Back on the Bike with Power

I should be getting ready to ride right now, but when I remembered that I had not posted for a couple weeks, I decided to take a little break and fill everyone in. A lot has happened with school, training and testing with Darrell (buddy & coach). Not to mention, I made a little investment for my bike riding sanity.

After a rest and recovery week that began with the tapering off of a cold and the beginning of the flu, I was happy to get back on the bike last week. I didn't know how long it would take for my body to eradicate the bug that dominated my system. But I got rid of it fast. I began by slowly riding to see if could handle it. After a day of two of improved health, I was sick of of easy spinning. It was time to head over to Darrell's house to do a graduated exercise test.

This test involves starting off at a low level of power, holding it for a minute and then increasing it in increments of about 40 watts until you can't hold the pace any longer. You pretty much ride your legs off by the end of it. Considering I recovered from a feverish flu a few days prior to the test, I was pretty satisfied with my improvements.

To complete the round of testing, I went back to Darrell's the next evening after a 12 hour day of psychiatric clinical rotations. The 30 minute time trial test is a more accurate way of measuring gains when comparing its data to baseline tests. I sadly only added around 10 watts of power averaging at about 263 watts. This seemingly insignificant improvement is alright. I could make excuses, but I won't. With more training at higher intensities, more power gains will come.

Last weekend, to avoid another string of sick days from overtraining, I added a powertap power meter to my arsenal. This is a device that sits in the hub of your bike wheel to directly measure your power output. This allows for more precise training from day to day. With this little computer recording every second of my rides, I will be able to catch trends that may be indicative of too much bodily stress or, put differently, the beginning of overtraining.

Here's the quick and dirty explanation of overtraining:

When your body can't recover from the accumulated stresses of training and life in a given training block, overtraining occurs. Your body can no longer adapt with the level of rest that is usually sufficient. Any further riding is maladaptive, pushing you further into an overtrained state. This can cripple your season by weakening your legs and lowering your immune system's response to antigens. I experienced this by somehow getting a cold, followed by the flu, all while taking multivitamins, sleeping eight hours a night and constantly washing my hands; in other words, these sick spells shouldn't have hit me under normal conditions. With extra time off, you can avoid this depressing state and get back on your bike sooner than expected without losing much fitness.

Besides avoiding overtraining, the powertap lets me shift my training focus from heart rate zones to power zones. Power zones directly correlate with one's fitness. Conversely, one's Heart rate is all encompassing; it tells the story of one's condition on top of his/her fitness. Heart rate can be an issue in this way since it varies with caffeine, stress and the accumulation of physiologic stress from training.

Enough of this boring talk for now.

Nothing else is going on except for the busiest part of the semester...(that's why I haven't posted in a while). Expect more exciting news around February 23rd when I give a race report from OSU's race. The rest of the week will be spent in Helen, Georgia for the UofM training camp. The little German town will work out perfectly since I'll be turning 21--what a perfect recovery drink.

Time to ride.