Comet - Tempo

Ride with GPS Data
Garmin Connect Data
Distance: 40.48 mi
Moving Time: 02:12:52
Avg Speed: 18.3 mph
Max Speed: 27.8 mph

Goal: 2 x 60 minute intervals sustained in levels 3.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: ~52 oz.of water w/ BCAA's, Glutamine (1) Hammer gel (1) 30 gram Protein drink post ride recovery

The Ride: I struggled in my cycling training all last week and was generally too sore to hit those L4 intervals like I needed to do and then yesterday was a tough ride. It was not so much riding in the rain, but my legs continued to struggle with the feeling of fatigue. There was a couple of times I thought I was going to get dropped and the group was not even pushing hard.

Doing my intervals today I expected about the same type of performance, but my legs felt much better and more open to sit in a nice tempo pace. The day was not near as hot feeling and that certainly helped. The path was not too busy going out and I was able to sit at a nice steady pace and only needed to slow down at the intersections. Coming back it was a little tougher to keep the pace because of concern for families and small children so I calmed my pace at those points and lost time and speed, but no big deal. Near the bike store a guy passed me on a TT bike and I went with him. We were keeping a pace from 24 to 28 mph, but again the foot traffic picked up so I was content to slow down, cool off and be safe around the kids.

It was one of those days that I really wanted to keep going and put on some more miles, but I realize that training has a goal and just pedaling out "junk miles" does nothing except add more fatigue without really a benefit to progress. The training today had a prescribed plan of  2 x 60 minute intervals at Level 3. At the turning point I stuck with the plan and headed back. In the Power Summary below I did exactly what I needed to do for today.

The Weather:  83 degrees, sunny, Very nice compared to the past week of heat.

Bike: LOOK 585, PT Hub, Garmin 705

Power Summary: (Based on Coogan's Levels)
  Level   Minutes       TSS
      1      0.50      0.04
      2      7.52      5.08
      3    122.37    134.95
      4      0.00      0.00
      5      0.00      0.00
      6      0.00      0.00
      7      1.49      2.08

Power Data:
Interval 1:
    Duration:      1:04:35
    Work:          613 kJ
    TSS:           72.4 (intensity factor 0.821)
    Norm Power:    168
    VI:            1.06
    Distance:      20.107 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    452    159     watts
    Speed:           0    24.7    18.7     mph
    Pace             2:26    0:00    3:13     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0    25    6     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0    848    181     lb-in


Interval 2:
    Duration:      1:03:48 (1:04:18)
    Work:          565 kJ
    TSS:           65.9 (intensity factor 0.798)
    Norm Power:    164
    VI:            1.09
    Distance:      19.505 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    620    150     watts
    Speed:           0    28.7    18.3     mph
    Pace             2:05    0:00    3:16     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0    28    5     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0    733    171     lb-in