Friday was, I think, one of the best training sessions as far as doing a challenging workout… and doing it correctly.
Friday's lovely Graph
I say that to preface Saturday..
We went to Pensacola this weekend to visit my stepdaughter who is now stationed at the NAS there… We left pretty much immediately after I finished the Friday workout. We took the dog… it's 6 hours away… we took bikes etc…
Saturday:
The numbers (What I remember from my Garmin data):
Lap
|
Interval
|
Power
|
Cadence
|
Time
|
1
|
END
|
160
|
80
|
25
|
2
|
SST
|
260
|
88
|
15
|
3
|
END
|
190
|
92
|
15
|
4
|
FTP
|
290
|
86
|
5
|
5
|
END
|
180
|
85
|
25
|
6
|
FTP
|
300
|
82
|
5
|
7
|
END
|
180
|
88
|
15
|
8
|
SST
|
268
|
82
|
15
|
9
|
END
|
200
|
91
|
15
|
10
|
SST
|
272
|
94
|
15
|
11
|
END
|
200
|
95
|
15
|
12
|
FTP
|
300
|
90
|
5
|
13
|
END
|
150
|
78
|
20
|
The following is a detailed account of my misadventures and whining… J read on if you want but the data above tells the story without emotion.
Up at 0545… Walk dog… breakfast… gear up… layer up… (it was 39F.. more weather later)… I had never been to Pensacola… I mapped a course that I hoped would be Scenic, low traffic, good roads, and most importantly a straight shot on SR 292
Our hotel was in the middle of historic downtown… I knew that the first 15 minutes or so that the going would be slow… I just tried to spin when I could. Once we got past downtown I dialed in at 190 and started spinning… and immediately dropped Judi. I basically did this drill for the next 20 minutes. For the first 40 minutes AVG Power was like 160 and cadence was in the toilet. I had explained the intervals to Judi beforehand… So I took off on my first SST @ 270… was doing okay until I came to a redlight… and realized that to stay on 292 I would need to take a left. I knew that Judi would go straight ( I told her it was a straight shot…) so I turned around to go back for her… found her… turned around again… explained the turn.. then finished the SST. Avg Watts was about 260.
Then I looped again…. A couple of times actually… And rode for 15 minutes or so catching/passing Judi pegging 190 and spinning 90+. Then did my first FTP interval… towards the end of which was another redlight with another required left hand turn loop, loop, you know the drill AVG power 290ish
Once we got to Perdido Key things got worse… the wind was fierce.. we were on a very thin strip of land and the 20 MPH wind with Gusts to 30 had Judi at almost a standstill… and even 185# me struggling to keep my bike upright and in the bike lane. I did do my 2nd hour FTP interval and nailed the 300 watts but cadence on the Key was pretty low… maybe 80-85 for the entire hour.
We stopped at the state line for a photo then set off back to Pensacola. I did my 2nd hour SST right on 270. Cadence sucked.
 |
| At the "Flora-Bama" |
The bridge to Perdido Key is steep and narrow… but Judi wanted a picture from the top… we stopped and tried to get a decent selfie but it just wasn't happening… I could feel the bridge moving under my feet and I got a bit spooked… never happened before… but I was scared… wind, expansion joints, traffic, low railing… why is that pertinent to the story?
Well… it all just added up and I got mad… just from the frustration of it all and the last hour I did an SST at 270+ (272 maybe) rode the END portion at 200 watts and did my final FTP at 300. Once I finished the FTP I went back for Judi one more time and rode the last 20 minutes at her pace sheltering her from the wind as much as possible… no mind to cadence or power. I think it must have been about 150 watts.
Trying to upload my data with a sketchy Garmin cable… without saving first… cycled power.. BOOM! Data was gone.
Sunday:
When I woke up on Sunday my abs were sore... to the touch type of sore... from straining to keep my bike upright and headed in the right direction on Saturday...
Basically rode the same route…
The idea for the END Rollercoaster was to keep increasing power which would continue to increase avg power… after the first 30 minutes or so with the avg around 165 I put it in my mind to get that average up to 20 by the end of the 75 minutes.
Tried to time my Push SST to end just outside of town. I missed by 2 minutes L Managed to get caught by 3 redlights. The first of which I made a right turn to avoid and rode through a neighborhood… which caused the first HR dip… then got caught by 2 more lights within the last 1:30 (couldn't turn right). I just cooled down and pedaled back to the hotel
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