I just started my 3rd week of training (week 6 on my training plan) and am starting to feel fully recovered from my ruptured appendix incident. My power and endurance is still not where it was before my hospital stay, but I’m on a definite upward trend. I suffered a running injury around the area of my right knee, due to going out to long too soon. This has prevented me from doing my running workouts. I’ve been substituting in the elliptical trainer to at least get the cardio aspect. I think I’m making some good progress though, as the pain is showing up less and less, and some activities that used to bring the pain on, no longer do. We’ll see how Friday’s run goes.
As I mentioned in my year in review post, I’m training with a Powertap this year. Last year I had an iBike iAero, but was not very happy with it. The iBike power meters don’t measure power directly (and I guess the Powertap doesn’t either, but it’s a lot closer), rather it calculates all of the opposing forces working against you (wind, gravity, etc). I was never happy with the numbers I got out of it until they released a major firmware update. maybe I didn’t do the calibration correct early in the season, but I don’t have to second guess my self with the Powertap.
So what does training with power give me? It allows me to set specific goals, track progress and adjust my workouts based on the power data collected. I’m currently reading thru “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan, which is the book that is always recommended on the forums. I came across another book that is supposed to be targeted towards triathletes who are training with power, and will probably take a look at that. The Allen/Coggan book has a lot of references to road racing which don’t translate directly to triathlon.
One of the first rides I did with my new Powertap was to do a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test. I used the testing protocol in the Allen/Coggan book on my Kurt Kinetic Trainer. My result, an abysmal 190 watts. While I didn’t have the Powertap pre appendix rupture, I did have some ride files with my average speed on the KK trainer. Based on this I can tell that I dropped almost 30 watts due to my appendix, surgery and hospital stay. I’ve been hoping that I get some of this back for “free”, and with a jump in FTP of 4 watts in just one week, I think I will get some of it back for “free”. With around 7 months of training left, I’m not all that concerned right now. I know what I was able to do last year, and I’m already exceeding my weekly training volume from last year and it’s only February.
Last week I had about 12.5 hours of training, and this week I should be closer to 14, even with a busted swim session thanks to a little kid throwing up in the pool. I’d like to bump up the bike hours a bit on my training plan, and I’m working in some VO2max and threshold workouts to help make up for my current FTP. I have a very ambitious goal of raising my FTP to 275 before Ironman. I don’t know if this is a realistic goal, but you need to have something to shoot for. I will re-evaluate this goal once I can get riding outside once again.
With the power tap purchase, I’m pretty well set on all the big ticket items. I want to get a wheel cover for my rear wheel, and will probably look to rent an aero wheel for the front. I’ll go thru a couple of pairs of shoes I’m guessing, and could stand a new set of bike shoes and pedals. I may trade in the Garmin Forerunner 305 for a 310xt. The increased battery life and the ability to record power data is very nice.
I’ll also be trying various nutritional products to satisfy my race day fueling needs. My plan is to try to be able to hit 300 calories an hour on the bike using a highly concentrated “sports” drink supplemented by gel. I’d like to be able to get 6 hours worth of calories into a single 24oz bottle, but I’m not sure it can be done. I think the long bike rides are as much about figuring out your race day nutrition as it is for fitness.
Until next time.