Last test of the YEAR!

Ok, I did my 20 minute power test last night. It didn't go as I had planned. It went up, but only by 3 watts. I guess I should be happy that it went up, but honestly I was hoping for more. I performed it well, my TSS is good and where it should be, just not powerful enough. I am sure I am not the only one, but at this point I am second guessing myself, in what I am doing. Do I train more Z5 tyring to boost some VO2 for testing? More training? WHAT do I do. I will stick with the plan for the most part, with outside rides on the weekends when the weather permits. Doing so, I hope that my January test will improve more. I am putting in the work, it is wether or not that it is good enough. Having a coach does take the guessing out of it, because you just do as the coach says. Comparing my data from this year to last year, I am doing about the same with more fitness. I really didn't start making a good gains until March & April anyways, so, I am not going to beat myself up and just stick to the PLAN.

It is currently raining and I am pretty sure that I just saw Jeff M. riding his mountain bike outside on the trail. What an animal, guess he doesn't want to get on the indoor trainer yet.

Happy New Year!

Take Advantage

Ok, I didn't stick to my training plan on Sunday. The weather was actually to nice to pass up. Plus, I had the ok from my wonderful wife to spend extra time away from home. How this actually came about was that Brian P. my team mate was going out for a ride and posted it. The timing wasn't great when it came to football, because the ride was going to start at 10am and probably wouldn't be back till 1-2pm ish. And he actually ended up pushing the start time back another hour, so, we didn't start till a 11am. This was actually nice because it allowed the temperatures to rise a little more.

We rode out towards Holy Hill. There was three of us to start, myself, Brian & Jeff. Jeff didn't ride with us the whole time, it great seeing these guys again. I haven't seen them in quite some time and it was good catching up.

My training ride was actually suppose to be an hour long. I actually put in 3 hours, but nothing to hard, some good tempo and endurance stuff. I like riding with Brian, he knows how to ride. Meaning he doesn't kill it up the hills in the off season, it is all about steady power. What does this extra time mean with my training? Well, my lifting will stay the same for today (Monday), but my Tuesday ride will change. I had a harder/higher intensity ride for Tuesday, but I will now do Sunday's easier/shorter intensity on Tuesday. This should allow a little extra time for my body to recover and should be back on track for Thursday's ride.

I had a good week of training and looking forward to this weeks training and of course Christmas. Next week I have my LT test and I am looking forward to that short sufferfest. Have yourself a Merry Christmas!

TRUST

I am a bit disturbed by my so called friends and the choices that I have made. I had posted via email and on facebook asking someone to pick up my criterium championship jersey. Bad idea, should have picked the dam thing up myself, because it is gone. No one let me know that they have picked it up, so I have to assume that someone stole it. Seems a bit ridiculous if you ask me, and why I am up set? It is something that I have accomplished! I guess that is what I get for trusting everyone, I forget how evil people can be. I hope that it does show up, but it is not looking good so far.

On a better note, December training is going good so far, a bit early to know how good, but seems good. The body seems to be reacting well and recovering well. Really enjoy lifting two days a week too. My stregnth is coming back quickly! I am keeping an eye on my weight to make sure I don't let it get out hand. I am getting stronger and and I have only put on 5lbs from my racing weight earlier this year. I am doing well with the weight and shouldn't be to hard for me to keep in control.

Goals for December are 1) Raise my FTP by 10% (this may be a reach), 2) Consistent training (follow the plan, don't do to much to early), 3) Weight (stay in control). My FTP test will be on December 29th and trying to get it back up to where it was in September. I have lost some fitness it the past few months and now it is time to start gaining some of that back. When I looked at my WKO on Sunday my fitness was still on a slight decline, that should start rising slightly pretty soon. I know I don't want to rise to quickly to soon, so for me I need to stick to the plan, other wise I know I would train to hard to quickly and burn myself out to early. Looking forward to see how progress this coming year.