Pat

The Snow is as high as a Labrador's eye...

The snow started later than usual this year.  But now that it's here, boy is it coming down.  Officially, The Canyons Resort (which is less than 2 miles from my doorstep) is reporting 18 inches of new snow in the last 24hours.  Unofficially, my driveway now has 2 foot berms and our yard has the beginnings of a toboggan run for my girls. For the last 48 hours all I've heard from my skier friends is that the “warmer” snow that we've been getting will make a great base. 

What does this have to do with training with power? I'm glad you asked. Just like you need some boring cement-esque snow to form a foundation for the champagne power to come, on the bike you need to put in some long and not terribly exciting hours to support the high intensity work that comes in the spring.  OK, I know its a stretch. But seriously, in 2009 I put in over 100 hours on the trainer and if all goes to plan I'll put in at least 150 hours in 2010. And with out a plan that's a depressing thought! So it's time to put together a training plan / strategy for the 2010 season and start training with purpose again.

In 2009 my focus was the State Time Trial and I made great progress. But, spending 6 months training for a single event left me more than a little flat. So, for the 2010 season I decided I wanted to race more frequently and put my focus on Road Racing. I'll also be doing the Leadville 100 again and some local cross-country mountain bike races, but training for those will be secondary to my road racing.

In 2009 I didn't have any structured “base” phase in my training (in the last 3 months of 2008 I only spent 22 hours on the bike).  For all intents and purposes, I just jumped on my TT bike in January and went full force into training for the State TT.  And that worked out fine for a race that only took 46 minutes and 7 seconds.  But it didn't work so well for Leadville. And, it won’t work for the upcoming Road Race season where I'll be doing races lasting into the three hour range.

The Plan-

I decided to use the guide lines set out in The Road Cyclist Guide to Training with Power. This guide is by far the best blueprint I've found for a self coached athlete who is training with power. The training philosophy laid out by the author is simple and straightforward and seems to be based on current research and understanding of cycling physiology.  I highly recommend getting a copy and reading it several times (there is a ton of information there). And oh yeah, it FREE!

My basic weeks will consist of one Threshold workout and several Zone 2 or Zone 3 workouts, at least one of which will be on the TT bike. Last week I spent 7:40 on the bike with 380 tss points. I'll add 20 to 30 minutes and 20 to 25 tss points each week which should get me to the start of my build phase in the first week of February in great shape.

That's all for now, I've got snow to shovel.

Train Hard and Smart.

Pat

Time Crunched Wrap Up

It's been said that bicycling is a “Blue Collar” Sport. That is to say, while there isn't a lot of glamor or excitement in the training, but you can't win unless you do the hard work. With the “Time Crunched Cyclist” program you're putting in 32 workouts, or 48 hours of pretty intense training over 8 weeks, all to prepare for a race that lasts from 45 minutes to 3 hours. This, of course, is a relative bargain in time saved when you compare it to the 12 to 15 hour Base weeks that a lot of bike racers put in starting as early as November for an April or May race.

--A quick review:

This Blog started earlier this year when the good folks at Saris offered me a PowerTap hub if I would in turn write a blog about my experiences “Training with Power”. I'm not some uber-cyclist who time trials at 50k per hour. I'm quite the opposite. I'm a 42 year old father of twin two-year-olds with a mortgage, a dog, and not a lot of extra time to train. My athletic background is in long course triathlon where I'm a “middle of the pack” kind of guy. So far this year, while training for the State Time Trial, I improved my threshold power by more than 10%.

After reading Chris Carmichael's book The Time Crunched Cyclist, the concepts resonated with me, so I decided to give the training plan a try and see how it worked for me.

Before starting the plan I did 2 tests. The first test is the CTS 8 minute test. Essentially it's two 8 minute all out efforts. You use the higher of the 2 average wattages as a basis for your workout intensities. The second “test” I did is the climb up Emigration Canyon. It's a 7.66mi climb from 4917ft to 6242ft with an average grade of 3.5%, which takes me about 35 minutes. This a great test for me getting an estimate of my Threshold Power.

--The Results:

8min test- Before 295w After 315w Change +20w or +6.8%

EM Cyn Test- Before 243w After 254w Change +11w or +4.5%

In both of these tests I started out a little hard and faded in the end, which effects the results slightly. In the 8 minute test I aimed for a 10% improvement, or 325w, from the previous test, which is about what the book had said to expect. In the climb up EM Cyn. I aimed for a 7% increase, or 260w, because of my 8 minute test results.

--What worked:

Over the last 10 years I've spent hours and hours riding long slow distance, which gave me the ability to ride all day long, but left me off the back of the pack after a couple of surges in the local crit. This training plan addresses that short coming directly. In fact, I think I quite literally spent more time in Zone 6 in the last 8 weeks then I have in the last 8 years. I have no doubt that if I showed up for a local crit race now I would be able to hang with the pack during the surges, and be there to contend for the finish.

--What didn't:

My life isn't on a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday schedule. I'm an airline pilot, and my work and time off tends to come in three to four day chunks. This means that my training ends up being on back to back days, and that doesn't work very well with this program. Now, there are times when my schedule lightens up some, like between the end of the peak summer travel season and the holiday rush, and I can do all the workouts as prescribed. But, if I have the time off to do that, then I have enough time to use a more conventional training plan.

--Will it work for me in the future?

If I have the time to train on a conventional plan this winter and spring, I will. Of course, I'll be sure to add in plenty of Zone 6 work and Over/Unders in my build phase so I can stay with the pack come race day. If I find myself in a “time-crunched” situation, I think a modified version of this plan could work for me. If I had four consecutive days to train, I'd move the weekend long ride to the third day as a recovery ride and complete the other workouts as written. This might not be optimal, but I think it could work with the time I have available.

--Will it work for you?

The plan in this book is simple, in a good way, well thought out, and very hard; pretty much what you'd expect from Chris Carmichael. If you find yourself with limited time to train and a desire to be competitive in cycling, I'd definitely give it a try.

--Final Thoughts:

As I mentioned in a previous blog, a study that was done on cyclists using this training method showed a 12.9% improvement over eight weeks, but I only managed 6.8%, or about half the amount of improvement of the cyclists in the study. I think that there may be a couple of things that effected how much I improved. First, I started out the year with a threshold power of ~217 watts on my road bike, and I had brought that to ~243 watts by mid August, close to a 12% increase. Now bring that up to 254 watts by the end of the Time Crunched program and my year to date improvement is 17%. That's HUGE for less than a year's worth of work! To put it another way, when I started this program I was the strongest I had ever been on the bike and any new power or fitness was exactly that, new. Just think, if I were to match those kinds of gains in 2010 I would be at 297w by season's end, up 80 watts from 217w pre-PowerTap, which would be nice, but is totally unrealistic. Second, when you're following a program like this motivation plays a big roll in how hard you can flog yourself. Even though I was pushing as hard as I could on these workouts, I know if I had had a race coming up I may have been able to eek out just a few more watts, or go just a little longer on some of the workouts, and sometimes that last little bit of effort can make all the difference. In fact, with no goal race coming up, by the time I was finishing week six I felt noticeably burned out and over-trained. I did the workouts, but both physically and mentally I wasn't 100%.

--One Last Thing:

In the book Chris Carmichael talks about how this program is something he uses in his personal life. Well, the last time I saw him was in Leadville. He was heading down from Columbine Mine shouting encouragement to those of us still on our way up. Here's my question: when does the Leadville Training Plan supplement to The Time Crunched Cyclist come out? Because I'm going back and I just might need it!

20 Weeks till the first race of the season, 9 months till Leadville.

Time to get on the bike :)

Train Hard and Smart

Pat

TCC the Results and nothing but

After eight weeks of the "Time Crunched Cyclist" training plan, last week I finally got a chance to do some testing and assess my progress and how the plan worked for me. While I mull over all the whys and hows of my results I figured I could just put the numbers forward and let you decide how well the plan worked.

Before starting the plan I did 2 seperate tests.  The first test is the CTS 8 minute test. Essentially it's two 8 minute all out efforts, you use the higher of the 2 average wattage's as a basis for your workout intensities. The second "test" I did is the climb up Emigration Canyon. It's a 7.66mi climb from 4917ft to 6242ft with an average grade of 3.5% which takes me about 35 minutes. This a great test for getting an estimate of Threshold Power.

 

The Results

8min test - Before 295w  After 315w  Change +20w or +6.8%

EM Cyn Test -  Before 243w  After 254w  Change +11w or +4.5%

 

Both of these tests I started out a little hard and faded in the end which effects the results, slightly. In the  8 minute test I aimed for a 10% improvement, or 325w, from the previous test. In the climb up EM Cyn. I aimed for a 7% increase, or 260w, because of my 8 minute test results.

 

In the end, I think the quick answer to the “am I happy with the results?” question is, yes. While I didn't get the 12.9% improvement that the cyclists in the book had (pg.73), I did have a significant improvement in my ability to go hard and recover while still at a moderate intensity.  Having spent the last 10 years doing hours and hours of Long Slow Distance training for long course Triathlon this is an area that I really needed improvement in. I have no doubt that if I showed up for a local crit race I would be able to hang with the pack during the surges, and be there to contend for the finish.

 

In the analysis of this program I have a dozen questions and observations that I want to go over. Like:

-What worked, what didn't?

-Will it work for me in the future?

-Will it work for you?

But I need some time to go over all that, so I'll save the “Full Analysis” for another post.

 

Base Training for the 2010 season started yesterday.

 

Train Hard and Smart!

Pat

6 weeks down, 2 to go

After 6 weeks of the “Time Crunched Cyclist” the one thing that strikes me is how hard the workouts are. Not just that the specific intensity is high, but in nearly every workout when I start my last interval I have no idea if I'll be able to finish it.  Nine times out of Ten I do finish, if just barely.  You see, the goal of these particular intervals is to go at “max intensity” and the only guidance given in the book is 101%+ of your CTS Test and that some athletes go 110 to 130%. After a little trial and err I found out I can go 105-107% of my CTS Test, any higher and I can't finish.  Once you've figured what your achievable goal numbers are, the program is fairly straight forward. I do keep finding myself wanting to increase my goal wattage numbers, but each workout has increased difficulty built into it and it's everything I can do to finish the last interval at my goal wattage.

So for now I’ll keep plodding along, doing the workouts and looking forward to when I can retake the tests and see how the program has worked for me.

Until then,

Train Hard and Smart,

Pat

 

Weeks 2 & 3 Time Crunched

I finished up weeks 2 and 3 of the experienced competitor plan from "The Time Crunched Cyclist" and everything is pretty much going as planned. The intervals in weeks 2 & 3 get progressively shorter and more intense. But, the time required to accomplish the workouts stays right at 6 hours. The one thing that strikes me is that I keep wanting to do more. Don't get me wrong, every time I try and walk up a flight of stairs I'm instantaneously reminded of my last set of intervals. It just doesn't feel like I'm spending that much time on the bike. Which, of course, is the point of the plan.

 

On the nutrition side of things I've been following the books recommendations very closely; with one small change. I've been using the recommendations for a 165lb rider, not a 190lb rider.  You see the formula doesn't know what your lean body mass is and doesn't differentiate between a  200lb rider with  5% body fat and one with 25% body fat. Metabolically, there is a huge difference between those two riders. On the flip side, a 165lb rider with 7% body fat and a 190lb rider with 19% body fat both have about 154lbs of lean body mass and metabolically are very similar.  And seeing that my goal is to be the former not the latter I decided to use the recommendations for a 165lb rider.  So far, I haven't had any fueling problems finishing my workouts and after three weeks using the TCC plan my weight is unchanged. So, I figure I'm fairly close to where I need to be nutritionally.

 

Week 4 is a "rest" week, which is to say there is one less hard work out than last week.  After that, it's four more weeks of work before a final test to quantify how well the Time Crunched Cyclist works for me.

 

Train Hard and Smart

Pat

Week 1 Time Crunched Training

Week One of my Time Crunched program is in the bag.

It started off with testing down at Saltair near the SLC airport. I know testing at 4200ft and training at 6500ft isn't ideal but I decided to do it that way for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have no idea if my local roads will be safe for doing an all-out test in 8 weeks as it'll be getting close to snow season. Secondly, almost all of my significant testing and/or racing for the last year has been down in the Salt Lake valley and I'd like to keep things consistent. On my first 8 minute test I averaged 295w which was very high for me. The second test I was blown and didn't go well, but it was 95 degrees so I let it go. According to the Time Crunched Cyclist, Threshold power equates to approximately 90% of average power of this 8 minute test. That would put me at 265w threshold power which is way above the 245w I've been using in Salt Lake. But, the workouts are based on this test so I happily took my 295w and went to work.

The first week of workouts are a combination of longer intervals at or just below threshold (prescribed percentages of the test) and endurance miles also at intensity derived from the test. My first set of intervals went fairly well except I fell about 10w short of my target wattage on each interval and totally blew up by the end of the last one. I figured I'd take some of the outdoor variables out of the equation by doing the next workout on the trainer. By 5 minutes into my first interval I knew I was in trouble. I was using an altitude adjusted 254w and my heart rate was already 178 bpm or 7 bpm over my LT. I finished the first interval, mangled my way through the second and stumbled through about 3/4 of the third before falling off my bike. For the third interval workout I used 235w and everything went OK. The endurance ride was a non-event as it was at a much lower intensity.

It's hard (and really unfair) to try and characterize a program when you've only gotten 1/8^th of the way into it. One thing I can tell you is that if the weeks to come are anything like last week, I'll need to pay very close attention to nutrition and rest. Because, this program is intense and the better I focus on doing everything exactly as prescribed the better my results will be.

As far as the test results go, I'll try and get back out to do the 8 minute test again. I'll also try and do a 20 test just for a basis of comparison. And maybe a hill climb....how many workouts is that?

Train Hard and Smart

Pat

The Next Step

Leadville was the last event I had scheduled for 2009 and now that it’s over the question is, “where does my training go from here, what’s my next step?”

Over the last couple of weeks I had a chance to sit down and reflect on 2009 and do some goal setting for 2010. I really enjoyed my focused bike training for the State TT and felt I made great progress. My training for Leadville was less focused and I floundered a bit. I’d like to take that same focused, power based, training I had for the TT and turn it towards being a competitive Cat4 Road bike racer and maybe even start picking up some upgrade points by the end of the 2010 season.  Of course, if I have the training time available, I want to go back to Leadville and kick some butt there too!  The problem is, training for the 2010 season here in Utah won’t really start till December and that’s 13 weeks away, so what do I do in the interim?

I mentioned in my Leadville postmortem that I had been reading Chris Carmichael’s new book “The Time Crunched Cyclist”. It’s a great book for cyclists like me who find themselves on extremely tight schedules, but still want to ride competitively. The book has an eight week power based training program that is designed to bring you to peak fitness for 4 to 8 weeks of racing. According to the book, the program increased the CTS athletes Threshold Power by more than 10% over the eight week program and they were able to maintain that fitness for several weeks of racing. If the program works for me, that would be exactly what I’m looking for. But, before I base my whole 2010 season on a training program, it’s probably a good idea to make sure it will actually work for me.

So, there’s my next eight weeks. In the next couple of days I’ll do some testing to establish a baseline and figure out my current power levels. While I won’t post the training plan, that belongs to Chris Carmichael and CTS, I’ll try and post my weekly progress along with my before and after power numbers.

Train Hard and Smart,

Pat

Leadville- Looking Back, Looking forward

It's been a week since Leadville and I think it's important to look back at the race and what I could have done different on the day, along with how my training should change in order to have a better race next year.

Looking Back-

-Position- I talked about this in my last blog, but I think the number one thing I could have done to improve my race day is better positioning in the pack at the start. Having a little open trail in front of me and not being stuck in a three wide pack could have made a huge difference in my day. It's not a mistake I'll make again.

-Equipment Maintenance and Setup- The bike I rode was a great choice for Leadville (Giant NRS) it climbed and descended well and maybe the only better choice would have been a Hardtail 29er. However, both the bike setup (handlebar height & cockpit length) and brakes fluid hadn't been changed since 2001. I'm a very different rider than I was back then and getting a professional fit could have made a long day on the bike a little more comfortable and a lot more efficient. As far as the brakes go, I should have had the fluid changed and I knew it. On the descent from Columbine I overheated both the front and rear brakes, fortunately not both at the same time. It ended up making a really fast enjoyable descent, quite slow and nerve racking. Because I was so late getting to Twin lakes the first time neither of these things really effected my day. But, If I had gotten there 15-20 minutes earlier, either of these mistakes really had the potential to mess things up.

Looking Forward-

-Base Training- The biggest training change I can make is to build a base in the winter. This year my training was focused on The Utah State Time Trial which only lasted 45 minutes or so and didn't require any real base building.

-Ride Off road- I need to spend more time on the Mountain Bike stating earlier in the year. This year I only spent 22 hours and 175 miles on my mountain bike, 8 hours and 65 miles of that were race day! Time on the mountain bike is the only ways to hone the handling skills I need to ride smoothly off road.

-Strength Training- I need to do some upper body and core strength training. Building a big engine with a power based training plan is great for riding up big hills, but you still need the upper body and core strength to get by the technical sections of the trail smoothly.

-Loose weight and Improve Functional Threshold- It's no mistake that my friend Thor was able to ride around the pack and get clear up front. He was able to use his power and handling skills (see the previous points) to get clear of the mire and overcome the mistake we made in positioning at the start. To improve my power to weight ratio from 2.7w/kg (watts per kilo) to Thor's 3.7w/kg is, at very least, a two year proposition. But, I do have 10kg that I can loose (in the off season) and if I can improve my Threshold by another 10% by next year I'll be close to 3.4w/kg, which is a great start.

Now all I have to do is put together a training plan that will address all those points....

...And of course do the training! Stay tuned, that's next.

Train Hard and Smart

Pat

Leadville Trail 100- an alternate viewpoint

Saturday was the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race and all I can say is “WOW”! 1400+ dripping wet, mud covered, grunting, grinning and exhausted Mountain Bikers all pedaling their hearts out.

Three days ago I knew exactly what I was going to write here and how I felt about my Leadville result, but now I'm not so sure.  You see, I DNF-ed and I was OK with that....at first.  Let me give a quick race report and some power numbers and then I can explain my uneasiness with how I feel about the result.

My buddy Thor (yeah that's the name on his birth certificate) and I decided to do this race as a “just finish under 12 hours” type of ride. Thor is a Cat 3 racer from Colorado who also started training with a PowerTap this year (and collecting upgrade points to move up to Cat 2).  His background is in 24 hour solo Mountain Bike racing and he's done a number of 100+mi MTB races, so he has all the tools to really do well in Leadville.

The gun went off at 6:30 and three minutes later Thor and I crossed the Start line at about 2mph. It was frustratingly slow! The first few miles of the race are on a paved road and it was very much like working your way to the front of a crit. Thor and I moved up a 100 riders or so before the road turned to double track and we were stuck riding 3 wide with no way to move up. At 6 miles or so the first real climb started and it was a mess! The rain had made the normally hard packed road soft and the rocks slick, people were falling right and left causing pile ups because there was nowhere to go.  Some riders decided to just walk their bikes along the side of the trail and stay out of the mayhem. Thor has awesome bike handling skills and was able to ride on the side of the trail and bypass the mire I was stuck in. He ended up waiting at the 11mi aid station for 15 minutes, but realized riding together was no longer an option and turned his sights towards a 9 hour finish. When I got to the aid station things started to thin out but the descent was almost as frustrating as the climb as I repeatedly got stuck behind riders on hard-tails who were descending “cautiously” and by now I was starting to worry about when I would get to the bottom of the climb to Columbine Mine.

I reached the bottom of Pipeline at 2:53 into the ride and in 1095 place. Thor on the other hand had passed 500+ riders (532^nd place) and was a full 30 minutes ahead of me at that point. Up to that point, despite being stuck in traffic, my power had been right on target, 180w (norm).  It took me just over an hour to go from the bottom of Pipeline to the Twin Lakes rest stop, just making the 4:00 cutoff time. But, by that time my race was finished.  My ability to make power had dropped significantly, just as it had in the Tour de Park City. The only difference being, I wasn't bonking (I don't think) I was happy, well fueled, my heart rate was normal, I just couldn't make more than 150w and that wasn't going to cut it in Leadville.  I've been reading Chris Carmichael's new book “The Time Crunched Cyclist” and his assertion is that training 6 hours per week can take you far, but the limit to your endurance is at about 3 hours.  This makes sense to me as on both my ultra long rides I died at 3 to 3.5 hours.  The difference being in the TdePC 140-150w could get me up the 6% grade to Bald Mtn. but not up the 9%, 3000ft climb to Columbine.  So I rode when I could and walked when I couldn't and I made it to the 12,700ft summit of the climb. I knew when I got back to the Twin Lakes aide station they would take my chip. But as long as I still had it, I was going to keep going. A little after 8 hours into the race I got back to Twin Lakes and gave up my chip.

At first, I was OK with the DNF. My inability to finish under the cutoff time was simply a factor of my limited ability to train. It wasn't a reflection on me or my giving up.  I had trained as much and as hard as I could and had gone till they made me stop. I was content with the result. Then after a few days reflection, I started to wonder what would have happened if we had arrived earlier and started further forward in the pack? If I had arrived at Twin Lakes at 3:30 my whole day would have changed.  Even pushing my bike up the climb I could have made the cutoff time easily and then finished the race sub 12 hours, certainly sub 13. Or am I kidding myself?  Who knows?  I do know I'll be back! Maybe next year, maybe after the girls are in school and my training time opens up a little.  But I'll be back!

How did Thor do? 9:45! He ended up 263^rd overall, passing close to 1000 riders.  If he had started closer to the front I have no doubt he would have been sub 9 hours. Oh and by the way, to get to Thor's power to weight ratio I need to increase my threshold by 50 watts and loose 10kg, something to shoot for if I want to finish sub 9 hours next time.

 

Train Hard and Smart

Pat

One Last Hurrah

Once again all the training is done, Leadville is a week away and no matter how much I want to go out a put in a bunch of last chance miles, it wont help. Since my training changed from focusing on the State TT to putting in long miles for Leadville, eight weeks ago, I've racked up 59+ hrs and 900+ miles. Admittedly, that's not as much as I would have liked, but probably more than enough to do the job.

Last week I finished off my training with the Tour de Park City. It's a 175mi ride from Park City, Utah to Evenston, Wyoming and back via Bald Mountain. The total climb is +/- 8000ft with the peak being 10,759 at the 125 mile point. It's no Leadville, but it's an epic ride in it's own right. I was interested to see how my body reacted to the long hours in the saddle and what kind of power I was able to hold for a 10+ hour ride. Unfortunately, I neglected my food intake and only took in about 300 calories in the first 4 hours (it was cold and I didn't drink my bottles, yeah I know...). By the time I started getting calories in it was too late, I was doomed to a very long day of suffering through a bonk. During the 50 mile climb from Evenston to the top of Bald Mtn. I thought of every possible rational for getting in the sag-wagon and in fact questioned why on earth I had paid someone to let me suffer this way! But in the end, I'm a cyclist and I just kept turning the pedals over till I got to the summit. And what a glorious descent down mirror lake Hwy!

In the end I did get some good information. I know, no matter what happens at Leadville, I can do the distance (I do plan on eating though). I did find that for the first 4 hours of the ride, pre-bonk, I was averaging right around 175w and even when I was suffering my worst I could put out 140-150w. My “norm” power ended up being 157w for 11:17 which I'm really quite happy with. Over the next couple of days I'll take the data I got from this ride and put together a pacing, and eating, strategy for next weekend.

That's it for now.

Train Hard and Smart (and don't forget to eat!)

Pat