[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 12 (ending 2012-03-04)

Weekly Overview:

The weather is improving! Training continues to move toward race prep with some shorter, higher intensity workouts. Dieting is getting to be a challenge. I seem to have settled on 180 lbs. I can lose another 5 lbs, and have in the past, but doing so involves being unhappy and being unproductive at work. We'll see what happens.

This was the last week of scheduled Crossfit workouts. I'll continue to have strength maintenance assigned through the season. To this end, I purchased a kettle bell.

Workouts:
02-27 Monday
Prescribed: Day off, rollers option.
Actual: 1h easy spin on rollers in the morning.

02-28 Tuesday
Prescribed: 1h Defiance Crossfit (last session) plus neuromuscular sprint efforts: 2 sets of (15 sec all out, 2 minutes rest) x 5.
Actual: Last day of Crossfit covered move to strength maintenance. Without a gym, I can still do lunges, step ups, planks, squats, and stretching at home. The kettle bell purchase means that I can do kettle bell deadlifts, kettle bell swings, and Turkish get-ups as well. Sprint efforts were okay but not awesome. I think the highest power I saw was 1375W, which is lower than I did the prior month.

02-29 Wednesday (Leap Day!)
Prescribed: 1h30m Z2 ride with 30 min stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. Ride was on rollers. Did stretching right after rollers ride.

03-01 Thursday
Prescribed: 1h strength maintenance session plus FTP rollers session: 4 x (2.5min Z4 on 0.5min off for 10 minutes).
Actual: Did strength maintenance in AM. Had to improvise weight for lunges and step ups but it was okay. Unable to do prescribed ride in evening, punted to next day.

03-02 Friday
Prescribed: Nothing assigned (!?). Checked later in the day and saw prescribed day off with optional rollers ride.
Actual: Did Z4 effort from prior day. Had a very good workout, punting was definitely the correct step.

03-03 Saturday
Prescribed: Spectrum ride plus 1x Canada Road TT effort, totaling 3 hours, plus 30min stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. Sat in on Spectrum ride. Riding with a group is a good refresher for upcoming races. First Canada Road TT in a while, broke 25 minutes on road bike on Beat The Clock course not doing anything special. Canada is always a hard TT course for me. I applied a lesson from flight training: the idea of "establishing" a climb or a descent. The road changes but it can be broken down into about 1 minute long sections of constant grade. Thinking this way helped me better pace the effort. Saw a bunch of AV people out today.

03-04 Sunday
Prescribed: Day off.
Actual: Los Altos Hills ride with a friend from out of town. Super low key, just enjoying the nice weather while it lasts.

Weekly summary:
Time: 13 h 38 min
Distance: 191 miles
TSS: 1019

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 11 (ending 2012-02-26)

Weekly Overview:

I received my SL3 back from Calfee, and made time this week to put it back together. The blocker was a replacement set of SRAM Red shifter blades. I eventually caved and got Force replacements. They are identical, except for two splotches of paint. Oh well.

Rebuilding the SL3 took a total of about ten hours of work over three weeknights. On the first night, I discovered that WD-40 is an amazing degreaser. On the second night, I built the frame up from scratch. On night three, I cabled the bike, tuned the shifting, and applied bar tape. It was great to split up this work instead of doing it all at once.

Training is moving toward the "build" phase, with slightly less volume but more intensity.

Workouts:

02-20 Monday

Prescribed: Rest day.

Actual: As prescribed; a much needed holiday.

02-21 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit plus Tabatas on bike: 20 seconds "on" Z6, 10 seconds "off" Z1 - for four minutes, three times.

Actual: As prescribed. Crossfit featured stretching, kettle bells, and deadlifts per norm. The Tabatas were brutal. Who is this Tabata fellow anyway? Apparently he is first author on PMED 8897392, "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max", from 1996.

Bonus points to someone in the academia racket who can get me the full text to that article!

02-22 Wednesday

Prescribed: 90min unstructured Z2 ride plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: As prescribed. 90min Z2-Z3 rollers ride in AM, 45min stretching in the evening.

02-23 Thursday

Prescribed:1h Crossfit in AM. Rollers session in PM: four 10 min efforts of 2.5 min "on" Z4, 0.5min "off" Z1.

Actual: Did Crossfit in AM; very similar to Tuesday. Did rollers workout immediately thereafter. I was able to hit the power numbers but it was a challenge.

02-24 Friday

Prescribed: 90min pedaling in drops (Z2-Z3) plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Rode on rollers in drops for about 1h15m. Continued stretching is making the drops slowly but steadily more comfortable. Did some stretching afterward.

02-25 Saturday

Prescribed: Spectrum ride (sit in) plus 2x Kings Mountain at Z4, stretching afterward.

Actual: Did Spectrum ride. First group ride in a very long time. Remembered the joys of riding in a big group. Rode strong out on Canada. First effort up Kings was pretty strong; second one was less awesome. I re-discovered that cold weather riding with high intensity causes back pain, no matter how flexible I am.

02-26 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off.

Actual: As prescribed.

Weekly summary:

Time: 13 h 59 min

Distance: 194 miles

TSS: 1012

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 10 (ending 2012-02-19)

Weekly Overview:

After some weeks of building up to the training camp, I greatly enjoyed an easy week. I suspect the volume will begin to increase again fairly soon.

I did a 20min test on Saturday, and calculated my FTP to be 358W (measured with a PowerTap). See below for further details. (If you're not aware, FTP stands for functional threshold power, a mythical power number with all kinds of implications. It is, among other things, the power you should be able to average in a 1h time trial, and about 15% over the "sweet spot" of Z3 tempo training.)

Workouts:
02-13 Monday
Prescribed: Day off after training camp.
Actual: As prescribed.

02-14 Tuesday
Prescribed: 1h Crossfit in AM, 1h Z2 ride.
Actual: Rode to and from Crossfit in AM, were our day focused on range of motion post training camp.

02-15 Wednesday
Prescribed: 90min Z2 ride, 30min stretching session.
Actual: Did Z2 work on rollers and outside for a little under 90m. Did some stretching of tight areas (hamstrings) in AM.

02-16 Thursday
Prescribed: 1h Crossfit in AM, Z2 ride.
Actual: Rode to and from Crossfit in AM.

02-17 Friday
Prescribed: 90min either in drops or aerobars pre-test, Z1-Z3, plus 30min stretchi
ng session.Actual: Rode in drops on rollers for about 1h20m, with some spinning outside after
ward. Did about 20min of stretching post ride.

02-18 Saturday
Prescribed: 20 min test following protocol of ~20min warmup, 2x3min Z5 effort, 5min rest, tare power meter. 20min TT pace. Road ride (~2h) and 30min stretching afterward.
Actual: FTP 358W (CP_20 * 0.95 = 358W). Test completed on rollers. Used PowerTap; need to compensate for drivetrain losses if using crank-based power in future (~2%). Details (avg/max)[units]: power (377/508)[watts], heart rate (168/175)[beats/minute], cadence (95/139)[revolutions/minute], temperature (16/16)[C]. Normalized for my weight and using the usual Coggan chart, this puts me in the mid-Cat 2 range (surprise surprise). Did a little bit of stretching immediately post ride. Did 2h easy road ride afterward. Need to recalculate my power zones after this test.

02-19 Sunday
Prescribed: Day off, optional Z2-Z3 ride.
Actual: As prescribed.

Weekly summary:
Time: 10 h 57 min
Distance: 148.7 miles
TSS: 591

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 09 (ending 2012-02-12)

Weekly Overview:

Rain and cold returned to NorCal just in time for training camp. This was the hardest week yet - over 20h between riding, Crossfit, and stretching/massage sessions. I had a good week in training, and am looking forward to an easy week coming up.

I hit one of my weight targets (180 lbs) a couple of weeks early. If/when I get down to 175 lbs, I'd like to get a DXA scan to see just what my body composition is.

Workouts:

02-06 Monday

Prescribed: 1h30m Z2 ride (some Z3-Z4 OK) plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Managed to get in just under 1h15m of riding. No time for stretching session today.

02-07 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit (stretching, lifts, Tabata intervals) plus 1h30m Z3 riding

Actual: Did Crossfit - it was challenging with two Tabata interval sets. Managed to get in just under 1h15m of Z2-Z3 riding, some on the rollers. (It is still cold.)

02-08 Wednesday

Prescribed: 1h30m Z2 ride (some Z3-Z4 OK) plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: 1h30m of rollers, Z2-Z3. Managed to get in 15min of stretching.

02-09 Thursday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit in AM, 1h rollers ride with 4 x 10min Z4 efforts.

Actual: Did Crossfit - lighter day than usual due to Dan's camp. Rode to and from Crossfit before doing workout.

02-10 Friday

Prescribed: 1h30m Z1-Z3 (HR, not power) focusing on riding in drops, plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Life caught up to me today and I had to run a bunch of errands. Rides were cancelled.

02-11 Saturday

Prescribed: 4hr+ road ride (training camp) plus 30min post ride massage.

Actual: just under 5h30m on the road. Route was: up Kings Mountain, up West Alpine, up Old La Honda, up West Alpine. I descended dirt Alpine in the rain (not advised on road bike). Fun ride. Post ride massage was good idea.

02-12 Sunday

Prescribed: 4hr+ road ride (training camp) plus 30min post ride massage.

Actual: 4h50m on the road. Up Old La Honda, up Haskins, up Tunitas. Felt surprisingly good. In post ride massage we theorized that my rectus femoris is tight, causing an anterior pelvic tilt and possibly the cause of back pain on long rides.

Weekly summary:

Time: 20 h 01 min

Distance: 278 miles

TSS: 1596

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 08 (ending 2012-02-05)

We have been very fortunate, here in the Bay Area, to have one of the driest "winters" on record. Indeed, I was able to get in a good ride this Saturday. It was a repeat of last Saturday's ride, along Old Haul Road, but dry conditions on the trail are better than wet.

Weight loss progresses well. I'm slightly ahead of my target. I can already feel that the reduced weight makes life going easier uphill. Yes, I've lost weight before, and this is nothing new, but it is still a good feeling.

It will be at least another two weeks before my cracked SL3 frameset is back in my hands from Calfee. My repurposed cyclocross/commuter bike fits me well and is a fine training bike, as long as I avoid the brakes!

Doing the prescribed workouts continues to be at odds with my work schedule.

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:

01-30 Monday

Prescribed: 1h Z2-Z3 ride plus stretching session.

Actual: 1h Z2-Z3 on rollers; no time for stretching session.

01-31 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit plus 1h30m tempo ride in AM; 1h Z4 efforts in PM.

Actual: 1h Crossfit plus about 1h Z3 tempo ride to/from Crossfit in AM, plus 1h rollers ride with two 20min Z4 efforts at low cadence.

02-01 Wednesday

Prescribed: 1h30m Z2 ride (some Z3 okay) plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: 1h30m rollers ride before work. No time for stretching session with work schedule.

02-02 Thursday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit plus 1h30m tempo ride.

Actual: 1h Crossfit plus 1h Z3 tempo ride to/from Crossfit in AM.

02-03 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h ride with two 20min Z4 hill climb efforts. Climbs include 30-60s Z5 bursts every few minutes. 30min stretching session in PM.

Actual: No riding or stretching today.

02-04 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h road ride with climbing, aim for 40+ minutes Z4. 30min stretching session after.

Actual: 5h13m road ride: up Kings, down 92 West, down 1 and Stage, out Old Haul, up Portola Redwoods and West Alpine, down Alpine - same as last week. Good ride. Did 20min stretching after.

02-05 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off, 1-2h Z3 ride option.

Actual: 2h15m Z2-Z3 road ride with one Z4 effort up Kings; made it up in under 25 minutes. Watched the Super Bowl afterward.

Weekly summary:

Time: 16 h 15 min

Distance: 241 miles

TSS: 1238

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 07 (ending 2012-01-29)

The slow and steady progression back into form continues.

The warmer weather and earlier sunrise made training easier this week. I've settled on taking Caltrain to and from work for the time being. The good news is that this makes some logistics much easier. The bad news is that I can't combine my commute with training this way, so training time suffers.

One of the constant challenges is making the most of the training time that I have available. Dan wants me to train more, and keeps pushing me in the direction of putting in more hours. I'm pushing back. Between dieting, long hours at work, and really not riding very much for several months before training again in earnest, I'm better served by quality than volume. Burnout has been a problem for me in the past. I am trying to avoid it this year by being conservative and realistic. When the weather is nice, the days are long, and I'm in good form, putting in the hours does not seem like a challenge at all. (It's barely February!)

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:

01-23 Monday

Prescribed: 1h Z2-Z3 ride plus 30 min stretching session.

Actual: Unable to do rides today due to time constraints.

01-24 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit, 1h Z2 ride, 1h rollers session with Z4 efforts in PM

Actual: Did Crossfit, plus ride to and from. Hang power cleans continue to be a challenge. Evening rollers workout is harder to start than it is to complete. Z4 efforts are getting more solid, I'm seeing somewhere around 360-380W+ in efforts.

01-25 Wednesday

Prescribed: 1h30m road ride plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: 1h30m Z2-Z3 rollers ride, plus 30 min stretching session.

01-26 Thursday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit, plus 1h in aerobars on TT bike on rollers (in PM?)

Actual: Did Crossfit, with more lifting and Tabatas. We're starting to do plyometrics: jumps, bounds, etc. I need to make some improvements to my form in bounds. Logistical challenges prevented me from getting my TT biek ready, so I rode to and from Crossfit as usual.

01-27 Friday

Prescribed: 2h+ road ride with four 10min Z4 efforts.

Actual: Did prescribed intervals on rollers.

01-28 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h road ride with some Z3 efforts.

Actual: Long 5.5 hour road ride. Up Kings, down 92, down 1 to Pescadero, along Old Haul Road (trail!) to Portola Redwoods State Park. Up West Alpine, down dirt Alpine. Gorgeous day. Too bad my computer died an hour or so from home; the weekly summary numbers below don't reflect the tail end of the ride.

01-29 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off.

Actual: As prescribed!

Weekly summary:

Time: 12 h 34 min

Distance: 182 miles

TSS: 878

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 06 (ending 2012-01-22)

An unseasonably cold winter means that I'm riding the rollers more. I sent my cracked SL3 frame to Calfee and am still waiting for a repair quote. I've repurposed my old cyclocross and commuter bike as my primary training bike. There is a good chance I'll be riding this bike as is for the next month or two. Dieting continues; I expect to achieve my goal of losing 5 lbs this month.

For the most part, it is too cold to ride outside. People always laugh when I say this, citing that I'm from the East Coast and ought to be used to the cold. My response is that I rode indoors until mid-April back east, until it got above 55F at the start of rides. My work schedule and logistics mean that I can only really ride in the mornings or evenings, when it is still quite cold.

The good news is that I enjoy rollers workouts. Staying upright keeps my mind occupied, and not worrying about road conditions or passing motorists allows me to focus on the workout. Some of my best training sessions have been on the rollers.

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:

01-16 Monday

Prescribed: 1h Z2-Z3 ride plus 30 min stretching.

Actual: Took a much needed day off, still sore from crashing on Friday.

01-17 Tuesday

Prescribed: Crossfit in AM, 1h ride to/from Crossfit, 1h rollers session with Z4 efforts in PM

Actual: As prescribed. Lots of dead lifts at Crossfit. I really need to ride in to Crossfit in order to get a good warmup.

01-18 Wednesday

Prescribed: 45min easy outdoor ride plus 30min stretching.

Actual: 1h on rollers plus stretching. Too cold to ride outside - 30F in the morning.

01-19 Thursday

Prescribed: Crossfit in AM, 1h30m ride to/from Crossfit.

Actual: As prescribed. More deadlifts at Crossfit. Riding home when everyone is dropping off their kids at school, is always interesting.

01-20 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h Z2 ride with Z3 efforts, plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: 2h rollers ride with 5 x 10min Z3-Z4 efforts, plus stretching session.

01-21 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h tempo combo ride or 1h trainer session.

Actual: 2h on rollers, with three 20min Z4-Z5 efforts. I was supposed to do these efforts last week but did not. Ride was quite good, and power numbers are starting to come back up.

01-22 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off, optional 1h rollers ride.

Actual: Took a day off! Sunday is the only day when I can get away with not having to ride or go to work. I always come back feeling energized after a day to focus on other things.

Weekly summary:

Time: 11 h 12 min

Distance: 164.52 miles

TSS: 696.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 05 (ending 2012-01-15)

Weekly Overview:

Record cold weather is making it difficult to train. A change of ownership at the now-former Defiance Crossfit means that Tuesday and Thursday morning workouts happen at 6am, 30 minutes earlier. A crash in training on Friday effectively kept me from riding over the weekend. I'm fine, but my Tarmac SL3 is off to Calfee for frame repairs. Dieting continues; I've already lost a few pounds. (Mostly, I'm just losing body fat. I can go from about 10% to about 6% body fat, representing a loss of about 8 lbs.)

I promised to talk a little more about the diet. In designing my eating plan, I aimed for low glycemic, whole, natural foods, plenty of protein (at least 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day), meals of not more than 500 Calories, and many small snacks through the course of the day. It sounds simple, and it is, but I used a spreadsheet to make sure I was getting enough of all of the nutrients I needed. Fruits and vegetables are great because they have a high fiber and water content, which helps you feel full, and reduces the glycemic load (i.e. no blood sugar spikes, no rush or crash). Pickles are a favorite snack, as they have a negligible number of calories. I found Monique Ryan's book "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" to be helpful, and largely in agreement with advice from our very own Mary Ann Levenson.

Workouts:

01-09 Monday

Prescribed: 45 min Z2 ride plus stretching session.

Actual: 1h Z2-Z3 on rollers plus stretching session.

01-10 Tuesday

Prescribed: Crossfit 1 rep max test plus 1h15m Z2 ride.

Actual: Crossfit was cancelled due to change in gym ownership. Rode 1h30m in bitter cold.

01-11 Wednesday

Prescribed: 90min tempo combo ride in AM with some Z3 efforts, 30min stretching session. 60min threshold efforts session in PM.

Actual: Completed 90min Z3 intervals and stretching session. Due to new management, Crossfit workouts are now at 6am. I don't have time to ride an hour and get to bed by 9pm on a work night, and I had a flat tire, so the second session was cancelled.

01-12 Thursday

Prescribed: 1 rep max tests at Crossfit, 1h ride including some standing start sprints.

Actual: Achieved new 1 rep max of 375 lbs on deadlift and 215 lbs front squat. Was toasted for sprints, though: 1377W max, less than last week.

01-13 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h ride with Z4 efforts and Z3 efforts, plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Coldest ride yet, I was wearing more layers than I have on a ride the whole time I've lived in CA. Z4 efforts up Alpine Rd were strong. After efforts, I climbed OLH just to stay warm. Due to reduced traction caused by a different rear tire and cold conditions, I skidded out while descending 84E. I'm fine, with some road rash, but I tore through most of my expensive winter clothing and cracked my frame. Great.

01-14 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h ride with Z4 efforts plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Stayed home and glared at the cold weather from inside. I was sore and in no mood to go for a ride after the crash.

01-15 Sunday

Prescribed: Rest day, with option of 1-2h endurance ride.

Actual: Stayed indoors, still recovering from crash.

Weekly summary:

Time: 10 h 31 min

Distance: 144 miles

TSS: 633.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 04 (ending 2012-01-08)

Weekly Overview:

Finally back from vacation and recovered from illness, I started a more regular training schedule this week. I also, for better or worse, started dieting. I am blessed with a body type that, given any sort of worldwide food shortage, would give me an advantage: it seems to extract calories from thin air, causing me to gain weight very easily. Ah well. My basic diet plan is as follows:

Estimated calorie needs for someone my age, height, weight, and gender: 2362

Calorie deficit needed to lose one pound per week: 500

Calorie budget: 1862

My usual diet looks like this:

Breakfast: 80g GoLean Crunch cereal, 240g skim milk

Lunch: 4c green veggies (lettuce, spinach, etc.), 100g brown rice, 130g grilled white meat chicken, 100g pasta sauce, 1T olive oil, 1T balsamic vinegar, salt to taste

Snacks: 3 small-medium apples, 1 Clif builder bar, black coffee or tea, and unlimited water!

Dinner: Same as lunch, possible substituting quinoa for brown rice, and salmon for chicken

Total: about 1850 Calories

This is all I'll eat on a rest day. On top of this, I'll use my power meter to replace whatever calories I burn on a ride. I use the very simple "kilojoules expended equals calories burned" approximation, and aim to refuel within an hour of riding. Most of my workouts require an additional 800-1200 Calories per day. Every evening, I'll look at the rides for the next day, estimate how many Calories I'll need during and after the ride, and prepare all the food I'll need. This way, there is always a plan, and there are rarely any surprises.

After years of doing this, I find that losing more than about a pound a week affects recovery time and productivity at work.

In coming weeks, I'll write about why I choose the foods I do, how I established this base diet, and what I eat on rides.

Workouts:

01-02 Monday

Prescribed: Easy recovery ride, ~45 minutes.

Actual: Rode around the neighborhood with my fiancée.

01-03 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit workout plus sprint efforts

Actual: As prescribed. I saw a new personal best max wattage of 1443 W in a sprint. When I do a standing start on my Tarmac SL3, it flexes a fair amount.

01-04 Wednesday

Prescribed: 45min endurance ride with stretching session

Actual: Rode for 1h on the rollers. I don't do well in cold weather. Did stretching afterward. I have a routine for this.

01-05 Thursday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit in AM, 1h threshold combo rollers session in PM.

Actual: As prescribed. Crossfit involved some Tabatas, intense workouts with 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. I found that I can jump on top of a 42" box, but not a 48" box. The PM rollers session was challenging - I discovered I had a flat tire at the end of it. D'oh.

01-06 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h endurance/tempo ride plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Rode outside for 2h20min. What a mistake. I was freezing, and as a result, cold and sore. I need to either do these during the warmest part of the day (which is tough with work sometimes), or do them on the rollers (which is tough for more than about 90 minutes). I'm glad that I'm not racing in the shape that I'm in now! Did stretching session when I got home, after warming up some.

01-07 Saturday

Prescribed: 3h threshold combo ride with 2x20 min efforts: 1 flat and 1 climb, plus stretching session (30 min).

Actual: Rode for 3h49min during the warmest part of the day, which was still somewhat chilly. Efforts were solid given my recent power numbers, but I have a long way to go before I am in race shape. Did stretching session afterward.

01-08 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off, optional ride.

Actual: Went on a 1h hike along Skyline Drive with my "little brother" Kevin (http://www.bbbsba.org/).

Weekly summary:

Time: 14 h 24 min

Distance: 184.32 miles

TSS: 768.3

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 03 (ending 2012-01-01)

Hello everyone. I spent last week visiting family and fighting off illness, working out when possible. It is good to be home.

Workouts:

12-26 Monday

Prescribed: Travel day - flight to Ohio. Eat well, wear compression tights, stay hydrated, etc.

Actual: As prescribed. The compression tights definitely do help with air travel - highly recommended. I managed to do an hour spin on the rollers before heading out.

12-27 Tuesday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: As prescribed - really, I did almost nothing except spend time with people I do not see very often. It was cold and snowing.

12-28 Wednesday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: As prescribed.

12-29 Thursday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: Workout at Crossfit Energy, a gym in Ohio. It was interesting to go to a different Crossfit gym. The workout of the day involved a total of 100 lunges with a 45 lb plate overhead, 150 wall balls with a 20lb medicine ball, and 750 jump ropes. It was a bit much, way more volume and intensity than I'm used to. Plus, I was getting sick...

12-30 Friday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: Felt sick all day, had trouble keeping food down at some point. Bleck.

12-31 Saturday

Prescribed: Travel day - flight from Ohio. Eat well, wear compression tights, stay hydrated, etc.

Actual: As prescribed. Glad that I felt well enough to travel.

01-01 Sunday

Prescribed: 90 minute tempo ride and stretching.

Actual: I went for a 1h20m ride around Arastradero and Portola roads. It was 65 degrees out! Did 30min of stretching and foam roller work when I got home. Happy New Year!

Weekly summary:

Time: 3h51m54s

Distance: 45.78mi

TSS: 187.8

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 02 (ending 2011-12-25)

Hello everyone. I've been fighting off illness for most of the week. There is a balance between doing training and recovering from a cold, even a minor one. A minor head cold is not a dealbreaker for many training rides. Of course, training too hard in cold weather can divert energy away from the immune system, complicating a simple cold. I do not enjoy being sick.

Workouts:

12-19 Monday
Prescribed: 45-60 minute recovery ride.
Actual: Easy spin to work, along the usual Central Expressway route.

12-20 Tuesday
Prescribed: Crossfit workout in the morning, followed by on-bike sprints session.
Actual: As prescribed. Crossfit was good, with a challenging workout of the day (WOD) involving box jumps and kettle bell swings. Dan sometimes prescribes sprints just after Crossfit to take advantage of neuromuscular training. The sprints were the best I've done in a while, with a max wattage of just over 1400W. Someone my size ought to generate more wattage than that in a sprint; this is one of my training goals.

12-21 Wednesday
Prescribed: Unstructured ~60 minute ride with stretching session.
Actual: I woke up with a sore throat this morning. I did a loop ride (defined as a ride on Alpine, Portola, and Sand Hill roads) around lunchtime, which may not have been a great idea. I cannot recall if I managed to get the stretching in, which means I likely did not.

12-22 Thursday
Prescribed: Crossfit workout in the morning, plus 1 hour ride with some tempo efforts.
Actual: No workout. Woke up feeling less well. Stayed off the bike and ended up leaving work early due to not feeling well. Tried to do some stretching in the evening, but decided against since I really was not feeling well.

12-23 Friday
Prescribed: 2-3h tempo combo ride with stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. I was feeling a little better this morning. I waited until the warmest part of the day to ride. The ride itself was very good: I felt stronger than I have in a while. Stretched after the ride.

12-24 Saturday
Prescribed: 3h30m ride with two 20+min climbs, doing 90min sitting 60sec standing on climbs, plus stretching session.
Actual: No workout. I woke up this morning to green mucus, signs of a possible chest cold. Blech. Tried to recover as best as I could.

12-25 Sunday
Prescribed: 90 minute endurance ride with some 10min Z3 efforts, plus stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. I was feeling somewhat better today. I rode up and down Canada Road once the weather got "warm" (around 8C, or 48F). Merry Christmas!

Weekly summary:
Time: 8h16m
Distance: 103.73 mi
TSS: 462.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 01 (ending 2012-12-18)

Hello everyone. My name is Jose Soltren. I was fortunate to receive a JEP Coaching Scholarship this year! In the coming weeks, you'll hear more about the training and racing I am doing.

For those who don't know, the JEP Coaching Scholarship is named in honor of John Peckham, who was an Alto Velo (altovelo.org) member and an original scholarship recipient in 2005. John was struck by a car and killed in 2006 while out training.

About me: I'm a Cat 2 road racer, racing age 27 in 2012, who joined Alto Velo in early 2011. I've been racing in the NCNCA district since 2010, previously with Los Gatos. I moved to the area in 2009, after getting my Cat 2 upgrade on the East Coast and graduating from MIT with a Master's in Computer Science. Apart from cycling, I enjoy working at NVIDIA as a software engineer, mentoring a young man named Kevin through the Big Brothers program, and studying to become a private pilot. I live with my fiancee, Jane Wolcott, in Menlo Park.

Season Goals:
- Be competitive in district races
- Learn to work as part of a team
- Get a starting spot at the Hellyer Velodrome Challenge

Training Objectives:
- Race weight of 175 lbs
- Develop and maintain sprint and attack power
- Improve pack handling

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:
12-12 Monday
Prescribed: Meet with Coach Dan Smith (sportvelo.com) to establish annual plan.
Actual: Dan and I sat down and discussed my aforementioned season goals and training objectives. I left the meeting with an annual race plan completed, which also highlighted which races I am planning to target more seriously. My 2012 race calendar is on my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/2011/12/2012-racing-calendar.html .

12-13 Tuesday
Prescribed: Morning workout at Defiance Crossfit, plus commute to work with a few 5 minute Z3 tempo efforts.
Actual: I felt great during the Crossfit workout but wanted to throw up afterwards!

12-14 Wednesday
Prescribed: Z2-3 commute to work, 1h on rollers with 10min Z3 efforts, plus 30 minutes stretching.
Actual: Rode to work, and rode the rollers after. Felt pretty good. I've taken over the living room to do stretching exercises.

12-15 Thursday
Prescribed: Morning workout at Defiance Crossfit, plus Z2-3 commute to work.
Actual: As prescribed. I discovered that I can jump on a fairly tall box, and can swing a heavy kettle bell. The ride in was good, cold, but good.

12-16 Friday
Prescribed: 2-3h flat-rolling ride with some 10min Z3 efforts before work.
Actual: Rode 2h45m before work. Discovered that home, to Canada and 92, to work takes about 2h45m in Z2-Z3. Solid ride.

12-17 Saturday
Prescribed: 3h road ride, with two 20+min climbing efforts, during which alternating between 1.5min seated, 1min standing (I call these "90-60s"), plus stretching afterward.
Actual: Long ride up Kings and West Alpine, doing sitting-standing efforts. Felt better than I thought I would out of the saddle. Did stretching when I got home.

12-18 Sunday
Prescribed: Day off. Be lazy.
Actual: As prescribed.

Weekly summary:
Time: 13 h 15 min
Distance: 150 miles
TSS: 626

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

2012 Racing Calendar

I recently met with Dan Smith (sportvelo.com) to establish my 2012 racing calendar.

Some considerations were:

* Preference for local races over out of district races (minimize travel).
* Preference for later season start.
* Getting married in August, and ensuing travel, effectively ends my season.
* Realistic race schedule, avoid burnout.
* Hope to compete in the Hellyer Velodrome Challenge this July.

As a result, my race season begins in mid March, and ends in late July.

I am planning to start the following races:

Mar 18 Bariani Road Race

Mar 25 Regalado (Warnerville) Road Race

Apr 14 Chico Stage Race
Apr 15 Chico Stage Race

Apr 22 El Dorado Hills Criterium

Apr 28 Wente Road Race

May 05 Cat's Hill Criterium

May 13 Panoche Valley Road Race

May 20 Scotts Valley Grand Prix

May 28 Memorial Day Criterium

June 03 Dunlap Time Trial

June 09 Campbell Criterium

June 17 Nevada City Classic

June 23 Pescadero Coastal Classic Road Race
June 24 Burlingame Crierium

July 06 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge
July 07 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge
July 08 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge

July 22 Menlo Park Grand Prix Criterium

July 29 Spring Hill Road Race

(Race dates are tentative, and based on the NCNCA 2012 Race Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=g533udgvcn6d0o6drp8ubatcuo%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles )

"Big Brothers" Fundraising

I am a "big brother" mentor to a young man in East Palo Alto named Kevin. When I was his age, I was, myself, a "little brother". Having a mentor was one of the most positive experiences of my childhood. It helped show me that there was a world larger than the one I lived in.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (and related and similar agencies) pair adult "bigs" with young "littles" in mentoring relationships. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit http://www.bbbsba.org/ (SF Bay Area), http://www.bbbs.org (US), or http://www.bbbsi.org/ (International).

Like most any nonprofit, BBBSBA is accepting much needed donations. If you feel so compelled, please consider visiting my Donation Link.

Thanks for reading.

We're getting married!

Jane and I are getting married! Hooray! For more details, please head to our shiny-new wedding Web page.