Some days you're the windshield

Some days you're the bug.

Today, I was the bug. It seems I've lost a lot more than I would have thought with my two weeks off. I fought the bike, and the bike won. It wasn't even close.

This workout should have happened 11 days ago. If it did, I would have crushed it. 4x8 minutes @ FTP (~270w), with 2 minute recoveries. By conventional standards, that's not a particularly tough threshold workout, at least compared to 2x20s (which show up in a few weeks). I knew things were off to a bad start when my heart rate was 122 bpm before I even turned a pedal (it's usually in the 80s). I warmed up as usual, hit the first interval, and within 100 seconds was sure I was going to die. Heart rate spiked to 180, which is ridiculous. My legs were burning, and it was a struggle to maintain the prescribed power. After the first one, I had to scale back, or I'd never survive the day. As much as I hate doing that, some times you have to admit when you're beat, and take the best workout you can get. The last three intervals were at ~240w (90% FTP), and during the last I was able to handle extended periods at 250-265w. So there's that.

I had planned on following that up with just an easy hour of zone 1-2 work, but I had to quit 35 minutes. I was just beat up. A gear that should have been easy zone 1 was producing solid zone 3 effort, and I couldn't handle any more work. This wasn't my shining moment on the bike. I'm disappointed with myself. It's going to be a longer road back to form than I expected, but what are my choices? I can suffer through these demoralizing workouts, or I can quit. And I'm not going to quit.

The weather is finally turning enough that I can commute to work again. That's a free 70+ miles every week, with a couple of hard efforts (it's unavoidable: single speed + hills = strength work). I'll be back, and I'll be back at the front. It won't be soon, but it'll be soon enough.

Bike: 90 minutes, w/ 1x8 min @ 270w, 3x8 min @ 240w, 2 minute recovery