Well, the first week of training is in the books, and it went as well as it as it could be.

Monday was my first personal training session with Paul at Simple Endurance Coaching. We did all sorts of things that I don’t remember what they were called. All I know is that my glutes were the focus and likely will be the focus. I wasn’t pushed to the max, but far enough to likely be sore the next day. The goal of the strength training is to do two sessions in a week. Mondays with Paul and Thursdays on my own. More on that later.

In a prior post, I mentioned that was retesting my 4DP with The Sufferfest. My test results were meh when compared to spring 2021. My 5 second power went up which is likely because I timed the sprint well enough, my 1 minute power stayed about the same, my 5 minute power went down and my 20 minute power (FTP) went up 7 watts. The good news is the two weeks off the bike didn’t completely kill my fitness. Looking back, I was pretty tired mentally and physically from cyclocross season and taking the time off was the right call.

Tuesday I woke up sore, but not completely sore to the point where I couldn’t do my prescribed on bike workout. The first workout was a 30 minute FTP effort at 80% called the Long Scream. Not tough, but not easy. Sustained efforts are my weakness. The last five minutes were a struggle and ERG mode on the Wahoo KICKR isn’t going to take it easy on me. I grinded it out and finished. 1 down, dozens to go.

Wednesday was a much different story. I was set to do the workout Do As Your Told at 90%. 22 intervals–one set with 11 matching intervals from 15 seconds on/15 seconds off to 1 minute and one set with 11 inverse intervals 15 seconds on/45 seconds rest up to 1 minute on and 10 seconds off. These are more in my wheelhouse. Finished the workout and felt great on the bike, but my body was still a bit sore from Monday.

Thursday, I woke up sore. All over sore. Usually delayed onset muscle soreness is the next day, not three. I decided to take the day off. No sense in putting a half ass effort or further injure myself.

Friday I was supposed to do GOAT, 8 low-cadence efforts grinding out at tempo. (See what they did there?) Instead, I went to a co-workers retirement party instead. These things are kind of strange these days. As someone who stopped drinking years ago, everyone wanted to get me drink and I was like, “I’m cool with the big glass of water.” It was also strange seeing some people in person as opposed to Zoom calls. In addition, everyone made comments on how good I looked with all of the weight I’ve dropped. I absolutely despise talking about myself. But good times were had.

This meant that I would need to do two workouts on Saturday. After fueling up, with my typical oatmeal, I jumped on the trainer and did the GOAT workout. My legs were burning after the first low cadence interval. 7 more to do. By the last one I was ready to be done. But I had 45 more minutes of the next workout, To Get to the Other Side. This workout is usually 90 minutes with 7 to 15 minutes, but I only did the first three intervals to do. I finished up, showered and took a long nap. Week 1 done.

One addition to the pain cave this year is the Wahoo KICKR fan. You wouldn’t think a $300 bluetooth controlled fan would be worth it, but let me tell you, it totally is. First off, even at its highest speed, its relatively quiet. Secondly, it pairs to a heart rate strap via ANT+ so that as you are working harder and as my heart rate went up, the fan got faster. Finally, it directs the air exactly where it is needed, at your torso. This means that I don’t have to worry about my contacts drying out or needing to wear clear sunglasses while on the trainer. If you want to upgrade your workout, I highly recommend ditching the floor, stand or industrial fans and get one of these.

So what’s next? Week two looks to be base building. I will be heading to Lambeau Field for Christmas, so I may need to readjust my workouts this week. We will see.