A New Year, A New Me?

I started my “Out Season” – as distinct from “Off Season” (when we become slothful couch inhabitants)  and “In Season” (when we are training for specific races) – in mid December. Usually, my Off Season lasts about 10-14 days, then I start doing “free exercise”, which is just going to the pool and swimming a mile, &/or running 3-5 miles every day, &/or getting on the trainer for an hour of noodling around. This year, I added “skiing on an inch of old snow for six days, followed by a powder day”.  So when Dec 15th rolled around, I was ready to hit the plan at full speed.

First thing I did was a bike test to set my baseline for training purposes. This gets me a number, called, the FTP, which is the average power I could hold if I went all out for an hour. I set up my 8 year old CompuTrainer, built on 1990 software and ignorant of the wireless revolution in the 21st century. I put my road bike onto that dinosaur, and pedaled away for a 212 FTP – the highest I’d had at the start of an OutSeason since I began training that way. But the road vs time trail bike difference makes it hard to compare. It’s easier to produce power with the hip angles the road set up provides.

Then, my CompuTrainer began dropping communication from the flywheel to the head unit/controller to the computer. All those wires and connections make it impossible to know precisely what was going wrong. But I’d told myself years ago that, the next time the CT started failing, I would buy a modern version of that venerable machine: the Wahoo Kickr.

With the new machine, I no longer generate the power data from the rear wheel/hub, called a PowerTap. Instead, the wheel is not there, the rear derailleur attaches directly to the Kickr’s flywheel, which reports the power at that point. I kept riding at the same power levels, but my heart rate and sense of difficulty were significantly lower for the same power output. This difference was formalized today, when I did another test. My new FTP is now 237 – a 12.5% increase. I don’t know what to make of this from a year-to-year comparison perspective, as there are so many different variables.

I know this is at least an improvement over the past 4 weeks, as my average heart rate for the first effort was 146, now it’s 138, and I felt just as exhausted after each of them. So I am more fit, no matter what my “real” FTP is. I have felt *really* good in the last 4 week training block, better than any OS in the past five years. Simply having a new machine may be part of that.

But I am also reflecting on the local NFL team, the Seahawks, and their unprecedented run of success the past few years. Their coach is constantly preaching: “Every practice, every game, is a championship opportunity, a chance to compete” My goal this year is to nail my race in Kona come October. Considering how poorly Ive done there the last four times I’ve done that race, I need a new mindset to get reach my goal of being in the top ten in my age group at these world championships.

So I am approaching each and every workout as a chance to swim, bike, or run as if it is a championship competition. Not kill myself each and every time, but make sure I nail perfectly the workout in terms of hitting my times/paces/power per my tests, not slow down during or between intervals, emphasize very specific technique during swim, bike and run, etc. I am raising the level of my mindfulness, so that come race day, it will be second nature, nothing special, simply another championship opportunity, one of 550 I will have this year.

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