Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED (Page 13)

Is it pretty accurate that W/kg doesn't mean as much as raw power on the flats, but makes a big difference on hills?  I always get so jealous of the big guys I ride with who throw down fairly large power number and can pull away from me easily, while I'm throwing down bigger W/kg.  I don't feel bad at all when I can get up a hill faster though  [of course, we don't have hills in Houston....have to drive 4+ hours to find any!]

January is in the books. Good month for me at this point of the year. Hope I can continue and stay healthy.

Swim     10h 47m               35050 yards

Bike       21h 41m               435.56 miles

Run       17h 09m               119 miles

Strength  4h 40m               

That last couple of weeks of being sick and pulled back hurt me.

Finished the month with a 3250y swim w\ tons of kicking.  Just got off a 2:40 windy ride outdoors.  Came home to an invite to Zwift!

Swim: 10h 11m 40s - 25300 Yd
Bike: 12h 57m 34s - 171.93 Mi
Run: 8h 25m 24s - 41.39 Mi

Easy 4.2 mile run followed by Stage 9 of ToS -- ISLAGIATT.  I've always hated this ride....I don't know what my deal is with it (I thought I'd love it, given that I focus on longer racing, so a two hour trainer video should be right up my alley), but I've just never enjoyed it for whatever reason.  On top of that, Stage 8 trashed my legs (I actually quite enjoyed S8 for whatever reason, even though I'm so not a sprinter!).

I'm over here laughing at my bike PMC at the moment.  It was down sitting pretty close to 0 all around, and now my ATL has a HUGE spike, TSB a HUGE drop, and CTL is climbing.  Planning three easier rides this week, and then going to do 5' and 20' testing next week to get a better idea of where my fitness truly is.  Based on this week's riding, I think I'm down about 10%.  Hopefully it'll all come back fairly quickly (before Galveston, please!!). 

1:45 hour run w\1h in mid Z2 this morning.  You can keep that crazy cold weather.  40s was perfect for me.  Time to get new shoes, feet started letting me know it's time for a new pair.

For those that are on Zwift, when do you normally ride?  I'd like to link up with you.

For those that have a power meter and a fluid trainer (I have CycleOps Jet Fluid Pro), how much more\less is your FTP outdoors compared to your indoors?  I did an FTP test on the trainer in December.  I rode outdoors over the weekend and just ignored the power % and zones because the watch is programmed with my indoor FTP.  I know I will eventually do an FTP test outdoors.  Just curious how much the difference is.

We took the family up to northern Michigan to a ski resort this weekend and off the internet grid.  We came home to a major snowstorm that dumped 10-inches on us last night through this morning.  Everything is closed down here today.  I actually went and ran 5 miles when I got home and it was brutal - driving snow and wind right in my eyes.  Pretty terrible.  I moved my long run to today and have 12 miles so hopefully I can find a plowed route.

I actually do not have a noticeable difference in power indoor vs. outdoor.  I think I am an outlier though as many folks say outdoor is much higher.  Mine however seem to correlate pretty well.  I think some of it has to do with how well you are able to cool yourself indoors.  I have a fan on high right in my face  in a much cooler basement.

You are a glutton for punishment.  Tour of Sufferlandria followed the next week by 5' and 20' power testing .

January:

Swim: 3h 15m - 9400 Yd
Bike: 13h 56m 27s - 251.3 Mi
Run: 19h 00m 42s - 148.58 MiAlso 7 hours of hockey in there.

Any idea what I am focusing on?!?!  I get anxious about not swimming much but last year after a 2 month block I really gained a ton of fitness in the pool so trying not to stress too much about it.

Hi everyone! Happy ground hog day? Is that a thing?

Anyway, been down and out and STILL not 100%. My ears are pretty fluid filled at the moment so tonight's swim is questionable unless they start to clear out. 

We got/are still getting a dump of snow - about 25 cm so far (just under a foot, i guess)! It's pretty but it felt pretty fruitless to shovel the sidewalk with the snow still coming down and no sign of the snowplows on our side streets.  I had a dumb moment on Friday and left my little one's snow pants at the daycare so instead of pulling her in the new sled we bought at Christmas I slogged our jogging stroller through the snow to drop her off this morning.  It's only 2.5 blocks but I was sweating when I got there so maybe between that and snow shoveling I have a workout? ha! 

Hah, I'm not quite that bad....taking it easy to recover this week (will still ride a few times, but going to allow my legs to recover) -- testing the following week!

Based on 5' and 20' testing on the trainer, my calculated FTP (last year, not now!!) was 193W.  Could I actually hold 193W for an hour on the trainer?  Probably not....maybe I could physically, but I could never get myself to actually do that (2x20' rides were miserable enough!).

Last summer, I did a 40k TT in 63ish minutes, holding 181W.  At the end, I was not so far gone that I needed someone to catch me (and went for a run a couple hours later), so I probably could have pushed harder, but didn't want to blow up and have to limp it in.

All that to say, my indoor/outdoor FTP's are quite similar.  That said, short of a controlled course, I'm much more willing to push myself on the trainer where the risks are lower (just not willing to mentally endure an hour at threshold!).

Thank you for the replies.  There is this stretch of road (flat 4 miles one way) that I could use since the race will be flat.  I've done 30-45 minute HR tests on it.  But since I now have power, I want to do the same test.

Well... what was supposed to be a 1h Z1 trainer ride turned into an unstructured ride with Zwift.  Also played around with my new Edge 510.

Jen:  I think we got the same storm although you may have gotten more snow than us.

Nicole:  That is interesting.  I think I am the opposite - more likely to push much harder outside in a TT then on my trainer.  I know lots of folks prefer the 5' and 20' tests for the bike.  I have always found the 20' test to be a really good predictor of my FTP.  I usually always fine tune my FTP based on several rides and rehearsals prior to my races as well.

I got in my 12 mile long run yesterday and went very well - alternating Z2 and Z3 miles.  They got all the roads plowed but it was still a bit icy.  I am getting a couple days of easy workouts here before we continue to build starting on Thursday.  I was getting a little worn down so requested some time to regroup.

1500yd swim today is all for me.

Ryan: Oh it probably was the same. Seems to just follow the great lakes in a west-north-west trajectory. Though you probably have more overall. Until then we'd had really no snow to speak of and i wasn't complaining. Accumulation of any amount of snow in the city makes it a real pain to get around. Winter comes every year but Toronto does a terrible job ... erg

So, feeling much better today. Still coughing but now I have pink eye!!! Sucks!! This all just needs to go away! I went into work today even though i shouldn't have just because I can't take being home anymore! 

anyway, since I am feeling peppier. I plan to get on my trainer tonight and sweat some out.  

I stop doing bilateral breathing.  I breathe every right stroke (strong side).  I seem to get in a better rhythm.  I still do long sets where I breathe on the weaker side just to keep balance and make sure I can breathe on the left if I have to do it in a race.