So to keep me accountable, how am I doing after 30days;
You have to ask my family (but no complaints so far, to me anyway)
Ill week 1-2 so only avergaed 413 TSS, weeks 3-5 will be 500TSS so back on track
Got MFP and definately eating cleaner (how many calories was I eating with my mid afternoon snack ). Body fat, according to Boditrax in the Gym has dropped 1%.
Overall 8/10
Another 90 days accountable post;
More family time due to WFH and not travelling, you’ll have to ask them if that’s good or bad
Achieved, most weeks over 500tss, now getting consecutive weeks over 600tss nailed this one
MIxed results, sometimes good, sometimes cookies…Honestly I’ve yet to fully get this goal right
A-race has been cancelled so I’ve now another 59 weeks to improve (especially 3)
FTP is now 195, so I’m 36% of the way to my first goal. Looks achievable.
Weight is 222… no idea why that needle is frozen in place. Looks challenging.
Re cruise speed, I’ve realized that I lack the aerobic fitness (“base”) to pile on intense training, so I’m doing a Traditional Base block (Zone 2, 65% to 70% of FTP). I expect that 2-3 months of this will really help me. Looks like I aimed too high on this goal, but I’m making good progress and will see what results I get from hard work.
I added a new goal! In March, I decided to start running again. I’m now completing two 5K outings a week, but still can only do jog/walk intervals. My “intermediate” running goal is a continuous 5K (probably in June or July), and my goal for 2020 will be to run a 5K under 25:00.
Mid year check in.
I was nice and consistent earlier in the year while the weather was poor. Once Covid started and races were cancelled I started doing more zwift races and group rides.
TSS Avg - 310 per week which is a bit lower than target
FTP - 3.98 w/kg at 303w!
I did win the first and only crit of the year so far! Check out my video here
I can upgrade to Cat 3 if I want. Will be interested to see if there will be more races this summer in my region (CO).
Sub 24min 5k
Sub 1h50 half marathon🏅
Sub 4h marathon Postponed but was on track
Sub 2h30 Olympic triathlon Postponed but a virtual PB bike leg 1h05
Sub 6h 70.3 Postponed but a virtual PB bike leg 2h37
So now I have 3 months to work on the final goal, should the race go ahead.
My 2020 goal was to do a sub 9 hour leadville, with a big stretch goal of getting top 10 in my age group (probably would have taken ~ 8:15ish). My other “A” event goal was to improve my corral position at the Rattler qualifier event, so I was super fit in March and ready to go.
So, all of that is pushed to 2021 for now, but it’s just another year to stay motivated to train. I need big events to motivate me and I enjoy the process of training hard when I have something to train for.
The irony is that while I didn’t have a chance to hit my big 2020 goals, those goals resulted in 2020 being arguably my best year ever racing. I went into Feb/March at really high fitness and was just having a blast and getting some nice results.
I make an effort to not put too much importance on these big “A” events. Even if the covid thing didn’t happen, I know I can have a mechanical or crash out at any time and I don’t like to have all my eggs in one emotional basket. As disappointed as I was that my big goal events got cancelled this year, it was very fulfilling to see all that training translate to new levels of fitness and some good results in local races.
Stay consistent with structured training I did pretty well at this until the last month or so, without any races I’ve shifted priority to having fun riding outside and losing weight
Make first attempt at some real bike races (crits/RRs) Probably not happening.
Climb Mt. Lemmon in March Made it…but just barely
Increase volume to 5,000+ miles this year. On track to hit this
Improve nutrition (less processed, more veggies and fruits) I’m probably doing better than last year, but still have a ton of room to improve in this area
Get my FTP back up to 220 (currently at 210) by April Reality This this one by a lot I just got my FTP back up to 220 this last week, but I put the miss down getting COVID back in February. That sucked, and negatively impacted my training for 2 months
Stretch FTP Goal is 250 (3.8 watts/kg) by end of September Reality See above. Now targeting 250 FTP for early 2021
Break 7:30 for Levi’s Gran Fondo Growler Route - 117 miles / 10.6K feet in climbing Reality Event moved, both dates and locations, from October 4 to May 29. So this is now becomes a “never doable”. The new routes are so different - lengths, feet of climbing, location, etc. - that I previous performance will not be comparable. New goal set closer to the event.
Process Goals to Achieve my Outcome Goals:
Don’t crash and burn in training - the last several years I’ve started strong, but then crashed and burned where my training volume decreased over several months which severely dropped my FTP and killed the 2nd half of the year Reality Well, about that process goal Doing Festive 500 took more out of me than I thought, but I was coming back when I got COVID, so I call this a wash. I was in a decent spot - CTL = ~60 - before I got COVID in February, and my training from April to know has been pretty consistent
Working with my coach to consistently up my training volume at a manageable rate - target is TSS ramp rate of 14 - 21 / week Reality I’ve mostly achieved this from April - now, so I give this a
Get at least 8 hours of sleep / night Reality According to my Vivoactive 3 / Garmin Connect, I’ve achieved this
Do at least 4 strength sessions / week - I have bad knees, and if I don’t keep on top of things, then knee issues derail me Reality
OK, I’ll revisit since we’re about at the half way point.
Have fun, train right, eat right Remains ongoing but going well and staying focused despite all the doom and gloom going on in the world.
Complete two 100 mile gravel events (local Greenville Rambler 100 and Land Run/MidSouth 100) Completed both of these.
Win or at least place in the top 3 of our local endurance MTB Winter series in the 6 hour/50+ category (first race in less than 2 weeks!) Completed as much as I could. First race was postponed due to weather, I placed second in the 2nd race, and that was it before races started getting cancelled.
Finish ahead of certain individuals in cross (names withheld because why let them know I’m gunning for them ) Nope! Not yet and I doubt we’re having a cross season this year.
Win or at least podium in as many 50+ cross races as I can I did podium in the one and only 50+ race I did earlier this year, but no more races on my calendar at this point.
“Looking a little further, for 2021 my goal is to win my age group in the Spring TMBRA mountain bike cross country series”
With so much uncertainty remaining in the races that haven’t been cancelled, I’m about at the point where I’m shifting my training goals towards the 2021 mtn bike season.
Maintain 4.0+ w/kg throughout running focus part of year (went from 3.1 > 4.0 this year) have dropped to 3.5-3.6
Improve upon the 4.0 w/kg in the second half of the year Boston postponed/cancelled and now virtual, will likely not cycle very much for the rest of the year.
Sub 2:55 marathon at Boston (stretch goal, sub 2:50) def not going sub 250 in a virtual race.
Top 5 in AG at next 70.3 (unexpectedly came in 7th with no swim training this year) by not switching focus to cycling post April Boston run will not likely race 70.3 this year.
Depending on whether I run a half or full at the end of the year either sub 1:18 half or new marathon PR signed up for the December half and will aim for the sub 118… Short of the race being cancelled I dont see any reason I cant check this one off.
Continue crit racing with a podium finish (started crit racing in 2019 and completed my first 10 races) no races in the near future… if/when races resume I’ll be there… though unlikely I’m manage to pull off a podium finish.
Complete omnium with at least mid pack finish little chance an omnium will take place locally this year.
Long term goals for me:
Race pain free and with joyous enthusiasm for the next 15 years (will reassess when in 60)
Complete a bikepacking race of over 1 week duration.
Be able to run over the hills in the bleakest of conditions for hour after hour. Currently can now do 1hr steady runs after starting in April.
Have some more epic cyclocross battles and get back on the podium after a few years away.
Mtb stage race in the Alps. Hopefully next summer for this.
Do an epic journey on the bike.
To achieve this
Continue to do:
very long rides every couple of weeks.
2 -3 properly structured interval sessions/week. Using Trainerroad or own format
Run 1-2 times/week, allowing complete recovery between runs. Slowly, slowly on this one.
Do some more weight training but not so much as to give myself back pain. (He says speaking from grim experience)
Updates below. I guess I was lucky that most were process goal, even if that still means lots of crosses! COVID looks to have had a more negative impact on my training based upon the below than it has in reality. I’ve been really consistent training wise, it’s the other stuff…
and now you’re norcal famous! race was real solid, watched with some friends & we were talking about how you managed to win the sprint AFTER being in a break for a while
ya thanks! I thought it could be a fun race for Jeff to comment on. Glad he wanted to show it. I was hoping to draw out some other riders and try to get a break going but no one was that interested so I didn’t push it too hard when I was out solo. Surfed wheels to the finish like I’ve always had to do and finally got a win this time.
Im not even sure where I started the year now to be honest. I was and had everything planned to race ToAD. Instead COVID hit and instead I’ve raced Redlands Bicycle Classic, Joe Martin Stage Race all on Zwift.
I’ve cracked 4w/kg for 20+ minutes in the past month on a few occasions.
Set a new FTP @342
Goals for the remainder of the year
Complete Disaster Day twice
Continue to build fitness
Break 1500w Sprint by end of December
The State Crit Titles are in Nov (on a very ordinary short course - 800m long. 400m uphill, 400 down plus a chicane)
Long term is to get down to 77-79kgs.
Do the few road races we have left in the short season
I MAY race Masters Nationals in January in the TT and Crit
Since COVID hit and I finally saw my last doable triathlon cancelled for September I am aiming to keep it simple…focus on consistent training into 2021. This means sticking to the TR training plan, albeit with a later goal date. I think one of the keys to doing this without a very defined off-season is to let the occasional workout slide by guilt-free. By taking a longer term approach I am hoping to avoid burnout and keep that consistency high!
287w is my best 20 minute effort so far, thanks Crit City. I think I can hit 300 but it might have to wait for cooler weather.
Haven’t made it to Brown County yet to try to clean the Walnut trail. Too many scheduling problems due to COVID work disruptions. Still planning to take some cracks at it this fall if circumstances permit.
Not going to a crit or MTB race, even if they happen. Trying to stay home and avoid crowds when I can.
I haven’t ridden in a wholly new locale as per the goal, but I did take advantage of extremely low car traffic during the stay at home period and rode some large thoroughfares that don’t usually work for bikes. https://strava.app.link/n8MGc2O8a8
). Body fat, according to Boditrax in the Gym has dropped 1%.
nailed this one
Postponed but was on track
I did pretty well at this until the last month or so, without any races I’ve shifted priority to having fun riding outside and losing weight
Probably not happening.
Doing Festive 500 took more out of me than I thought, but I was coming back when I got COVID, so I call this a wash. I was in a decent spot - CTL = ~60 - before I got COVID in February, and my training from April to know has been pretty consistent
Completed as much as I could. First race was postponed due to weather, I placed second in the 2nd race, and that was it before races started getting cancelled.
) 
signed up for the December half and will aim for the sub 118… Short of the race being cancelled I dont see any reason I cant check this one off.