112 Days to Go! (On the Road Again) + Short Power Build - Mid-Vol - Week 1 + 80 Day Obsession Week 10
2/18/19 - M -
80DO-D56-Booty +
Ramp Test (35 min; 42 TSS)
2/19/19 - T -
80DO-D57-AAA +
36 min Run @ Easy!!!!
2/20/19 - W -
80DO-D58-Cardio Flow +
34 min Run @ Easy
2/21/19 - R -
80DO-D59-Legs +
Pierce (75 min; 91 TSS)
2/22/19 - F -
80DO-D60-Total Body Core +
30 min Run @ Easy
2/23/19 - Sa -
Spanish Needle+1 (105 min; 113 TSS) +
80DO-D61-Cardio Core
2/24/19 - Su -
Antelope-5 (120 min; 129 TSS) +
80DO-D62-Booty
Total Run Miles - 9.8 miles
Total Run Tim - 1:41 hours
Total Run TSS - 83
Total Biking Time - 5:35 hours
Total Biking TSS - 375 TSS
Total 80DO Time - 5:54 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 124 TSS
Total Training Time - 13:11 hours (PR)
Total TSS - 582 TSS (PR)
Monday
80DO Booty was a 2x15 makeup for the missed workout last week.
Series 1: Side Squat Hop Hold, Kneeling Lateral Crawl to Half Surrender, Single-Leg Hamstring Slide
Series 2: Single Leg Runner's Jump w/ Weight, Single-Leg Hinge, Slider Reversal Lunge Pulse
Series 3: Narrow Squat Rock, Front Lunge/Side Lunge, Side Lunge to Curtsy
Another bike training cycle starts, and thus another Ramp Test. One way to measure fitness gains is to evaluate a person's FTP (functional threshold power). The ramp test is pretty brutal in the one moment because it's a test to exhaustion. I did it on 11/25/18 at around 169 pounds and got a 213 (2.77 w/kg bw). I repeated it again on 1/8/19 at around 178 pounds and got a 220 (2.73 w/kg bw). The raw watts went up at 213 to 220, but so did the body weight. So when evaluated by w/kg bw the FTP went down. Although since I'm not actually riding outside I'm not sure how relevant w/kg bw is since I don't have to actually lug my body around. So now it was time for try #3. Except this time the deck was more stacked against me with an 80DO + cycling streak of several days on the legs including a workout just that morning. But I decided to just give a best effort and see what happens.
It went well! I was able to hold a high of about 92-95 rpm throughout all the increases up to 299 goal watts. But once I hit the 312 watt goal it went downhill fast. I was completely exhausted and my legs were barely firing anymore. So I held as long as possible, and then I bailed. I finished with a 229 FTP value or at my current weight of 177.5 a 2.84 w/kg bw. So an increase of 4% from the last test or 7.5% from the first test (based on raw watts). So the gain from Test 2 to 3 was larger than the gain from Test 1 to 2. I like that trajectory! Watts/kg bw increased by 4% from the last test.
Tuesday
AAA was 3 x 10 and go through all moves before going to the top.
Series 1: Czech Press, Front Raise, Slider Windshield Wipers, Side Lunge Hold
Series 2: Bridge Pull Over, Camel Bicep Curl, Weighted Twisted Roll Down, Marching Bridge
Series 3: Bridge Bilateral Press, Tricep Kickback in Lunge, Weighted Knee Drops, Curtsy Lunge Pulse
It only took 135 days, but it was finally time to start running again. 30 min of easy running on the agenda. I bundled up. I put my new soft ankle brace on. I laced up my new Brooks Launch 6. And I headed out the door. It was nice to run again. But there was no heavenly choir singing. No epiphany. Just a man enjoying being able to run again. I paid close attention to the total time of the run and the instant HR. The goal was to keep the effort truly easy and the HR under 130 as much as possible. I'd say mission accomplished. I was super super sore throughout the run though. Not terribly surprising with a bike to exhaustion the day prior. The route appears it will be a massive decline to start and then uphill for the second half. And the splits reflected that as well with 10:02, 10:39, and 10:57 (avg 10:41). Misjudged the total time though as I ended up at 36 min to get back home. The HR average was 127. Glad to be back and have no inclination of ankle issues.
Wednesday
80DO workout Phase 3 Cardio Flow was 4 reps progressing though all the moves and then an entire run through 8 times. I was totally beat by the end of it.
Then, that evening was another run day. Originally the schedule was to run W, F, and Sa, but since Steph was headed to TX for a week it through everything off. So I opted for T, W, F instead. Still super sore, but I managed to get the run unscathed again. The pace was 9:46, 10:06, 10:44 (avg. 10:19) at a HR of 130 on roughly the same route. So about 3bpm higher for a gain of 21 sec/mile. Improvement or increased effort? Not going to worry really since it's super early in the process and I'm just going with the flow. But running still didn't feel natural, better, but not natural.
Thursday
Steph and I hemmed and hawed whether to actually do this one or to push it off. I had to drive Steph to the airport at 5:20am. Which meant we probably had to start the workout out around 3:45am in order to be able to finish it and be ready in time to leave. Steph said no, and I said yes. So we were up at 3:30am in order to get the workout done.
80DO Leg workout. Again, 3x10 all the way through.
Series 1: Side to Side Squat, Alt. Weighted Squat Jump, Figure 4 Squat
Series 2: Slider Side Lunge, Half Skater Lunge Jump, Low Rocking Side Lunge
Series 3: Slide Front Diagonal Lunge, Split Squat Jump, Buddah Squat
Series 4: Sumo Double Slide-in, Sumo Cross Jump, Goblet Sumo Squat
Welcome to the beginning of Short Power Build. The last cycling phase was focused on sweet spot training (in and around FTP). This cycle is focused on sprints and VO2max in prep for the 5k/HM run training to begin in April. Pierce is 6x4.5-minute sets of VO2max repeats where you'll ride for 15-25 seconds at 125% FTP and then "float" for 15-30 seconds at 88% FTP. 6 minutes of active recovery separate each set. I've done a workout like this before, but this one seemed much tougher. But I was able to complete the workout in full without adjustments.
Friday
80DO Total Body Core workout. Again a 3x10.
Series 1: Surrender to Shoulder Press, Quad Ped Crawl, Burpee Sliders
Series 2: Bent Over Row Tap Back, Squat Tabletop Row, Saw on Sliders
Series 3: Modified 1/2 Turkish Push-up, Side Reach Push-up, V Crunch to Scissor Crunch
Series 4: Runner's Lunge Curl, Static Sumo Hammer Curl, Slider Crawl Out
Series 5: Tricep Push up w/ knee tuck, Squat Hold Kickbacks, Weighted Windmills
Another run day! Steph was gone so my MIL stayed for an extra hour to watch G. I was out the door. The fatigue from the Ramp Test was finally going away. I could tell during the day I was feeling better and not so gosh darn sore and tight. So the run reflected that as well. Same HR as Wed (130), but a faster result at 9:15, 9:58, 10:18 (avg. 9:52). So about a 52 sec/mile improvement from Tues and 27 sec/mile from Wed. Headed in the right direction. That was the last run for the week.
That evening G and I played researchers with her new science kit!
Saturday
Another brutal bike workout. Spanish Needle +1 is comprised of 5x10-minute sets of microbursts consisting of 15 seconds at 150% FTP followed directly by 15 seconds at 40% FTP. Recovery valleys between sets of bursts are just over 8 minutes long. Not sure I was ready for 150% FTP yet. Don't believe I've worked in that area yet. In the last two sets each I had to skip two total intervals.
80DO Cardio Core workout. A series of cardio HIIT moves and then a core move.
That afternoon we went to see
Lego Movie 2. It was decent. Then that evening we went to Steph's Dad's birthday where G wanted to be Anna. I'd say I pulled off the pigtail braids pretty well.
Sunday
The bike workout Antelope +5 was a 7x10-minute Sweet Spot intervals ranging between 88-94% FTP with 5-minute recoveries between intervals. Other than the internet going out on me a few times, no big time issues with the ride. I survived.
80DO Booty was a 3x10 all the way through then back to top.
Series 1: Side Squat Hop Hold, Kneeling Lateral Crawl to Half Surrender, Single-Leg Hamstring Slide
Series 2: Single Leg Runner's Jump w/ Weight, Single-Leg Hinge, Slider Reversal Lunge Pulse
Series 3: Narrow Squat Rock, Front Lunge/Side Lunge, Side Lunge to Curtsy
I'd say overall the week went well. Forayed into the 13+ hrs of training in a week and the highest TSS week yet. The end of the week definitely felt better than the beginning. Let's see if I can keep this train rolling. Hoping to introduce strides into next week's running based on how I feel.