Lateralus - Week 5

 

Lows and highs.

I took a week off. It was unintentional.
I set my alarm on Tuesday for a 0430 ride. I didn't get out of bed.
I set my alarm on Wednesday for a 0430 ride. I didn't get out of bed.
I set my alarm on Thursday for a 0430 ride. I didn't get out of bed.

On Thursday, I feel I had a good excuse. The herniated disc in my neck flared, I was on my prescription NSAID. By Friday I felt better.

I haven't worked outside in weeks, and throughout the week I was conflicted. I need to finish things up on the trails before the bugs and heats and full growth sets in. I've been set back by personal commitments (a fun trip to see my brother in Tucson) and the weather.  However, this weekend the weather had turned for the better, although it was cold this morning, it is sunny and the ground is dry. I had great plans for killing honeysuckle.  At the last minute, work proved to be a bitch and I was online this morning (on a Saturday) doing very important Excel that will be obsolete by Tuesday.  So, instead of getting up and going outside for chainsaw therapy like I'd planned, it was 10am and I decided to bike.

It was a good ride. I tackled 2 micro goals - Hell of the North route for the France badge hunter challenge, and week 2 of Zwift Camp. I did the long workout option and that got me almost to the end of the route.  

There were a few surprises.  First, I did fairly well on this workout, which had me pushing above my current comfort level and spending time at 150w.  While 160-170 was my 2022 comfortable cruising power, I am way off that today.  It was nice to see some numbers more like I'm used to.  

Second, the Hell of the North route ends with a climb up the first leg of Mont Ventoux, so the last few k's were straight up a grindy climb.  I ended about 1k short as the workout kicked into cooldown.  I paused the workout, took a 10s breather, and then continued to free ride up the hill, pulling north of 200 watts for several minutes.  These sorts of numbers were very welcome. 

Where I am with the plan? Hell, I don't know.  Next week is week 6, and I should be pushing some intervals while doing a bit of foundation work. 

While increasing my ftp is a goal, I really want to be able to hang with the C-group robot pacer, and while I think that would be a stretch today, I can see it from where I stand.  And that feels good.