Matts Training

Prep Phase

2008-12-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

Still in the prep phase of training and I have taken that to mean that I don't have to care very much if and when I ride. In general I hate the cold and can't seem to get up early for a cold training ride outdoors. Fortunately, I don't mind the trainer, but I have very little time to get the required endurance rides in.

This week Monday night I completed the scheduled 1.5 hour endurance ride, but missed Wednesdays ride and only rode 1 hour on Thursday. Hopefully this weekend I will get out for a couple of decent rides at Murphy. I usually don't have a problem with the cold once I am out in the woods.

Second Week of Weight Training

2008-10-20T10:24:00.001-07:00

The start of the second week of weight training has begun. The body feels very good from last weeks light effort with the weights. It is now time to start increasing the amount of weight on each set while keeping the reps high.

Lifts today:

Upper Body
Side raises
Bent over raises

Lower Body
Leg Curls
Leg Extensions
Leg Press

Weight training begins!

2008-10-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

It is time to get back into the weight room for some all around strength training. This winter the focus will be on building lower body strength and transition that to power on the bike for next year. I will also focus on strengthening of my joints in my upper body.

Over the years I have taken a fair amount of nasty falls and surprisingly have come away with only a couple of cracked ribs. However, earlier this year I pulled a muscle in my left arm and it is still not yet healed. I can feel that my joints are not as strong as they were just a few years back and I attribute this to the lack of weight training. I will start out with light weigh and high repetitions with a focus on good form to ensure that I don't stress the joints too quickly. Because I have done a lot of weight training in the past my muscle strength progresses at a faster rate than the joints can take so I need to be careful.

Another thing that I am going to try this winter is keep the intensity up as much as possible, probably once a week with an intense ride. I still need to get in the longer endurance rides to build base, and I plan to keep the hours down during the transition phase to allow the body (and mind) some time to rebuild.

Move over time to train

2008-06-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting to get settled in our new house in Savage and many of the immediate tasks to get the house "livable" are mostly complete. For that past few weeks training on the bike has been non-existent and the last month and a half have been less than stellar.

Now that things have slowed down slightly I am getting my mind back into training. Part of the urge is to ensure that a repeat of last weeks DNF at Afton never happens again. Last year I made the choice to race expert and although it might take a little time to start competing with the other riders I will not except not finishing a race

Since I had to drive into work today to pick up Jordan at her friends house, I gave me the opportunity to bring the bike and go out for a ride over lunch. Unfortunately I forgot that I took my biking shorts out of my bag and had to ride in my work pants. I didn't realize how windy it had become and planed my ride to allow for a cross wind. I have come to the conclusion over the years that a cross wind is almost as bad a going directly into the wind and it seems to slow you down either way

The ride went fairly well and I tried to push hard for 20 minutes at a time with a slight rest in between. I was able to push fairly hard but on the return trip I was pushing into the headwind and I felt very slow. I am hoping the lack of sleep and training are the reason for this

I might try to get out to Murphy Saturday morning for some higher intensity efforts on the trails.

Spin Ups and Single Leg Drills

2008-03-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

A late training ride tonight. It was a busy evening with Taylor having girls scouts and Me spending time with Devon and Wyatt getting their bikes ready to ride. I wasn't sure I wanted to get on the ride tonight because my legs were still tired from Monday nights intervals and endurance ride. Despite the fact that I missed the ride on Sunday, I could squeeze in all the scheduled rides this week. With tonight's ride complete that I still might make it.

The way I have been doing the spin ups and single leg drills this year they are more of a recovery ride than a workout. By lowering the resistance and concentrating on form I get the intended benefit without risking over training during the week. I got on the bike at 9:15 PM and started with a 10 minute warm up. It felt good to spin some of the crud out of the legs before starting the single leg drills. I alternated 35 second with one leg then 25 seconds with both than went to the other leg. The SLDs took 20 minuets and then I changed to spin ups were I ramped up to a maximum cadence over 30 second and then maintained that cadence for 45 seconds. I started a new spin up every 5 minutes and finished at the 1 hour mark. The legs feel better today than yesterday so it was beneficial to do the workout. Endurance work tonight that should indicate how the legs are doing.

F2 Hilly Indurance

2008-03-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

I missed Sundays F2 ride and have been missing a fair amount of the endurance rides this season. Therefore, I will try to squeeze in a longer ride tonight. I added 15 seconds to each interval making them 1:45 in length but will start each successive interval every 5 minutes meaning the rest period is reduce by 15 seconds. The goal is also to maintain 350 watts for each of the intervals

The intervals went fairly well, but the intensity was a little to high for the added interval length. I struggled through the 8th interval so 8 it is. The warm up and the intervals took about an hour and the remaining 1 hour I maintained a good endurance pace at approx 200 watts. The legs felt fairly good, but I could tell they were worked. Walking up the stairs a little while later I could feel the muscles tightening up. Not sure what the remainder of the training week will entail, but I would like to try to get all the workouts in.

Long Endurance Rid

2008-03-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

The weather did not cooperate today with the snow overnight Saturday and temps hovering in the low 20s with little sun most of the day. Andrea and I had hoped to get out for a long 3 hour ride on the hills towards Afton.

I will now need to find a way to work in a longer ride early this week so I keep the base going. So far I have been a litle behind on the long rides; it is hard to find the time to fit them in on Sunday (or any day for that matter). Part of the problem is the fact that Andrea and I have to share the trainer so we can't ride at the same time.

Hopefully the weather will warm up soon and we can start biking together again.

Happy Training.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

For some reason I pulled the short straw and got to get up early to train. I wasn't that bad, however, because today's ride is a relatively short 1 hour endurance ride. To stay consistent with the last couple of weeks I chose to push the pace towards the upper end of the E2 range.

The legs felt dead and stiff this morning. I don't know if it was because it was morning or something else. Either way after 3 or 4 minutes they started to feel better as I gradually ramped up the speed. At the 10 minute mark I was at cruising speed. At the 30 min mark I dropped into my 42/12 gear and held a pace in the low 19s for the next 10 minutes before changing back into 42/13.

Legs felt good and strong and it was only during the 10 min section that I could feel any burning in the quads.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:00:00
Gearing 42/13
Total Distance: ##.# miles
Average Speed: 18.1 mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: 1##

S1, S2 (Spin Ups and Single Leg Drills)

2008-01-15T09:14:00.001-08:00

I chose to give my legs an extra half day to recover from the 5 hour block of training over the weekend and I think it was a good choice. Although I never like getting up any earlier than necessary for a ride, the extra rest was needed.

I changed the order of the ride so that the single leg drills were before the spin-ups. I think doing the SLDs when the legs are fresh makes more sense. Also, finishing with the spin ups will train the legs to spin when they are fatigued in addition to better training the muscles to fire at the correct time. During the SLDs the legs felt good and on Andreas advice I added an additional 1 minute spin between each right/left set. I did the single leg drills for 20 minutes and then started the spin ups. I did 6 spin ups and finished the ride with a 10 minute E2 before spinning for a couple of minutes.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-13T11:58:00.000-08:00

I was not feeling 100% today, but I managed to complete the designated 3 hour endurance ride. I am not sure if I have a cold comming on or what, but my head was a little plugged up and I felt a little worn down despite getting plenty of sleep.

On the bike, the legs felt a little sluggish at first, therefor, I kept the speed a little lower during the warm up to "feel" things out. After the 10 min warm-up I settled into a decent pace in the low 17s. I knew the ride was going to seem like a long time and at the 1 hour mark I was ready to be done. It was not that the legs felt bad, but rather I was just bored. I put in Star Wars and watched it with Wyatt for the first two hours of the ride, but it didn't help too much. I thought about quitting at the two hour mark and forced myself to 2.5 hours. At that time Andrea provided additional encouragement buy stating that we might not be able to get in our long rides next weekend because of Wyatts birthday. I did manage to complete the entire 3 hour ride, but I will not say that it wasn't difficult.

After the ride I grabbed some lunch and soaked the legs in the tub for a while.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 3:0:20
Gearing 42/14
Total Distance: 53.5 miles
Average Speed: 17.8 mph
Average Power: 204 watts
Average Heart Rate: 149

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Felt good, the legs felt fully recovered and the ride went fairly quick.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 2:0:00
Gearing 42/14
Total Distance: 35.0 miles
Average Speed: 17.5 mph
Average Power: 197 watts
Average Heart Rate: 154

S1, S2 (Spin Ups and Single Leg Drills)

2008-01-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

The ride tonight felt pretty good and the legs felt great. Yesterday I could still feel burning in the legs when I walked up stairs, but they felt fresh and strong on the bike. Not that that is saying to much when the objective of the training ride is to spin at a low resistance. Either way the legs are feeling as good as they ever have.

I kept the speed relatively slow for the first 10 minutes then got into the spin-ups. I completed 8 spin-ups each one beginning 5 minutes from the start of the previous one. I was able to hold 19.5 - 20 mph for most of the sessions and only notices a slight amount of bouncing. My objective is to keep the lower body as still as possible while maintaining as high of speed as I can for a duration of 45 seconds (after a 30 second ramp up to max speed). After the spin-ups I rounded the workout out with single leg drills for 15 minutes before doing a good cool down at E2 for 10 minutes and spinning for another 5.

I have a day and a half rest before the weekend two day block with 5 hours of riding.

E1 (Recovery Ride)

2008-01-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

After a fairly hard but short ride last night, the early morning spin/recovery ride made the legs feel much better. The legs were stiff starting out and I gradually worked up the speed to around 15 mph after 1o minutes or so. The ride was scheduled for 30 minutes with the only intent to spin the "crap" out from the night before. By the end of the ride the legs were feeling much better. Going up the stairs, however, there was still a slight burn. I will see how they feel the remainder of today and going into tomorrow. I am still up in the air as to what is more beneficial; getting up and spinning for 30 minutes or getting the extra half hour of sleep. I think if I get a good nights sleep I will get up and ride and if I'm tires I will sleep in.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tonights ride is on the short side for duration, so I picked up the pace a little bit so the legs don't forget what it is like to be pushed a little. I figured that a pace a little over 19 mph would be sufficient to put the heart rate up near the top of the E2 range (161 bpm). Since the ride is short I shortened the warm-up to under 10 minutes. The legs felt fairly sore throught the day and the beginning of the ride was the same. After the 20 minute mark the legs woke up and holding 19.5 mph was fairly easy and the legs were just under the point where they would "load" up. Towards the end of the ride the speed slowed slightly, but mostly because I was getting a little lazy an not because the legs were tired. I finished up strong and spun for about 2 minutes to cool down.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:02:06
Gearing 42/12
Total Distance: 19.5miles
Average Speed: 18.8 mph
Average Power: 229watts
Average Heart Rate: 156 bpm

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

The first long ride of the season. To combat the boredom, I set up the laptop with a few DVDs and my MP3 player. Unfortunately my PC was giving me fits and didn't want to read the DVD I was trying to play. Therefore, I turned on the MP3s and watched a slide show of pictures taken during last race season. I was expecting the legs to be a little heavy from the 2 hour ride on Saturday, but they felt really good. I was trying to maintain just under 18 mph for the ride. The pace was comfortable and at no time did I feel out of breath or that the legs were stating to burn. At the 1 hour mark I started doing 2 minute standing intervals in my biggest/smallest (42/11) ring combination. I did this every 20 minutes to stretch the legs and get the blood flowing to all the muscles. The legs were fairly tired by the end of the workout, but not wasted. This week starts week 2 of Base 1 with slightly longer rides throughout.

Happy Training!

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 3:01:17
Gearing 42/14
Total Distance: 53.3miles
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Average Power: 202watts
Average Heart Rate: 148 bpm

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2008-01-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

Today's ride was in the basement of the in laws as we have a fantasy football party and my nieces birthday part this weekend.

The legs felt good and I purposely kept the speed on the low side because I have a 3 hour ride scheduled for Sunday. The legs felt a little sluggish for the first 10 minutes or so after the warm up but felt fine after that. The last half hour I could feel the fatigue setting in slightly and as usually the last 10 minutes just dragged by.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 2:00:32
Total Distance: 35.6miles
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Average Power: 202 watts
Average Heart Rate: 152 bpm

S1, S2 (Spin Ups and Single Leg Drills)

2008-01-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Second set this week and for this training year for doing spin ups and single leg drills. Tonight I used a little lower gearing (32/20) than earlier in the week. The spin ups went well with the speeds between 18 and 19 mph. I think my cadence was 140+

S1,S2 (Spin Ups and Single Leg Drills)

2008-01-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

For this year I have changed the spin ups from last year. The focus is on technique and speed and I should feel refreshed after these workouts. Last year I used too high of resistance and the workouts more resembled anaerobic intervals as opposed to simply working on speed. I picked an easy gear (32/17) and was able to spin up to 21+ mph for each of the 6 sessions. I tried to focus on keeping the lower body still and I would slow down if I noticed my butt bouncing on the saddle. My goal is to steadily increase my speed through the Base phase while maintaining perfect form.

The single leg drills are also slightly different from last year. Again the focus is more on form and less on building strength and endurance. The resistance is lower, (same gearing as the spin ups) and I am trying to carry the duration on each leg a little longer. As soon as the peddling gets a little choppy and I can't correct it I will stop.

E1 (Active Recovery)

2007-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I mannaged to get out of bed at 6:15 AM, which I felt fairly good about, until I remembered that Andrea had already been up for and hour and a half. I got downstairs about 5 minutes after Andrea had completed her ride and it took about 10 minutes to switch bikes on the trainer so I could start my ride. At about 6:30 I was on the bike and slowly spinning away. The 1 hour ride went by surprisingly fast and the kids caused very little problems while they were getting read for school. There were a couple of NERF darts that flew by me coming from upstairs but no other excitement. As far as the ride go everything went fairly well. I am still fighting off a cold, but it seams to be getting better and the congestion is starting to loosen up. I debated whether or not I should be training with the cold, but at the low intensities at this point in the year I don't think it will hurt much.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration:
Total Distance: miles
Average Speed: mph
Average Power: watts
Average Heart Rate: bpm

E2 Endurance Ride

2007-12-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonights ride went really well. The legs felt rested and strong and I was able to maintain 18 mph with ease. I was pushing a fairly large gear 42x12 at a cadence of around 70. My aveage heart rate was hovering around 150 bpm for the majority of the ride and started to climb a little after 1 hour. I will follow up with a short 1 hour recovery ride next morning.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:31:32
Total Distance: ##.# miles
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: 147 bpm

E1 (Active Recovery)

2007-12-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

As usual I was a little sluggish getting up this morning, but I actually felt good about doing it. This mornings ride was just to get the legs spinning and remove any lactic acid that might have acculated during the fairly easy E2 ride the night before. The legs felt a little stiff starting out, but once they warmed up everything felt fine. I keep the speed average around 14 mph which made for a fairly low HR in the low 120s.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration:
Total Distance: miles
Average Speed: mph
Average Power: watts
Average Heart Rate: bpm

E2 Endurance Ride (First 08 Traing Ride)

2007-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight ride was standary plain E2 endurance ride. Nothing fancy or difficult, just time on the bike to start building a base for latter.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration:
Total Distance: miles
Average Speed: mph
Average Power: watts
Average Heart Rate: bpm

Training Changes for the 2008 Season

2007-12-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have made a few changes to my training schedule for this year. The changes are aimed at allowing more recovery time between training efforts. For example, my Tuesday rides will be on Monday night followed by a recovery/maintainance ride the next morning. The next ride of significance is then Thursday night which is followed by a recovery ride the following morning.

Endurance Rides
The plan is to start out fairly easy during the first part of the training especially in the Prep phase. The heart rate range, for E2 is from 142-160 but early on I will try to keep it below 150. As I progress into the later Base phases I will push it closer to 160 to keep building the endurance. When I start performing intervals the E2 rides in the middle of the week will be primarily for mainance and therefore at a lower HR ave. The long rides on the weekend will also build in intensity until closer to the race season.

Intervals
The focus this year is to go into the intervals well rested to get the maximum benefit from the training time. Last year I pushed to hard on the endurance rides which left me tired and unmotivated to perform the intervals. There were some days that went fairly well but they were few and in general there was little consistancy. I often was only able to complete the first 2 or 3 intervals before my power output dropped significantly. I feel confident that with proper rest I will make strong gains to my LT threshold. I order to track my progress I will be conducting periodic time trials both on the road and on the trainer.

Schedule
Monday morning: Lift weights
Monday night: Endurance Ride
Tuesday morning: Recovery Ride
Thursday morning: Lift weights
Thursday night: Endurance Ride/Intervals
Friday morning: Recovery Ride
Saturday Afternoon: Endurance Ride/Intervals
Sunday Afternoon: Endurance Ride

Training time of year?

2007-12-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I gave myself a little more time off this year than last to guard against burn out, but it is now time to get back to training. This week marks the first of two weeks in the prep phase before base 1. The weekly plan is no different than the transition phase, but what is different is the focus on consistancy. That being said, I will do my best to back it down when I am feeling tired to avoid getting sick. It seamed like last year I was always run down and I can count at least 3 colds during the race season, not to mention pneamonia to finish off the season.

I will try my best to write about each ride in a separate entry, more for myself to keep things organized. I also hope that others will find this benificial as well. In the next couple of days I plan to put together a concrete list of goals for the upcomming 2008 race season, including a few interim goals along the way to keep myself on track. One primary goal will be to increase my power at threshold. There are others, but I will leave that for another post.

I am looking forward to 2008. I know a few comp riders that are making the move up to expert and I think we will feed off of each others abilities. I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and hope your training is going well.

Just Riding!

2007-10-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

This time of year there is little to no structure to my training and as a result, the rides are often few and far between. I did manage to get out today to enjoy a nice ride in the nice but windy conditions. You know you are pushing a good wind when you are working fairly hard and your speed is less than 10 mph. The legs felt a little sluggish at first and were actually a little sore, but after about 20 minutes they started to feel much better. The ride lasted a little over 1 hour and I felt fairly fresh after the ride.

Rode to work today, I'm going to get wet later

2007-09-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

After watching everyone have a great time at the race in St. Cloud on Saturday, I felt like riding into work today. Even though I watched the weather last night and they expected rain later in the afternoon in the cities, I still thought it was a good idea.

The ride to work took a little longer than normal because I decided to take the SS which is geared 34/18 which is a little light for the road. It was nice for a change and the legs felt a little better after the ride.

After watching the radar on and off after lunch for a while I have conceded that I will either be getting very wet on the ride home, or having my lovely wife pick me up. I don't think I want to get wet while I am still getting over pneumonia and the tail end of a cold, so I think I will give Andrea a call.

Oh well! at least I got a little time in on the bike.

Day Off

2007-09-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

No Training Today, I'm Tired and/or Lazy!

I did however get up with Andrea for about 15 minutes at 4:45 AM to put her HRM on her bike and wish her a good ride.

I was nice to get a little more sleep. I think I am still playing catch up from the poor sleep up at Maplelag, darm backhoe.

E1 (Active Recovery)

2007-09-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have to get my act together and keep this updated!

It has been probably a month since I have posted on the training portion of my blog, which I consider more for me than anyone else. I need to do this so as I look back through the training I can see how I felt and use that information to plan. Anyway, rant to self over.

After a busy weekend up at Maplelag and less sleep than I would like the legs, and entire body, for that matter felt tired today. In anticipation for the Thursday night race at Hillside this week, I opted for an easy ride today to aid in the recovery process and set myself up for a good E2 ride Wednesday morning. The hope is that the legs will feel good by then and I will still have sufficient time to recover before the race on Thursday. No logging any data today, because I left my HR monitor in my bag in the locker room. In fact I had to take a detour home to get my helmet because I forgot that as well.

OK, to the ride. Not much happened. I rode home at a slow pace to get my helmet, talked to Andrea for 30 minutes while I scarfed down a yummy caramel roll brought home from Maplelag and rode back to work. I don't know how much better the legs feel, but my stomach is much happier now

Well must get back to work.

Day Off

2007-09-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

It took us the better part of Monday morning to pack up our stuff and get ready for the trip back home

We left Maplelag at about noon and had to make a stop in Coon Rapids to pick up Maddie. We were on the road again by 5:15 PM and made it home by 7:00 PM. The rest of the night was taken up by unpacking and getting the girls set for school in the morning

Not much time for Biking, but that's OK Monday is almost always a day off.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-08-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

For some reason today I jumped out of bed feeling rested and ready to go for an early morning ride. Andrea took a little more time to get up but was ready within a couple of minutes. I was anxious to try out my new HID light set and make sure everything works as expected well before the 24 Hours of Afton. Before we left I ate 2/3rds of a blue berry bagel with peanut butter and jelly and a small glass of milk to fill the hole.

We set out at 4:45 AM to a strange dark sky with patchy fog. The first part of the ride to Hwy 15 was smooth and quick, despite the lack of any breeze. Andrea hammered up the first hill on 15 and I followed suit cresting the hill breathing slightly hard. The legs were now warmed up and ready to go. As we rode north on 15 we were holding a fast pace and kept looking at each other to determine if we were going to pay on the way back by pushing a wind. Because of all the training and hard work Andrea has now progressed to a point where we can ride side by side and both be in our respective HR zones. I was typically in the 148-154 rang (low-mid E2) while Andrea was around 142-148 (mid-high E2).

We made it all the way to pigeon lake, the furthest Andrea has gone on her 1:30 rides. When we turned around we anticipated a decent headwind, but were surprised by only a slight breeze. An hour into the ride we both felt fresh and were pushing easily up all the rises and making good time. We arrive home at almost exactly 1:30 feeling ready to go for the day.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:30:12
Total Distance: 30.8 miles
Average Speed: 17.3 mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: 145 bpm

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-07-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today I went out for one of my longer endurance rides since very early in the training season. I felt like my endurance has suffered somewhat due to all the racing and lack of the longer rides on Sundays. In general I have been a little burn't out and have lost some ambition to go out and ride. The midseason break and our trip to Kansas City has refreshed my enthusiasm along with upcomming solo races at the 12 hours of Kato.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: #:##:##
Total Distance: ##.# miles
Average Speed: ##.# mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: ### bpm

Hill Sprints (KC, Missouri)

2007-07-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hill Sprints (Maybe!)!

Yesterday we made the trip from Kansas City, MO to Omaha NE to visit the Zoo. That meant another 7+ hours in the car, which translated to two pairs of dead legs this morning (Andrea's and mine).

During the warm-up the legs seemed to feel fine, but they just did not want to be worked hard. I asked Andrea and she noticed the same thing. After about 20 minutes and a couple of decent climbs and the legs felt much better and were ready to go. We worked our way South out of town on Holmes Ave and got into a good rhythm on the climbs. I dropped Andrea on the first climb, but she held strong from that point forward.

The traffic going North on Holmes was fairly heavy so we got off on a side street and found an area with some good hills to hammer up and down. We went up and down a couple of times before heading back towards home. I felt fairly rested so I told Andrea I was going to "stand" on the next few climbs and sprint up them. I was able to "kill" the climbs in my big ring in front and midway on the back cassette. This makes me wonder if I give myself enough time to recover between some of my intervals!

Andrea was riding really strong and was keeping a solid pace on Blue River Road and the remaining climbs on Blue Ride Road.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:24:33
Total Distance: 22.8 miles
Average Speed: 16.3 mph
Average Heart Rate: 137 bpm
Elevation Gain: 1100 feet

E2 (Endurance)

2007-07-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I managed to get up early enough this morning to get in a decent ride around Kansas City. We weren't sure what to expect as far as traffic and road conditions and there are no roads with shoulders to ride on.

It took about 30 minutes to get out of the city far enough for the traffic to subside and most of the traffic was going the opposite direction anyway. Andrea was an animal on the climbs and pushed as hard as I wanted to go (at least for an endurance ride). We did our best to get lost, but there are only so many roads it was actually difficult. We found our way back and stopped at about the 1:45 mark at McDonald's to grab a quick bite to eat and rest for a few minutes before heading the remainder of the way home.

On the way back home Andrea spotted a trail head on the side of Blue River Road and we circled back to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised by a very well groomed and challenging trail. We road the trail for about 25 minutes before it merged back into the road. From what I have read we only rode a small part of the entire trail. If we get time later in the week I think we will go back out and explore it a little bit more.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 2:30:23
Total Distance: 35.4 miles
Average Speed: 14.2 mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: 128 bpm
Elevation Gain: 1580 feet

A2 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

2007-07-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hammer Session! (Kansas City, Missouri)

After sitting in the car for 8 hours Friday/Saturday the legs felt a little ooky! I typically go out for a fairly hard workout on Saturday morning, but with the late night of driving getting up was impossible.

I managed to go out for a ride later in the afternoon to map out a few rides for later in the week. I didn't have much time because it was getting close to dinner time so I decided to hit it rather hard. The weather was nice but a little on the warm side 90+ with little to no wind.

The ride started fairly mellow for the first 10 minutes, but there are a few decent climbs and I pushed out of the saddle each time keeping a good pace. It is really nice training where there are some hills because I feel very comfortable climbing. The hills are nothing spectacular, 100+ feet is typical with little flat ground in between. Unless you are following a river you are either going up or down.

The ride was short lasting less than one hour but I must have pushed it fairly hard because as soon as I got back and stopped my body was covered in sweet.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 0:57:12
Total Distance: 18.1 miles
Average Speed: 19.0 mph
Average Heart Rate: 162 bpm
Elevation Gain: 860 feet

M3 (Threshold Ride)

2007-07-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Limited Time, Why not Push It!

This morning I had a little less time to complete my workout, because I had left my biking bag at work the night before. Therefore, I got up early, ate a quick breakfast and drove to work to start my ride from there rather than the house.

Because I had limited time I decided to do a threshold ride where I push slightly below LT for 20-40 minutes. Seeing as the races are all over 2 hours (for me at least) I decided to hit it hard for the entire ride. I had somewhat of an short warm-up, hitting it fairly hard only 10 minutes into the ride. The legs felt really good and the slight twinge in my right knee did not seem to be a problem. On the way out I was pushing a slight head wind, but as time goes on and I become a stronger riders the wind is less of a factor. I road the back way to Dassel and heading back on Hwy 15.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:29:02
Total Distance: ##.# miles
Average Speed: 20.3 mph
Average Power: ### watts
Average Heart Rate: ### bpm
Elevation Gain: #### feet

E2 (Endurance)

2007-07-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

It was actually nice to get up this morning for a ride. Although I was not exactly thrilled to get out of bed at 4:30 AM, I at least felt like I had a decent nights sleep.

Andrea and I were on the bikes by 5:00 and started fairly easy. It was actually quite cool, 54 F, this morning and it took a little while for the legs to warm up. We took the Loose Line trail to Hwy 15 and pushed it a little up the hill. We rode side by side for a little while before I took the lead for a while. It was nice riding together since most of the time we ride separately. At the 45 minute mark we turned around heading south back towards Hutchinson. We mostly rode side by side, which puts me in the lower range for an E2 and the upper range for Andrea. That was fine by me, however, because my legs were still a little sore from Sunday.

The ride went well, but I was scheduled for a 2 hour ride and this was a little short. I might try to get out over lunch for another ride to make up the difference. We have a 3 week break before the next race, so it is a good time to build up the volume again.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 1:29:01
Total Distance: 24.8 miles
Average Speed: 16.7 mph
Average Heart Rate: 135 bpm
Elevation Gain: ### feet

Preride

2007-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Mt. Kato a little after 10:00 AM because we knew it was going to be a hot one. I got the kids bikes down and let them ride around in the parking lot while I got ready to go out with Taylor on the preride.

After the preride with Taylor I needed to check out some some of the new sections that they added to the Expert/Comp course for this year. I kept a moderate pace up the "Kato Climb" and rolled through the single track on top and ripped through the downhill sections. As my fitness keeps improving the hills keep getting smaller and smaller. The new sections "Ridge Line" and "Quick Release" were fairly technical and fun with a lot of roots and tricky turns. I was a little tentative down "Quick Release" but it is a section you have to fully commit to or you can get really messed up. You need to make the turn, pick a line (any line), and let the bike go.

The lap time was about 28 minutes and I felt pretty good afterwards.

Fractured Rib (Again)

2007-07-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend during the WORS race in Eau Claire I crashed on my second lap, landing on my lower back. It felt like someone had taken a 2x4 across my back, knocking the wind out of me. I laid there for a minutes trying to get my wind back and evaluate if anything was broken. Although my back was really sore, I was able to get back on the bike and finish the race. I was actually surprised that I didn't brake anything.

Well, I was wrong. After cleaning up a few things in the basement including lifting a heavy bin to the top of the storage shelf, I know now that I have a fractured rib. Normal body movements don't seem to bother me much, but I sneezed a couple of times and the pain was enough to make me nearly pass out. It doesn't hurt to breath deeply, but if I breath in and hold it, it hurts like crazy. I have taken Ibuprofen and Tylenol and it doesn't even take the edge off the pain.

Surprisingly riding the bike doesn't seem to bother it very much, even going over bumps seems fine. The problem is if I need to twist my lower body to the right

I don't think I will be riding this weekend. I am really disappointed, because I have just recovered from a cold and am feeling good.

A2 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

2007-07-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

A beautiful night for a little pain

I realized Wednesday that I have fractured another rib and feeling kind of down because the chances are slim that I will race on Sunday

Schedule
0 - 20 min warm up
0:20 - 0:24 Interval #1
0:24 - 0:28 Recovery
0:28 - 0:32 Interval #2
0:32 - 0:36 Recovery
0:36 - 0:40 Interval #3
0:40 - 0:44 Recovery
0:44 - 0:48 Interval #4
0:48 - 0:52 Recovery
0:52 - 0:56 Interval #5
0:56 - 1:00 Recovery
1:00 - 1:10 E2

The legs felt good and I was able to push a strong E2 ride following the intervals. I will keep tracking the results and look for steady improvements.

Group Ride

2007-07-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

After having Monday off and a race coming up this Sunday, I though it would be a good idea to get in a little intensity early in the week. Therefore, I made my way downtown to meet up with the weekly group ride.

Because the 4th fell on a Wednesday our group was small 5 guys with all of the heavy hitters absent. That left me to find a way to generate some intensity with the B group, which wasn't too bad seeing I was riding my mountain bike and the rest of the group had road bikes. The ride started out fairly slow until we worked our way North out of town and I just lazily rode in the back feeling things out. Once we got out of town the pace picked up and I moved to the front to push harder. I pushed hard on any uphill and easily pulled away from the group, but I would slow down each time because I enjoyed riding with them.

The ride went well, but I wish the group would have been a little stronger to push me a little harder. Fun either way.

Ride Summary
Ride Time: 1:45:22
Ave Speed: 17.5 mph
Ave HR: 149 bpm
Distance 30.8 miles

M2 (Cruize Intervals)

2007-06-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Back on the bike finally

After fighting a bad cold for nearly a week and the family deciding they wanted to go to the "Fire Cracker" in Eau Claire, I though I should get back on the bike. Although the body was feeling better I still had occasional "coughing fits" that would last 10-15 minutes. The plan was to go out for a fairly easy ride just to see how the lungs would feel with a few intervals thrown in for fun.

I started by heading into a slight headwind and took it easy for the first 5 - 10 minutes to get the legs warmed up. As I turned to head west, I picked up the pace a little to see how my body would respond. Everything felt pretty good, I was able to breath easily and the legs had plenty of snap in them. I kicked it up a little more and felt comfortable at a HR of 168-174 so continued at that pace hoping to hold it for 20 minutes or so. At the 30 minute mark I turned around and sprinted back up to that pace and continued another 20 minutes on the way back averaging around 21-22 mph with a slight tail wind. I felt fairly good through the entire ride and hammered up the hills pushing the HR into the 180s without much discomfort.

When I got back home I felt good, but immediately stared another coughing session, which lasted for nearly 30 minutes. Later in the night, however, I felt better and was glad that I went out and pushed it fairly hard.

Ride Summary

Duration: 0:55:00

Distance: 18.2 mi

Speed Ave: 19.7 mph

HR Ave: 166 bpm

Race (Buck Hill #6)

2007-06-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

As we headed toward the twin cities from Hutchinson the weather looked ominous. A really good storm had rolled through earlier in the day and when Andrea picked me up at 4 there was another line of storms just off to the west and coming our way. Because of the road construction we decided to travel Hwy 7 and take I494 to I35E, which didn't work to well and we arrived too late to get in a pre-ride.

For some reason I was a little lazy at getting to the starting line and initially was lined up way to the left behind a black barrel. I did manage to squeeze in towards the road so I had a clear path to the gravel road. On the start I let the majority of the field go and ended up near the back of the pack entering the single track. I managed to stay on my bike despite the fact that everyone else was walking up the short steep climb, which allowed me to pass a couple of riders as they remounted their bikes. I chose to lay back and recover slightly through the first section of single track. I managed to pass a hand full of riders on the first climb and a couple more on the second climb before entering the single track on the backside. I held a good pace for the second and third laps, but the more aggressive tires were noticeably harder to push. On the third lap I caught up to Matt Nelson and we had a good battle with me gaining on the climbs and Matt charging hard in the single track. Near the end of the race I caught two riders and held there wheel across the front slope. I took the inside line on the last downhill and crossed over to the right at the bottom. I then shifted up slightly and sprinted past the two riders to finish in 27th position.

Day Off

2007-06-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today I took an unplanned day off. The legs were still a little tired from last nights endurance ride on the trainer. In addition, I had meetings sandwhiched between my lunch hour so I couldn't take an extended lunch for a good training ride. I used that time to catch up on some work tasks that have been lingering.

E2 (Endurance Ride) on Trainer

2007-06-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

It is Strange that I would ride on the trainer on such a beautiful day, but I have good reasons. First, I was unwilling to get up early to fit in my ride so that left me with trying to find time in the evening. Andrea was willing to take the girls to their evening softball practice, but I kept the boys home with me to get a little yard work done. Although that gave me time to ride, I would have to stay near home because the boys would be in bed and Andrea wouldn't get back until around 9:00 PM. The second reason is that the trainer gives me a good indication of my power levels so I cam make a comparison to rides earlier in the season.

I set up the trainer in its usual location facing the big screen TV and turned to the last couple of innings of the Twins game. My legs felt good during the warm-up and I quickly ramped it up to 18+ mph. I was surprised at how low my heart rate was considering the speed I was riding, much better than rides a month ago. The first part of the ride I was in the high 18s but worked it up to 19.3 - 19.5 mph later in the ride. At about the 1:30 mark I could tell that the legs were getting a little tired, but I was able to push through to the end at 2 hours. When I got off the legs felt a little tired but not too bad.

Ride Summary
Time: 2:00:00
Ave Speed: 19.0 mph
Ave HR: 151 bpm
Distance: 38 miles

Day Off

2007-06-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

As usual Mondays are a day off and time to get some things done around the house. Tonight I was able to replace the sway bar links on the Van (I can now take turns over 20 mph), and cut the grass.

Trail Ride @ Hillside

2007-06-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

After the long ride on Saturday and Jordan's B-day parties the past two days, I wasn't very willing to get up early for a ride. I forced myself to get out of bed though, because Andrea didn't have an opportunity to ride Saturday.

We were both moving really slow but managed to get out of the hose by 5:15 AM. As we headed towards Elk River the sky grow noticeably darker and even sprinkled as we headed through Anoka. As we unloaded the bikes and made some final adjustments to tire and suspension pressures, a few more drops began to fall.

I think we were both looking for an excuse to turn around and go back to bed, but at this point it would be a waste. We entered onto the trail and road the first section fairly clean despite the fact it is littered with roots. A little further down the trail there is section with an uphill berm. As I watched from behind, Andrea went up, stalled and proceeded to fall over. Andrea was a little discus ted, but we soon laughed about it and hoped it wasn't a sing of things to come. I shouldn't have been worried, because Andrea soon kicked it into high gear, riding sections faster than she ever has before. Mid way through the lap I could tell that she was going to have a fast lap time and we finished in 48:41, besting her fastest time by nearly 3 minutes.

We discussed a few things back at the parking lot and headed out for another lap this time turned a sub 48 minute lap. Great job Andrea! At the speeds we are riding know I carry enough momentum through the turns to work on picking lines and body position.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-06-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Fun ride to the cities on a beautiful day.

Ride Account

Race (Buck Hill #5)

2007-06-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Being that it is Thursday, I should be completely recovered from the long hard race the previous Sunday at Afton Alps. The legs felt fairly good and the previous workouts did not leave them very tired.

We arrived at Buck later than anticipated after weaving our way towards the cities due to endless road construction. I didn't have enough time to go out for a lap warm-up, not that I would have anyway because of the heat. A couple of spins around the start/finish area and a couple of short climbs were all I needed to feel ready for the race. For some reason I just wasn't too enthused about the race tonight. I wanted to test a few things out as far as bike set-up goes, but I was in no mood to put myself in any pain

I lined up in the third row at the start and got a decent jump, holding the person in fronts wheel. part way up the service road, however, a couple of riders to my left got tangled up and brought a decent size group to the ground. I managed to avoid the incident, but my eagerness to push through the pack disappeared. After the crest of the hill the trail heads back down into the dirt parking lot before entering a sandy climb at the base of the single track. By this time there was a long line of riders slowly pushing their bikes up the sandy double track section. The game plan now was to ride conservatively for the first lap, passing riders when necessary, then kick up the pace for the remainder of the race trying to pass as many riders on the climbs as possible. Well, I was able to do the first part by riding conservatively, but I was generally lazy the remainder of the race when it came to pushing myself. I was able to pass people effectively on the climbs, but on the relatively flat sections I didn't do a very good job pursuing people in front of me. At the end of lap 3 Cory Gross passed by me and I did nothing to respond. I could see that he was pushing hard to catch up to the riders in front of me. As I started lap 4 I finally got into the race and made a conscious effort to push hard for the remainder of the race. I was amazed at how fast I could ride some of the sections, especially traversing across the ski slopes. I pushed hard the remainder of the lap and started to lap a few adv women and rec men. For some reason I managed to miss the finish line chute and it cost me at least 30 seconds at the end of the race.

Not to bad considering the effort I put into it. One thing that I did notice was my tires skating all over the place. I have been running Hutchinson Pythons, which I like because they roll really well, but they are horrible in the turns especially if there is any sand over hard pack. I have ordered a new set of Kenda Karmas that should arrive by next Thursdays race and I will give them a try

Race Results

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-06-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Today I went out for an endurance ride over lunch to get used to the heat. Although it wasn't particularly hot it is much warmer than most of my previous training rides in the early morning hours, I think I saw 84 F on a business sign.

The wind was blowing fairly good when I got on the bike so I decided to head East on 7 so it would only be slightly into the wind, most of it coming across from my right. I took it fairly easy for the first 10 minutes or so because the legs felt a little sluggish from the hard race on Sunday. Things started to come around and I performed a few lazy standing sprints every 10 minutes or so for at least a 1 minute duration. I would then back it back down to the previous pace to recover. I think I performed 4 or 5 of these and then held a high E2 pace for the remainder of the ride.

At about the 55 minute mark I stopped at a golf course on 7 and filled up the water bottle before heading back towards Hutchinson. The wind was no slightly at my back and I was averaging 21-23 mph most of the time. As I headed back towards home I could tell that I was starting to get a little tired because it took extra effort to keep a good pace. I will need to bring something to eat for these rides otherwise they will be somewhat counter productive.

Good ride, the legs are a little tired but not to bad.

Summary

Race (MNSCS #3 Afton Avalanche)

2007-06-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today's race was a good experience. That is not to say it was a fun experience, but it was good to ride at race intensity in the heat. I realize now that I need to restructure my training to include some longer and intense rides during the hot times of the day. Previously many of my rides have taken place early in the morning when it is still relatively cool out. In general I started out too hard and had to back it way down to even consider finishing the race which I was able to do.

Race Report

Race Results

Race (Buck Hill #4)

2007-06-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

No race or training today! After the dissapointing ride on Wednesday I have decided to give the body some rest and see how things shake out.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-06-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

I should have stayed in bed!

This mornings ride was absolutely horrible. To start off with I didn't want to get up at 4:30 AM to get on the bike. My body was tired since I did not get to bed early enough the night before. Although the legs didn't feel noticably tired from the simulated starts the night before I could sense they were not quite right. Andrea, however, is just a "machine", and was already dressed and ready to go when I rolled out of bed.

The night before I changed Andrea's HT to 9 speed so Jordan could have her Shimano 8sp trigger shifters, so I went outside to have her take a quick lap around the block to see if everything was working correctly. She pulled back into the driveway and gave me a thumbs up. As she left she told me to go back to bed, I was being slightly grumpy; I should have listened to her. I went back inside, put on the long pants so my legs would stay warm and hopped on the bike at 5:15. As I started out I could feel the heavy legs, but that was not unusual before I get warmed up. I started heading west on Hwy 7 and was pushing a fairly good pace and surprisingly the legs felt fairly good. Even when I made the turn onto 22 and started heading North the legs felt fine. As I turned onto CR 18, however, the wind picked up and I completely died and it was all I could do to just get back home. I cut the ride short and turned on 12 pushing what was now a fairly good headwind. I arrived back at home at 7:00 AM completely toast.

After downloading the data from the Polar it was really funny to compare my results to my wifes.

Summary
Matt
Speed Ave 15.4 mph
HR Ave 141 bpm

Andrea
Speed Ave16.5 mph
HR Ave 138 bpm

Simulated Starts

2007-06-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

I think I might have finally found the intensity I need for the starts. Tonight I went out to Stahl's Lake (only local trail in Hutchinson) to practice some starts. In the races so far this year the starts have been my biggest weakness. I just can't seem to get off the line quick enough and keep pace with the front runners (or even mid pack expert riders).

There is a nice section of double track XC ski trail at Stahl's Lake that forms a loop exactly 1 mile in length. The section is almost ideal for starts because it contains a combination of sweeping and tight turns, a few short relatively steep ups and downs, and is a typical length for the prologues.

I make an imaginary line next to a tree and perform a countdown from 10. When I hit GO, I drill it hard for the first 100 m before taking a hard left turn to a downhill section continuing to push it through the climb on the east side of the park. As I crest the top of the hill and head down I crank hard to get enough momentum to clear the next rise and push of the saddle to clear the left hand climb towards the field. This all takes about 45 seconds to a minute before I settle into race pace for the remainder of the loop which lasts a little over 4 minutes. Near the end of the loop the trail raises slightly before exiting out into the gravel parking lot where I push hard to the finish.

Tonight I performed 4 separate starts with a 5 minutes spin on the inner XC trail. The first start was very uncomfortable, with both the legs and lungs screaming after the initial jump. The second felt a little better than the first, but I managed to lower my time slightly by smoothing out a few sections and maintaining momentum up and over the climbs. The third run was much like the second, but will a little less discomfort. I could tell that by the end of the third start I was getting a little tire, but I met up with Andrea in the parking lot and we decided to go out together for one last start. We lined up together and I counted down to GO! Andrea had a little trouble getting started but quickly got back on pace. I pushed as hard as I could through the first section and out into the field but my pace started to slow. I stood up a couple of time to get the legs to turn over and maintain my speed. I finally had that strange feeling in my lungs, it is hard to explain, but the last time I had that feeling was at the start of the Spirit Mountain race last year, which I went on to finish 4th overall. I managed to finish the lap in 4:10 slightly slower than the previous 2 but not bad. Andrea came charging through in 5 minutes, Great Job!

Times
1 4:11
2 4:06
3 4:06
4 4:10

Race (MNSCS #2, Steeple Chase)

2007-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I guess you could call this a training ride because shortly into the first set of single track I blew a tire and I was nearly 25 minutes down upon reentering the race.

Full Race Report

Race Results

Preride

2007-06-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

Cancelled due to heavy rain.

Enough Said

E1 (Active Recovery)

2007-06-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Despite the late night from the Buck Hill race Jordan and I (more Jordan) were determined to get up and go for a recovery ride in the morning. I woke Jordan up early (5:00 AM) and she kind of rolled over, but once she remembered that we were going riding she quickly shook the sleep from her eyes and jumped out of bed.

The conditions were beautiful, but there was a hint of rain so we didn't want to wait around. I didn't want to get to far from home, but we had an hour so we decided to head down South Grade road and turned on CR 7 toward Menard's. We took a right on Hwy. 15 and headed south for a few miles before turning back to the west. I was impressed at how well Jordan holds a decent speed (typically 12+ mph). As we headed south the sun began to rise over the horizon, just awesome. During the ride Jordan was fairly content to hold a steady pace but occasionally she would sprint up ahead of me coaxing me to follow. I think she managed to push near 18 mph on a couple of occasions. One the way back we passed south grade and turned on Roberts road because we were a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.

The ride lasted nearly 1 hour and it was a good endurance ride for Jordan and a fairly decent recovery ride for myself. We will try to do this again next week.

Race (Buck Hill #3)

2007-05-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Buck Hill #3

I use the Thursday night series to try new things out. Tonight I went back to the hardtail after racing the FS last time. I have it in my head that I am faster on the HT but I am just not sure. I made a few last minute adjustments to the seat to get the set up more consistent to the FS and let it go.

The race was back to the "correct" direction after the mayhem from last time, but they were kind enough to add a couple of climbs. This was fine by me because I typically climb fairly well and at only 136# I should have an advantage over some. The start was fast as usual and as time goes on I am realizing that my poor starts have allot to do with my lack of "killer instinct". That along with the fact that there are a good number of people that are just plain faster than I am. Tonight we got there early enough to do a lap pre ride and I think it help me push a little harder on the start. The gravel service road was fairly soft, however, so I was a little cautious and lost a few positions. I held a decent pace up the hill, passing a few and getting passed by a few. The next added climb I passed a couple more, but at the top there was a tight right hand turn over a burm that I didn't take wide enough and went down allowing a couple of riders to pass and killing any momentum. The remainder of the race I felt good, but was loosing a fair amount of time on the flat sections that cross the sky trails because I was getting bounced around so much. This is where the FS really shines, it allows you to push hard on the bumpy flat sections and keep your speed and momentum. The FS also hookes up better on the climbs and there is less chance of spinning out due to rocks and bumps.

Overall the race went fairly well, but my entire body was more tired after the race. I am now almost convinced that the FS is a faster race bike, especially if the course is rough.

Race Results

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-05-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Finnally I got to bed early enough so I could actually get out of bed by 5:00 AM to go for a decent length ride. As usual Andrea was up and ready to go for her ride by 5 hoping to be back by 6:30. My ride was scheduled for 2 hours, but since I wasn't able to get on the bike until 15 min past 5 it was going to be a little short, Oh well! The legs felt really good and even on the warm-up I was cruzing along at nearly 18 mph. I decided to head north on Hwy 15 because that is the way Andrea typically rides and I thought I could catch her before she turns around. Unfortunately, she rides too fast and about 35 minutes into my ride she passed me heading south on her way home. I quickly turned around to ride with her for a while, but it took a good effort to catch back up with her. Heading back into the wind up a decent hill she was clipping along at nearly 18 mph, impressive! We rode together for the next 10 minutes or so until we hit CR 18 when I turned right to complete my typical 1.5 hour loop. Heading west on 18 I was pushing a slight cross wind, but by the time I turned onto 22 the wind had shifted slightly and I was pushing less of a headwind, nice for a change. As I headed back on 7 towards Hutchinson I was cruzing along at nearly 21 mph.

Ride Details
Time: 1:43:00
Distance: 34.?
Ave Speed: 17.7
Ave HR: 150

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-05-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have ridden the FS on the road for a training ride. It was fairly comfortable but the fit is different than the HT. The bike feels alot bigger than the HT, but according to the measurements, the dimensions are not that much different. Anyway, I would like to get comfortable on both bikes, because I intend on racing both of them depending on the course.

I wasn't able to wake up early, so I went out mid afternoon. The ride went well, but an interesting/scary thing happened while going down a hill with my hands off the bars. I am not sure how to explain it, but the front end has a nasty "shimmy" at about 16-18 mph with the hands off the bars. I need to check and see if the same thing happens with the other wheelset. I quickly checked the headset and it appears to be fine. The weather was beautiful, but a little windy.

Ride Details

Time:

Distance:

Ave Speed:

Ave HR:

Group Ride

2007-05-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to go out on a local group ride tonight. A relatively small group gathered at Outdo0r Motion a little before 6:00 PM. A few might have been scared away by the ominous weather which looked like it could dump buckets of rain at any moment. The typical heavy hitters were absent and I could tell by the bikes that the intensity would be much lower than normal.

The ride started fairly slow as we headed south out of town into a stiff headwind. A couple of miles into the ride a group of 4 broke off the front into the wind. I settled in behind the lead two for a couple of minutes before pulling at the front. I kept a moderate pace for the next couple of miles before dropping the hammer. I kept a pace of 18.5 mph into a 30 mph headwind for the next 5-10 minutes and near the end the last rider fell behind. I backed down the pace to allow Mike to catch back up with me and could see the trailing two not too far back so we allowed them to catch back up. After a short recovery spin I pulled again at the front with Mike holding my wheel. We pushed the pace fairly hard as it started to rain fairly hard, which felt good. I looked back and saw the two trailing riders turn around and head back home. We turned west into a cross-wind and cruised easily at nearly 19 mph. As we turned north with the wind our pace picked up considerably easily holding 25 mph. At one point I sprinted up to 36 mph and was able to hold that pace for a couple of minutes before backing back down to allow Mike to catch back up. A couple of miles from home a couple of the A-guys passed heading south into the wind. I hesitated for a couple of seconds and then made the decision to turn around and try to catch up to the group. I was never able to catch the group because they were working effectively as a group. I gave up and turned around heading back home at an easy pace with a few sprints thrown in for good measure.

Ride Details

Time 1:30

Ave Speed: 17.7

Ave HR: 155

Simulated Starts

2007-05-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Despite the windy conditions, I went out over lunch to practice some starts. As stated in an earlier post there is a gradual hill about a 10-15 minute ride from work that I use to practice on. I rode at a measly 12 mph into the 30 mph headwind and arrived almost 20 minutes later, a good warm-up. I lined up at the base of the hill and put the chain into the large ring in front. After a short rest, I simulated a count down from 30 seconds and sprinted off the line standing. On the first attempt I got about 1/3rd of the way up the hill before I completely gave up. I don't know if it was the wind playing with my mind or the legs still being dead from Sunday's race. Either way I was very disappointed, so after a short spin I kicked it again and managed to push fairly hard until the top of the hill and onto the flat section. I turned around and spun back to the bottom of the hill. The second attempt went better than the first, I probably needed to open up the legs and lungs a little for the high effort. This time I managed to sprint longer while standing and maintain a higher pace after I settled back onto the saddle. I think my HR reached 184 this time (not as high as I would like). I was running short on time so on the final attempt I just sprinted halfway up the hill and finished by pushing hard in the saddle to the top before turning around.

Not a bad workout but definitely an indication that my anaerobic abilities are not there yet. I will continue to work on these and track my progress. On a more positive note; my overall endurance is quite good as I am able to sustain reasonable race speeds in the expert class.

Preride

2007-05-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Not much to say from the training front. Today I will pre ride the Spring Cup course and get a feel of the lines and loosen up the legs for tomorrows race.

Andrea went out with Jordan for her pre ride and turned an easy lap with her. Jordan was fairly tired from the soccer game in the morning so she ended her ride after riding the south loop. Andreas second lap was at near race pace and she felt more confidant afterwards.

After Andrea got back I went out with Taylor to run her through the Kids Comp course which was supposed to be part of the south loop and the entire north loop. The sections were not marked, however, and we ended up doing the entire south loop and skipping the north. Anyway she handled the conditions very well, but was a little tired when she got finished. After I dropped off Taylor I went out at about 75% effort to see how the turns and course was holding up (it has been very dry). I had a lot of trouble in the turns and it felt like the front end was on the verge of sliding out on every turn. I was a little worried because I knew tomorrow the speeds would be considerable higher and I needed to carry speed through the corners to hold a respectable pace. After the lap I went back to see how the family was doing and decided not to go out for another lap. I knew I would have plenty of practice time during the race tomorrow.

Race (Buck Hill #2)

2007-05-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Not quite what I expected.

Shortly after arriving at Buck Hill we were told that they had decide to run the course in reverse. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew that there would be some short sandy/rocky uphill sections that would be very difficult to negotiate. At the start I got a little better position near the outside of row two, but was forced to the outside after the gun because Heith was squeezed out and went down. For some reason I still am not able to push into the pack during the starts and it forces me to ride at the pace of slower riders. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of fast riders, but I think with better starts I have the speed to stay much closer to the top. After the start I settled into a good pace and passed a few riders on the climbs before entering into the single track. I could see a group in front of me and was gaining on them on certain sections. I was having a lot of trouble with the short sandy switchbacks and lost a lot of momentum. There were times when I was slowed down behind a group of riders but there are few places to pass and as soon as they hit the double track they would kick it hard enough so you could not get around.

For some reason there was a tight section between two trees that I just could not get through. On lap one, I hit my right shoulder against one tree. On lap two, I decided to bounce off the tree on the left (again with the shoulder). One the third lap, I hit the tree on the left again so hard that my left knee smashed into my stem. It took me a good 5 minutes before I was able to push with my left leg. On the forth lap, I was so freaked out that I basically tried walking through the section and got stuck between the trees for a few seconds. After that point I just put it in cruise and tried to maintain a decent pace.

Towards the end of the race I made an effort to pick up a few positions, but that was thwarted by a beginner rider going down in front of me (I am glad the kid is OK). It was actually fairly funny. I was charging hard on the downhill single track near the end of lap 3 when our group approached a lapped rider. He was about 20 yards in front of me when he got crossed up and went down in the middle of the trail. I hit the breaks and leaned back as far as I could not wanting to go over the bars, but it wasn't enough to stop in time. I rode on the front wheel for about 20 feet and about 10 feet before I T-boned the kid, I slammed on the breaks. I purposely veered to the right to avoid hitting him and I flipped over the bars and landed about 10 feet down the hill. The guy behind me must have had a good view because he stopped me after the race to say "that crash was awesome".

Race Results

A6 Race Simulation

2007-05-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

I came to the conclusion that I need more intensity in my riding diet. I need to mentally prepare myself for the pain and discomfort of race conditions, pushing harder than I think I can for a long period of time. Therefore, last night I went out to lake for a race simulation. I created a course using the outer XC ski trail (1.2 miles) and the single track (3.1 miles) to make a 4.4 mile loop that will take about 22 minutes to complete.

After a 10 minute warm-up on the ski trail, I performed a simulated start down the outer loop of xc ski trail and hit the lap timer each time I came around from each section. I think the first double track time was a little over 4 minutes, but I don't remember the rest. The single track times, however, were extremely consistent. Even though my average HR went down slightly each lap with a fairly large drop on lap 4.

Summary

Lap 1 16:04 HR Ave

Lap 2 16:04 HR Ave

Lap 3 16:06 HR Ave

Lap 4 16:07 HR Ave

The first lap I felt as though I would not be able to keep up the pace for the entire lap not to mention the 4 laps. Therefore, I backed it down slightly for the double track starting lap 2. Lap 2 felt better and I was getting into a good rhythm; timing the turns and maximizing momentum. The remainder of the ride was generally a high intensity cruse through the woods. My lower back was really sore, but I was able to stretch during the ride and work through it.

I was very happy with the ride and I feel I could still push it a little harder. I am sure that I am still a little tired from Sundays Expert race.

Race evaluation (Things to work on)

2007-05-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

After the Spring Opener at Maplelag and the first Thursday night ride at Buck Hill I knew what I needed to focus on for training, starts and intensity. The same thing happened last year in the sport class. I would be blown out in the starts and wasn't able to get my self to push it as hard as necessary in the race. It wasn't until race #8 @ Spirit Mountain that I finally discovered what I needed to do. Last year after race #7 @ Welch I made a concerted effort to practice my starts. There is a fairly long gradual hill about 5 miles from home that I use for simulating starts. I takes about 20 minutes to bike out there which is a good warm-up. I then go to the bottom of the hill and line up as if it were a real start. I give a count-down from 30 and when I hit 0, I hammer. I stay standing for 20-30 seconds and then transition to a seated position continuing to push to the top of the hill. The road gradually levels off but I continue to push above LT until the road stops. I then turn around and push it as hard as I can to the top of the hill going back. The round trip is 5-8 minutes.

The next part of the puzzle is intensity. During the first two races I mentally was not able to push my body as fast or as hard as it need to go. I confirmed this by looking at the results for my average HR for the races. Last year during the "good" races my average HR for entire race were 181+. The first two races this year were 176 and 174. Part of this might be the fact that I am trying to pace myself for the significantly longer expert races. Either way, I must find a way to get the intensity necessary to compete with the leaders and maintain it for the race duration. One way to do this is by doing more race simulations. For example last night I went out to the local trail (Stahl's Lake) and turned 4 consecutive laps at race pace. I set up a course utilizing the ski trail and single track (1.2 miles double track 3.1 miles single track). For the area it is a very good place to train despite the fact that there are no sustained climbs. Last year my fastest time on the single track portion was around 18 minutes. Last night I turned laps of 16:04, 16:04, 16:06, and 16:08. These are real times and I was surprised by how consistent the times were. I know have a good baseline for training and I will measure my progress by these times.

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-05-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today's ride was nothing short of ridiculous. I could see that it was windy outside because the flags were stretched strait out and even angled slightly upward. I think the weather report indicated 15 - 20 mph with gusts of 25. Typically when it is windy I ride into the wind on the way out so if I run out of gas I can let the wind push me back home. So I headed east towards Silver Lake strait into the wind. What a workout. I was pushing hard to maintain an average speed of 15.1 mph. I knew I would make much better time when I turned around so I pushed steadily onward into the wind for 1 hour. At the 1 hour mark I turned around and allowed the wind to push me back home. It is amazing how much of an effect the wind has on your speed. for the first 3 -4 minutes I was averaging 28 mph at the same heart rate as heading into the wind. I made the return trip in slightly over 34 minutes. The details of the trip are listed below.

Summary
Duration: 1:34:00
Average Speed: 18.6 mph
Average Power: ?

Average Heart Rate: 156 bpm

Detailed Results
0:00:00 - 1:00:00: E2 Into Wind (15,1 mph, 156 bpm)
1:00:00 - 1:34:00: E2 With Wind (24.3 mph,157 bpm)

A6 Race Simulation

2007-05-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Since we have a race coming up this weekend I thought it would be a good idea to get on the dirt. I have done a lot of training on the road and indoor trainer, but relatively little time on the dirt. The last time was over a week back at Salem Hills and a short lap this past Sunday. Because of work meeting schedules I wasn't able to go out during lunch so I bailed at 9:00 to ride for about an hour.

The recent trail work that Andrea and I did left the trail in near perfect condition; slightly tacky and clean of all debris. Without a warm up I completed the first lap in 16:27 and took a 5 minute break to get some water. The second lap I pushed a little harder and turned a 15:57 lap time easily my fastest two laps at Stahl's Lake. The final lap I started to feel a little tired and backed it down a little bit finishing in 16:32. I think my best time last year was around 17-18 minutes so I am faster than last year. In addition as the trail dries out the time should drop. My goal is to turn sub 15 minute laps by mid season. In fact I think if I really pushed it I could do it now, but probably for only a lap or two. I would like to go out and turn 6-8 consecutive laps at a 16 minute pace.

2007-05-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Another day getting up early to perform an E2 (endurance) ride. The night before I was up until nearly 12:00 and the body did not want to get out of bed. Andrea, however, was already up and had all of her biking clothes on ready for her ride outside making it difficult to lay in bed. I decided I didn't want to be cold so I chose to ride on the trainer in front of the bike screen TV (not that it mattered at 5:00 am, nothing on). I had limited time on the bike over the weekend and last week was a R&R week so the legs were really fresh. The ride went well except for a 30 minute period in the middle of the ride where the legs felt a little heavy. I managed to finished strong, however, with an 8 minute section at over 20 mph.

Summary
Duration: 1:42

Average Speed: 18.7 mph
Average Power: 227 watts
Average Heart Rate: 156 bpm

Detailed Results

0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm up

0:10:00 - 1:42:00: E2 (18.9 mph, 232 watts ,158 bpm)

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-04-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Another day getting up early to perform an E2 (endurance) ride. Same as last time I performed P1 (jumps) the night before. This time however I wasn't as smart and thought it would benifit my training to stay up late and watch the Minnesota Wild beat the Ducks. 4:30 AM came really early and surprisingly I rolled out of bed without to much pain. Andrea got up at the same time and I got her bike ready to ride outside on the road and was on the bike a little before 5:00 AM. Although I was tired and the legs felt a little stiff, the ride went well and I averaged a fairly good pace for the entire 2 hours. I always get a good sense of satifaction when the ride is done and I have the entire rest of the day ahead of me.

Summary
Duration: 2:00
Average Speed: 18.3 mph
Average Power: 217 watts
Average Heart Rate: 152 bpm

Detailed Results

0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm up

0:10:00 - 2:00:00: E2 (18.5 mph, 222 watts ,153 bpm)

P1 (Jumps)

2007-04-18T07:43:00.001-07:00

This workout is designed to develop explosive power in the legs. This is useful when passing, clearing short steep climbs, and finish sprints. They are structured as follows; sprint using full force while standing for 8 - 10 revalutions of the crank, then recover until the next minute starts. Perform 5 jumps and then take a 5 minutes recovery between sets.

The legs were feeling a little wierd after nearly 100 miles on the road over the weekend. I come to the same realization over and over that I Don't like the cold. My legs get stiff and I can never seem to get them going. Anyway the jumps went well and I could sense more power in the legs. For the first set of jumps, the tension on the trainer was too low and the rear wheel was slipping as I ramped up the speed. I made an adjustement and all was well. I performed 6 sets of 5 jumps.

Summary
0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm-up
0:10:00 - 0:20:00: E2
0:20:00 - 0:25:00: Interval 1 (44.6/42.9/34.9/38.2/37.1)
0:25:00 - 0:30:00: Recovery
0:30:00 - 0:35:00: Interval 2 (35.8/37.3/36.3/37.1/36.8)
0:35:00 - 0:40:00: Recovery
0:40:00 - 0:45:00: Interval 3 (36.8/36.7/35.3/36.4/37.1)
0:45:00 - 0:50:00: Recovery
0:50:00 - 0:55:00: Interval 4 (35.5/36.3/37.0/34.5/36.1)
0:55:00 - 1:00:00: Recovery
1:00:00 - 1:05:00: Interval 5 (35.6/36.3/35.4/35.8/35.9)
1:05:00 - 1:10:00: Recovery
1:10:00 - 1:15:00: Interval 6 (35.2/35.6/35.5/35.3/34.2)
1:15:00 - 1:30:00: E2 (17.8 mph, 204 wattts, 157 bpm)

M4 (Criss-Cross Threshold)

2007-04-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Breakthrough Workout:

I really wanted to hit this workout hard. Because I completed my last E2 (endurance) ride early Wednesday morning I was well rested (36 hours) and the legs felt good. The last time I performed the M4 workout my work intervals were at around 20.9 mph and the rest intervals were at 19.9 mph. The goal for this workout would be to hold over 21 mph and 20 mph respectively. During the warm-up my legs felt really good and my heart rate remained fairly low for the effort. During the intervals I easily hit my goals and they were easier than last time. I had enough energy in the legs that I decided to finish the workout with a one hour duration at slightly below my lactic threshold (19.5 mph, 250 watts). I found it fairly easy to hold that pace for then next 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes, however, I struggled to hold that pace and it slipped to around 19 mph at the end. In all a very good workout; I can feel it in the legs going up and down the stairs.

Summary
Duration: 2:00:00
Intervals: 5
Interval Duration: 4 minutes
Rest Duration: 4 minutes

Detailed
0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm-up
0:10:00 - 0:20:00: E2
0:20:00 - 0:24:00: Lead in Interval
0:24:00 - 0:28:00: Interval 1: 21 mph
0:28:00 - 0:32:00: LT Tolerance1: 20 mph
0:32:00 - 0:36:00: Interval 2: 21 mph
0:36:00 - 0:40:00: LT Tolerance 2: 20 mph
0:40:00 - 0:44:00: Interval 3: 21 mph
0:44:00 - 0:48:00: LT Tolerance 3: 20 mph
0:48:00 - 0:52:00: Interval 4: 21 mph0:
0:52:00 - 0:56:00: LT Tolerance 4: 20 mph
0:56:00 - 1:00:00: Interval 5: 21 mph
1:00:00 - 2:00:00: Threshold: 19.5 mph

Weight Training

2007-04-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Second day and still a little sore from Mondays workout. Overall felt good and the strength is still there.

Chest:
Dumbel Press: 40 x 16; 45 x 20
Bench Press: 180 x 12

Back:
Seated Rows: 40 x 20; 60 x 20
Lat Pull Downs: 50 x 20; 60 x 20

Shoulders:
Front Raises: 10 x 20; 15 x 20
45 deg Raises: 10 x 20; 10 x 20

Arms:
One Arm Curls: 20 x 20; 25 x 20
Tricept Extensions: 40 x 20, 50 x 20

Stomach:
Side Raises: 35 x 20; 35 x 20
Crunches: 30; 30

E2 (Endurance Ride)

2007-04-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

I decided I would get up early to perform todays E2 (endurance) ride. Wednesdays are a busy day and it is very difficult to fit the ride in before or after Wednesday night church service. Since it is only an E2 ride it probably doesn't matter if the legs are a little tired from the P1 (jumps) performed the night before. In fact it might actually be a little benefical. This way I will have a full 36 hours before the next hard training session. Although I don't like to get up early, the legs and body felt pretty good at 4:45 AM. I quickly grabbed something to eat, mixed up a energy drink and was on the bike by 5:05 AM. All in all a good ride. It was a little strange watching the sun come up while on the indoor trainer though.

Summary
Duration: 2:00
Average Speed: 18.3 mph
Average Power: 217 watts
Average Heart Rate: 154 bpm

Detailed Results

0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm up

0:10:00 - 2:00:00: E2 (18.6 mph, 224 watts ,157 bpm)

P1 (Jumps)

2007-04-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

This workout is designed to develop explosive power in the legs. This is useful when passing, clearing short steep climbs, and finish sprints. They are structured as follows; sprint using full force while standing for 8 - 10 revalutions of crank then recover until the next minute starts. Perform 5 jumps and then take a 5 minutes recovery between sets. I like these workouts, although on the indoor trainer I have to be careful not to fall forward down the two steps into the sunken family room.

Summary
0:00:00 - 0:10:00: Warm-up
0:10:00 - 0:20:00: E2
0:20:00 - 0:25:00: Interval 1 (35.4/38.4/33.9/36.4/37.9)
0:25:00 - 0:30:00: Recovery
0:30:00 - 0:35:00: Interval 2 (36.2/36.4/36.9/36.5/37.2)
0:35:00 - 0:40:00: Recovery
0:40:00 - 0:45:00: Interval 3 (35.6/36.3/36.9/35.8/36.2)
0:45:00 - 0:50:00: Recovery
0:50:00 - 0:55:00: Interval 4 (36.1/35.6/31.6/33.5/35.5)
0:55:00 - 1:00:00: Recovery
1:00:00 - 1:05:00: Interval 5 (35.9/35.6/35.0/34.8/35.5)
1:05:00 - 1:30:00: E2 (17.8 mph, 204 wattts, 157 bpm)

Weight Training

2007-04-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

I know I am doing things a little backwards in that I am starting back up on the weight training fairly late in the training season, but my upper body is starting to feel a little weak. The goal is to strengthen the entire upper body especially the joints, ligaments, tendons to prevent injury. I have always been an avid weight lifter ever since high school, but the increase in training time on the bike put too much strain on my body and I wasn't able to get the rest necessary to do both. I reasoned that the time was better spent developing muscular endurance in my legs rather than my upper body. If time permitted I would go back and add the weight training back in for the upper body only. Well the training is going well and I feel that I am getting the necessary rest, so it is time to get the upper body back in shape (not that it is that bad). I think 2 days a week will be sufficient and a good balance between biking and lifting. Listed below was the workouts performed.

Chest
Dumbel Press: 30 x 20; 40 x 20

Back
Seated Rows: 40 x 20; 60 x 20
Lat Pull Downs: 40 x 12; 60 x 20

Shoulders
Front Raises: 10 x 16; 15 x 16
45 deg Raises: 10 x 20; 15 x 12, 10 x 4 (used to finish the set)

Arm
One Arm Curls: 20 x 16; 25 x 16
Tricept Extensions: 40 x 16, 50 x 16

Stomach
Side Raises: 35 x 16
Crunches: 30

The workout felt great and it was nice to get back to lifting which is very familiar to me. In general I took it fairly easy because I don't want to be really sore for the next few days.

A2 (Anearobic VO2 Max Intervals)

2007-04-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Pushed a Little Harder Maybe to Hard

The legs have been feeling really good lately so I decided to push it a little harder than the last time I performed the anaerobic intervals. Keep in mind that these are beeing performed on a trainer so I can get consistant conditions. Last time I averaged around 22.5 mph and the last interval was still at 22.4 mph. This time I was able to push to 23 mph on the first two intervals, but they started to fade after interval 3.

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) (23.0, 360, 1?? Ave HR)
0:28 - 0:32 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:32 - 0:38 Interval #1 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (23.0, 360, 1?? Ave HR)
0:38 - 0:42 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:42 - 0:46 Interval #3 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.9, 356, 1?? Ave HR)
0:46 - 0:50 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:50 - 0:54 Interval #4 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.7, 349, 1?? Ave HR)
0:54 - 0:58 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
0:58 - 1:02 Interval #5 (23 mph, 360 Watts) (22.3, 335, 1?? Ave HR)
1:02 - 1:06 Recovery (12.5 mph, 100 Watts)
1:06 - 2:30 E2 (18.5 mph, 220 Watts) ( 211, 1?? Ave HR)

The legs felt good and I was able to push a strong E2 ride following the intervals. I will keep tracking the results and look for steady improvements.

E1 (Active Recovery)

2007-04-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

After lasts nights beating, todays E1 ride made the legs feel a little better. The back of my right knee is a little sore and it know feels a little bit better. Just a fairly easy ride

Summary
Duration: 1:00:00
Speed Avearage: 15.8
HR Aveage: 132 bpm

M4 (Criss-Cross Threshold)

2007-04-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

I really like these training rides. For some reason they force you to work harder than you think you are capable of. These training rides are known as lactate tolerance intervals. The duration is typically 20-40 minutes with interval duration of 3-5 minutes. You ride 3-5 minute slightly above your lactate threshold (LT) and then 3-5 minutes slightly below LT. During the time spent above your LT you are slowely filling your muscles with lactic acid you then switch to an intensity slightly below LT and force your muscles to work hard despite the fact they are filled with lactic acid. With the initial warm up of 20 minutes and 32 minutes of intervals that leaves a little over 1 hour of time to finish the workout at an E2 intensity.

Summary
Duration: 2:00:00
Intervals: 4
Interval Duration: 4 minutes
Rest Duration: 4 minutes

Detailed
0:00:00 - 0:20:00: Warm-up
0:20:00 - 0:24:00: Interval 1: 21 mph
0:24:00 - 0:28:00: LT Tolerance1: 20 mph
0:28:00 - 0:32:00: Interval 2: 21 mph
0:32:00 - 0:36:00: LT Tolerance 2: 20 mph
0:36:00 - 0:40:00: Interval 3: 21 mph
0:40:00 - 0:44:00: LT Tolerance 3: 20 mph
0:44:00 - 0:48:00: Interval 4: 21 mph0:
0:48:00 - 0:52:00: LT Tolerance 4: 20 mph
0:52:00 - 0:56:00: Recovery: 18 mph
0:56:00 - 2:00:00: E2: 18.5 mph

F2 (Hill Sprints)

2007-04-04T19:48:00.001-07:00

Simulated on Trainer

I think this is the only location in the world where it can be 81 one day and only a week later 18. Therefore I had to simulate hill sprints on the trainer. The only other time I have performed this workout was outdoors, so I don't have a good reference for comparison. I completed 8 sprints each of approximately 10 seconds each. Following each sprint is a fairly easy recovery until I hit the 5 minute mark from the start of the previous one. The legs felt strong and the average speeds for the 10 second durations were between 35 and 38 mph. The complete results are listed below.

Summary
Duration: 1:20:00
# of Intervals: 8
Interval Duration: 10 sec
Recovery: 04:50

Specifics
Interval 1: 35.5 mph (1044 watts)
Interval 2: 36.1 mph (1091 watts)
Interval 3: 38.3 mph (1278 watts)
Interval 4: 35.7 mph (1059 watts)
Interval 5: 36.6 mph (1132 watts)
Interval 6: 35.7 mph (1059 watts)
Interval 7: 35.3 mph (1028 watts)
Interval 8: 35.5 mph (1044 watts)

Note: It is possible that there is a slight amount of slipping between the rear wheel and the trainer roller, which would result in a higher speed and thus a higher calculated power.

E2 (Endurance)

2007-04-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Strong Finish to a Restful Week

For today's E2 workout, I decided to kick it up a notch. Being that it was the end of a light recovery week I thought it would be a good time to push it a little bit and se how my legs/body would respond. I started with a fairly easy warm-up for the first 10 minutes ramping up to around 17 mph. For the next 10 minutes I ramped the speed up to around 19 mph and maintained that for the next 50 minutes. After about an hour I kicked up the speed again to 20 mph and maintained that for another 20 minutes before ending the ride at 19+. After the ride the legs felt fairly fresh and I felt that I could have kept up that pace for at least another hour.

Ride Summary
Ride Duration: 2:00
Average Speed: 19.2 mph
Average Power: 236 watts
Average Heart Rate: 161 bpm

GET (Graded Exercise Test)

2007-03-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-03-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

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)

2007-03-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

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.

Training Kickoff for 2007 Race Season

2006-11-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

The training will offically start November 20th 2006 and continue through the 2007 race season. The vast majority of the training is based on the popular book by Joe Friel "The MTB Training Bible". The basic method of periodization is applied to build more race specific skills as the training progresses. The major ideal that I am trying to hold is to do the least amount of work to achieve the desired result. What that basically means is that more is not always better and there is diminishing returns to the time put into training.