Rest Week Complete - Back to Work

I finished my 1st 4 week block of this "training plan" with a rest week. My first time trying a plan, and so far so good (I think). This 1st month has been focus on building a base. Mostly zone 2 rides and increased to some upper zone 3 (sweet spot) at the end of the 3 weeks. The workouts weren't really hard, but they were more consistent than I've done in the past. I was doing 7-8 hours on the bike each week. Much more time than last January.

One highlight of the month was a "break-through" for me on yesterday's team ride. I finally achieved a 4 digit number on my power-tap. Hit a peak of 1035W for a couple seconds. It wasn't even a real sprint - just "jumping up" to catch a guy off the front. I only hit ~875 last year at the peak on summer racing. It's not a big number for sprinter folks, but for me it was a step in the right direction. That strength class must be paying off.

I can start to see the benefits of rest/recovery. I definitely feel good on the Saturday ride after a mellow day on Friday after a week of workouts. I came across an article on Training Peaks that talks about form, fitness, and freshness. The first couple paragraphs get across the point and the rest is details about a charting function in their software.

February brings on the 2nd month of the plan. I'm tossing in a good Monkey wrench by heading to Tucson for a week long training camp at the Cycling House. So, I'll get in a week of major base miles. Looking forward to the good weather, long climbs, and hanging out with cycling friends and crew. The rest of the month starts to incorporate some shorter threshold (zone 4) intervals and mostly longer (2x20 minute) sub-threshold intervals. Looking ahead to March, this is all in preparation for the hard work in March and April (20 min threshold).

Sounds like the VeloVie bike was delayed due to painting and Chinese New Year. Hope to see it in the next couple weeks.