Noftsger's Blog: WEEK #6....started with a BOOM and new FTP of 267!!!

Week 6 like week 5 has went so damn fast. I have said this before and will say it again. The OS is my favorite part of the year cause it is where we see our fitness improve folds and folds....it truly is what you dedicate to it. And this means power, speed, diet, recovery, sleep, etc. There is just so much that goes into getting stronger and faster.

I have used power on the bike and pace on the run now for 2 years. I DO NOT watch my heart rate for any specific means during training. I however do pay attention to it in an IRONMAN event only and the purpose for that is for dehydration and over heating purposes only. There is just so meaning variables when training with heart rate. One day you may be tired, dehydrated, etc and your heart rate could be high but with power and pace you have zones to hit and either you hit them or you don't.

Now something I do that may seem weird to a few people is I check my resting heart rate the moment I wake up. This is done before I move, burp, fart, etc. I check it and it is usually 35-42. I know if its in that range that is is going to be a great or good workout day. Now my rule is if it is 20 beats higher then the norm then I cut the intensity down but still do the time. 30-40 beats higher I call the workout and rest. I then might re evaluate how I feel in the evening and then go from there. I am not sure if others are like this but my heart rate is always lower when warming up and working out in the evening and this has been the norm.

Monday:

Now note this is usually a complete rest day in the OS(OutSeason) but I choose to swim and then do 60 minutes of stretching and Yoga. This Monday I met with my local swimming coach and we did 5,000 yards in the pool. It actually felt great....went like this.......
1000 warm up very easy and relaxed concentrating on the pull and roll.
10x100....ave 1:36/100
5x200....ave 3:10-3:20
3x300
10x100 concentrating on different drills....rolling, bomber, finger tip drag, the archer, catch up drill, and heads up drill.
100 cool down.
Garmin download here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272343570
Ended with 2.84 miles

Tuesday:

Consisted of 2hrs12min of biking and one hour of running
Bike #1......http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272696514
Bike #2.....http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272696951
Brick run....http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272695803
Note I tried the brick run after the bike and got two miles and and had to pull the plug. I then met a friend and scarfed down a 1/2 pound fireside burger and fries....yep I just did that. I then tried the run again around 4 pm and was able to hit the parameters....very happy.

Wednesday:

This is one of our interval run days. I was very happy with the results cause I thought I would be shot after Tuesdays wko's.
I ended up doing 8.35 miles in 60 minutes as:
1 mile WU to include with 4x 30 second strides..then
7x1 mile repeats with a 2 minute recover
These were done at a 6:44-5:50 pace.
I am not sure why but I felt very light on my feet and was able to hold a 95-100 stride cadence
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/272852906

Thursday:

Today's wko is always our VO Max workouts. We did a ride out of Trainer Road called, "Revolver". This will be my normal Thursday wko for the rest of the Thursday rides. It pushed me to my absolute max. FTP is 253 and it had be targeted for 335 watts for 60-90 sec with an equal recovery. Best workout with the highest intensity for the entire OS so far.
Wko #'s from the below pic.....My best again since we started the OS:
WKO #1.....
Entire workout:
Duration: 49:36
Work: 664 kJ
TSS: 88 (intensity factor 1.042)
Norm Power: 260
VI: 1.17
Pw:HR: -0.95%
Pa:HR: 4.29%
Distance: 14.98 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Elevation Loss: 20 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-24 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 559 223 watts
Heart Rate: 115 178 166 bpm
Cadence: 35 121 84 rpm
Speed: 0 26.3 18.1 mph
Pace 2:17 0:00 3:19 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 15 8 lb-in
Altitude: 929 953 942 ft
Crank Torque: 0 492 226 lb-in
Temperature: 71.6 75.2 73.4 Fahrenheit

Thursday's ride continued with another 1hr20 minute ride out of Trainer road called, "Cathedral". More laid back and I really enjoyed it as I watched, "Clash of the Titans"

Wko #'s from it: WKO #2:

Entire workout :
Duration: 1:20:29
Work: 975 kJ
TSS: 92.8 (intensity factor 0.837)
Norm Power: 209
VI: 1.04
Pw:HR: -3.93%
Pa:HR: 0.39%
Distance: 23.895 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Elevation Loss: 0 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-8 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 459 202 watts
Heart Rate: 128 167 157 bpm
Cadence: 31 112 82 rpm
Speed: 0 23.9 17.7 mph
Pace 2:31 0:00 3:23 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 13 7 lb-in
Altitude: 923 934 928 ft
Crank Torque: 0 624 209 lb-in
Temperature: 71.6 73.4 72.2 Fahrenheit

9 hours ago · Like

Total numbers from today:
So today scored me....194.7 TSS points, 41.44 miles in 2hrs18min, Ave Cadence of 82, Prnorm 229, ave heart rate 160, Ave speed 18 mph, and burned around 2400 calories, and rode at an ave of 3 watts/kg

Friday:

Woke up this morning a little sore but was expecting that after yesterdays workouts. Headed to the gym at 0500 and soaked in the hot tub for 45 minutes to try and loosen things up and prep me for today's bike. Again I had to do Saturdays bike wko today cause I am at the fire station for 24 hours tomorrow.

Training partners were coming over at 0830 so I decided to do a ride out of Trainer Road called, "Giraud" This is a recovery ride and the overall intensity for 60 minutes is between .65-.70. I felt great the whole ride and my heart rate was between 120-135. Very important for me cause I know when its time to hit the harder intervals I should be in good shape. Now if warming up and my hr is 145-150 I always struggle. I really concentrated yesterday on feeding and overloading with fluids and a few beers.

Duration: 1:00:59
Work: 614 kJ
TSS: 48.3 (intensity factor 0.697)
Norm Power: 174
VI: 1.04
Pw:HR: -7.94%
Pa:HR: 4.13%
Distance: 16.556 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Elevation Loss: 20 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-15 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 269 168 watts
Heart Rate: 100 149 140 bpm
Cadence: 37 119 83 rpm
Speed: 0 19 16.2 mph

The training partners then came over and we did the Endurance Nation Advanced Week 6 Saturday wko. This was 90 minutes total and the main set was 2x12 min FTPs then a 1x7 min FTP. Warming up my heart rate was staying low and getting into the first FTP I was able to push and it felt great and my heart rate stayed low so I decided to convert this ride into 2x20 min FTP with a 2 min rest between. I was shooting for a new FTP and was glad I did cause I landed a new FTP of 267 up from 250. Made me very happy after attempting last week and failed d/t fatigue.

Numbers from the ride to include the FTP and each 20 minute section then the total......

Duration: 42:04
Work: 668 kJ
TSS: 79.8 (intensity factor 1.067)
Norm Power: 267
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 0.08%
Pa:HR: 1.7%
Distance: 13.327 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Elevation Loss: 0 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-5 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 12 403 265 watts
Heart Rate: 141 172 164 bpm
Cadence: 65 119 78 rpm
Speed: 10.2 22 19.0 mph

Interval 1:
Duration: 20:03
Work: 320 kJ
TSS: 37.9 (intensity factor 1.065)
Norm Power: 266
VI: 1
Pw:HR: -0.79%
Pa:HR: 2.48%
Distance: 6.386 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 203 333 267 watts
Heart Rate: 141 168 163 bpm
Cadence: 72 104 78 rpm
Speed: 17.6 20.1 19.1 mph

Interval 2:
Duration: 2:00
Pw:HR: -20.33%
Pa:HR: -10.72%
Distance: 0.537 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 12 289 178 watts
Heart Rate: 155 168 161 bpm
Cadence: 68 119 82 rpm
Speed: 10.2 19.5 16.1 mph

Interval 3:
Duration: 20:01
Work: 326 kJ
TSS: 39.4 (intensity factor 1.087)
Norm Power: 272
VI: 1
Pw:HR: -3.37%
Pa:HR: 0.41%
Distance: 6.403 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 60 403 272 watts
Heart Rate: 154 173 167 bpm
Cadence: 65 110 78 rpm
Speed: 17.1 22 19.1 mph

Entire workout):
Duration: 1:30:25
Work: 1255 kJ
TSS: 140.9 (intensity factor 0.969)
Norm Power: 242
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: 6.93%
Pa:HR: 4.42%
Distance: 26.989 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Elevation Loss: 10 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-9 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 403 231 watts
Heart Rate: 108 173 158 bpm
Cadence: 31 119 79 rpm
Speed: 0 22 17.9 mph

Total from todays ride:

2hrs30min
43.54 miles
Ave cad-80
Speed 17.2 mph
NP 222
3.2 watts/kg
198 TSS
.89 IF
150 hr

Biking this week: 121.78 miles

Saturday:

Went to bed around 11:30 p.m. and up at 0330 to get my run in before going to the fire station for 24 hours. All worth it cause Alison and I had a blast. Went out to eat and the played black jack and walked away up.
The run was scheduled for 50 min at MP out and HMP back. Did this on the tmill and ended up with 7 miles in 60 minutes.

Sunday:

Well the 24 hour shift at the fire house was busy. We were up 23 of the 24 hours. Hence I was tired and cranky.
The scheduled run today was for 60 minutes and the main set was 2x2 mile repeats at my threshold pace which is 6:44. Decided since I was already tired and the week had been hard and all targets were hit that I was going to scratch the intervals cause I was more apt to get injured. Instead met up with a couple training partners and hit the road for a slow and smooth run.
My plan was to run at my EP(easy pace) 8:32 miles and then throw in a few mile pick ups but nothing faster then 8 minute miles.
I was going to run until it felt like I had to really push or started feeling overly exerted. This was a good plan.
Garmin File here: Sundays EP run