another ass kicker on the bike

Wow, I got it handed to me tonight. I think that awesome 26 miler on Saturday did me in and I wasn't fully fully recovered, although that is really a terrible excuse. Tonight's workout was just plain old hard, doing some hard fast cadence stuff at an incredibly hard intensity. I think I am gonna feel this one tomorrow!

So looking into the future, I have decided to seriously consider going the power route in my training on the bike. Going with power means your rear wheel's hub is a special hub that is a power meter and meters the output of your biking in watts. The more watts you put out means the harder you are working. This data is a bit better than heart rate because it doesnt get all screwy with certain variables such as temperature, how you are feeling or weather. Basically if you aren't putting up the numbers, you flat out aren't putting up the numbers, and it works opposite as well. If you are putting up the numbers, then that means that you are doing something right. Then as you start to compile all of this data you can graph it and start to see how you are doing over the long term. Are you improving? How are you improving? Are you on the verge of overtraining? Undertraining? Plus your coach can look at the numbers and see if you are cheating or exceeding his or hers expectations.

Numbers don't lie!

I will be having a serious chat with my coach this week about going with power for next season. Forcing yourself to put up the numbers will only make you faster and stronger, and I look forward to that. Some folks say on average you will increase your race average speed by 2-4 mph. That will put me into the 22 mph range on a semi hilly course. Damn!