comment from clinic attendee

Thanks, Peter! I should mention that YOUR comments at one of your time trial clinics last year are what started me down the path of taking strength and body composition more seriously! I contacted Dawn W. and was horrified to find I really was at 24-25% body fat despite all the training. Also was struggling with the bike because in running, my first sport, I was getting by on cardio fitness and endurance and not power/leg strength. Very interested to see how my performance is affected now by carrying around 15 pounds less body fat and increasing my strength and muscle mass. I truly do have you to thank for putting the resources out there and elevating it to a serious concern in my mind. Connie

Day 2 of Over/Unders

Had big swing on todays efforts. Once again it was 90 degrees and super humid. The first set was 325/375/323/390. Felt good about those. Next set was 319/353/305/346. So-so on those. Last set was 303/324/278/326. Had nothing on those. HR was 160+ so I stuck with it. Was down 3lbs when I got home and that was after downing two bottles in the hour. Big storms are clearing out the hot and humid weather. Didn't have enough of it to get used to it this summer.

over unders

I did these at 3:30pm, 95-97 degrees and humid using the crit course at Ault Park. I did 2 laps under and 1 over, 3 times the first set and 2 the second. This was close to 16 minutes on the first and around 11 minutes on the second. By the time I was done with those I was beat. I lost about 4 lbs and had two bottles on the bike. Here is the power breakdown: 327-377-328-371-322-376; 5 minutes off; 318-342-307-352; no HR monitor on but checking my pulse I was at 172+ on the last efforts.

Dietician recommends Strength Training to a Client

I had a call from Dawn Weatherwax at Sports Nutrition 2 Go re a mutual client. This man in the last year lost 5lbs of fat and gained 1 lb of muscle but us still at 20% body fat. He's a very competitive tri-athlete in his age bracket, like one of the top ten in national events and was invited to the world championships in Las Vegas. He wants to get faster and Dawn recommended adding more strength training and I agree. More cardio isn't going to do it. Subbing muscle for fat will occur with weight training. Too many endurance athletes don;t do enough strength training! they think they'll gain weight when they'll actually become more lean.

last day in the mountains

I spent a couple of hours riding the loop in Cades Cover today. Did three laps while stopping to take many photo's. Rode with a backpack with the camera body and a few lenses and some shoes to go off road if needed. I never really tracked the elevation gain for that 11 mile loop (have probably ridden it 20 times) but it's almost 800' per lap. Much more than I thought. Rode pretty easy most of the way but on lap two while taking a photo some guy in real cycling gear blew by me so I had to chase. Caught him and passed him definitively on one of the hills and even with my backpack and steel frame he never got close again. Ended up with 188 miles and 18,000' of climbing in about 2.5 days of riding and about 7 miles of hiking. Plenty of pictures on my facebook page which is open to the public. Had some great dinners at The Cherokee Grill with their crab bisque every night. Fantastic! Will be resting the next two days at least.

Comments on the Smoky Mtn Century

This is a tough ride! I've done it maybe five times and 100 miles, 6.5 hours, 10,000' of climbing, solo, is a long day. The weather was great with temps in the 80's at the lower elevations and upper 60's at 6500'. Lots of great late season wildflowers blooming at the high elevations. Checked power on the climbs. Held 245 for about 1:21 heading toe Newfound Gap from Sugarlands and about 235 from Cherokee to Newfound. Newfound to Clingmans, when I was pretty cooked, was about 190 watts for 35 minutes or so. By the time I got to Clingmans I was at 4:38. Then I had the long descent to Sugarlands where I rode to Elkmont and back to the chalet to get the 100 miles. The two major climbs in this ride are both in the top 100 rides in the book The Complete Guide to Climbing. I think Clingmans from Gatlingburg is ranked 65th and from Cherokee around 80. Kind of fun to get in two of the top 100 in one ride. But, I am beat.

Elevation and Power for Smoky Mtn Century

100 Mile Smoky Mtn Elevation: Gatlinburg to Cherokee To Clingmans and Back

Cleves, again

no change, 22:42, for the last month or so. Truly just not super motivated to ride this at this point in the season. Five weeks to go. Maybe one more decent ride? low 22's? Oh well. Off to the Tennessee this morning for a few days of riding. Looking at 100+ tomorrow and Friday.

20 Minute Field Test

I used SR 52 for this. I started the interval at the light by Coney Island and finished past the Beckjord Power Plant near New Richmond. Average power was 351 or 4.6 watts/kg. Riding my all steel road bike my average speed was 25.6. This is the exact same power I held about four years ago when I was using a power meter on my tt bike for Cleves and the Blue Streak. That was under race conditions and while todays effort was to be as intense I always feel like I pull out a few more watts in a race as opposed to hammering alone.

August Blue Streak Time Trial

The temperature in Dayton this past Wednesday was in the low 70's with a wind from the north east. Didn't feel like a fast evening but I was able to post my fastest time on that course this year with a 21:38 or 27.73 mph average. Glad to get a good time after the last month on the home course. It is easier to ride well when I don;t have to manage the event and ride early with just a few other riders. I think I pasted 10 people in ten miles and ended up with the best time out of the 117 riders by about 20 seconds. Tomorrow I'm doing the 20 minute field test. Curious to see where my power zones will be at this point in the season.

more 6x3 minute power intervals

Did these on a flat road along the Ohio River into downtown Cincinnati. Average power was 407, 401, 404, 404, 392 and 383. The goal is to hold 400 plus or average 400 on them. Close at 398.5. Long ride tomorrow, probably 115-125, off on Sunday and Monday and then riding the Bleu Streak on Wednesday. Unsure of the Cleves TT on Tuesday but will likely skip it. Time for some recovery.

Cleves Time Trial

Another week at 22:45. Might be time for a week off that course. Feeling kind of tired of it, no spark in the legs, unable to get that 28mph average back. Probably have close to 20 times trials this season. Not unusual that I'd be a little burned out on it. Also felt the two days of intervals from last week along with that big day on Saturday.

Long day on the bike

Rode a little over 113 starting at 6am (Cincinnati to Augusta Ferry into KY to Maysville, back to Aberdeen, Oh, Ripley, Oh and then back to Cincinnati then did another 27 later in the day for 140. Took today off with just some recovery miles in the basement and the afternoon at the pool.

6x3 Power Intervals

Used he Ault Park course for these. Held 409, 412, 391, 381, 384 and 385. A little lower than expected but I get another shot at them tomorrow. Total ride time was about 50 minutes and had 1500' of climbing with a normalized power at 316. Yesterday was 90 minutes at endurance pace and then did my 55 minute circuit class. Could feel those lunges, squats, squat jumps and lunge jumps during todays intervals.