And then there was power...

I have been quiet for a while and wanted to put out a new status update.  I have been working on multiple things recently as well as battling a cold for a few weeks.  It was a rough start to the new year, getting a sore throat and sinus infection only a week in.  That lasted me up until mid last week which then tapered off to a dry cough that kept me up for hours on end at night.  Since I was feeling better last week, I decided to hit all my workouts in the week. I think I only missed a 30 minute recovery run, but I had put in some additional bike hours during the week.  I have less than 15 weeks until my first tri of the season in Alexandria, MN (pool swim) There are also less than 20 weeks until my first outdoor tri, New Brighton Sprint, my inaugural race.  I have been using a combination of a plan on Beginner Triathlete for Intermediate Olympic distance and a winter cycling plan from Jorge's Blog. While the workouts are not playing the best together, I have replaced all the bike workouts from the BT plan with his workouts.  I am slowly adapting to merging the two plans together.  I had started some of Jorge's bike workouts earlier but using the equation that comes with the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine trainer.  I am not sure how much I trust my calculated numbers versus the results I have gotten back from my Powertap... more to come later. 

Sorry, at this point, no pictures to share, in this blog at least. My new tool.  HED Jet 60 clincher rim laced into a Powertap SL 2.4+ hub, sporting the trainer tire at the moment.  I picked this combo up used with around 2000 miles on it for a great price.  I had been looking at the 2010 PRO+ model, but could not pass this option up, what can I say, I am a sucker for HED wheels!!!  When I received the wheel, I replaced the hub batteries, computer batteries, and swapped out a Campy freehub for a Shimano for the time being.  I ran into a small bump as I was building the rim back up.  I was told that it had been upgraded to ANT+ with the updater from Saris, turns out it was not the case, so working with the guy I purchased it from, I got a refund to cover the upgrade.  I started using the Little Yellow Computer to track my rides until the updater came and I could get the 310 working with the wheel.  Since I am now training with power, I started from scratch on the workouts and am getting to know how my gearing/cadence/speed/RPE efforts all tie together.  If you are a data junkie like me... this is heaven!

Hopefully I can use the results from my workouts to take my bike to the next level and be ready to rock and improve this season.  I tried to retest my 20 min TT, but had only fair results that must have been skewed by a longer ride the day before and still being a bit ill.  I did a 2 hour ride Sunday and averaged 205 watts over the course of the ride to give a rough idea.  I am currently basing my zones off my calculated 260 watt 20 min TT threshold.  Next test should give me a better idea.

The first race I mentioned is in Alexandria, MN.  We have some family that lives there and a few of us are registered to participate.  My birthday is at the end of April, and I remember multiple times there has been snow on the ground, hopefully this is not the case this year and it is warmer outside for this race.  I was recently looking at the race webpage and found that if you thought you would complete the course (600 yd pool swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run) in under 1:12, that you should enter the Elite wave, although you are still scored with your age groups.  Hopefully they can modify my registration as I did not initially think that I would fall into that category, but I now realize I could possibly hit that mark.  Unfortunately the race categorizes ages in 10 year increments, making it a larger pool of participants for awards.  I am not sure how competitive I can be that day, so I am only going to shoot for a time.  I think under 1:12 if I am starting with the elites is a good starting benchmark.  My thoughts are based on: 10 minute swim, 20 mph bike average, 7 minute mile run.  Depending how transitions are setup, it will be an interesting situation going from indoors to outdoors.  I think in my head, I am shooting to be sub 1:10.  Based on last year's results, it would take a sub hour finish to place, likely out of my league at this point.

My main thoughts right now are aimed at my upcoming vacation.  My wife and I are going to Colorado with her mom and step dad.  I also found out her step brother is going to join us for a few days as well.  This has been a long anticipated trip that is going to result in 8 days of skiing, so although there will be no pool to swim in, and no bike, I may have to take some shoes and Yak Trax to run on our non ski day.  Check back this week for the The Great Hydration Debate...