Training notes

Did a 2:15 road ride today. The plan had called for 3hr hard but my legs are definitely getting shot after last weekend, then two on days Wed and Thursday.

There was some power in the legs but not much snap.

Tabor to Sandy Ridge to Harding to Lusters Gate and up Deercroft to Patrick Henry to home.

The Douthat Race is next weekend and it's one of the races I work all year towards. I've never had a good race there.

It doesn't bother me that my legs aren't here this weekend. In fact it would be worse if they were ready to rock this week. This won't make much sense but I'll just spout it off anyway.

When feeling really good, I can put out some serious work over consecutive days. It feels almost effortless in someways when you're really on. This work output takes a lot out of me and it can take up to 11 days to really feel super again. One thing I've seen is that during this recovery time regardless of if I sit on the couch or train through it I won't feel that good in it and will come out the other side feeling strong.

The worry is should I be training during this low period? The benefit of any workout won't be realized for at least 11-14 days. So the rides I did today and tomorrow aren't going to benefit me for next weeks race. But they will benefit me for later races.

There is the potential that I could do more harm than good and compromise the recovery needed to be going good next week. But one thing I feel is that when fatigued slightly I just can't work as hard and hence can't do as much damage to myself.

And if I really can't do the workout based on the prescribed power settings or just feel bad I'll cut it back or bag it. But one of the keys to my success I think, is training when fatigued. It doesn't feel as good as when you're riding the wave, but it's surprising how strong you can be even though you don't feel it.

Tomorrow calls for a 2hr hard mountain bike ride. It's going to be a struggle I think, but I also need to work out some nutrition things and some bike setup things too.

After tomorrow comes 2 days easy/off then some short rides with a few hard efforts. I have confidence that my legs will be really coming around by Thursday and then it's a matter of just keeping them loose. Saturdays are my pre-race ride which consists of 45 minutes on the trainer with 5x1min SMSP 2min off to really get the legs going.

I had Dave Morris work me up a calendar from May through October. I stare at it and stare at it and sometimes can't really make out the cycles he's setup. It's like magic sometimes when I say to myself I really shouldn't be doing that ride on that day. But almost always I surprise myself and can do it. And on race day the legs have been there ready to rock.