[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 06 (ending 2012-01-22)

An unseasonably cold winter means that I'm riding the rollers more. I sent my cracked SL3 frame to Calfee and am still waiting for a repair quote. I've repurposed my old cyclocross and commuter bike as my primary training bike. There is a good chance I'll be riding this bike as is for the next month or two. Dieting continues; I expect to achieve my goal of losing 5 lbs this month.

For the most part, it is too cold to ride outside. People always laugh when I say this, citing that I'm from the East Coast and ought to be used to the cold. My response is that I rode indoors until mid-April back east, until it got above 55F at the start of rides. My work schedule and logistics mean that I can only really ride in the mornings or evenings, when it is still quite cold.

The good news is that I enjoy rollers workouts. Staying upright keeps my mind occupied, and not worrying about road conditions or passing motorists allows me to focus on the workout. Some of my best training sessions have been on the rollers.

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:

01-16 Monday

Prescribed: 1h Z2-Z3 ride plus 30 min stretching.

Actual: Took a much needed day off, still sore from crashing on Friday.

01-17 Tuesday

Prescribed: Crossfit in AM, 1h ride to/from Crossfit, 1h rollers session with Z4 efforts in PM

Actual: As prescribed. Lots of dead lifts at Crossfit. I really need to ride in to Crossfit in order to get a good warmup.

01-18 Wednesday

Prescribed: 45min easy outdoor ride plus 30min stretching.

Actual: 1h on rollers plus stretching. Too cold to ride outside - 30F in the morning.

01-19 Thursday

Prescribed: Crossfit in AM, 1h30m ride to/from Crossfit.

Actual: As prescribed. More deadlifts at Crossfit. Riding home when everyone is dropping off their kids at school, is always interesting.

01-20 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h Z2 ride with Z3 efforts, plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: 2h rollers ride with 5 x 10min Z3-Z4 efforts, plus stretching session.

01-21 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h tempo combo ride or 1h trainer session.

Actual: 2h on rollers, with three 20min Z4-Z5 efforts. I was supposed to do these efforts last week but did not. Ride was quite good, and power numbers are starting to come back up.

01-22 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off, optional 1h rollers ride.

Actual: Took a day off! Sunday is the only day when I can get away with not having to ride or go to work. I always come back feeling energized after a day to focus on other things.

Weekly summary:

Time: 11 h 12 min

Distance: 164.52 miles

TSS: 696.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 05 (ending 2012-01-15)

Weekly Overview:

Record cold weather is making it difficult to train. A change of ownership at the now-former Defiance Crossfit means that Tuesday and Thursday morning workouts happen at 6am, 30 minutes earlier. A crash in training on Friday effectively kept me from riding over the weekend. I'm fine, but my Tarmac SL3 is off to Calfee for frame repairs. Dieting continues; I've already lost a few pounds. (Mostly, I'm just losing body fat. I can go from about 10% to about 6% body fat, representing a loss of about 8 lbs.)

I promised to talk a little more about the diet. In designing my eating plan, I aimed for low glycemic, whole, natural foods, plenty of protein (at least 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day), meals of not more than 500 Calories, and many small snacks through the course of the day. It sounds simple, and it is, but I used a spreadsheet to make sure I was getting enough of all of the nutrients I needed. Fruits and vegetables are great because they have a high fiber and water content, which helps you feel full, and reduces the glycemic load (i.e. no blood sugar spikes, no rush or crash). Pickles are a favorite snack, as they have a negligible number of calories. I found Monique Ryan's book "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" to be helpful, and largely in agreement with advice from our very own Mary Ann Levenson.

Workouts:

01-09 Monday

Prescribed: 45 min Z2 ride plus stretching session.

Actual: 1h Z2-Z3 on rollers plus stretching session.

01-10 Tuesday

Prescribed: Crossfit 1 rep max test plus 1h15m Z2 ride.

Actual: Crossfit was cancelled due to change in gym ownership. Rode 1h30m in bitter cold.

01-11 Wednesday

Prescribed: 90min tempo combo ride in AM with some Z3 efforts, 30min stretching session. 60min threshold efforts session in PM.

Actual: Completed 90min Z3 intervals and stretching session. Due to new management, Crossfit workouts are now at 6am. I don't have time to ride an hour and get to bed by 9pm on a work night, and I had a flat tire, so the second session was cancelled.

01-12 Thursday

Prescribed: 1 rep max tests at Crossfit, 1h ride including some standing start sprints.

Actual: Achieved new 1 rep max of 375 lbs on deadlift and 215 lbs front squat. Was toasted for sprints, though: 1377W max, less than last week.

01-13 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h ride with Z4 efforts and Z3 efforts, plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Coldest ride yet, I was wearing more layers than I have on a ride the whole time I've lived in CA. Z4 efforts up Alpine Rd were strong. After efforts, I climbed OLH just to stay warm. Due to reduced traction caused by a different rear tire and cold conditions, I skidded out while descending 84E. I'm fine, with some road rash, but I tore through most of my expensive winter clothing and cracked my frame. Great.

01-14 Saturday

Prescribed: 4h ride with Z4 efforts plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Stayed home and glared at the cold weather from inside. I was sore and in no mood to go for a ride after the crash.

01-15 Sunday

Prescribed: Rest day, with option of 1-2h endurance ride.

Actual: Stayed indoors, still recovering from crash.

Weekly summary:

Time: 10 h 31 min

Distance: 144 miles

TSS: 633.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 04 (ending 2012-01-08)

Weekly Overview:

Finally back from vacation and recovered from illness, I started a more regular training schedule this week. I also, for better or worse, started dieting. I am blessed with a body type that, given any sort of worldwide food shortage, would give me an advantage: it seems to extract calories from thin air, causing me to gain weight very easily. Ah well. My basic diet plan is as follows:

Estimated calorie needs for someone my age, height, weight, and gender: 2362

Calorie deficit needed to lose one pound per week: 500

Calorie budget: 1862

My usual diet looks like this:

Breakfast: 80g GoLean Crunch cereal, 240g skim milk

Lunch: 4c green veggies (lettuce, spinach, etc.), 100g brown rice, 130g grilled white meat chicken, 100g pasta sauce, 1T olive oil, 1T balsamic vinegar, salt to taste

Snacks: 3 small-medium apples, 1 Clif builder bar, black coffee or tea, and unlimited water!

Dinner: Same as lunch, possible substituting quinoa for brown rice, and salmon for chicken

Total: about 1850 Calories

This is all I'll eat on a rest day. On top of this, I'll use my power meter to replace whatever calories I burn on a ride. I use the very simple "kilojoules expended equals calories burned" approximation, and aim to refuel within an hour of riding. Most of my workouts require an additional 800-1200 Calories per day. Every evening, I'll look at the rides for the next day, estimate how many Calories I'll need during and after the ride, and prepare all the food I'll need. This way, there is always a plan, and there are rarely any surprises.

After years of doing this, I find that losing more than about a pound a week affects recovery time and productivity at work.

In coming weeks, I'll write about why I choose the foods I do, how I established this base diet, and what I eat on rides.

Workouts:

01-02 Monday

Prescribed: Easy recovery ride, ~45 minutes.

Actual: Rode around the neighborhood with my fiancée.

01-03 Tuesday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit workout plus sprint efforts

Actual: As prescribed. I saw a new personal best max wattage of 1443 W in a sprint. When I do a standing start on my Tarmac SL3, it flexes a fair amount.

01-04 Wednesday

Prescribed: 45min endurance ride with stretching session

Actual: Rode for 1h on the rollers. I don't do well in cold weather. Did stretching afterward. I have a routine for this.

01-05 Thursday

Prescribed: 1h Crossfit in AM, 1h threshold combo rollers session in PM.

Actual: As prescribed. Crossfit involved some Tabatas, intense workouts with 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. I found that I can jump on top of a 42" box, but not a 48" box. The PM rollers session was challenging - I discovered I had a flat tire at the end of it. D'oh.

01-06 Friday

Prescribed: 2-3h endurance/tempo ride plus 30min stretching session.

Actual: Rode outside for 2h20min. What a mistake. I was freezing, and as a result, cold and sore. I need to either do these during the warmest part of the day (which is tough with work sometimes), or do them on the rollers (which is tough for more than about 90 minutes). I'm glad that I'm not racing in the shape that I'm in now! Did stretching session when I got home, after warming up some.

01-07 Saturday

Prescribed: 3h threshold combo ride with 2x20 min efforts: 1 flat and 1 climb, plus stretching session (30 min).

Actual: Rode for 3h49min during the warmest part of the day, which was still somewhat chilly. Efforts were solid given my recent power numbers, but I have a long way to go before I am in race shape. Did stretching session afterward.

01-08 Sunday

Prescribed: Day off, optional ride.

Actual: Went on a 1h hike along Skyline Drive with my "little brother" Kevin (http://www.bbbsba.org/).

Weekly summary:

Time: 14 h 24 min

Distance: 184.32 miles

TSS: 768.3

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 03 (ending 2012-01-01)

Hello everyone. I spent last week visiting family and fighting off illness, working out when possible. It is good to be home.

Workouts:

12-26 Monday

Prescribed: Travel day - flight to Ohio. Eat well, wear compression tights, stay hydrated, etc.

Actual: As prescribed. The compression tights definitely do help with air travel - highly recommended. I managed to do an hour spin on the rollers before heading out.

12-27 Tuesday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: As prescribed - really, I did almost nothing except spend time with people I do not see very often. It was cold and snowing.

12-28 Wednesday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: As prescribed.

12-29 Thursday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: Workout at Crossfit Energy, a gym in Ohio. It was interesting to go to a different Crossfit gym. The workout of the day involved a total of 100 lunges with a 45 lb plate overhead, 150 wall balls with a 20lb medicine ball, and 750 jump ropes. It was a bit much, way more volume and intensity than I'm used to. Plus, I was getting sick...

12-30 Friday

Prescribed: Holiday - take it easy.

Actual: Felt sick all day, had trouble keeping food down at some point. Bleck.

12-31 Saturday

Prescribed: Travel day - flight from Ohio. Eat well, wear compression tights, stay hydrated, etc.

Actual: As prescribed. Glad that I felt well enough to travel.

01-01 Sunday

Prescribed: 90 minute tempo ride and stretching.

Actual: I went for a 1h20m ride around Arastradero and Portola roads. It was 65 degrees out! Did 30min of stretching and foam roller work when I got home. Happy New Year!

Weekly summary:

Time: 3h51m54s

Distance: 45.78mi

TSS: 187.8

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose