Log: 31/10/2011

27/10/2011 - Trainer

AeT. Felt good.

    Duration:      1:00:02
    Work:          597 kJ
    TSS:           44.4 (intensity factor 0.669)

27/10/2011 - Track | BBN Skills

Nice evening to be rolling out the legs. Good turnout.

28/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

A morning to forget. Generally tired. 1st ascent was a battle, made a second ascent - but no preassure - just tempo. Has been a long time between bad days, but nevertheless the single bad day will still conspire to sap your confidence no matter how well you are going.

    Duration:      2:50:28
    Work:          1543 kJ
    TSS:           156.5 (intensity factor 0.751)
    Distance:      70.489 km
    Elevation Gain:        1133 m
    Temperature:     16    23    18.7     Celsius

29/10/2011 - Road

Forfeited racing based on yesterdays energy levels and generally dismal performance. 80min AeT on an old training route. Nice to have a change of scenery. Charging the batteries was number 1 priority..

30/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Sunday morning team ride postponed due to weather. Wet weather hung around all day. I ventured out at 4pm - Friday on my mind. Usual formula: Pick x2 longest possible climbs, on each tap out 20min >FTP then climb the remainder at ~95% FTP. This has proven to be a successful formula, but as I get stronger I'm starting to run out of road - the last portion (which I think is really valuable) is becoming quite reduced in duration. 3rd climb was steeper and circa 10min. Same, same but different.

Typical Spring, deceptively warm and dry on the flat & freezing, wet, cloudy & miserable in the ferns. Key workout - just suck it up and tap it out. Days like these make the good days seem even better. Happy to hit targets while climbing.


    Duration:      3:36:35
    Work:          2141 kJ
    TSS:           237.5 (intensity factor 0.812)
    Distance:      89.138 km
    Elevation Gain:        1471 m


Mind:

Dargo race this coming Saturday.
Looking at the start list - I'm not familiar with any of the competitors in my age category. Unfamiliar parcours, unfamiliar competition.

Log: 26/10/2011

26/10/2011 - Road | Muntanyes

Mid-week Muntanyes. Glorious Melbourne Spring morning.

Starting to mix up the ride route a little now and am enjoying the variation. 2x1/20 and a Perrins this morning. I don't like 1/20 and extension to Olinda much for threshold work, the gradient is all over the place and I struggle keeping the power down on the false flat. I know I just said I'm enjoying the variation and then complained about the climb..
Lot of folks out climbing this morning. Spotted TFM Cetltic crew for 2nd consecutive Wednesday and Crowie was seen about also.

Perrins Ck. Rd.

    Duration:      2:59:00
    Work:          1822 kJ
    TSS:           199 (intensity factor 0.818)
    VI:            1.3
    Pw:HR:          12.03%
    Pa:HR:          -15.18%
    Distance:      78.314 km
    Elevation Gain:        1228 m
    Elevation Loss:       1237 m
    Grade:         -0.0 %  (-8 m)
        Min    Max    Avg

    Heart Rate:      69    221    134     bpm
    Temperature:     7    16    9.6     Celsius

Log: 25/10/2011

24/10/2011 - Foot

A walk today instead of soft ride. It rained - but that was Ok..


25/10/2011 - Track | BBN

Some words from over at Endurance Corner were my motivation today.

..If you have ability in a field then it is straightforward to become good. Good = top 5% performer.

What does it take to become great? In a word, "everything". The transition from good to great requires a complete shift in your approach. We tend to think about what we have to add -- the "extra effort", going the "extra mile", "giving 110%"...

While the extra effort is both material, and essential. People don't breakdown due to the "extra" -- people breakdown because they are unable to strip away the non-essential...

Absent 1-in-ten-million talent, achieving 1-in-ten-thousand results will require a sustained effort that is unreasonable and, possibly, unhealthy. It is unique individuals that can tolerate extreme workloads over the long term (perhaps this is a form of talent?). Most of us can only cope with phases of intense work, primarily when we are young. Medical residents, investment bank trainees, elite military recruits... it's not just athletics where this applies.

Persistence in the face of setback and obstacles - that counts..

What else counts? The capacity to change - in athletics, the key things are:

• Willingness to change geography - to make it easier to do the right work;
• Building the correct peer/training group around one's self - to make it easier to do the right work;
• Tailoring our training approach to perform in races, not training; and
• Continual technical enhancement - to get more speed per unit of work.

I find it tough to front up to the velo on fatigued legs and coerce 50min quality SST out of them. When I have accrued >300TSS on Sunday, my Tuesday legs are still not rearing to go. I find 92-93% FTP pretty tolerable. Any faster and the legs start to scream - trying to suppress 50 minutes of screaming is mentally fatiguing.

Ol & I at Sun Tour Presentation - spotted on SBS Cycling Central  :)

    Duration:      1:29:33
    Work:          978 kJ
    TSS:           106 (intensity factor 0.845)
    VI:            1.21
    Pw:HR:          6.4%
    Pa:HR:          -5.75%
    Distance:      42.866 km
    Temperature:     16    22    18.3     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.