Power phase

I've started into the power phase. In this phase the weight is decreased dramatically compared to the previous strength phase. However, the goal is to do the motion as fast as possible. So with the squats you are actually jumping up off the ground.

The first two workouts have gone relatively easy. However, I've noticed that when riding the next few days I'm really worked. It's more of a subtle feeling rather than a painful soreness. But I'm tired definitely.

Today I did a group mountain bike ride. The trails were a little wet and the wet leaves really threw a loop into the bike handling. The sponginess of the trails combined with some leaves really sucked the energy out of me. My handling definitely felt off, and I felt like my upper body was fighting the bike rather than flowing with it. On technical terrain in wet conditions, fighting the bike can really wear you down after awhile.

After we were done I was just worked. Utterly exhausted. Part of it was the terrain was just harder today, part was being tired from lifting and part was just being detrained from cycling.

One interesting note is that I climbed stuff in middle ring today that I'd always stayed in small ring if not the granny gear for. It was a little empowering to hit these grunts and ride them clean in the middle ring. It even felt more comfortable to ride a slower cadence in middle than it did to spin a more normal lower gear. I attribute that to the phase I'm in now. Strength gains are speed specific and I've been lifting at a much lower speed than true cycling.

Only a few more workouts planned and then trying to get back into riding. The warm weather today is a lot more conducive to riding than the 30 and wet we had on Friday. That is for sure.