Iowa in December

Total miles for the week: 203
Mon 15 easy indoors
Tues 32 Group indoors intervals
Wed 27 easy outside
Thur 40 endurance pace outside
Fri 16 Shop on the rollers 5:58 for Killer 2 miles (best ever)
Sat 33 Outside easy
Sun 40 Endurance pace indoors
Next Week Goal : 175

I think we have been pretty lucky with the weather this December. Last year I only rode outside 3 times for a total of 155 miles. This week I rode outside three times and for the month I have 300 outdoor miles total. Sunday's outside ride got cancelled with the snow coming in early.

I don't mind riding outside if the roads are dry and the wind is not blowing 20+ mph. The big hassle is that it takes 30 minutes to figure out what to wear and get dressed. Gravel roads are great to ride when they are snow covered but in the last week they have been too icy. Last Friday I was on the gravel roads and found myself laying in the middle of the road as the bike went right and I went left. I decided I better wait until some of the ice breaks up before "hitting" them again.

For indoor training I started the second year of Tuesday night indoor group rides in my basement. The turnout has been light the first two weeks but hopefully will pick up as the winter continues. The sessions are usually 75-90 minutes with either a Coach Troy video work out or some other structured workout. My wife is a spin instructor and can be pretty creative with her workouts and I have been know to steal a few of hers.

When the season starts each rider completes and anaerobic threshold test on my indoor trainer. This test is better referred to as the ride-til-u-die test. It is based on Conconi's test to determine anaerobic threshold. Before the test the rider warms up 15-30 minutes. They then ride a pre-programmed 10 minute interval that increases the wattage every 30 seconds. The wattage range is normally 165-412. The subject rides until they can't ride anymore. You are only allowed to stand for your last interval. Since the interval is based on watts not speed shifting or slowing your cadence does not make it any easier. The machine just adds more resistance to keep the wattage at the targeted level. The longest I have made it is 9.5 minutes.

The attached video is Greg Harper on the last 30 seconds.

When repeated at regular intervals this test will let you know if you are in better shape then last time. You can compare your heart rate at a certain watts from previous test. If your hear rate is lower then you are in better shape. My results last week were close to the results from early June right before leaving for RAW and a little better then last year at this time.