Time Stop

Well, today was shit. I felt tired all day so I ended up doing only 40 minutes of tempo as part of my workout rather than 60 minutes. My legs just felt heavy and generally I felt beat. I have to say that psychologically, sitting on the trainer each day can be mind numbing. I sit in front of the TV and use the time display on the cable box as a guide (since my Power Tap again died after 10 minutes). And the minutes tick by very slowly. I'm at least proud for sticking to it despite the fatigue. I will hope for a better day tomorrow where I'm slotted to ride easy for an hour and do some sprints.

Back in the saddle

Sorry for my absence. My schedule has been packed with work related obligations and some travel so I didn't get a chance to blog. To pick up where I left off, I managed a 2 hour ride on Thursday evening and then a 1 hour ride early Friday morning before heading to Toronto for the weekend.

Today, my plan was to finally do my field test for the TCP. So I commenced the warmup protocol and was ready to go when the Power Tap funked out again. Now I'm irritated. I need to figure out why it seems to lose the signal from the hub even though I cleared the data and even resorted to restoring the factory defaults. I may have to call the helpline but I'm annoyed. So I decided to sit on for 90 minutes and ride at the upper end of my aerobic zone.

So my goal over the next ten days is to do some good quality rides on the trainer. Though I'd like to start the TCP, I have to plan for the possibility that the Power Tap issue won't be resolved so I'm going to go with a traditional training plan for now coupled with tempo and some hard efforts.

Anyway, I feel a little unstructured right now. I hope that I'll be able to get on the bike 5-6 days a week at least until the Power Tap issue can be resolved. It's a little disorienting right now that I can't get on the TCP so I have to make do given the challenge.

Alright, more in my next.

Is David Millar Andy Murray's long lost sib?

I had to abort the Tempo workout today on the third set. I just couldn't get the watts up without getting my heart rate too high. Again, not surprising given that I'm not periodizing on the standard model. That would have required at least 4-6 weeks of easy riding before introducing Tempo. Instead, I'm trying to use Tempo to boost my aerobic system "from below." I guess the key is to have appropriate recovery and maybe I have not yet fully recovered from my back to back Tempo workouts on the weekend. So I ended up riding the last 40 minutes easy.

The good news is that my Power Tap is working. We'll see. I like new "toys" but am never that adept at mastering them. I need to make this work though. The best way to get in shape is to train smart and that is what the Power Tap is for.

So I ended up watching part of the Australian Open quarterfinal between Raphael Nadal and Andy Murray. Is it just me or does Andy Murray look alot like David Millar?







I will let you decide!

Recovery Ride

I took it easy today after a long day of work. Just did a 30 minute spin easy. I managed to get the Power Tap working. I think I maxed out its memory so I erased the data saved in the CPU. I now have to figure out how to upload workouts onto the laptop and use the Power Agent software to record and analyze my workouts.

Anyways, not much to report today. I felt good. Averaged about 100-130 watts and my heart rate sat between 110bpm - 120bpm. I'm going to do a 2 hour ride with tempo both tomorrow and the day after. I'm hoping to have some shift in fitness before I do the field test.

Top Gun Workout

Well, I repeated yesterday's workout without a hitch except that that my Power Tap didn't cooperate again. It picked up a signal from the hub for the first five minutes and then lost the signal. Then I couldn't get it to go by resetting the computer but to no avail. I'll have to look into this. I hope it's not going to be a major problem since I need the Power Tap to work when I start the TCP.

So I watched Top Gun today through the workout. Great movie. I have to say it definitely inspired me when I was starting to hurt during the last couple of sets doing Tempo. That movie is a classic. There is something about Tomcats that really appeals to me.

Now, onto the issue of diet. I've been a bad boy over the last 3 days with dinners out, desserts, and booze. I haven't any good excuse for this. It's a struggle. Anyway, today, I ate some couscous with veggies, chickpeas and tuna so that definitely is an improvement. Also my water intake was pretty good. I am going to stay positive and not beat myself up for these lapses.

I may go for an easy run today (I didn't today since I was working). Hopefully my plan isn't usurped by work again.

I love Rock Racing

Today was a big day. I did 2 hours on the trainer (30 minute warmup followed by 15 minutes x 4 at Tempo pace with 10 minutes easy between sets followed by a brief spin). I'm happy with that. My legs felt good and I felt fluid. The annoying thing is that my Power Tap refused to pick up a signal from the hub. Instead of letting it get to me, I decided to continue by feel (which is an achievement since equipment failures drive me batty). I have a fairly good sense for what Tempo intensity feels like as well as the appropriate cadence so I kept it up to the end. I will deal with the Power Tap tomorrow.

As a side note, I used my Rock Racing bike shorts for the first time today. They are fantastic. I would say they feel better than the Assos bibs that I have and I consider Assos the gold standard. Also, it may be my imagination but I somehow felt leaner in them. I'm pretty sure that that's just perception since I've spent the last two nights out to dinner consuming steak, wine, and decadent desserts. Speaking of desserts, I've recently had a craving for coconut cream pie and as it turned out I had a piece two nights in a row. Again, my sweet tooth is kicking in. I'll have to control the urge since it won't help me get leaner. Still, the good news is that my waistline has dropped over an inch since January 4 so I am on the right track.

My plan for tomorrow will be an easy run to get some sun in the afternoon and then another ride like today's in the evening. I have decided to postpone the Field Test for the TCP until first week of February. I think a week of solid rides with Tempo will allow me to do a better test. And since I will be in Toronto next weekend, I can rest my legs for a couple of days before doing the test. I'll use this week to get some longer rides under my belt and to build some strength.

90 Minutes

Well, today's workout was much better. After a 20 minute warmup, I did 3 x 15 minutes of Tempo with 10 minutes recovery between sets. Overall, I can't complain. I felt pretty smooth though there was a discernible dip in power on the last set. Again, I'm not taking the watts too seriously right now since I don't yet have a proper benchmark to determine training intensities. But it is nevertheless interesting to see how power output can drop relative to heart rate, after a couple of sets. The power meter really is a good indicator of fatigue.

More generally, I think I'm going to like using my newly acquired Power Tap SL. I haven't yet mastered all its functions. And it comes with software that will allow me to analyze my workouts. So this should satiate my nerdy tendencies.

On that note, I'm off. I intend to do an easy spin tomorrow to relax my legs and then a strength/core workout.