POWER!

I've finally got the Powertap up and running, so I'll start with today's rides. First up was two hours with ninety minutes at 140 bpm. My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's and Thursday's runs.

During the 90 minutes, I averaged 248 W, 141 bpm, and 79 rpm. The rpm is a bit skewed because I stood every few minutes, and my cadence drops to the low 60s while standing. During normal riding, my cadence was more like 81-82. Here's a graph of the ride:
It's amazing how much power varies even when riding at what feels like a perfectly steading effort (and on the trainer and sans hills, wind, etc.). I think I've got the CPU set for 2 sec. recording, too, which I'd imagine would smooth the curve compared to 1 sec. recoding. For the display, I'm going with 3 or 5 sec. averages, and that also has quite a bit of variance. I've still got to learn to use the CPU for intervals and other features, as it's not very intuitive. Like almost every other electronics company, Cycleops should take a look at Apple's user interfaces. I'd also like 5 or 6 display fields instead of 3. That way, I could simultaneously view power, speed, HR, ride/interval time, and cadence. Oh, and I hope I can set the Cycleops HR strap to work with my Garmin 305, or vice versa, so I don't have to change straps during a race or forego HR. Oh (again), I don't get why the CPU picks up speed when I (1) have no speed sensor and (2) am on a stationary trainer. Still, a very cool toy. For example, I burned approximately 1700 calories in two hours even though a half hour at an easy pace. This is a more accurate and higher number by maybe 400 calories than my Polar watch would have said.

After the first ride, I went for an easy 1 hour run. I kept my HR around 130, though occassionally it got up to 135 or so. Nothing much to note.

A few hours after the ride, I hope back on the bike for a third hour of riding. For the middle half hour, I average 145 bpm and 255 W. My power was all over the place, varying between 220s and 280s as I had a hard time holding a steady HR. As I become more familiar with my power at various HRs, I will try to sit at a power level until my HR rises to a steady state, instead of using a power surge to raise the HR and then backing off to allow the HR to stabilizer. My avg. cadence was also pretty low, just 78 rpm.

On Saturday I did a pair of 0:45 minute runs with a tough swim in between. I haven't checked the run data yet, but for the first run I kept my cadence high (90+ rpm each of the three times I counted). The high cadence results in a quick pace (~6:45/mile) and a HR of 155 bpm or so. Keeping the cadence high while going slow is tough, but I'm working on it. The main set of the swim included 10 broken 150m's, with 75m fast, then 50m all-out, then 25m all-out, each on 1:10. I finished the 75m's aroudn 1:10, so I'd leave on 1:15. This still gave me plenty of rest betwen the 50m and 25m, as well as between the 25m and 75m of the proceding set. Not an easy one. Finally, I did a second 0:45 run. I went slower and kept my HR lower, 135-140 bpm, as I was a bit sore, especially in the hip flexors. Keeping that cadence up works 'em. Not an overly tough day, but not as easy as the 2:30 training time would suggest.

Friday included an easy 0:30 swim. Cake.