I finished another FT watts test on the bike about 1 hour ago. My objective was to meet or exceed 170 watts average for each of the 2 20' intervals. I averaged 171 watts for each one, and my normalized power is about that. That puts my power to weight ratio (weight in kg to normalized power) at about 3.36, solidly in the "good"/Cat 3 range for women (based on FT alone; obviously I'm not training the other power measures used by pure cyclists).
This is an increase from 165 just 3 weeks ago, and yesterday I did 3 workouts (3,300 yard swim, 1:08 of strength and a :50 run). I'm feeling strong, fit and like I have more in me, which is good, since I haven't done an Ironman race yet this year!
This is week 7 of 8 weeks of pretty high intensity work that I've survived by eating well, stretching plenty, getting a weekly massage and getting lots of sleep. So even though I sometimes joke about training hardcore, it's those "extras" that are enabling me to train at this level, and so far, I'm very pleased with the results. Running is strong and faster, and swimming is finally coming around since I've added a 4th workout (and some yardage), which is necessary for me, since I've only been swimming for 6 years.
I am pretty stoked right now, yet I realize this is just one moment in time; I have to prove this stuff in a race, but at the same time I am just very, very blessed to be more fit than I've been in my life at the ripe age of 49 going on 50! I feel great.
Unfortunately, the new FT watts means I get to work harder on the bike. But my coach already thought I must be improving my fitness or else I've been working too hard, so maybe not so much.
I had a solid February of training:
Swim: 14.02 hours; 39,700 yards
Bike: 20.39 hours (all on the trainer)
Run: 18.09 hours
Strength: 6.83 hours
Total Hours: 59.33
Total Hours Stretching: 9.8 (avg. :21/day)
Average Hours Sleep/Night: 8.9
3 more weeks (2 more intense training) and I get to see how this all works under race conditions, although I'm going to Ralph's just to get in a good, solid workout and have some fun. Then it's nose to the grindstone, just add volume, to get me to Ironman Brazil.
What fun!
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4 comments:
Tremendous. A very solid month. You're going to have a great race at IM Brazil (but you don't need me to tell you that!)
I'm particularly jealous of the avg sleep per night number. 8.9 hours...wow. I'm lucky to get 7. 6 is more than norm with 2 little ones running around
Sleep is something that can improve anyone's performance, but I notice that you balance your training volume very well against your other commitments, which enables you to do solid workouts.
And that's the key for any athlete--you only train at a volume/intensity level that you can effectively recover from.
For me, I am able to "put in" the sleep hours, and it definitely is key in my ability to train at a consistently high level.
On the other hand, there are a lot of things I just don't stress about--like TV (it bores me mostly), a spotless house (it's neater than most, though), or having a social life during the week (I don't even try). We all need to decide where this training stuff fits in our lives and make it work and be satisfied with the choices we made and the results we get.
It's an interesting game, for sure! Many people say that if they didn't work that they would train more. Not me! I would recover EVEN BETTER!!! Probably stretch more, do some Pilates, more strength work, but my training hours are plenty to put up good race results.
Nicely done month, Sheila. You are just kicking some butt these days. Well, every day since I started reading your blog.
IM Brazil is going to be awesome for you.
Wow. You know, I really admire how together you have things. Have you ever thought of doing online coaching?
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