July, August, September (boy was I lazy) here.

12/16 3 1/2 hours endurance
12/17 1 hour endurance with 2×20 tempo

Ok, so I went on a long ride Saturday, then hit the rollers Sunday, and…

Between the Catbike, the Spillage party, and weekly Toto’s, I hardly have time to update this thing. I also hardly have time to ride, so there’s nothing for me to write about as well. I feel pretty bad, as Smiley is clearly putting some thought into my program, and I’m just not riding at all.

I tried to get back on the wagon with a long ride on Saturday. Mike tested my endurance zone at 245 watts, which is pretty brisk for LSD riding. I did a Nyack ride with Mihael and kept the pace up the whole time, which I think he found annoying. Not in the sense that I was so damn fast, but I think he expected a bit more socializing.

I rode the rollers Sunday for an hour, with two twenty minute tempo intervals. These were governed by HR, so the first interval came in at 272 watts, while the second plunged to 254. Smiley wants these done at 70-5 rpm, which I wasn’t able to achieve with rollers. Still, at 85 rpm, it gets a little painful for the muscles, hence the wattage drop.

I’ve been doing stretches and core workouts from the Next Level DVD after my rides, with two unforeseen consequences. First of all, Sofie mimicks the positions, which is pretty hilarious (more so for the parent). Secondly, the animals really like it when I’m sweaty and on the floor. I usually do the stretches while my face is being licked.

12/10

Went on a ride with a couple of new teammates last Saturday the 2nd. Being the manager of team ML, I’m in an odd position. When I go on a team ride I wish I get shelled, because that means I’ve done a good job of recruiting. I wasn’t disappointed Saturday. I rode with Jon in Prospect on Sunday and tried to play it cool, even though my legs were screaming.

Went to Schmalz’s house on Tuesday to do more work on Sofie’s catbike. I got the idea to make a cat bike months ago, driven by the LikeaBike’s high price tag and Sofie’s love for cats. Schmalz, owner of several power tools, agreed to help me out as long as we could make one for his daughter as well. The first day was mostly lost to plywood hunting in deepest darkest Jersey. I made more progress on 11/29, jigsawing out more pieces. I put in a full eight hour day on 12/5, determined get far enough along so that I could bring home the parts and finish the job off. I accomplished my mission, but that left me in an OCD lather for the next two days, unable to do anything else until the catbike was complete. I managed to finish the job by Thursday night, but I also missed three prime days of training.

in the end, it was all worth it, and more. There was a pretty good chance that Sofie would hate it or ignore it, but she LOVED it (even though her initial reaction was, ‘That’s just a pile of wood’). She hopped right on and had a blast, and by day three the saddle was up to full extension. I’m feeling so smug about my fathering abilities I might coast for a couple of years.

12/5

So this is my off season so far. I tried to do a 2 lap TT in Central Park to see if my fitness improved over years past. I did the ride on a humid day, had a bad first lap and crashed on the second lap. Then I got sick at Interbike, and stayed sick for about 3 weeks. I had a sore throat that pretty much prevented me from raising my HR at all. I was well for 3 days before Sofie brought home a different strain of the flu, knocking me out for another week.

By the time I got started on the rollers I was totally flat, barely able to do 200 watts at endurance pace. I eventually got myself back up to the 240 range, then I got busy with work. As of the last week I’m starting to feel better and have more time to train.

I got tested on 11/28 by Mike. My endurance wattage was confirmed to be about 245. More importantly, my half hour TT wattage should be about 310, which is a lot more than I expected for this time of year.

@##=#<4,r>@##=#Meanwhile, Sofie’s gotten pretty adept at the computer, able to Google images and drag them onto my desktop on her own for long stretches of time. As with everything else, this is a double edged sword. She’s learning the computer, the mouse teaches a surprising amount of fine motor skills, and I get some free time while she’s surfing away. The downside is that my desktop gets thoroughly trashed when she’s through, and I have to file the hundreds of Disney images she’s downloaded. Including this beauty.

11/8 100 minutes rollers
11/9 2 hours endurance

Much of the start of base training so far has been about riding at my prescribed HR zone (152-162) and finding the corresponding wattage. The first serious roller ride went well, coming in at 207 watts. Then the leg pain from the transition from road riding to roller riding set in, and my wattage plunged to a sad, sad 175 watts at 149 bpm. After a few rest days (imposed by my Mr. Mom schedule), the numbers have mercifully climbed back up