“Should have been a ridiculously hard workout.” That’s what my coach said after I sent him my ride data today. Oh, it was. I never expected 3 minute intervals to hurt so much. WOW! I was toast after this workout. I had 6 sets of 3 minute intervals at my aerobic capacity which is pushing 300 watts. I easily averaged 27, leg burning, mph on each interval. I was only out on the bike for an hour and a half, but I felt like I’d done a 5 hour ride afterwards. Focused training is much more intense than junk miles on a group ride. Don’t get me wrong, I like to hammer and ego bash as much as the next guy on the local group outings, but if that’s all you do, you get no significant gains. You are riding a lot, but a lot of what? JUNK miles, that’s what. It took me several years to realize this. There is no sense in killing yourself putting in thousands of miles each year and getting no real results or gains in your abilities. I have not dominated any races this season, but I started seriously training late and got in almost no base miles over the winter. I plan on huge improvements by this time next year. I can already tell I can go harder and stronger in only a few weeks. That can only improve with consistent training. I am now starting to get back to a strict, healthy diet. I need to drop some lbs to make needed gains in my climbing abilities. 8 to 10 pounds would be great if I can do it without sacrificing strength. The goal is to increase my strength to weight ratio. Less weight, same strength=faster. Added strength on top of that would be even better. I’m on my way, if the training doesn’t kill me in the process. BTW, the legs feel much better. That’s kind of a surprise after the ride on the “pain train” today. The photo is not from today, but sums up how I felt after the ride.
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