training 7-31-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.8, S-30.4. 32.1mph average for the week in the velomobile with just the open hood.

training 7-30-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.2, S-31.2.

training 7-29-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). Easy day.

training 7-28-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.6, S-31.2. I've been in feasting mode the last few days and have been getting my bulk on. My heart and lungs are ahead of my legs at this point and I'm happy about that. Less than three weeks until I start my three-week super-taper for Battle Mountain. What a year of training it has been. I've never trained for this long and hard (that's what she said) on a daily basis and have been on the edge the entire time. If I would have went .5mph faster or put out five more watts on a prolonged basis I would have crashed and burned.

training 7-27-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.0, S-30.4.

training 7-25-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Biekenstein (172.5mm cranks). Easy day.

training 7-24-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.3, S-30.1.

training 7-23-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-32.8, S-30.0. Passed 5000 miles so far this year.

training 7-22-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). Bike walk.

training 7-21-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.1, S-31.2.

training 7-20-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-31.8, S-30.7. Easy day.

training 7-18-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). Super easy day (less than 200 watts).

training 7-17-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-32.5, S-32.0. I noticed in the middle of yesterday's ride that I was being sloppy and relying too much on my quadriceps and since they're the weak link in my PRE-panel my heart, lungs and hamstrings have had it easy for quite some time. I had noticed a while ago that I hadn't been training as hard as I used to (early spring). Today I added a leg curl back into my pedal stroke and the normal heart and lung stress returned (with an increase in speed). Now everything is working at equal capacity.

training 7-16-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-32.3, S-30.2.

training 7-15-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5 cranks). Super easy day.

training 7-14-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-32.2, S-30.2. 1440 calories (18 hard-boiled eggs) and no carbs yesterday.

training 7-13-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open hood, only). N-33.5, S-32.4. I wanted to see what the airflow through the velomobile was like with just the hood -- no foothole covers or hood hole covers. It's pretty good and reduces the majority of the humidity. Even with the slow tires I came within .35mph of my training PR average speed. Yesterday was another feast day. The two days before that I doubled my calories but was still under maintenance-levels. This feast or famine approach seems to suit me the best , as it always heas. After Battle Mountain I think I'll try the same principle with my training -- both cycling and lifting. For cycling I'll do daily, health-inducing bike-walks interspersed with harder days. I'm not sure what the best frequency for the harder days is but it's probably between three and seven days. For weights I'll do a "lifting-walk" every other day or so as I'm doing now but throw in a heavy session about once every three weeks.

training 7-11-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). Easy day.

training 7-10-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N-29.3, S-27.0. I reloaded yesterday and ate at least 5000 calories with lots of carbohydrates. It didn't help my riding today. I expected that as I've learned from experience that I need to carb-load at least two days after a complete glycogen depletion. What surprised me, though, was going over 1mph slower than yesterday. Hmmm, maybe all of those carbohydrate shifted me out of efficient fat-burning mode. It's probably the (excessive?) carbs in my bloodstream that are doing that. That in combination with my muscle cells still being devoid of glycogen would explain it. Oh well, not important as I will never see myself in this situation when it matters.

training 7-9-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N-30.3, S-28.2. My legs were completely empty today. I even felt resistance while walking when I went out to get the paper. It's probably partly due to my no longer wanting to throw away eggs yolks. I eat them and instead cut my oatmeal consumption in half which puts me at 50 carbohydrates per day. That's Atkin's territory. Despite my legs being empty today's run went pretty well once I got the aerobic engine going. My legs felt very comfortable. I suspect any leg discomfort associated with bike racing or hard training stems purely from the fast-twitch fibers when they engage in an assistance capacity. I suspect that the aerobic system can operate for extremely long times without food provided enough bodyfat and electrolytes are available.

training 7-8-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). Easy day but used a low cadence and enough tension on my glutes and hamstrings to prevent them from getting weaker (since they're not worked as much or in the same way in the velomobile).

training 7-7-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N-30.9, S-30.1. New training PR in the slow configuration with an overall average speed of 30.5mph. That's only 2.8mph less than my training PR with the race configuration. Even better, I did it eating only 1366 calories (again) yesterday. My base diet consists of a 7oz. can of tuna with olive oil, a dozen hard-boiled eggs (minus ten yolks) and two cups (dry) of oatmeal. Conventional wisdom says that's too little calories but it's working and I'm going to stick with it until it doesn't.

training 7-6-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N-30.9, S-28.4. Not bad considering I only ate 1366 calories yesterday and 854 the day before that.

training 7-4-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). My Powertap decided it didn't want to stay on again so I took advantage and did a nice recovery ride. I think as long as I'm on a weight-loss diet I'll make my two rides per week on Birkenstein full recovery sessions.

training 7-3-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N) 29.8, S 27.9. Riding on fumes -- less than half of maintenance-level calories yesterday.

training 7-2-13

Folsom Canal, 22.5 miles. QuestXS (open cockpit). N-30.3, S-27.1. Yesterday after my ride I drank straight milk for the first time in a number of days. It sat in my stomach like a rock and soon I was in a food coma (very common for me). I decided then and there no more milk for me. Hours later I cooked my oatmeal in water instead of milk and added only salt and cinnamon. Oatmeal (with milk and sugar) usually causes food comas as well but this time it didn't. Also, I no longer have those blood-pressure drop spells every time I stand up. I haven't had one since I made the change. Next on the chopping block will be eggs and the butter I cook them in. That's another food that often doesn't have a neutral impact on how I feel when I eat it. I'm cleaning up my diet act from here on out. Something tells me it's time.

training 7-1-13

Folsom Canal, 21.5 miles. Birkenstein (172.5mm cranks). 1) 272w, 26.0mph, 2) 271w, 25.7mph.