Weekend Rides

I just finished off three solid days of training. Friday was two hours with 6 x 4 minutes on variable terrain. It was a little harder to hold power than doing hill climbs, but I felt pretty good and averaged 379 watts.

On Saturday I needed to be done riding by 8:30 am, to spend a day with family on the lake, so I rolled out at 6:30 and simply rode hard for the whole time except for 8 minutes of easy riding in the middle when I came up on a few buddies who were spinning around waiting for the group to assemble for a long ride. The image on the left is from Saturday's ride. I had an IF of about .9, and spent a lot of the ride in L4 a little below threshold. I'm finding that as my CTL rises, I can hold a pace near threshold for a long time.

On Sunday I did a 50 mile endurance ride, just to top of the week of training, and get some TSS points without hurting. I was tired but a steady 220 - 240 watt pace felt comfortable, until it got real hot and no pace felt comfortable. I drank 3 big bottles in 2:24 and still lost 4 pounds.

As of today my CTL is at 100.4. This is the first time I have ever cracked 100. It'll be short-lived though, since tomorrow I begin my taper for Nats. I'm going to the beach for the day and won't ride at all.