Well, the Base 2 segment of my training started, so I feel like it’s a good time to look at what I’ve been doing and results so far. This is the first time I’ve been rigorously sticking to a training program in a timespan counted in decades (more than one, less than two). From the standpoint of feelings, it’s been great — I’ve been approaching the scheduled rides with enthusiasm, the sessions themselves are great, and I’ve been finding ways to get everything wedged into my schedule neatly. And I’ve had Didi’s support in this lunacy, which has been priceless.
Base 1 Results
I was having some trouble with the smart trainer on Monday, which was acting wonky (calibration issue), so I let the TrainerRoad AI determine my updated Functional Threshold Power, which jumped 12 watts (8.6%). I’m stoked!
In addition to the pleasant results, there was some good education to be had during Base 1: riding on the trainer produces more accurate output than riding on the road. I mean, file this under duh, right? Well, it was a good education to get. Even small hills and false flats cause a sharp spike in wattage that can be outside my intended zone.
I’ve got some confusion around my heart rate, though. Over the last few years of mostly-sedentary1, mostly-shit-diet, my resting heart rate has dropped into the low 50’s overnight. During the days I’m in the mid-60’s. Where I’m a little concerned is that my heart rate seldom gets out of the 100-120 range when I’m training at home on the trainer. Even during a VO2 Max session yesterday, my heart rate wasn’t getting out of the 120s. I think I should probably book some time to see a specialist.
Base 2 Phase
I’m into it as of this week and it’s going well so far. Tomorrow is a 1-hour recovery ride (easy endurance stuff) and Saturday is a threshold ride, with some shorter intervals.
Concerns
So the primary plan here is to be ready for the Filthy 50 as a tune-up ride in mid-October, and to be ready to crush the Tour de Tucson in mid-November. I feel like I am on-track to do that, but I do have concerns about my upcoming phases. Base 2 ends on September 9th. I have an FTP test on Tuesday the 12th, and then on the 14th I fly to Europe for two and a half weeks, which wipes out the start of my Build phase. Basically, I come back, I have a week of endurance rides, and then another FTP test and a couple of shorter rides before the Filthy 50 kicks off. A recovery week follows that race, and then I have four weeks of Specialty before the Tour de Tucson (and that last week is tapering down a bit). The recovery week is also a light one and concludes on Sam’s birthday.
I had originally planned to take a week or so after that to dial it back and rest, but I think I want to start ramping up toward being super-strong in April.
Nerdy Shit
I’ve been thinking about building out a widget that’ll pull my most-recent ride data from Strava (which I have cross-linked with TrainerRoad), and put it over in the sidebar. Got some other shit to tackle first, though.