Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 15)

For me, the test is how long does it take for my legs to come back to normal. After 3km I felt fine. I was holding a good, even pace after 6km, so I figured I could probably hold it a bit more and hopefully fade very gently.

Tom - just got in and read this - hate to hear it - but glad you got in to se the doc. From my experience you would have wished you did tomorrow, and then it would be Sunday, with a lot fewer choices. Hopefully the knee is not in too bad of shape - if it did not get twisted and only banged you should be OK with a little rest. I agree that with the full Rev still a month out you should be OK - you are not going to do anything to increase your fitness between now and then - healing up should be your #1 priority. I just went through it myself - it is tough mentally, but ultimately the smart strategy. Do you have a sports specialist you can get in to see early this coming week? They may be able to give you a better plan of attack than the urgent care Doctor.

Oh, and whenever my helmet hits the ground like that I replace it immediately, no matter what it looks like. That is too important piece of equipment to mess around with. Depending on the manufacturer, they may even have a replacement policy. LG replaced mine for free after a crash last year. I would have replaced it regardless, however.

Heal up!

I did some testing in April after following Jorge's winter power program.  My Critical Power from that was right around 260 and based on the typical suggestions I've seen, 70% of that is 182 so that was kind of what I targeted initially.  Over the summer, I did lots of rides and while I felt that I was sure I could hold low 180s easily enough for the whole ride, I wanted to back it off just a bit so lately 175 has been more of the range I have aimed for.  Just lowering it that few watts has left me feeling quite a bit better off the rides so that's what I'm going with.

The two intervals today were 177 and 179 and I had to try hard to dial it back to keep it down in that range.  I'm hoping that means that the first few hours of the race will seem "easy" and then I won't have to work too hard to keep it there for the remainder of the ride.  

Glad to hear you are "okay".  As others mentioned, I would really focus on recovery.  Lots of ice, a few anti-inflammatory, and rest.  Makes a world of difference if you get early treatment...especially cleaning out any wounds you have.

Scary though...did they check you for a concussion?  Because that's what you really want to make sure you are clear of before you start any training again.

Best of luck on the recovery.

My CTL, (average TSS for the past 6 weeks) is about 115-120.  ATL (average TSS for the past 2 weeks) is about 160.  Taper is about 1 week, but still involves riding...just cutting down my TSS by about 30% from what they would normally be, and 1 off day.

x2 on all of this.  Especially on trying to estimate FTP on a 20 minute test.  Best way to figure out FTP is to do a 35-40k TT.

So a stand alone 40k TT? "Leave it all out there" effort level?

JUst got back from a couple of days away.  Tom, really sorry to hear about the accident.  Glad everything seems to be okay, and hope there are no lingering issues with the knee.  Glad the bike is okay as well.

Rode a hilly course today with 3200 feet of climbing in 84km.  I suffered in the heat, with a high HR and lower than intended power.  Chalk it up to a tough day in 40C heat.

Yup.  By definition, FTP is the power you can hold for roughly 1 hour.  So you don't need to do a 40k TT race...just need to go all out for an hour.  It just so happens that 40k takes most people about an hour.  For guys like Bradley Wiggins...they might need to do a 50k TT since he can ride roughly 50km/h.

The reason more people don't do it though is because it takes too much of a taper and recovery.  And there is a good chance you might not pace it properly.

That being said, knowing your actual FTP isn't that important unless your goal is a 1 hourish effort like a 40k TT or an Olympic tri.  Knowing your FTP is a good way to give you an "idea" of how hard you might want to go for longer distances...but in now way means that you can handle it.  You have to experiment with it to see how you feel.  Like Marc said, if you figure out your FTP to be 250 (either by a 20 minute or 60 minute test), and your goal is a HIM, you still need to try and do a 2.5-3 hour ride at 80-85% of 250, then maybe run 30 minutes after to see how you do.  Maybe you need to ride closer to 80%...maybe closer to 85%....maybe closer to 75%.

Good luck today, Jason!

Waiting for the sun to turn down a notch so I can put in a 1:15 run.

Heading back to Canada today! Time to leave the midwest USA for some lovely Victoria! One more week off before the crazy whirlwind of 4th year starts. Excited and terrified at the same time.

Rest day yesterday and a run planned this am! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Thanks.  Looks like the RD changed my race to 3 laps, 45 miles.  So I'll be racing with all the other 4/5's.  I actually think the race will be harder now, because the fireworks will be starting earlier, and there are more stronger riders to set off those fireworks.  My goal is to still mark the people in my AG...but we'll see.  At least I'll have teammates now that are in the other 4/5 divisions.

A little training milestone for me today ... I've always done run/walk but went to straight running a while ago, so longest run ever today at 1:18.

Also, the roads around my place are mostly rubble (some stretches are paved but more pothole than not) and all hills.

Congrats

I had the exact opposite experience.

I went out for a 21km run. Left early to avoid the heat but humidity was crazy

At 11km I was dieing of thirst. The general store was closed but the owner was sitting on the porch, and when he saw me asked if I wanted something. So I bought a G2. Off I went.

5km later I was toast. I stopped at a farm, and asked for water. The lady wanted to make me pancakes. The farmer asked me if I wanted a beer (at 7AM). I took the water and  back on my way

And I shuffled for the last 5km. I never stop, but I just couldn't today. I never get thirsty, I have to force myself to drink. But this time, I was struggling. I think I overdid it this weekend.

You turned down pancakes and beer?!

Nice going finishing and hope you take some time out today.

Nice job Yanti!

Marc - been there.  The weather this year has not done me too many favors (or if it has, I'm not sure what they are).  Hopefully the humidity si supposed to break areound here by tomorrow - not sure how long you'll need to wait... 

8 in the morning :-)

I have this rule...no beer before noon, unless it's the continuation of the night before.