Training 10-25-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom Canal. 164 watts average.

Training 10-24-12

Plus 1 day. Folsom Canal. Switched to trike. The 700c Powertap wheel raised the seat and lowered the bottom bracket. The BB is now 6" over the seat and the seat angle is 45 degrees. Not ideal but close enough. I definitely feel more pull in my hamstrings when I push. The different muscles being used and the excitement of the newness of the new position probably skewed the no-days rest output. I ended up with a 172 watt average. Like yesterday, I rode without being able to see the output during the ride. 170, 174, 172. That's interesting. Those are the wattages I put out when I went strictly by feel. Surely, it'll be less tomorrow.

Training: 10-23-12

Plus 2 days. Folsom Canal. I decided to revert back to the daily, low-intensity, P.R.E.-based training that I was doing before I acquired the Powertap. I felt horrible yesterday due to my last training session so didn't even do a recovery ride (thanks in part to heavy rain). I set the display on the Powertap to "max watts" so I wouldn't know what my current output was and wouldn't be tempted to look. I went at a pace that my body knows is right. My average watts was 174. That will be on the high end of the output spectrum as I had a days rest. The 174 watts was very close to the 170 of five days ago when I went by feel. That represents 62-63% of my aerobic capacity. I suspect the next sessions with no rest days in between will be in the 50s.

Training 10-21-12

plus 3 days. Folsom Canal-usual distance. My legs felt strong today so I decided to do a little testing. Even though they felt strong their aerobic capacity didn't seem to improve. I did two short efforts. The first was 3:30 with an average wattage of 315 and the second was a lower intensity effort of 6:30 for 277 watts. I expected the second effort to be easier for the given load and it gave me the familiar feeling of riding a dying horse. Some of that might be due to my position. Even though the overall body angle is good the forward rotation makes the push portion of the stroke too quad dominant (my recent quad growth verifies that). As a result, when going hard the whole thing feels funky and not mechanically efficient. When I'm rotated back I can push with my hips and virtually deactivate my quads. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to have a lot of success chasing watts with this configuration. I need to hollow out the stays of my trike so I can fit a 700c wheel back there again and then put some bend back in the frame. That will be a lot less work than what I'd need to do to make the two-wheeler optimal. The two-wheeler as it is is great for general, low-wattage riding. The handling is so neutral that it isn't any more stressful to ride than the trike. edit: also, adding the lumbar support shifted more emphasis on my quads. I realized it right away but with my back in the condition it was I had no other choice.

Training 10-18-12

Plus 3 days. Folsom Canal, usual distance. Easy day with a total ride time of 1:06 and average watts of 170 (stayed under 200 for the entire ride). I had some very small, slightly achy spots from last session so took it easy. My seat is killing my lower back causing excessive pressure on my spinal discs. I've shimmed the lumbar area with extra padding for the mean time. When my velomobile gets here (they're crating it next Tuesday) I'm going to reconfigure the frame (of the two-wheeler) to match the position of the velomobile. I'll eventually do the same with my trike.

Training 10-15-12

Plus 3 days. Folsom Canal + 3 miles with a 60 minute block of 226 watts average. I purposely did a lower watt (but longer) effort to avoid the trap of feeling like I had to beat my previous effort. I need to remind myself that I'm in a building phase, not a peaking one.

Training 10-12-12

Plus 3 days. Folsom Canal course (same). 32 minute block with a 244 watt average. I didn't mean to increase so much (or at all) but I experienced a marked increase in pedaling efficiency (my third training session with this setup). Near the end of the block I noticed my wattage dropping by about ten. I realized I was relying too much on the pull portion of the stroke and letting the push portion coast too much. I rectified that and my wattage returned to normal. Thanks again, Powertap.