back down to earth. Started to feel the fatigue in the legs that I expected during 1st interval.

Duration:      1:22:27
Work:          845 kJ
TSS:           109.9 (intensity factor 0.897)
Distance:      37.485 km

Muntanyes tomorrow. Weather - please hold out..

Log: 13/09/2011

2x20min - Blacky Velo.

1st interval really hurt today, 2nd was a breeze in comparison. It is generally the case that 1st is worst - but today I was really uncomfortable..

Windy, really windy. It's always windy at Blacky Velo but today I was hanging on to my bike at times. This is the only place that I ride where frequently there is a headwind for 360 degrees. Whole lap into a headwind - how does that work? Seriously - headwind 100% of the time. I have no major issue with it, but its a curiosity that always astonishes me..

Guy on a mountain bike lapping in the wrong direction when I arrived. He knew it, and turned around as soon as I looked at him. I knew what he was up to - 360 degree tailwind :)

Duration:      1:20:49
Work:          851 kJ
TSS:           105.6 (intensity factor 0.888)
VI:            1.21
Pw:HR:          5.36%
Distance:      36.363 km
Temperature: 18.8     Celsius

Tomorrow I plan to head for the mountains early AM. BOM says it might rain. I'm going regardless..