just a taste

Funny, by the look of this pic you wouldn't believe it was 42 degrees out there. I am, however, getting acclimated to the cold. It looks like the storm door is open and we'll be getting some Alaskan chilly chill over the weekend into next week with snow as low as 500 feet. Guess I'll be flying low again this week.

Today I got a little taste of FTP with 3x6:00 cruise intervals at threshold. These intervals are long enough and hard enough to hint at the pain cave but not long enough for the heart rate to fully respond. But, had I extended to 10-12 minutes I surely would have got it up the extra ten beats per minute. The sensations were telling me that this is the pace I would have to hold if I wanted to survive a 40K time trial or a long sustained climb. Cold, calculated, deliberate.

Yesterday was standing starts in a big gear. I've got it down to being able to start at less than 3mph and am consistently cracking over 1000 watts. These hurt real deep and there is definitely lasting fatigue in the upper body as well as the legs the following day. The fun thing about doing these on a 40 pound commute bike is that you cannot swing the bike for fear of ripping the rack and panniers from the frame. Everything must be heading in a straight line, the shortest line to the finish. I've watched and studied several 100 meter track and field sprinters. Marion Jones was a genius at wasting as little motion as possible. When she was on you could see no side to side motion. A thing of beauty for sure. Too bad she succumbed to pressure and temptation and did the unthinkable.