Transition week

My plan usually consists of 3 weeks on, with the third week in the block being the longest/most difficult of the block. The 4th week isn't a true rest week but one where the volume is reduced but the intensity is still up. The 4th week in the block is when supercompensation takes place.

I'm currently in the 4th week of the block and will start adding about 4 - 6 hours of additional time per week starting this Saturday. 3 months of indoor trainer work has me ready to get outside, especially now that the temps are hitting in the low to mid 80's.

Workout today called for 5X1 on 2 off at SMSP wattage or above 380W.

Say hello to the new Cat 4....

I completed my 10th race a few weeks ago and was waiting to upgrade after the state criterium championships. Now that the race is behind me, I decided to submit my upgrade request which was accepted with no problem. I'll be competing in several Georgia Cup races in May and June and they run a combined 4/5 race which means being listed as a Cat 4 will help me towards my Cat 3 upgrade should I place in the top 3.

Tempo with a little LT thrown in

My next race will be May 10th at the Series 7 road race in Cumming, GA. This will be sort of a homecoming as we used to live in Cumming, GA for about 8 years prior to moving back to SC and my parents and brother still live in the area at Big Canoe, GA.

Nothing special about the road race but after doing 2 months of short intervals, I need some time in the saddle in order to stay in the pack and hopefully contend for the sprint at the finish.

The plan called for a 2 hour hard road ride with at least 30 minutes of MSP/SMSP thrown in. Just to clarify, SMSP is basically L5-L6 and MSP is L4. I decided to do all MSP as my criterium racing schedule is pretty much over.

I'm not sure if it was being outside on the road or just trying to get the ride in before the rain, but my average speed for the 1.75 hour ride was 20.6 mph, a little higher than anticipated. I cut the ride short by about 15 minutes as the rain started picking up and I had some family obligations that I needed to get ready for.

Pretty good ride with about 40 minutes of L4 work and the rest tempo.

Saturday workout results

The training plan called for 3x8' @ 280-290W with 5 minutes between each interval. The plan for the 5 minutes between each interval looked something like this:

0 -1 minute: easy
1 - 2 minutes: 340 - 365W
2 - 3 minutes: easy
3 - 4 minutes: 340W - 365W
4 - 5 minutes: easy

I performed the first 8 minute interval at an average wattage of 283W with the 2 minutes of SMSP recorded as 344W and 349W respectively. For the 2nd interval, my average wattage was 288W with the 2 minutes of SMSP recorded as 324W and 346W respectively. I could tell I was fading going into the 3rd interval and only produced 269W for the 8 minutes and 335W and 353W for the 2 minutes of SMSP.

Not bad but not where I wanted the numbers to be.

New FTP as of 4/23/08 - 280W or 4W/kg

I haven't done any formal testing since December and really can't see the need to do any now (maybe at the end of the season) and I've decided to bump my FTP from 275W to 280W. I feel as though I'm higher but we'll see how things go and will re-adjust if needed. My last adjustment was 1/20/08 so I think I'm long overdue.

Weighing 70kg, this puts me right at 4W/kg. Not impressive but my goal is to get this to 4.5W/kg through weight loss and an increase of my FTP to at least 300W. Both should be attainable as I've only spent 4 -5.5 hours a week on the bike since 2/1/08 and my weight (body fat) has increased slightly for this time of the year.