Week 4 is the first week of the second mesocycle of my Competition Phase I for the 2015 racing season (click here for a detailed description of macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles). Here are my workouts for the week of March 23-29, 2015 (click here to download my Competition Phase I training plan):

• Monday, March 23 – Steady Spinning: Indoors (1.5 hours)
• Tuesday, March 24 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Wednesday, March 25 – Time Trial Intervals (1.25 hours)
• Friday, March 27 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Saturday, March 28 – Steady Spinning: Indoors (1.5 hours)

I had a good week overall but I had to deal with some lingering leg fatigue. I did two 90-minute Steady Spinning rides on the indoor trainer. I attempted a Time Trial Intervals workout on my new TT bike but my legs simply were not there. I did one 8-minute hard effort at an average power of 225 watts and that’s all I had. Hopefully, I had ample opportunity to recover because I have to get back to hard efforts this week. As always, I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

NEXT POST – Taking a Hiatus From Posting Until Summer!

Week 3 is the third week of the first mesocycle of my Competition Phase I for the 2015 racing season (click here for a detailed description of macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles), which means it is a recovery week. Here are my workouts for the week of March 16-22, 2015 (click here to download my Competition Phase I training plan):

• Monday, March 16 – TT Intervals (1.0 hour)
• Thursday, March 19 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Saturday, March 21 – Sonoran Desert Drive TT Race (1.25 hours)

This was a well-timed recovery week because I spent several days in Texas facilitating a 2-day series of teambuilding workshops for the University of Texas at Arlington. I still got in some good workouts starting with Time Trial Intervals on Monday. I didn’t have great legs but I did 4 x 6:00 hard efforts with 4 minutes recovery. I spent the next 4 days recovering (and facilitating teambuilding sessions) until Saturday’s practice race. I did a 10-mile TT at my favorite local course, the relatively flat Sonoran Desert Drive. It’s a great place to do a TT because there are no lights or stop signs, and relatively little traffic. I had my fastest 10 miler in almost 4 years (2nd fastest since I moved to Arizona in 2009) at 26:46. I’m very excited about that performance because I should be able to improve on it significantly in coming months. I have a hard week coming up. As always, I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

NEXT POST – March 29, 2015

Cycle Log: 2015 Competition Phase I – Week 4

Week 2 is the second week of the first mesocycle of my Competition Phase I for the 2015 racing season (click here for a detailed description of macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles). Here are my workouts for the week of March 9-15, 2015 (click here to download my Competition Phase I training plan):

• Monday, March 9 – Tempo Ride (1.5 hours)
• Tuesday, March 10 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Thursday, March 12 – Steady Spinning (1.25 hours)
• Friday, March 13 – Steady Spinning (1.0 hour)
• Sunday, March 15 – Tempo Ride (1.25 hours)

I had a solid week with a bit of leg fatigue. The highlight of the week as my Hour of Power Tempo Ride on Monday. The purpose of this workout is to ride for 60 minutes as hard as you can in Zone 3. I have found it is a great workout to start preparing for a 40K time trial. I covered 21.02 miles in 1 hour, which is a very good effort. That workout tired my legs during the middle of the week so I just did two Steady Spinning rides to get my strength back. I was much stronger for Sunday’s Tempo ride, which I did on an indoor trainer. I have a field test this week and a few days of recovery. As always, I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

NEXT POST – March 22, 2015

Cycle Log: 2015 Competition Phase I – Week 3

Week 1 is the first week of the first mesocycle of my Competition Phase I for the 2015 racing season (click here for a detailed description of macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles). Here are my workouts for the week of March 2-8, 2015 (click here to download my Competition Phase I training plan):

• Monday, March 2 – Time Trial Intervals (1.25 hours)
• Wednesday, March 4 – Tempo Ride (1.5 hours)
• Thursday, March 5 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Saturday, March 7 – Arizona Senior Olympics (2.25 hours)

My Competition Phase I is underway and I’m off to a good start. My week began with a solid Time Trial Intervals workout on slightly tired legs. I did one 10 minute hard effort at 230 watts average power. I only lasted 5 minutes for my second hard effort at 214 watts average power. After some easy spinning, I finished with a 10 minute set from my 40 Minutes of Hell workout. That gave me five, 1-minute bursts between 220 and 320 watts. I had a very good Tempo ride on Wednesday that helped prep me for Saturday’s Arizona Senior Olympics. It was my first individual Time Trial in two years and I did struggle a bit with the first of two races (a 5K TT and a 10K TT). I always have trouble pacing myself for such a short, hard effort and it was no different this time. However, I felt much better during the 10K race and averaged 22 mph for both events. Not particularly fast but a solid start to the season. I’m really excited to get back to training for TT events. I have a hard week of workouts coming up. As always, I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

NEXT POST – March 15, 2015

Cycle Log: 2015 Competition Phase I – Week 2

I just completed my Intensity Phase training plan and I was very pleased with the results. It’s time to put my improved fitness to work in some races! I have attached my 2015 Competition Phase I Training Plan. As you review the plan, please keep the following points in mind:

1. The primary goal of this plan is to continue to improve my functional threshold power (the highest average power, measured in watts that an athlete can maintain for one hour) and muscular endurance (the ability to pedal a big gear at a moderate cadence for an extended period). These are both areas of significant importance for racing in time trials (all of my races this season are time trials).
2. The plan includes five 21-day mesocycles.
3. The plan includes 6 USA Cycling sanctioned races and 4 training races (I’ll do more races during Competition Phase II).
4. The plan also includes 14 high-intensity workouts and field tests.

You can download and review my Competition Phase I Training Plan here. As always, I hope you find it helpful with your training and racing!

NEXT POST – March 8, 2015

Cycle Log: 2015 Competition Phase I – Week 1

Week 15 is the third week of the fifth mesocycle of my Intensity Phase for the 2015 racing season (click here for a detailed description of macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles). Here are my workouts for the week of February 23 to March 1, 2015 (click here to download my Intensity Phase training plan):

• Monday, February 23 – Field Test (1.0 hour)
• Wednesday, February 25 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Friday, February 27 – Active Recovery (1.0 hour)
• Saturday, February 28 – Steady Spinning (1.0 hour)

This was the last week of my Intensity Phase Plan for 2015 and I can happily report that it was a very successful phase. While this was a recovery week, I did my final field test of this phase on Monday and set personal bests with both 8 minute efforts. The first was 256 watts and the second 250 watts for an average power output of 253 watts for 16 minutes. That’s an increase of 5 watts over my last field test and 16.5 watts since I began the Intensity Phase! My estimated functional threshold power has gone from 217 watts in early December to 233 watts today. My goal for the season is 240 watts so I should have no problem achieving that number. I recovered for the rest of the week so I should be ready to start my Competition Phase I plan this week. As always, I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

NEXT POST – March 5, 2015

My 2015 Competition Phase I Plan