Good times, bad times

I want to go faster on the bike, so I have to do the "go faster" work. For long-distance races, that means I have to do the FTP intervals. And tonight, I did 4x8 minutes at FTP, with two minutes rest. Under no circumstances is this an easy workout. I realize that FTP is supposed to be a power that you can hold for an hour, so eight minutes is nothing, and a total of 32 minutes is barely a dent. But let's get some things straight, those sixty minutes are all suffering. Realistically, if you're not in a world of hurt by minute 10, and have tunnel vision by minute 20, you're taking it easy. So there intervals are well into the range of uncomfortable, and downright painful by the end.

That said, lots of fun. I was able to hit and hold the pace each time, without too much variation. During the last interval, my wife got home, and asked me something from across the room. I had to wave her over to speak to me, since I was well into the tunnel at that point, and couldn't hear the outside world. When I figured out she was asking if the cat had been under the futon, my answer was, "Bbblllaaarrrrrr...." while pointing in the general direction of the futon. (That was as close to "yes" as I could get at the time.)

I followed the ride with an easy 3 miles of running on the treadmill, then went outside to do some strides to cool down. Just as the door closed behind me, the first few raindrops hit the ground. When I got back to the house about five minutes later, there was a river about an inch deep running down my driveway. Flash storms are always fun. Ten minutes later, the rain had stopped. I couldn't have timed that much worse if I'd tried.

Bike: 65 minutes, w/4x8 minutes @ 315w, 2 minutes recovery
Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph + 4 strides