Increasing Inertia

Tired today.  Didn’t sleep great last night. It got late on my fast last night.  Traffic was horrible coming home from my haircut.  I mean like it took me almost an hour to go 10 miles horrible.  Anyway, I tried to sleep in, but I was up by 6:40 and realized I shouldn’t have called off my workout, but at the same time, figured a rest day could do the body good especially since I crushed it on the bike yesterday.  

I never got to right about Increasing Inertia last week, which was my ride on my Neo from last Friday.  I could say I just got busy and couldn’t write on Friday evening, but the truth is I got lost in the middle of no wear scoping bike routes for David and myself and ended up in Brentwood, which is a town about 20 miles from my house.  Anyway, last Friday’s ride was hard.  Not as hard as Wednesday’s but hard.  The only screaming going on Friday after was me screaming at myself because I just couldn’t keep the RPM’s up where the program wanted them to be.  I was really screaming at myself at the top of my lungs trying to get myself to kick harder.  Last Friday out of like 11 stars, I think I got 3 stars, and that was on the warmup, the recovery, and the cool down.  It wasn’t a good outing.  I rated the ride as very hard and how I felt as very weak.  

Can anyone guess how pleased I was when I opened Training Peaks yesterday and read that my ride was going to Increasing Inertia again.  Not very happy at all.  I tried to maintain a positive mental attitude. However, as I was walking to the bike to get on, I remember saying to myself, this is going to suck, and I am not going to make it.  

Warm Up  - Warm Up is a warm up.  I nailed it : )  I know there are times and wattages for the warm up, but I really do believe if you just get on and peddle you will get a star for the warm.  So, while I love my stars, the warmup star, never really felt like it is really earned.  I mean I had to get on the bike to earn it and I did that so; it is a win. 

Ramp 1:  10 minutes at 150W – I started pedaling and I knew I was never going to make the 10 minutes.  The 150W is an average is shows on the computer screen.  There is an actual range to stick to and I think the floor was like 140W.  So, I just did everything I could to keep it above the floor.  It helped that Patrick Mahomes was beating the Eagles in the Super Bowl on my TV.  It helped distract me from what I was doing.  I pushed and pushed.  There were a few times I had to stand and coast because I needed to give my butt a break.  I have not fully adapted back to the bike seat just yet since surgery.  It is ok.  It happens.  However, I was doing well.  Keeping my Watts above 150 wasn’t impossible and the time was clicking away, and the game being watched on the TV via Netflix’s Quarterback was going back and forth.  I was halfway through the spin, and I hadn’t dipped into the red (below the floor wattage) and I kept going.  I felt for the first time that I could do this.  So, I just kept watching the football on TV and pumping my legs on the bike.  When I went through the first stargate taking me from Ramp 1 to Ramp 2 and the star immediately appeared, I was like fuck yay, baby, I can do this.  I was so happy with the first star, I didn’t care what happened the rest of the way, it was all gravy now.  

Ramp 2:  7 minutes at 165W – It was one thing to get 10 minutes at 150W, but knew that there was no way I would get 7 minutes at 165W, and if you beaked below it is really 10 minutes at 165W and that was pie in the sky.  Wasn’t going to happen.  So, I just kept watching Quarterback on the TV and checking my wattage and time again just kept slipping away.  Tick, tick, tick and my wattage kept in the black.  I was feeling strong.  I kept cranking.  We were in the second half of the Super Bowl now and I realized I had forgotten what a close game it was.  If you had asked me before watching Quarterback, I would have told you the Chiefs wone the Super Bowl by two touchdowns.  It was a field goal.  I don’t remember that.  However, not remembering was great because it kept me focused on the TV and not on the timing ticking away and as I rode through the next stargate transitioning me from Ramp 2 to Ramp 3 and another star showed up and I was jacked.  Once again yelling at myself but yelling in victory and not in defeat.  My, my, my what a difference a few days make.  

Ramp 3:   3 minutes at 165W – OK, so really no way I could handle another 3 minutes at this average wattage it just wasn’t going to happen.  It did.  I was cranking at this point.  There was no stopping me, I was in the zone.  Kicking ass and taking names.  Another stargate and another star!

Ramp 4:   1 minute at 180W – 1 minute at 180 for 1 star.  At this point I was going to do it, there was no stopping me.  I was going to do it.  It was hard.  Very hard, but I did it.  I stared again for the fifth set in a row, I was cooking with gasoline and feeling pretty good, but also feeling pretty tired. 

5 minutes at 123W:  There was no way I wasn’t going to get my star on my recovery.  I knew I was tired. I knew I was working hard.  I was sweating like a pig, fan or no fan blowing on me.  However, I was going for Star 6 and come hell or highwater I was going to get it and I did.  Nailed it!

Ramp 5:  3 minutes at 190W – I knew I was tired.  I knew 3 minutes at 190 was a tough row to ho.  I had stared several times in a row, 6 to be exact and I was ok giving this one away.  It’s not like I didn’t try to get my watts up, because I did. I felt like the system was stingy here when it did not give me half of star.  I felt like I put in the effort, but the machine said Billy b, you, you aren’t good, the whiff and I went starless for the first time.  

Ramp 6:  3 minutes at 180W - to be honest here, I kept riding as if I was on my recovery after not staring above.  I was tired.  I was going to take it a little easy and then attack the last two ramps.  I did try at times to get over the floor and at times I was over it and did well.  However, another hard 3 minutes of spinning went starless.

Ramp 7:  3 minutes at 170W – I was like a beast freed from the cage.  I attacked the 170W.  I gave it all I had.  I pumped hard with my legs, and I was rewarded with another star.  Damn it, I felt great.  However, pumping hard here took a lot out of me and it cost me when it came to the next ramp.  

Ramp 8:  3 minutes at 155W – I fought, I kicked, and I might have screamed a little.  I was tired.  I fought hard but maintaining at 155 after maintaining at 170 was harder than I thought.  I found myself drifting and losing momentum.  I think it was because I kept standing to let me butt recover a little bit and each time I did, I would lose a lot of wattage.  So, I came out of ramp 8 with only a half star.  I knew that I had stood up and coasted a few times, I was ok with the half star.  I did good, but not full star good. I agreed with the computers’ assessment of the situation.

Cool Down:  I was so happy to be on the cool down.  It was a ten-minute cool down that seemed to last for hours.  I did a really nice job of bringing down my HR.  I finished Quarterback.  It is an ok show, it is pretty cool, not great, not bad.  I tried to turn on a YouTube video for my last 6 minutes, but my TV failed me, and I had to do the last 6 minutes by myself and not distractions.  When you are watching a clock that really sucks!  Oh well it was 6 minutes for glory, or what I perceived as glory.  I mean what a comeback from last week.  I felt amazing and strong.  I rated the workout an 8 and gave myself a very strong rating.  It felt good to kick a little ass on the NEO.  It was not the same workout, but it was close, and it was oh so good.  I felt freaking awesome and was proud of myself.