More Whining
I was really enjoying the weather we were having yesterday, so I left work early to do some training. I had to ride indoors of course due to the 40+ MPH winds, and rapidly dropping temperatures (I guess I am a wimp).
I really have nothing much to say, other than to post up and brag about a trainer ride that was actually good for a change. I did not really enjoy it much, other than the enjoyment one gets from doing well and not absolutely hating every second as it slowly clicks off the timer and brings you incrementally closer to getting off the infernal pain machine.
As I approached the trainer (with great disdain), my wife said, "have fun". My terse response, "nothing about *this* is fun". I hopped on and started spinning while my kids enjoyed the room around me...one sleeping on the couch, one practicing his piano (yes, I had headphones), the other kicking and screaming as mama tried to soothe him for the next 2 hours.
Long story short, I put in 115 minutes of SOLID tempo work. I started out in the lower range and after about 60 minutes I ramped the power up and finished out in the upper end of the tempo range. Factor in the warm up and cool down, I was clipped in and spinning for a grand 130 minutes. Any time you can spend that long on a trainer and not recall hating every minute, is a good trainer ride....as far as trainer rides go.
Variation
I do much better on the trainer when I have something to focus on. Some kind of interval. Lately, I keep doing my cross workouts. Warmup 5 to 10, then tempo for 35 to 40 with stand up and shift into the big ring every 5 minutes cranking hard for 12 to 14 revs. This gives my mind something to focus on. I also like doing bunches of shorter intervals with short RIs. Like 6x6 or 6x8 at FTP or a bit lower, 1 to 2 minute rests. Just a few ideas.
Me too
I usually do HOPs (an invention of Bill Black's). Basically, you ride along near threshold, and every 5 minutes you stand and deliver for about a minute. With my wrist (that is all but healed BTW) and the desired duration of the workout, I decided to keep it more steady state.
This is not to say that I did not do a few HOPs. I probably did about 5 or 6...but that is far less than every 5 minutes.
For the record the HOP is actually short for Hour Of Power. AFAIK it is a simple variation on the over-under training technique where a guy trains at TH and then puts in some short intervals over TH to force him/herself to subsequently recover from a fartlek effort while still riding at TH. This is great for simulating the demands of racing in a peloton that surges to cover a break/roller/corner.
this wknd
u downs to ride mtb sunday? either binder or my farm depends on the weathered
e-up
I am going to survey the sich. at Binder. I figure that some sections will be ride-able, and others will be soft...only one way to know fer-sher.
Lakeside should be fine, not sure about anything else.
Was thinking about Froze Toes road race on Sunday, but I think there will be enough dry trails at Binder to keep me off the skinnies.
We should ride from here, get in some road miles on the MTBs just incase we can not get a good enough workout on the trails....call me.