Of Mice and Marathons

Off. 

I don't know how long it has been since my last full day off, but it was probably time. I decided not to do my long run, which cut my overall mileage for the week significantly, but the overall bike workout stress is fairly high right now, and I need to absorb all of this training a bit.

AM: 90'+ on the trainer. 249W. HR 151. 

3 x 20' Sweet Spot

I was going to do a straight hour, but decided to stick with the plan and see if I could keep things in the upper range of the zone and stay comfortable. It worked quite well. I took in a lot of carbs. 2 x 50g gels, though I had nothing to eat before and I think I had around 60-80 grams from the bottles. 

277 watts @ 158 BPM, 281 watts @ 162 BPM, 285 watts @ 164 BPM, 280 average or 95+% of FTP, so right where I needed to be.

PM: Off. Need to get my runs in, but trying to get work done and make sure I hit all of my bike workouts with Iceman just 3 weeks away.

AM: 120' on the trainer. 235W. HR 145. 

Threshold Intervals 15'-12'-15'

The workout was supposed to be 2 x 20' on the trails, but everything was soaked, so I just did an improvised workout on the trainer. The program suggested 3 x 12' but that didn't seem quite right given that I did 3 x 15' not long ago and I did 3 x 12' crisscross last Friday, so I thought I might do 2 x 20' or adjust a bit if I wasn't feeling great. For a minute I thought I might turn the first effort into a hard 20' effort, but backed off. I was around 305 or 306 I think through 8-10' but I could tell I didn't have enough energy to sustain it or increase much, so I just kept the effort at threshold and decided to press on as I could. Decided on 15'-12'-15' and think that was fine. 

299 watts @ 164 BPM, 295 watts @ 164 BPM, 298 watts @ 165 BPM

I have a Vo2 max session tomorrow, which should be interesting after two pretty hard workouts the last two days. I guess I got my wish to work on the area of 280-300 watts and over that (325-350)!

AM: 80' on the trainer. 221W. HR 139. 

6 x 3' Vo2 (2.5')

Another rep and 30" shorter rest than last week. Averaged about 339 watts once I corrected the data a bit. I thought it was low, but I cut the intervals in the wrong spot. Pretty much in line with last week. Feel like I have gotten really strong since mid-September. 

AM: 90' on the trainer. 217W. HR 124. 

Pretty straightforward zone 2 ride. Rode at the top of zone 2 and into zone 3 as my HR was solidly still in zone 2.

Need to get my runs in. 

AM: 16.2 miles, averaged 8:02. HR 142. 

3 x 15' AeT

It has been about 8 days since my last run. I wanted to make sure I hit my peak weeks going into Iceman and get some work done and the weather was crappy, so I was a bit lazy. I decided to just get my long in regardless. It went well. 

30' WU, 20' @ MAF (7:50 pace @ 143 BPM), 5' jog, 3 x 15' AeT (7:16 @ 153 BPM, 7:13 @ 153 BPM, 7:09 @ 155 BPM), 20' down for a total of 2 hours 10'.

Not too taxing, but I got a little work in (this is really just a modersate to steady pace, not even quite marathon effort) and it really allows you to get in 2+ hours of running without much thought.

I am of course shifting back and forth on racing plans next year. I originally wanted to try to run a fast 5k, but I also want to make my ultra debut, which has been about 8? 9? years  of wanting to, signing up, getting sick or bailing, life stuff, etc. I don't generally like bike racing in the early spring or much before school gets out, so I think it make sense to focus approximately 5-6 months on a running race/goal and the back half of the year on cycling racing and goals, while still doing both sports. 

PM: 70' on the fatbike @ Orion Oaks. 205W. HR 140. 

Testing some modifications and adjustments I had the shop do. I went up to a 32t chainring, which is the largest the bike will take. Seems like it will help lessen the amount of coasting I have to do. Dropped the front end a bit and had the bars cut down from 800mm to 780mm and they feel just about right. New chain and some bottom bracket and brake maintainence and it feels very good. I just wish I had a light tire for less rolling resistance and a bit less rotating and overall weight, but the bike should be faster overall (as should I) this year.