Heya, welcome to the 2009 log of mine, focusing mainly on cycling (for track racing), as well as road, cyclocross and MTB, plus rock climbing until April. ;)

2009 - Macro Plan

I'm going to try something a bit different this year. I'm going to focus the majority of my training on two specific areas: my weakest and my strongest.

In the weak department is TT power. While i can pull off a decent 4km Pursuit, anything further/longer than that, and i fade QUICKLY. So for 2009, i'm going to work HARD on improving my TT power. In theory i should be able to hold over 300w for 20+ mins..time to make that a reality.

In my strength department is sprinting. I can sprint pretty well, i enjoy sprinting, and do fairly well in this area. The 500m seems my strongest area, tho by no means am i a track sprinter, but i can excel as a bunch sprinter on the track (ie, Madison, Points Races) or crits.

So, in theory, combining these two items should result in a very solid base for me...i'll be able to stick with anyone trying to get away, and still be able to outsprint them at the line. Let's see if this works..

2009 - Micro Goals

This section will get updated as i focus a bit more.. A few obvious ones:

* ride a 5:10 4km Pursuit (might be tough, but hey!)
* 200m sprint under 12.4 seconds
* assert dominance as being 'the' local sprinter ;)
* get over 1400 watts for 1 second max
* get over 1350 watts for 5 seconds ave max

2009 will be mainly track again. I'll also enter in some MTB races throughout the summer. Cyclocross will close the season for me. MTB will compliment my TT training, and i should head into the 'cross season with considerably more power than before. =)

Wish me luck!

Hey readers, let me know what you think of my 'macro' plans. =)

Catching up from my last log entry..

Fri, Dec 26 - Rollers, 1hr
Dec 27 - marathon climbing session, 4hrs
Dec 28 - 2hrs, urban MTB riding
Dec 29 - climb, 3hrs
Dec 30 - wussed out of a rainy ride
Dec 31 - awful 1hr WET ride
Thu, Jan 1 - 1.5hr urban MTB ride
Jan 2 - climb 2.5hrs
Jan 3 - 3hr urban MTB
Jan 4 - 1.5hr, PSx6 (see below)
Jan 5 - climb 3hrs
Jan 6 - REST!
Jan 7 - Climb 3hrs
Jan 8 - 2hr EM ride, plus 2x HSS (see below)

PowerStarts (standing starts) x 6
For shits'n'giggles, i'm going to log my results from these (best i can with my software). I'll be doing these fairly frequently.

1 (53x16?)
Max Spd: 47.08
Max Cad: 113
Max Wts: 1172
5 Sec Wts: 1103

2 (53x15, as are the rest)
Max Spd: 48.64
Max Cad: 102
Max Wts: 1115
5 Sec Wts: 1092

3
Max Spd: 47.85
Max Cad: 100
Max Wts: 1075
5 Sec Wts: 1044

4
Max Spd: 46.49
Max Cad: 98
Max Wts: 1111
5 Sec Wts: 1044

5
Max Spd: 46.05
Max Cad: 96
Max Wts: 1079
5 Sec Wts: 1002

6 (fried by here)
Max Spd: 46.79
Max Cad: 105
Max Wts: 1078
5 Sec Wts: 1037

Was feeling pretty gross by the last one, but pushed hard as i could. Pretty straightforward diminishing returns. ;)

I rested 6-8mins between efforts, cruising softly. Day was fairly cool. Checking the same PS efforts i was doing (same place) last March, my watts are actually significantly higher now than they were then!! (By almost 100w in both areas!) Nice that i'm consistently hitting over 1000w.


2x HSS

HSS = High Speed Sprints, these are short sprints done at speed (ie, at bottom of a descent), first few seconds out of the saddle, then a few more in the saddle, 10-15 sec total.

1 (about 45mins in)
Max Spd: 59.43
Max Cad: 116
Max Wts: 1120
5 Sec Wts: 925

2 (at 2hr mark, end of ride)
Max Spd: 63.25
Max Cad: 133
Max Wts: 1139
5 Sec Wts: 919

Note that my current 'Max' watts is 1228 (Sept 11), and 5sec PB is 1185 (Feb 9th!!).

Upcoming:

Fri - climb
Sat - group ride
Sun - MTB ride
Mon - climb
Tue - ride (ride will have sprint or TT oriented intervals)

the local sprinter...

i love it!!!

love the plan.. sounds solid to me

(not that i'm any sort of reliable info )

Plan looks solid to this rookie. I think I can find some good training inspiration in your log.

Hope you have an awesome 2009!

Thanks you two. =)

Jan 9 - climb 2.5hrs (sore! worked on form)

Jan 10 - 3hr group ride, gonzo until one guy flatted, waited, then a small group of us had a great ride the rest of the way

Jan 11 - 3hr EM ride with friend, plus 4xHSS:

4x HighSpeedSprints

1 (@40mins, same spot as #1 in last HSS session)
Max Spd: 58.72
Max Cad: 122
Max Wts: 973
5 Sec Wts: 878

2 (@53mins)
Max Spd: 45.49
Max Cad: 120
Max Wts: 1000
5 Sec Wts: 898

3 (@74mins)
Max Spd: 57.34
Max Cad: 120
Max Wts: 1192
5 Sec Wts: 1054

4 (@92mins)
Max Spd: 58.95
Max Cad: 124
Max Wts: 986
5 Sec Wts: 865

1, 3 & 4 were done on descents, i'd rev it up to the bottom of the hill, then jump, typically starting around 38-40kph. #2 was slower, jumped around 35kph. Hard to find good spots to do these, a lot of hills around here seem to descend into stopsigns - not something you wanna sprint into!!

I'm happy with that after such little time on the bike recently, and the kooky ride on Sat.. (Very twitchy, fast then slow, etc..)

Am a bit annoyed, i lost some fitness from cyclocross, then got most of it back early Dec (felt great!), then the snow hit and another three weeks of crap riding...so still working backwards...ahh well.

I've had a fairly productive week, lots of riding time:

Jan 12 - climb 3hrs

Jan 13 - 2.25hr EM w/15m Tempo (averaged 268w @~70rpm)

Jan 14 - REST!

Jan 15 - crazy evening MTB ride, intense rip back home, 3.5hrs

Jan 16 - climb 2.5hrs

Jan 17 - group ride, 3+hrs

Jan 18 - MTB ride, 3hrs

Planning another Tempo session tomorrow, will aim for 25-30mins.

Weather is starting to perk up, it's sunny and 11C today, wahoo!

Jan 19 - Climb 2.5hrs

Jan 20 - 2.5hr EM w/30m Tempo

Jan 21 - Climb 2hrs

Jan 22 - Power Starts (see below)

Jan 23 - Climb 2.5hrs (good session!)

Jan 24 - Group ride

TEMPO

I only averaged 241w, tho a few big stops/delays that prolly dropped the overall.. Felt good at the end, usually lower back would become a prob, but i figured out how to alleviate this: i was using too much hamstrings! I focus now on 90% pushing down...back feels much better, and probably a better way to train (ie, the right muscles!) Glad i got it up to 30mins tho.

In another area, i was 4w off my 2hr Ave. Watt PB - guess i had an inspired ride the rest of the time... =)

POWER STARTS

I was afraid to download the #'s, fearing a crappy session, here they are:

1
Max Spd: 48kph
Max Cad: 108
Max Wts: 1249 (new PB!!)
5 Sec Wts: 1140

2
Max Spd: 47.69
Max Cad: 106
Max Wts: 1152
5 Sec Wts: 1100

3
Max Spd: 48.16
Max Cad: 108
Max Wts: 1177
5 Sec Wts: 1093

4
Max Spd: 46.79
Max Cad: 105
Max Wts: 1118
5 Sec Wts: 1049

5
Max Spd: 46.34
Max Cad: 105
Max Wts: 1087
5 Sec Wts: 1031

6
Max Spd: 45.49
Max Cad: 102
Max Wts: 1009
5 Sec Wts: 989

YIP!!! New PB in the 1Sec/Max field!!! Up 21w!! Which is really impressive for me, since i have yet to ever hit a MAX PB doing standing starts. =)

The rest of the efforts were an improvement over the last PS session, which is very encouraging. Tho i was fried by #6 again, and it shows....i could tell, and though i was planning to do 8, i opted to cut home then, a good call. I was really concerned they were gonna be crap tho, so this is a pleasant surprise!! I'm happy with how high i'm keeping the #'s, tho i need to figure out how to get my max even higher. I'm hoping to exceed at least 1400w this year............any ideas? (Must be on-bike exercises..)

It was a COLD day too, a couple degrees above freezing.

MTB ride tomorrow. Legs were pretty flat today, the group sprint was just slow twitch muscles i think..hahha

Congrats on your PB Dave!

good work dave!! i bet you'll hit 1400 in no time

Thanks Crash and helmut! =)

"No time"?? No way..it'll be a long, hard-fought battle to hit 1,400w. I don't have that type of fast twitch muscle...

Catching up:

Jan 25 - 3hr MTB

Jan 26 - climbed 3.5hrs, ouch! Awesome session tho, cleaned 4 10c's, three that had been giving me some grief, and finished (redline) a 10d with one stop. Very happy.

Jan 27 - 2hr EM, wanted to mix it up, rolly route.

Jan 28 - climbed 3hrs, good session, started a couple more 10d's and 11a.

Hopefully getting on the MTB again tomorrow. =)

just a bit of healthy feelgood optimism!! it can't hurt

nice rides tho

I don't understand half of what goes in to your training log but it's still inspiring!

heh - just ask specifics, and i'll let you know! It's prolly just the terminology..

Catching up:

Thu, Jan 29 - MTB ride, seemed like 2+hrs uphill, and a short descent at the end!!

Jan 30 - Climb 2.5hrs, nice session.

Jan 31 - group ride, totally killed in the sprint, even giving myself the lead-out! With about 100m to go, one guy jumped by me, i latched on his wheel immediately, sat there a few secs, then gunned it, blew by, looked back at the line, no one was remotely close. Nice! (Tho not a lot of 'big guns' in that group.)

Feb 1 - 3hr MTB, fairly easy pace

Mon, Feb 2 - climb, 4hrs! Drained, bouldered for 2hrs

Feb 3 - 2.25hr EM w/30min Tempo, averaged 255w, perfect! 3w off my previous 30min PB, and also matched my 2hr PB. Starting the year off well!! I had to do 2 months of MuscleTension hill climb intervals to get to this point last year.

Feb 4 - REST DAY!!! Hands have been SPENT. They need more time off to heal...i think muscles and skills are surpassing tendon growth, getting close to risking injury.

So, very happy with my bike training so far, and love the focus. Tomorrow is another MTB ride, climb Fri, group ride Sat, MTB Sun. =)

Looks like a good weeks training !

February 3rd looked useful !

heh - thanks! The legs are working very nicely right now. =)

Feb 5 - 2.25hr MTB (plus 1hr road)

Fun session, i'm thinking the MTB stuff is really good for me - forces me to ride different cadences, lots of little spurts, etc.. I'm not really feeling 'up' to all the jumpiness of road rides right now, but i think this'll prep me for racing season fairly nicely. Overall logging lots of miles/hours, more than last year at this time.

And i'm LOVING the Niner...at the end of the ride yesterday i let the throttle loose, and just GUNNED it through the final singletrack section - holy crap this bike is fun at high speeds!! I'm so glad i went with this model. Also had a hoot on a few descents, perhaps a bit too much as i clipped a tree at high speed! (Just my wrist/forearm.) Who put that sapling in the middle of the trail? =P

The bike is perfect for me. =)