GET (Graded Exercise Test)

I Gave Up

I am not sure exactly what happened, but I think I just gave up on the test. The legs, lungs, and mind were all ready to go, at least the morning of the test, but when it came time to crank out the power I just didn't push through. For those that don't know what a graded exercise test is, it is a means to measure your performance and is useful for future comparison. The test procedure is given below.

After a sufficient warm-up the rider rides at set speeds for 1 minute intervals. The speeds correspond to 20 watt increments in power starting at 100 watts. During the test the riders speed (power) is recorded along with the heart rate. After the test is completed the data is plotted with the heart rate on the y-axis and the power on the x-axis. Increased fitness is indicated by a reduction in slope (higher power at lower HR). In addition the ultimate power that can be delivered should also increase.

I have now completed 3 separate GETs. The results are summarized below.

E1 (Active Recovery)

Today's E1 ride was a little faster than the ride on Tuesday, but I generally took it easy. The average speed was higher as was the heart rate, but my efficiency was good. Not too much more to say, just a fairly easy week. On Saturday it is test time, but I am not sure what test I will perform. I am leaning toward a graded exercise test (GET) because I have a good baseline based on past tests. A more meaningful test is to construct an accurate power profile by performing "all out" time trials at various durations to generate a power verses time curve. This is extremely useful for setting up power zones for the various workouts.


Summary
Duration: 1:00
Speed Ave: 16.7 mph
Power Ave: 180 watts
Heart Rate Ave: 136 bpm

S1, S2 (Single Leg Drills and Spin Ups)

I used to like this workout more in the past, but as of late it is getting a little anoying. I do believe in them and that is the only reason that I am still doing them. As the training goes on and the intensities are higher there needs to be times where you go back to the basics and make sure that you are not loosing pedling form. That is what the single leg drills are for, not to mention that my hamstrings are still slightly underdeveloped compared to my quads and this excercise helps with that as well. The spin-ups are another drill that helps me maintain my leg speed despite the fact that more and more workouts focus on power at a lower cadence. The workout duration was only 1:30, but tonight it seemed longer than usual. The procedure for the workout is listed below.

Summary
Duration: 1:30
0:00 - 0:10 Warm-up
0:10 - 0:48 Single leg drills
0:48 - 0:52 Spin
0:52 - 1:15 Spin-Ups

E1 (Active Recovery)

Easy is as Easy Does

Today's E1 ride was slow even by E1 standards running at the low end of the heart rate zone. This workout was performed on the trainer and the average speed was 15.7 mph and the average HR was only 124. I can't tell you how good the ride felt. The legs felts really good and loose and most if not all of the soreness was gone, just what you want to have on a rest week.

Summary
Duration: 1:00
Speed Ave: 15.7 mph
Power Ave: 158 watts
Heart Rate Ave: 124 bpm

E2 (Endurance)

Can you say tired

Today's E2 workout went fine, but I could tell the legs were a little tired. I think this past week has been more busy than normal as well. The lungs felt good, but the legs were sore from the beginning and did not get much better during the ride. I was interrupted a couple of times on the trainer because of the kids and their antics outside, but that's OK. The second time was due to a collision between Devon and Wyatt on their bikes and even though they were just fine it almost gave me a good enough reason to stop the ride short. I did however complete 2:30 of the scheduled 3 hour ride.

Summary
Duration: 2:30
Average Speed: 18.2 mph
Average Power: 214 watts
Average Heart Rate: 154 bpm

A2 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

Good Hard Ride

Third and final week in the Build 1 phase before a rest/recovery week, no better time to hit it hard.

Schedule
0 - 10 min warm up (13 -> 18 mph)
0:10 - 0:20 E2 warm up (18 mph, 210 Watts)
0:20 - 0:24 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:24 - 0:28 Interval #1 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.6, 340, 176 Ave HR)
0:28 - 0:32 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:32 - 0:38 Interval #1 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.7, 343, 180 Ave HR)
0:38 - 0:42 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:42 - 0:46 Interval #3 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.6, 340, 180 Ave HR)
0:46 - 0:50 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:50 - 0:54 Interval #4 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.5, 336, 180 Ave HR)
0:54 - 0:58 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:58 - 1:02 Interval #5 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.4, 333, 179 Ave HR)
1:02 - 1:06 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
1:06 - 2:30 E2 (18.5 mph, 220 Watts) (18.2, 211, 157 Ave HR)

The intervals went really well although I feel that I pushed it just about as hard as I could while still maintaining good form and consistency. The first 3 intervals were really strong, and the forth interval I pushed really hard to maintain the same average speed. The fifth interval was slightly less strong, but not bad.

E1 (Active Recovery)

Outside Finally NICE!

Today's ride is just for fun. I took a longer lunch and rode an easy recovery ride for about 1 hour. I am a believer that an easy ride the day after a hard workout is much better than no ride at all. I could tell the legs were a little tired and heavy, but by the end of the ride they felt a lot better. I am trying to get geared up for some intense intervals on Saturday.

M2 (Cruize Intervals) Strong and Hard

This was the second set of intervals with a week of F2's in between.

Schedule
0 - 10 min warm up (13 -> 18 mph)
0:10 - 0:20 E2 warm up (18 mph, 210 Watts)
0:20 - 0:30 Interval #1 (21 mph, 290 Watts) (21.2, 294, 177HR)
0:30 - 0:33 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:33 - 0:43 Interval #2 (21 mph, 290 Watts) (21.1, 290, 176HR)
0:43 - 0:46 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:46 - 0:56 Interval #3 (21 mph, 290 Watts) (21.1, 290, 178HR)
0:56 - 0:59 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:59 - 1:09 Interval #4 (21 mph, 290 Watts) (21.1, 290, 180HR)
1:09 - 1:12 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
1:12 - 1:22 Interval #5 (21 mph, 290 Watts) (21.1, 290, 180HR)
1:22 - 1:30 E2 (18 mph, 210 Watts)

Going into the workout I was feeling good. During the warm up the legs felt a little heavy but my HR remained fairly low and during a 2 min prep at 21 mph during the warm up the legs responded well. The first three intervals felt almost identical, but I could tell I was getting progressively more tire by interval 4 and 5. I finished the last interval strong maintaining nearly the same speed/power as the first interval. In fact in the last minute I was able to kick it up to over 22 mph.

E2 (Endurance)

I don't always write about a ride before its done, but I had some time so I thought I would get this started while I have some time. Tonight's ride will begin after the Pesavento twins go to bed (7:30 PM), but my kids will have some time to watch Survivor Fiji (Spring break). On the slate is a standard E2 (endurance) ride. This time I think I will hold a slightly slower pace 18 mph and see how my body recovers before tomorrows M2 (Cruise Intervals). If the weather is nice tomorrow I will try to get out over lunch to ride on the road. We will see how things go tonight.

The ride is done and it went fairly well. I averaged 17.9 mph over the 2 hour ride and the legs felt good. Half way through the ride I adjusted the tension on the drive roller and I could see a noticeable difference in my HR. I will need to make sure I am careful setting up the trainer the same way each time. On a related note it might also explain why the intervals I have done lately have not been as good as the ones I performed earlier in the season. I have been running the tension higher than normal to make sure the rear tire doesn't slip during the higher effort intervals.

No Ride Today

Not much to talk about. I decided that it was more important to get the garage organized and finished up the shelving instead of riding. I typically do not like to miss a workout, but the legs were feeling a little tired from Sundays ride. I missed the P1 (jumps, 10-12 crank revalutions all out). I will see if I can incorporated them into the E2 that I will do on Wednesday.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

Back on the trainer again, due to weather and laziness. Andrea went out earlier today for her E2 ride and pushed a 20 mph wind all the way from Hutchinson to Glenco 18 miles and was able to hold an impressive 12 mph average speed. However, she got a flat tire in Glenco and I had to drive to pick her up. She was disappointed that she wasn't able to ride the wind back toward home. Anyway, I suffered indoors on the trainer watching "Changing Lanes" on the big screen.

The ride went fairly well, the legs felt good and the HR stayer relatively low considering the effort. I held a 19 mph speed for the majority of the ride, slowing down for a couple of sections to give the legs a slight break. I remember back to the initial E2 rides and holding 17 mph was painful (things have improved). At the 2:20 mark it was getting late and my legs felt as if they had enough so I called it a good ride.

A1 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

This saturday, was the second round of VO2 Max intervals and they went better than the first. In the previous attempt, I overestimated the speed/power I would be able to sustain for a full 4 minutes and do it repeatedly. This is probably a testimate to the level of endurance I have built up during the base phase of training and my ability to push fairly hard for long periods of time. The goal was to try to maintain 23 mph during the intervals but to back them down if I felt I could not hit the speed target. I wanted to get a solid baseline in speed to benchmark future performances.

Schedule
0 - 10 min warm up (13 -> 18 mph)
0:10 - 0:20 E2 warm up (18 mph, 210 Watts)
0:20 - 0:24 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:24 - 0:28 Interval #1 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
0:28 - 0:32 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:32 - 0:38 Interval #2 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
0:38 - 0:42 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:42 - 0:46 Interval #3 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
0:46 - 0:50 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:50 - 0:54 Interval #4 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
0:54 - 0:58 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:58 - 1:02 Interval #5 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
1:02 - 1:06 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
1:06 - 1:10 Interval #6 (23 mph, 360 Watts)
1:10 - 1:14 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
1:14 - 2:30 E2 (18.5 mph, 220 Watts)

The first interval I went out a little to hard and although I was able to hold 23 mph for four minutes, the next interval suffered and I wasn't able to complete it. Intervals 3, 4, and 5 were fairly consistent with average speeds between 22.5 and 22.9. The last interval I slowed down a little 21.9 in order to complete the set.

F2 (Big Gear Climbs)

The things you have to do when you live in Minnesota and the weather will not cooperate. In order to do many of the workouts I need to simultate them indoors on the trainer. Acutally I don't mind all that much because I can carefully control the conditions and accurately monitor my output (via the HR monitor and Kurt Kinetic Trainer). These primary objective of this workout is to strengthen the "slow twitch" muscle fibers allowing them to carry more of the load during higher efforts such as climbing. The intervals are typically 1-2 minutes in length with a 3 to 5 minute recovery period between intervals.

Schedule
0 - 10 min warm up (13 -> 18 mph)
0:10 - 0:20 E2 warm up (18 mph, 210 Watts)
0:20 - 0:22 Interval #1 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:22 - 0:26 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:26 - 0:28 Interval #2 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:28 - 0:32 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:32 - 0:34 Interval #3 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:34 - 0:38 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:37 - 0:40 Interval #4 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:40 - 0:44 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:44 - 0:46 Interval #5 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:46 - 0:48 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:48 - 0:50 Interval #6 (24 mph, 400 Watts)
0:50 - 0:54 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:54 - 1:30 E2 (18.5 mph, 220 Watts)

The intervals went fairly well despite the fact that my stomach was very upset and I didn't feel very well all day. Once on the bike, however, I quickly got in the grove and the warm-up went well. The goal was to hold near 24 mph (400 watts) for each interval. The first 4 intervals went well although they were very intense and difficult to finish strong with the average speed around 23.5 (375 watts). I wasn't able to complete the fifth interval; stopping about 15 seconds short. For the final interval I reduced the speed down to 23 mph and had no problem completing it.

A2 (Hill Sprints)

Outside (One Word Cold!)

Since I switched Tuesdays and Wednesdays workouts, today it was time to perform hill sprints outside. I think I underestimated the temperature. After yesterdays record breaking 66 deg today was a chilly 36 deg at noon. I obviously did not dress warm enough for the weather. I chose my half-finger gloves and that was a big mistake, my finger were froze instantly. Although I was uncomfortable during the entire ride, I was able to focus and complete 7 of 8 hill sprints. Living in this part of the country it is difficult to find decent hills, but the sprints only last 15-25 seconds so that was not a problem. The hill I chose was a nice 10 minute ride from work and by that time the legs were warm, but nothing else was. As I completed each sprint I could feel the power in my legs starting to diminish and by the last one I was definitely tired. That is not to say that I couldn't have done a couple more, but it was a good workout and now it is time to let the legs recover.

Time: 1 Hour
HR: NA
Power: CP 0.2 (Max Power)
# Sprints: 7
Sprint Duration: 10-20 seconds

E2 (Endurance)

So Far So Good

Tuesdays workout went really well. My legs felt good and my heart rate stayed low considering the power output. Before the workout I made the decision to switch Tuesdays P2 (hill sprints) to a 2 hour E2 (Endurance) workout, which was scheduled for Wednesday. I wasn't able to ride outside on Tuesday because the bike was still set up for the trainer and sprints are somewhat difficult to do inside. During the warm-up the legs felt good and the HR was lower than it has been. During the ride I was able to maintain speeds a little over 19 mph (230 watts). The workout finished strong and the stats are listed below.

Time: 2.0 hours
Ave Speed: 19.0 mph (235 watts)
AVe HR: 158 bpm

E2 (Endurance)

I decided to take a break

I woke up early Sunday morning (something I hate to do) to get on the bike for a relatively easy but long endurance ride. My body was not liking the fact that it received 1 hour less sleep due to daylight savings time. I grabbed a few things to eat quickly and a stash of food for the ride and headed downstairs. During the warm-up I kept asking myself if this was beneficial to my training or would I be better off going back to sleep. The legs felt good and as I continued to push to a higher speeds my heart rate remained fairly low (similar to past efforts). After about 10 minutes I made the decision to stop the ride and go back to bed.

In general the training has been disjointed since the race in Tucson and trip (not unexpected). This week is the second week of build 1 with nearly 9 weeks before the start of the race season. The primary goal now is to get the training back on track, which I don't think will be a problem. The weather is getting warmer and the snow is quickly melting. Andrea and I will need to make changes in our schedule to start riding outdoors.

A1 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

First Round of Anearobic Intervals

Lets just say that it's much easier said (written) than done. I had originally planned on performing four 4 minute intervals with an equal rest time between. The intervals would take about 1 hour and the remaining 1.5 hours would be filled with an E2 (18 mph) ride. Based on previous testing I figured that the intensity for the intervals should be somewhere between 23 and 24 mph (360 - 400 watts). Even before the ride I had revised the plan so the intervals were done at 23 and not 24 to be on the conservative side.

During the warm-up the legs felt good, but my heart rate seemed abmormally high for the low effort. During the lead-in E2 part of the warm-up my HR was at least 10 bpm higher than normal. It probably had something to do with eating just before the workout; it have made a mental note. The first inteval started well and I was able to hit the desired speed and started to get settled in to a rythem, but at about 1.5 minutes I was laboring to hold the speed. I decided to go 2 minutes on the first interval and recover for 2 minutes, hoping it was a result of an insufficient warm-up. The second interal went about as good as the first, but this time I allowed a 3 minute recovery to hopefully be ready for a 3 minute interval. I was only able to go 2 minutes on the third interval as well and decided to finish off the intervals with one more 2 minute interval.

The remainer of the ride went really well I was able to hold 18 mph easily, although my HR was still above what it normally is for that intensity.

In the future I will need to make sure I am both physically and mentally ready for the intensity of these workouts. These efforts are fairly painful (if done correctly), but in my opinion the most critical to developing race specific skills.

M2 (Cruize Intervals)

Getting into the Build Phase

Last night was the first time this traing season performing cruize intervals. Overall they went quite well, but were slightly more intense than previous training. The duration was supposed to be 2 hours but mentally I was only able to manage 1.5 hours. The intervals were structures as follows.

Schedule
0 - 10 min warm up (13 -> 18 mph)
0:10 - 0:20 E2 warm up (18 mph, 210 Watts)
0:20 - 0:28 Interval #1 (21 mph, 290 Watts)
0:28 - 0:31 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:31 - 0:39 Interval #2 (21 mph, 290 Watts)
0:39 - 0:42 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:42 - 0:50 Interval #3 (21 mph, 290 Watts)
0:50 - 0:53 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
0:53 - 1:01 Interval #4 (21 mph, 290 Watts)
1:01 - 1:04 Recovery (13 - 14 mph, 120 Watts)
1:04 - 1:12 Interval #5 (21 mph, 290 Watts)
1:12 - 1:30 E2 (18 mph, 210 Watts)

The first interval went well, however, it took my legs the entire duration of the interval to adapt to the intensity. The second and Third intervals were good, but by the fourth interval the legs were starting to slow slightly. I was able to push through the final interval, but the legs were feeling really tired. The original plan called for a 2 hour ride, but I stopped short because I felt I wasn't getting any physical benefit and mentally I was drained from all the rides on the trainer. I can't wait for the snow to melt and the weather to turn warm. Also, I think I am spoiled from the rides down in Arizona, it was SO much fun!

This weekend should be challenging. I have to find a way to fit in a 2.5 hour ride on Saturday and a 3.5 hour ride on Sunday, while at the in laws for a baby shower. I will see how it goes, but I might cut these rides a little short.

Note: This workout was performed on a Kurt Kinetic trainer and recorded with a Polar S-720i HR monitor. The data was downloaded and evaluated for HR and power based on an established speed vs power relationship.

Scaleing Back the Training

I have made the decision to scale back my training volume from 600 hours annually to 500 hours annually starting the week of March 4th. I have found it increasingly difficult to complete the longer endurance workouts primarily due to boredome. Although I find it much easier than most people to spend endless hours on the indoor trainer, the 4 hour rides seem to take an eternity. Do to this boredome and subsequent lack of motivation I feel the quality of my training rides are suffering. Therefore, by changing the annual hours from 600 to 500 makes my longest endurance rides typically 3 hours. Possibly after the snow melts and I am able to ride outside I will push a few longer enduranc rides.