Ramping Up Before Rest

I was able to get in 2 good VO2 max workouts this week and I have decided that although the 5 minute efforts will eventually help me in 'cross, they are harder for me to do than the 3 minute efforts. But, they have gotten easier over the last 4 weeks. Here is an example of what the power graph looks like for 2 5 minute efforts and a 3 minute effort.

It is not much to look at really but shows that if you concentrate on a flat road you can maintain good wattage for the interval.

I also had the pleasure of doing 8, 12 second sprints today. They were done as follows: 2 in 39x17 (standing start to mimic 'cross starts), 4 in 53x17 rolling at 14mph, and 2 in 53x15, also rolling at 14 mph. They all went pretty well and I rested for about 2.5 minutes in between. Here is the data and what the power graph looks like:













In August 2006, my sprint power was much greater than right now. I was averaging over 1000W for 12 seconds and over 1300W for max power in the sprint. So, I still have some work to do there.

I recovered from the century better than I thought considering the heat that day. But, next week school starts and my overall numbers will take a hit because it is a rest week and also my training time will be cut significantly.

A year ago my CTL was about the same as it is now, and peaked at 72 tss/d on the 13th. But, I was not training as hard after that and it only decreased from there which i do not anticipate happening at the same rate this year. I would like to get it to 80 tss/d by the middle of September, but that remains to be seen. Here is a picture of what my last 28 days looks like (I had two days totally off because of a virus with fever).
Ideally I would like to get my CTL as high as possible before late October but it will be hard with reduced training time, school and other things of greater priority. I understand how to raise it better now and what to avoid.

I got my new 'cross bike built and it is light at 17 lbs. Not sure of the ride yet but it looks nice and I'll give it a try in a few weeks. The better thing is that it only cost me $350 for the bike.