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.

Dead Legs

My plan for the next four days is to put in some saddle time with blocks of tempo and then to do a fitness test on Sunday to determine the intensity ranges I'll need for my first attempt at the TCP.

Well my ride today wasn't exactly brilliant. I had intended to do 4 x 15 minutes at Tempo pace which means riding at about 70-75 rpm and keeping the heart rate at between 150-158bpm while trying to put out between 210 to 240 watts. However, my heart rate kept creeping into the mid 160s to get up the appropriate power band so that's evidence that I'm tired. So I stopped the tempo effort and rode easily while incorporating a handful of Stomps (40 second flat out efforts in the 53/13).Total time on the bike: 70 minutes.

I'm not surprised about feeling tired. I did some traveling on the weekend and today was a heavy work day that involved rising very early, running a graduate seminar in legal philosophy that cut into my lunch time and eating sub-par food (two sandwiches and a Clif Bar). I'm confident that I'll be better tomorrow.

I have to say I'm a bit nervous about the Field Test on Sunday. It requires that I do two hard 8 minute efforts in order to record my heart rate, cadence, and power numbers at lactate threshold. I know that I'll have to be willing to suffer. At this stage, I'm pretty unfit so I'm not expecting the numbers to be great. We'll see. If I can average about 280 watts, I'll be happy for now. I'll do the Field Test again in mid-May and I should do better then. Right now, I just need a workable starting point to determine training intensities.

Still, it is useful to consider how power considerations will factor into my training. Carl Kiffner, who came 3rd last year in my age group mentioned riding up the Fortune Climb at about 500 watts in training. Assuming that's right and assuming that Carl weighs about 75kgs, that would yield a power to weight ratio of roughly 6.6 watts per kilo of body weight. That's quite astounding since the power output is akin to what you'd expect from Tour De France level riding. According to what I've read, a rider capable of placing on GC in the Tour has to be able to put out in excess of 6.5 watts per kilo of body weight. This is an absolute number since the actual numbers are likely to be lower when riders hit the slopes after many kms in their legs. Nevertheless, it's a massive number so I'm going to treat the figure Carl mentioned as conditional upon subsequent verification.

Whatever the number, it is plain that I've got a ton of work to do. Assuming that the 500 watt figure is sound and supposing that I will weigh about 58kgs (I'm a tubby 65kgs right now) when I'm in good shape, I'd need to put out 380 watts to achieve the same power to weight ratio over 4-5 minutes. Ouch!

Alright, on that lame mathematical note, it's over and out until my next training update.

Why Blog?

My aim in starting this blog is to create a record of my attempt to prepare for the 2010 Gatineau Grand Prix, a bike race that takes place in the Gatineau Park, Ottawa, Canada. My aim is to race in my age group (30-39) which is the second most competitive age group after Category 1-2. As I write, I have almost precisely 7 months until race day.

I thought it might be interesting to create such a record simply because I am not especially gifted as an athlete. Indeed, I have asthma which doesn't bode well for high level cycling because it limits my lung capacity. With respect to the Grand Prix, I've done it once as a novice and finished in the top 20. But that was only 2 laps (41km) and it was hard. To race in my age group, I will have to race 5 laps over rolling terrain, including rolling over the Fortune Climb, a bastard of a climb that may well decide my fortune in the race.

Still, I believe have a few things going for me: a) I love the sport; b)As will become apparent from my blog entries, I'm a cycling nerd and will attempt to train intelligently (with the key word being "attempt") c) I believe that my athletic ability and potential is largely untapped since I'm not sufficiently disciplined to max it out.

However, due to a very full professional and personal life, I only have 6-8 hours per week to train. This should make training an interesting project since, ideally, one would require 12-15 hours per week to properly train. Still, Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's coach, has given me hope. In his recent book, The Time Crunched Cyclist, he argues that one can get into shape on the basis of 6-8 hours a week though that fitness will be of a very limited type. The best it can do is get me race-ready for any race that lasts up to 3 hours. Since the Grand Prix will take about 2.5 hours, I'm banking on the TCP to work for me.

Ultimately, I have no idea if I can get fit enough to race at the necessary level. But that's precisely what will make it interesting to see how this pans out!