Holiday surprise

Owing to an unexpected (and unexpectedly generous) Christmas bonus, I found myself able to purchase a Powertap Pro (wired) mounted on a DT Swiss 700c wheel. I kind of would have liked to wait to find one mounted on a Zipp wheel, but the price was right and a friend of mine’s BF is a wheelbuilder and can cut me a deal on getting the hub remounted on a Zipp wheel once I get one. This way i can start training with it sooner, rather than waiting until I have the money for the Zipp's

I didn’t think I’d be getting a Ptap until probably the end of January but now the setup should be shipping tomorrow at the latest and I may very well have it by the first of the year. I’m not sure who is more excited about the Powertap, me or Mark (though perhaps I should be worried that Mark is excited).

The first order of business, of course, will be to see how the Ptap readings match up to the trainer computer I’ve been using, that should be very interesting because if I didn’t calibrate it correctly then my TT results could be well over or well under the 212 average I established, though I’m pretty sure I got the setup right.

I can't wait!

Bike TT

I'm pooped...

40 minute TT on the trainer tonight. 10 minutes splits below...

10' 208W

20' 210W

30' 210W

40' 212W

That's what my pwer computer read at each point, not the split for each 10' period, it doesn't do that on its own, but a little simple math makes it not too hard to figure out.

0-10'  208W

10-20'  212W

20-30'  210W

30-40'  218W

I think I figured that correctly. In any case, the 40' average was 212watts, I really pushed it the last 10', and especially the last 5'.

And now I don't want to move... but I need food. Somebody come bring me some food!

Life is Good?

I wake up every morning and step outside my house to a view of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

I walk to work along  Boulder Creek or Pearl Street, which is basically a choice between a mountain stream or a much less crowded Pedestrians only Newbury Street back in Boston.

I work for a company that cares about its employees and their careers, in an office full of really cool, funny people, doing green design of healthy, healthcare environments.

I’ve come to know wonderful people who have amazing attitudes about the environment, training, architecture, and living life in general.

I bike up mountain passes just minutes from my front door and out onto the prairies. Half the roads have dedicated bike lanes, and even where they don’t the drivers respect cyclists so it doesn’t matter.

I run on paved trails along the creek and up dirt trails climbing hills and mountains with breathtaking views and clean air.

I come home to a comfortable house in a quiet neighborhood and comfortable room, with a fun flatmate who respects and appreciates my quirks.

Some people would say “Life is Good”. I say, “No… Life is Beautiful!”

Swim TT

My last swim TT was back in March and here were the results...

1. 9'22"
2. 9'41"
3. 9'46"
4. 9'42"
T. 38'31"

Today

1. 9'17"

2. 9'45"

3. 9'34"

4. 9'27

T. 38'04"

I started out too strong again and paid for it, but I think I was able to recover from it better than I did back in March. I've made some progress, but not a ton. 27 seconds off of a 2000 yard swim is jsut over a second per 100 yards. Actually, it's .675 seconds per lap. I was kind of hoping to take off a whole second per lap, which would have put me under 38 minutes total. Maybe getting my effort a little more even for the TT would help with that, I'm sure I wasted some energy in that first 500.

Benchmark Testing

I've got Benchmark testing for the swim coming up this week... should be interesting. Even though I feel like my swim has gotten a lot smoother and cleaner, I'm not sure I've gotten much faster. on the other hand, i don'te usually time my swims, I just do the distance and try to push myself appropriately, so maybe I have improved and I just haven't noticed. The bike TT is the following week, no idea when the run TT will be.

38'31" was my time in March for 4x500yards.