Steady Progression

Three solid months of training are now under my belt, mainly consisting of base mile workouts including tempo, steady-state, fast pedal, and one-leg drills.  Everything is progressing to plan and I couldn't be happier witht he consistent results from the FTP tests.  Yesterday I conducted by second FTP test since starting training at the beginning of November.  The results were beyond expectation which proves that the training plan laid out for me is exactly what's necessary to continue to increase my fitness during the base/build phases.  Consistency and dedication have been the name of the game including focused attention to detail during the various workouts.  February is sure to bring about more interesting workouts and a appropriate and progressive increase in workload to help ensure continued enhancement of fitness and power.  February will be a fun month and with the weather beginning to warm up as spring nears will only cause more excitement to get out on the road!  Can't wait!
FTP test results from last two tests:

Date:	12/30/2010	1/27/2011
Test Ride Time:	20:04	20:01
Distance:	7.56 mi	7.61 mi
Ave. Speed:	22.71 mph	22.77 mph
Ave. Cadence:	93 rpm	93 rpm
Ave. HR:	184 bpm	179 bpm
Ave. Power:	319 watts	329 watts
Watts/kg:	4.14	4.38

Guilty As Charged

Contador has been provisionally suspended from racing for 1 year by the Spanish Cycling Federation.  Yet another potential legend of the sport goes down because of doping.  When will the sport be clean?  Honestly, I don't believe cycling or any other sport will be clean because it's inherent that some individuals competing become so overwhelmed with winning they'll take their chances with doping to remain on the top step.  A one year ban though?  That's it?  Seriously?  It has to be inevitable that the UCI will appeal the ban with CAS and push harder for the full 2 year ban.  A positive test is a positive test, no matter who you are; a Tour winner or the support rider that no one knows exists.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the next month or two as Contador will surely appeal the ban with more convoluted reasoning for what "really" happened on the second rest day of the Tour.  A note for all those dopers out there: if you dope, you will get caught and face the consequences.

Update for the New Year

Okay so my communication though this thing has been almost non-existent.  It’s been exactly 132 days since the last post, about 4 months…   

So what have I been up to?  To be honest, a little of everything while trying to stay out of trouble!  2010 wrapped up with some travels abroad for work and traveling for the holidays to visit family and friends.  2011 kicked off quietly but is already beginning to shake things up.   My wife and I are expecting our first child on St. Patty’s Day and we’re growing more excited as the days and weeks past.  As most already know, we’re having a boy!  That’s right, adding to the men’s cycling team.  I have to train harder now because I will need all the power I can get when he decides it’s time to show his dad how to ride a bike.  Before I know it he’ll be pulling me down the road while I sit in the draft sucking up every bit of oxygen available!

Other than being excited for the addition to our family, we’ve recently replaced our inventory of vehicles.  I decided it was time to trade in the Trailblazer for a vehicle that better suited our expanding family.  A van now sits in the spot my Trailblazer used to assume in the garage.  That’s right, a van.  I couldn’t be happier it.  Everyone should see how easy it is to get bike in and out of there without removing any wheels!  Our other vehicle, the Hyundai Elantra was involved in a fender-bender that my wife had a few weeks back.  Luckily, Amy and the baby were just fine after 24 hrs of monitoring at the hospital.  The little car did its job and protected what I value the most, my family!  We’ve replaced the Elantra with a Toyota Camry that I will use and my commuter car to and from work and cycling events.

On the cycling end of the spectrum, things have been progressing well.  My coach has been setting me up with a great plan that will surely bring out many great successes this year and assist me with reaching the goals I’ve established for 2011.  Winter trainer riding is definitely not for the weak-minded though.  Spinning through hours of torturous steady state intervals and tempo workouts are only subdued through watching the Packers dominate their opponents on their way to the Super Bowl.  Training loads will be increasing in a calculated manner to help promote efficiency and power output over the next few months until we all meet outside for the first race in early spring.  Breakaway anyone?!  I’m in…

I’ll look to update this thing more often.  Check back at the end of the week, post FTP test.