In our last episode, I expounded on the dangers of taking an extended time off from an activity and waxed rhapsodic on the downsides, chief among them hurting all the time.
The thing is, it's not as though I'm doing easy spinning while reading Dostoevsky or watching Oprah. I'm actually trying to improve my fitness from what is a very low point indeed and there's just no way to avoid it: that's gonna hurt.
I've never done anything that could even charitably be called "training" in cycling. Every time I've tried to follow a specific program it's turned something that I do for fun into work. Back in the day when I was a runner I did it all: foundation, intervals, you name it and followed a very strict regimen that dictated what I'd do and when. But there are two important differences between then and now:
- I'm older (funny how the age card keeps floating to the top of the deck) and more injury prone.
- I really do view cycling as an activity that I'll keep doing for the rest of my life. Although I was quite a serious runner and a reasonably good one, I knew that at some point it'd come to an end. I certainly hope that's not the case with cycling.
But having said that, I do hope to regain lost fitness and improve. It's a lot more fun to be able to attack a climb rather than dread it.
So I have a goal of regaining fitness and a willingness to do no small amount of suffering to achieve it. How to proceed?
I've generally taken the attitude that there are three knobs:
- Intensity. Measured via things like max power and heart rate, time in zones, etc.
- Frequency. How many days in a row I ride.
- Duration. How long I ride.
So my goal is to gradually increase all three but not to turn all three knobs simultaneously and that's what I've been doing since I resumed riding on October 9. The measures I've chosen to pay attention to are average and max heart rate, average and max power, 5 minute average power and ride time. So how does it look?
A few notes about the data:
- Most of it is taken from one of two smart trainers, either a Wahoo Kickr or a Tacx Neo II. The bike on the Tacx is a Cannondale diamond frame and the recumbent Cruzbike is on the Kickr.
- The rides on the Cruzbike without power data are outdoor rides. I didn't have any method of collecting power on the Cruzbike at the time. This has since been fixed with a PowerTap wheel but there's no data yet as it's been too cold for my weak shit to go outside lately.
- The other bike in the mix (the Crumpton) doesn't have a way of collecting power data. I'll remedy that before I go to Texas by moving the Asioma power pedals from the Pinarello (the 11/7 ride) to the Crumpton.
- Pre-surgery, my FTP was 262. I've not done a test yet and it's not likely I will for a while, I don't think I'm up to it. My guess is that it'd be somewhere in the 210-220 range.
- Pre-surgery, my max power for 3 seconds was 843 watts. I have briefly (like "blink of an eye" briefly) hit 1,000 watts but the 3 second number is more revealing.
- I've deliberately NOT done anything approaching a maximal effort. At most, I'd say the max power numbers above reflect a 75% level of effort. I don't think it's a good idea to do any more at this point in my recovery.
- The rides on 1 November are 4 shorter routes on Zwift and I just took the data from the first one rather than combining them. N.B. I've been chasing "Route Completion" badges which earn you "Experience points" on Zwift although I care about neither. Funny the things you'll do to motivate yourself.
I'll let you pore over the data to whatever extent you're interested (or not at all) but as you can see, the frequency has been 2-3 days of riding then a day off. The duration has increased from around an hour to a few rides of more than 2 hours and the intensity has gone from a 5 minute power average below 200 to above 200 on harder rides. The max power number similarly has gone from below 200 to above 400 with my absolute max being 462 post surgery which at 75% effort would give a max of somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 watts which seems about right.
So aside from the fact that I'm naturally whiny, there's actually a pretty good reason I'm sore all the time. With only a couple of exceptions every ride I do is either longer or harder.
Between now and when I head to Texas, I'll probably do a few extended climbs on the trainer at a more sustained and higher level of effort. I might do an informal FTP test. We'll see.
Stay tuned!
