Tuesdays ride of this rest week is an easy E1 Active recovery ride. Since it was a rest week I kept a fairly slow pace even for an E1. Wednesday was single leg drills and spin ups.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Good Weekend of Riding for Both of Us
Thanks to the weather we both had a good weekend of riding. In general our weekends are very busy and trying to fit in 11 hours of riding combined between Andrea and I make even more difficult. On the bright side the kids are now old enough that they don't need constant supervision and can run around the neighborhood without causing too many problems, they just get on their bikes and ride or play in the yard.
Andrea went out for a set of hard pyramid intervals Friday night because she had a work conference to go to all day on Saturday. The conditions were absolutely perfect highs near 70 and little to no wind. She said the intervals went really well, but is still somewhat concerned that her HR was not high enough. I think we need to possibly reevaluate what her Max HR and LT are during this weeks testing. Overall I am not too concerned because she can put down strong intervals near VO2 Max and her power is very good.
Saturday I put down my best anaerobic intervals of the season thus far completing five 4 minute intervals at 22.5 22.7 mph (indoors on trainer). The intervals lasted a little over an hour with the 4 minute recovery periods. The remainder of the 2:30 ride was at a steady endurance pace a little of 18 mph. The legs were fairly tired by the end of the ride, which is fine because next week is a rest and recovery week.
Andrea was eager to ride again Sunday afternoon and I laid out a route that took her from Hutchinson west on 7, then north on 22 to Litchfield, back east on 12 to Dassel, then back south on 15 back to Hutch. The round trip is just short of 50 mi and she completed it in 2:58 averaging 16.6 mph (on the mountain bike) at an E2 pace (145 Ave HR). Awesome Andrea, keep up the great work!! Her fitness is the best it has ever been and I am sure she will do very well in the sport class this year.
For my ride (indoors on trainer) I was just trying to survive. The legs were dead from yesterday hard workout and I was interrupted a couple of times by the kids (I almost decided to stop the second time). I was however able to complete 2.5 hours at an average speed of 18.2 mph. Not too bad, now for some rest and recovery. Oh yeah and maybe start hitting the weights a little as well.
Andrea went out for a set of hard pyramid intervals Friday night because she had a work conference to go to all day on Saturday. The conditions were absolutely perfect highs near 70 and little to no wind. She said the intervals went really well, but is still somewhat concerned that her HR was not high enough. I think we need to possibly reevaluate what her Max HR and LT are during this weeks testing. Overall I am not too concerned because she can put down strong intervals near VO2 Max and her power is very good.
Saturday I put down my best anaerobic intervals of the season thus far completing five 4 minute intervals at 22.5 22.7 mph (indoors on trainer). The intervals lasted a little over an hour with the 4 minute recovery periods. The remainder of the 2:30 ride was at a steady endurance pace a little of 18 mph. The legs were fairly tired by the end of the ride, which is fine because next week is a rest and recovery week.
Andrea was eager to ride again Sunday afternoon and I laid out a route that took her from Hutchinson west on 7, then north on 22 to Litchfield, back east on 12 to Dassel, then back south on 15 back to Hutch. The round trip is just short of 50 mi and she completed it in 2:58 averaging 16.6 mph (on the mountain bike) at an E2 pace (145 Ave HR). Awesome Andrea, keep up the great work!! Her fitness is the best it has ever been and I am sure she will do very well in the sport class this year.
For my ride (indoors on trainer) I was just trying to survive. The legs were dead from yesterday hard workout and I was interrupted a couple of times by the kids (I almost decided to stop the second time). I was however able to complete 2.5 hours at an average speed of 18.2 mph. Not too bad, now for some rest and recovery. Oh yeah and maybe start hitting the weights a little as well.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Tire Choice
It is that time of season when I have trouble thinking of anything else but mountain biking and more specifically XC racing. In the off season I have had a chance to make some upgrades to my two race bikes and they are mostly the way that I want them. One area that I haven't thought much about until now is tire choice. In the past I have run Continental Explorer Pro in the front and a Twister in the rear with good results. This combination works quite well in a variety of conditions from hardpack, sand, loose over hardpack, and even mud. The twister in the back rolls really well, but if the climbs get steep or there is a hint of mud it becomes difficult to hook up on the climbs. As my fitness has increased I have switched to the more aggressive Explorer in the back as well especially if the conditions are the least bit slick. Last year I purchased a pair of Kenda Nevegals (2.1 front 1.95 rear) and used them for a couple of races. The have decent traction, but the tread pattern is a bit too aggressive for most of the conditions. Although they are said to be a quick rolling tire, I found them to feel slow in comparison to the Explorers. I think this year I will try a few new tires to determine what fits my riding style and conditions well. Listed below are a few of the options.
Hutchinson Python NG Airlight (I have these set-up on my SS)
Update: May 5th, 2007:
Recently I put on the Hutchinson Pythons on the FS and have ridden a couple of laps out at Stahl's Lake. I was pleasently surprised at how well they hooked up on the tacky trail. The bite nicely through the corners and roll extremely well despite the rather sticky trail conditions. My general feeling is that they will work very well when the trail conditions are on the "slow" side because they roll really well. Another added benefit is the relatively large volume for a 2.0 giving a very compliant ride running at 28 psi (front) and 32 psi (rear). There is a race this weekend at Mt. Kato and if the weather is not too raining I might give them a try. If it gets too wet, however, I will stick with the explorers (front and rear) because they handle mud very well and have a more aggressive knob to hook up on the short climbs.
Kenda Karma
Kenda Small Block 8
Maxxis Larson TT
As stated earlier I am also running Stan's tubeless this year as well and will experiment with running lower tire pressures as well. I have heard that many of the pros are running very low tire pressures with larger volume tires.
Great Overall Tire Site:
Monday, March 19, 2007
Things are starting to come around
This weekend was crucial in my mind, because I have felt slightly "off" for the past few weeks; ever since we returned from Arizona. Since then, I feel as if I am just going through the motions and not really progressing very much.
Saturdays ride were hard VO2 max intervals, which I haven't done much of yet and last weekend they went poorly. The objective was to establish a baseline for future comparison. The duration of the intervals were 4 minutes with a 4 minute recovery. The speed was basically whatever I could hold for that duration and still complete 6 strong intervals. I was able to maintain speeds between 22-23 mph (325-360 watts) during the intervals. After the intervals, I finished off with a strong endurance (E2) ride, easily maintaining 18.5 mph.
Sunday was a hectic day with lots of family stuff to do, however, I managed to get in a decent endurance ride before bed. I never like getting on the bike too late in the day. I am usually tired and less motivated to do a good workout, however, it is slightly easier for an endurance ride. The legs felt a little tired at first but warmed up quickly. Overall the ride went really well I was able to maintain near 19 mph for over two hours before I decided to get off before bedtime.
Note: See full details in Matt's Training Blog
Saturdays ride were hard VO2 max intervals, which I haven't done much of yet and last weekend they went poorly. The objective was to establish a baseline for future comparison. The duration of the intervals were 4 minutes with a 4 minute recovery. The speed was basically whatever I could hold for that duration and still complete 6 strong intervals. I was able to maintain speeds between 22-23 mph (325-360 watts) during the intervals. After the intervals, I finished off with a strong endurance (E2) ride, easily maintaining 18.5 mph.
Sunday was a hectic day with lots of family stuff to do, however, I managed to get in a decent endurance ride before bed. I never like getting on the bike too late in the day. I am usually tired and less motivated to do a good workout, however, it is slightly easier for an endurance ride. The legs felt a little tired at first but warmed up quickly. Overall the ride went really well I was able to maintain near 19 mph for over two hours before I decided to get off before bedtime.
Note: See full details in Matt's Training Blog
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Time to Get Back on Track With my Training
Ever since the race in Tucson and subsequent vacation, Everything feels slightly off. I have been trying to get back on track with my training, but things always seem to come up to derail my efforts.
During the first part of my new training plan I could see dramatic changes with each ride and each week built nicely on the previous one. I found it fairly easy to stay motivated, probably because I had a race in February and didn't want to disappoint my teammates. After the race, however, there was a big let down. The first race of the MNSCS race series was still nearly 3 months away and there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. The vacation the week following the race didn't help either. I ate too much food (gained 4 pounds) and did less structured riding. To make matters worse, when I got home I had a turn right around and leave for a work conference for three days.
The training for the past few weeks has been adequate at best, but I feel I effectively maintained my fitness. It is now time to get back on track. This week needs to be turning point and mentally I must be ready for it.
Last week was the first week of the Build 1 phase of training (higher intensity: power and anaerobic work) and it went fairly well with a few notable exceptions (See Matt's Training). This week is week two of Build 1 and is basically a mirror of week one. The main goal is to layout good obtainable plans and be ready mentally and physically to achieve them. Early in the season it was possible go into a workout less than 100% and still complete it. At this point, however, it is extremely important to be 100% ready (mentally and physically) for each and every workout.
I will update later this week on how the workouts progress.*
During the first part of my new training plan I could see dramatic changes with each ride and each week built nicely on the previous one. I found it fairly easy to stay motivated, probably because I had a race in February and didn't want to disappoint my teammates. After the race, however, there was a big let down. The first race of the MNSCS race series was still nearly 3 months away and there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. The vacation the week following the race didn't help either. I ate too much food (gained 4 pounds) and did less structured riding. To make matters worse, when I got home I had a turn right around and leave for a work conference for three days.
The training for the past few weeks has been adequate at best, but I feel I effectively maintained my fitness. It is now time to get back on track. This week needs to be turning point and mentally I must be ready for it.
Last week was the first week of the Build 1 phase of training (higher intensity: power and anaerobic work) and it went fairly well with a few notable exceptions (See Matt's Training). This week is week two of Build 1 and is basically a mirror of week one. The main goal is to layout good obtainable plans and be ready mentally and physically to achieve them. Early in the season it was possible go into a workout less than 100% and still complete it. At this point, however, it is extremely important to be 100% ready (mentally and physically) for each and every workout.
I will update later this week on how the workouts progress.*
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