Dieting and training are both going well. I've lost about five pounds since my last power-related posting of about a month ago, making me stronger. I also had an exceptional workout this morning, on account of my brand-new Kreitler 2.25" alloy roller drums. These are roughly 15-20% more resistive than my old 3" drums, so I'm able to push harder in a lower gear without spinning out. I can't wait to see how the new rollers push my training limits. I find that I'm most efficient around 88 RPM on the PowerCranks.
Most of the MIT Cycling team started with base training yesterday morning. I'm still in the middle of my cyclocross race season, so building the sustained power and maintaining my carefully calibrated routine of daily morning indoor workouts is my priority at the moment. Come January, I'll be doing longer roller workouts, perhaps double workouts to gain the correct number of hours, at a lower intensity. I just hope to avoid injury and burnout before the race season even begins!
Averaging over 400W today, this workout represents a massive gain of 14% of my power for an hour. Using a fan while riding, adjusting my saddle position to be higher and more forward, and eating and sleeping properly, all help greatly. My strength is still long-term power. Hopefully, some speed work closer to the start of the racing season will give me a sprint to back my staying power.
Today's morning weight: 176.6 lbs / 80.1 kg.
| Time | Wattage | W/kg | Comments |
| 5s | 1147 | 14.31 | Moderate (Cat 4) |
| 30s | 620 | 7.74 | |
| 1m | 526 | 6.56 | Fair (Cat 5) |
| 5m* | 429 | 5.35 | Very Good (Cat 2) |
| 10m* | 414 | 5.17 | |
| 30m* | 408 | 5.09 | |
| 60m* | 403 | 5.03 | Excellent (Cat 1) |
| 120m | 277 | 3.46 |
* denotes power record set today.
Today's "all-out" workout was quite difficult for me, and approaching my limit. My average heart rate was 165, and my max heart rate was 180. As an aside, while I was sitting at my desk doing some preparation for the ride, I saw my heart rate creep down to 45, which means that my resting heart rate has gotten even lower. I'll need to measure that sometime soon.
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