Day 267

The sun was out this morning, so I rode off for Britannia Beach.  The sun left me within about 30min and I got a bit of rain out around Britannia Beach, but it was all sunshine back in Vancouver.  From about Horseshoe Bay to Vancouver the weather was perfect.  Overall the ride went well.  I still felt I had something left in my legs at the end.  133.21km in 4:46:28 for an avg speed of 27.9km/h.  I'm pretty happy with this pace.  I wish I had a power meter, but I think I did a decent job of keeping the effort to an easy pace by watching my heart rate.  There was even a 3 hour span where I averaged 29.1km/h.  Given my easy effort, I'm very happy with that pace.  I think I could ride at that pace for even longer rides like I'll see in the tour, so it's a good sign. 

Day 266

Those few beers might have actually been more than a "few".  Day off of everything. 

Day 265

First Sunday Funday since Christmas break.  No riding.  Richie and I tweaked the posters for the upcoming fundraiser in the morning, then went for a few beers. 

Day 264

The sun was shining and my plans for a rest day on the day after meant for a nice pace out along SW Marine and back.  40.67km in 1:21:30 for an avg speed of 30.0km/h.  The first 20min were pretty mellow as I hadn't decided it was a good day to pick up the pace, so once I decided to pick it up, it was actually about 32km/h for the last hour. 

Day 263

Did some laps out around UBC.  Barely got rained on at all until the end.  It was pouring all over the city except out on the point, and I managed to stay in the sun most of my ride.  Then I got hammered by heavy rain and hail for the last ten minutes.  51.7km in 1:47:43 for an avg speed of 28.8km/h.  Sorry for the delay in posting this... combination of forgetfulness and procrastination. 

Day 262

Went for a ride out to Iona and back.  As I mentioned before, I think the best option for training without power will be to focus on low intensity, steady pace rides.  I feel like the gap in training due to school would have meant going back to these rides for a week or so anyways.  But the main reason is I can keep myself from overtraining and at least benefit from some longer rides.  This is basically the pace I've been doing my longer rides at, except now I won't have any intervals during the week.  So my endurance might improve at the expense of my threshold power not improving.  60.3km in 2:07:11 for an avg speed of 28.5km/h.

Day 261

Recovering from a hard effort watching the game Tuesday night.  Double overtime and $3 beers can be devastating.  Luckily I got there 2 hours before the game to give myself time to ease into it.  I thought about joining Ben for a ride out to Horseshoe Bay, but I was having enough trouble not falling over when I was sitting, so I opted for the safety of my bed instead. 

Day 260

Went for a couple of laps in the park Emeric.  It was cloudy, so not too busy.  Didn't have time for a longer ride because I had plans in the afternoon.  28.16km in 1:00:19, for an avg speed of 28.4km/h.

Day 259

Went for a short ride with Ben today, no power meter.  30.43km in 1:00:37 for an avg speed of 30.1km/h.  It was great to get out with Ben again, which hadn't really worked out while I was still studying.  He's a big guy, so I can just ride behind him and relax.

Day 258

Took the day off to watch the Canucks light up the Sharks in a nooner.  Then needed to sleep off my drunk before work.

Day 257

Spent all day dealing with my power meter.  The final verdict is that the hub is shot, for the second time in 4 months!  It's really annoying.  After spending about $700 on the hub, I've already had to send it in for warranty twice.  Each time takes about 3 weeks to get it back.  So for 3 weeks my training is a mess.  It's not non-existent, but it's a mess.  For those who don't use a power meter, you can think of it like the measurements on the weights at the gym, and all the weights are the same size.  So for three weeks I'm trying to train consistently like going to the gym and picking up weights, to see which one to lift.  That might be easier for a dumbbell than a barbell loaded up for squats... It's not that you can't get a workout this way, but it's far less productive than incrementally adding more weight to make sure you're encouraging some over-compensation.  And if you're tired, chances are the weights feel heavier than they are, so you lift even less. 

On top of that, my inner nerd can't accurately track my progress without my power meter (at least I don't know how, or have software that does).  So all the fun in comparing my progress to last season is gone.  In fact, in many ways all my data for this whole season is now skewed.

I think the best option for me right now is to go back to some easy base training.  It's the easiest to judge in terms of intensity and the least likely to result in overtraining.  Then I'll get back on the intervals when my hub comes back.  But it's still not ideal.  Much like taking a few weeks off for jogging won't do much for your strength in the gym. 

Day 256

Wrote the MCAT in the morning, then relaxed until work.

Day 255

Another day off to study.

Day 254

Rest day/ Study day. 

Day 253

I managed to sneak away from my studying for a quick one hour ride this afternoon.  I intentionally went a little harder than usual because I expect to take the next couple of days of entirely.  My knee felt good, but I think my power meter's off.  It would be great if I were suddenly able to do 10 minute intervals at 300W without pushing myself too hard, but I don't think that's realistic given that only a month ago I was only able to ride at that effort for 3min.  Plus I've been taking it pretty easy the past few weeks with a sore knee.  I definitely had a strong ride, and my time for my usual route supports that, even if the power's a little off.  So, even though I don't think the power is accurate, I did 30.18km in 59:11 for an avg speed of 30.6km/h and avg power of 231W (251W normalized).  230W is more than I've been doing on my most recent 20min intervals, so I can't imagine that I'm suddenly putting that down for 60min. 

Day 252

No ride Monday.  I decided to spend the whole day working on my MCAT preparation.  I'll go for a short ride tomorrow instead.

Day 251

No ride Sunday.  I decided it was better to rest my knee after the ride on Saturday aggravated it a little.

Day 250

250 days is sort of misleading.  That includes all the days that I had to put school first, especially from mid-November to mid-January, where I was probably only riding about once per week.  I think it would be fair to say there's a span of around 60-80 days in there where I wasn't training very much at all.  I lost a lot of fitness over the winter, but that couldn't be helped, school had to be the priority.  Now I'm in a similar situation with school for the past and coming weeks.  Add to that a sore knee, and I'm just trying to maintain the fitness I have for now.  If my knee felt better, I'd just go for short hard rides.  But today I had to ease off a medium effort after only 30min.  So I'll have to try and maintain with a few scattered easy rides over the next week.  In the end, that might be just what my knee needs to get back to 100%.  As for today, I rode 22.9km in 53:26 for an avg speed of 25.7km/h and an avg power of 153W (162W normalized).  Apart from my knee, I'm feeling great.  Hopefully this knee gets with the program and I can buckle down for 5 weeks after my exam. 

Day 249

Sunny day.  Went for a couple laps around Stanley Park with Emeric.  He was born in France, so obviously he was able to keep a good pace.  My knee finally felt pretty good.  I wouldn't say 100%, but I think the extra stretching I've been doing is working.  It seems like I'm ready to get back to training now and continued stretching will workout the remaining bit of discomfort.  Either way, the coming week will be another easy week on the bike so I can focus on the studying, but I'm happy that my knee is improving.  27.3km in 57:46 for an avg speed of 28.4km/h and an avg power of 184W (211W normalized).

Day 248

I didn't forget to post, I swear!  The site was down.  Anyway, I didn't ride.  I was really focused studying so I decided to just keep going.

Day 247

Went for a short ride.  My knee felt pretty good, but I had lunch plans to get to and lots of studying to do.  I think I'll be keeping the rides relatively short until I write the MCAT next Friday.  That should be good for my knee too!  19.05km in 46:44 for an avg speed of 24.5km/h and avg power of 154W (162W normalized).

Day 246

Took the day off of riding to rest my knee, which was pretty sore from riding Monday.  Went for a massage and spent some time stretching.

Day 245

Went out for another easy ride to check on my knee.  I think it felt a little worse than it did on Saturday.  Nothing serious though, just a small pinching kind of pain.  I think it's on the mend, but not ready for a hard ride yet.  In fact, it's been more painful since the ride.  It hasn't this much to stand up in a few days, so hopefully I didn't overdo it today.  Tomorrow morning I'll just take it nice and slow to be on the safe side.  30.51km in 1:06:05 for an avg speed of 27.7km/h and avg power of 149W (179W normalized).  My efforts have steadily increased, with the normalized power going from 151W on Saturday to 177W today.  That's a decent jump in effort, so there's a good chance I just went a little too hard today.

Day 244

Sunday.  Not sure what it is, but feeling a little under the weather today.  I figured with my knee recovering too, I might as well just sit it out today and get some rest. 

Day 243

Went out for another test ride on my knee.  This is shaping up to be a good rest week, and my knee is feeling better every day.  Today I kept the pace at a low intensity for most of the ride, then tried picking it up a couple of times.  I could still feel some sensation of discomfort in my knee, but I think that might be left over from the initial problem, when it was first being pulled out of line.  I feel like it's tracking right now, thanks to all the physio exercises and stretching I'm doing.  I'll try again tomorrow for some harder efforts, but I plan to keep the ride short and mellow like today.  Hopefully that'll go well and I can get back to more challenging efforts by Monday.  30.46km in 1:12:30 for an avg speed of 25.2km/h and avg power of 144W (151W normalized).

Day 242

Went out for a short spin this afternoon to test out my knee.  It's getting better.  There's still a little discomfort, but I wouldn't call it pain.  More like premonition.  As though my knee were whispering to me, "don't do it, I'm not ready."  So I listened, and just held off the gas.  My average heart rate didn't even top 115bpm!  12.45km in 32:52 for an avg speed of 22.8km/h and avg power of 111W (122W normalized).  I would have expected the average speed to be lower.  Tomorrow I'll try and up the effort to a steady zone 2 150W and see how that feels.

Day 241

Had a dream last night that I was leading Paris-Roubaix with Thor Hushovd!  It was pretty cool.  He's some of the cyclists I admire most, so riding the race with him as a teammate was cool.  He was the world champ and we were in a 4-man break, then we took off on the other two.  Then Thor insisted on stopping at a grocery store to buy a loaf of bread.  While I waited outside about 50 riders zoomed past.  I was pissed!

Then I woke up.  I spent most of the day sitting around studying, but did find some time between naps to spend about 30mins on the exercises my physio prescribed.  I'm planning to go for an easy spin tomorrow morning, so hopefully my knee gets through that and I can get back to training over the weekend. 

Day 240

My sore knee didn't feel much better this morning, but a little.  I went in for a physio exam and it seems that flexibility is an issue again.  I thought I was doing a pretty good job, stretching for about 15min after each ride, but I guess I need to step it up.  So I figured the best way to loosen up these tight muscles was to go get a massage too!  I'll stay off the bike today, and maybe go for an easy spin tomorrow morning.  Hopefully I'll be back to riding at the effort I was by next week.  I don't want to rush it though, so I'm taking a sort of unscheduled rest week. 

Day 239

I'd felt a small bit of pain in my knee just at the top of Cypress on Sunday, but felt like it was gone after a rest day yesterday.  Unfortunately it came back and got worse as the ride went on.  I didn't really notice it during the first interval, felt it a bit during the second, but by the third I noticed I was favoring my left leg so I called it quits 17min into the 20min interval.  I went about as slow as possible the rest of the way home.  There was a fair amount of pain whenever I put more than a little force on my right knee.  The plan is to take the day off tomorrow and hope for good news from the physio in the morning.  I had an issue with my knees about a year ago when I was first getting into road biking, and the physio fixed me up in a week or so.  Hopefully it's just the same thing: a little lack of flexibility and some muscle imbalance. 

I went out today with the plan of trying for 215W for 20min intervals, up from 210W a few days ago.  I didn't really have any problems with the power, and felt like I could have even gone harder, but it was super windy!  The gusts made it really hard to keep a steady effort.  In the end I did 218, 215, 209.  How windy?  Well, riding out to Iona my speed was in the low 20s into the wind, and the high 40s on the way back (at the same effort).  57.15km in 2:10:37 for an avg speed of 26.3km/h and avg power of 159W (186W normalized).

Day 238

Scheduled rest day... spent most of the day running errands, but managed a short nap.  Now back to studying.

Day 237

Apart from traffic, that was a really enjoyable ride.  Sunny, but not too hot.  The Vancouver marathon disrupted traffic all over the city this morning.  I'm not complaining, I like the marathon and would like to do it again sometime, but my usual route out of the city was closed.  On the bright side, it gave me a chance to check out some of the new bike lanes that cross the downtown core, and I think they're great.  Then, on the way home, I hit some serious traffic in West Van, and it continued from there, through the park, and all the way back to Kits.  The highlight of this was an old couple that came roaring up behind me in Stanley Park, laying on the horn, and when they passed the woman in the passenger seat gave me the finger!  Not exaggerating, she was at least 70!  There were two lanes at the time, and no other cars around.  All four of us on bikes riding down the hill in the right hand lane were a little put out by this.  So it was kind of funny when traffic came to a halt about 500m later... let's just say my knocking on the passenger window only provoked a tirade of more obscenities from this elderly woman.  I wasn't sure whether I was upset or impressed.

As for the ride, things went pretty much according to plan.  I've been getting stronger since my last power test and needed to calibrate my training zones, so I planned to conserve as much as possible on the ride to the Cypress Mtn. as possible, then go hard for the first 30min.  That all went as well as it could have, but by the top I realized I've got a lot of work to do before I take on the Alps and the Pyrenees in 2 months.  I ended up adjusting my threshold power from 225 to 244W.  The whole ride ended up being 62.96km in 2:52:21 for an avg speed of 22.1km/h and avg power of 157W (187W normalized).

I took a couple of photos with my phone, which more than anything made me want to get a camera for my trip (and now).  The first is looking out over the ocean from about 3000ft, and the second is looking toward Vancouver from about 1400ft.  I've never pulled over at that lookout at 1400 before, but it clouded over when I started my descent and I thought I'd might as well pull over to warm up a bit since the sun had just come back... something in the back of my mind about wanting to have feeling in my fingers to operate the brakes.

 

Day 236

Yes, i rode Saturday, and ran out of time to write it up afterward.   I went pretty slow and took a little longer than expected to finish the ride.  OK.  I confess... it was my post-ride nap that went a little too long and I had dinner plans before work.  The plan was to really focus on having a recovery ride and keep the pace slow.  With the sun shining, it felt a little more like going out to tan on my bike.  I'm not even sure if I broke a sweat.  In the end my tanning ride was 30.41km in 1:11:27, for an avg speed of 25.6km/h and avg output of 139W (142W normalized).  I didn't sleep well after work this morning and I kind of want to nap some more, but I'm going to squeeze in a ride up Cypress first.