Go hard or go home

This is just a quick impromptu post inspired by my workout tonight.  I'm in the midst of a solid training block starting last week and extending through this Saturday.  Last Thursday I nailed an 18 mile long run averaging a comfortable 7:25/mile and feeling good start to finish.  Saturday I did the Ride to Montauk - 110 miles from Babylon, NY to Montauk point lighthouse.  It's a dead flat route aside from a few rollers at the very end but the wind was pretty stiff a lot of the day.  The first 20-30 miles have relentless stop signs, and intersections as it weaves through neighborhoods but eventually it opens up and I was able to settle into a steady effort and get some good cruising. I ended up with 5:45 total ride time @ .81 IF and had a 3.5hr block at .85 - solid work. Sunday was a day off to travel then a good 10 mile tempo run Monday (5 miles @ 6-6:10/mile).  Tuesday was hill sprints and plyometrics.

That brings me to today - a 42min max effort power test on the bike.  It was over 90 today but I don't think that impacted me much since I wasn't out riding until after 6pm.  This is an extremely challenging workout that is very tough to motivate for.  Basically, it hurts like hell and you may not like the results.  This one turned out to be pretty rewarding though and worth the suffering.  After a good warmup I got into the test - 2X20' with 2' rest between intervals.  The objective is to go as hard as you possibly can for that 40; with only a very short rest period.  The average power for the entire 42min sets your reference power for all workouts over the next 6 weeks or so.  I thought I was right about 270W for my threshold power but hadn't formally tested to confirm (I tend to put this test of at every opportunity).  I set my Garmin display to show me nothing but the timer and dropped the hammer.  For a test like this it's best not to have any feedback aside from the effort you feel.  Seeing your actual power in real time can lead to either chasing some number that you think you should be able to hit or maybe even getting discouraged and losing motivation if you aren't meeting preconceived expectations.  So I had no idea if I was near what I thought I could do or completely bombing it.  Either way 2X20 is always a very good workout, so I had that going for me.  I gave it everything I had, paced fairly well, and finished on the verge of tossing my afternoon snack all over Shore Drive.  Turns out I did 277W and 264W and logged 268W for the entire 42min - exactly on target with what I thought. 2 thumbs-up for going hard and proving whatcha got!

Here's the power file -  CLICK ME

On tap for the rest of the week - 2hr run tomorrow at 6am, 4hrs riding on Skyline Drive Friday, and 100 miles riding with Bike Virginia out of Berryville, VA.  Sunday is reserved for sitting on the beach with some cold beverages.