Yesterday I bolted out of work, jumped in my 150-degree car, ran through every single yellow (red) light and manged to make it home (alive) in record time ~1hr, without speeding. Not bad considering I’m going from Princeton to Wall.

The idea was to catch-up with the local sprint ride that leaves Allenwood school ~6pm. What better way to practice sprinting then with a group. Though the sprints are no where as crazy as in a race, they come pretty darn close minus the hostility. There must have been a good 12 or so riders, and mid-way though the Wendy’s/Metra/Ideal gang (2 or 3 of them) jump on, just to speed things up. (I think his name is Jonathan, used to ride for Jelly Belly, he the quick one from the Wendy’s/Metra/Ideal team.)

At any rate, there are about 7 or 8 “designated” sprint zones on this ride, with their respective 1-mile markers before said zones. For the “most” part, we keep a rotating paceline until a mile before the line.

The goal was to contend in each of the sprints. I wanted to experience the pain, lack of breathing and handling required to contest in a sprint. With that being said, not every sprint ends up in all-out attacking. Many people tire and do every-other sprint. Others like to jump/TT from a mile out (myself included) and see if they can hold the ensuing pack. And yes, others just drag race, side by side from the mile marker to the end. It’s somewhat random at times, but you can always count on putting out some nice watts for a good 12-45 seconds, even more, depending on how far it starts.

If anything, I learn how to sit on people’s wheels (patiently), handle in groups and time the jump. Interesting how just getting behind the wrong (i.e. slow) wheel can completely ruin a good sprint. You then have to work thrice as hard to go around and by that time forget it.

Of particular interest, to me at least:

1.) Sprint #3, which was supposed to be a lead-out. Problem was, the lead-out, by accident, was a mile from the line. All of a sudden I hear “GO E!” and boom I’m out the gates, hard, for 30 seconds (#3a). I look down, and look, and don’t see the 400M marker. Wonderful! I then jump again thinking its right up the road, for another 30 seconds (#3b). “Ok anytime now!” Still no line! Then it’s just tt-mode for the next 45 seconds (#3c).

2.) HR numbers. Weeks ago I was worried about what I thought to be a suppressed HR and what to conclude. During the NJ State TT I was only running at 171bpm (83% of max), when I usually run TT’s closer to 180-185bpm (88-90% of max). Either I was making gains in fitness, or needed a break. Who knows? Either way, having no problem touching the 180+ bpm range now and feel confident going into the next few weeks stage races.

3.) Though I felt great after the first few sprints and even better near the end, not sure how a 2.5hr ride, with cool-down, could have a TSS of 192 and IF of 0.938 (which is close to 1). Maybe my threshold numbers are off? Or gaining fitness? Hmm…



As always, comments welcome: erock139@yahoo.com


Sprint-6-26-2007.JPG

Wind-Up:
Duration: 8:27 (8:29)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 981 262 watts
Heart rate: 160 185 171 bpm

Sprint #1:
Duration: 0:16
Min Max Avg
Power: 654 815 725 watts
Heart rate: 176 182 180 bpm
Cadence: 95 108 102 rpm

Sprint #2:
Duration: 0:28
Min Max Avg
Power: 141 751 510 watts
Heart rate: 178 183 180 bpm
Cadence: 50 102 95 rpm

Sprint #3a:
Duration: 0:29
Min Max Avg
Power: 119 723 438 watts
Heart rate: 180 183 182 bpm
Cadence: 93 106 98 rpm

Sprint #3b:
Duration: 0:34
Min Max Avg
Power: 23 817 617 watts
Heart rate: 185 185 185 bpm
Cadence: 46 105 90 rpm

Sprint #3c:
Duration: 0:47
Min Max Avg
Power: 62 501 324 watts
Heart rate: 183 188 185 bpm
Cadence: 49 83 78 rpm

Sprint #4:
Duration: 0:23
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 905 630 watts
Heart rate: 181 184 182 bpm
Cadence: 40 108 85 rpm

Sprint #5:
Duration: 0:45
Min Max Avg
Power: 230 789 582 watts
Heart rate: 173 184 178 bpm
Cadence: 77 116 100 rpm

Sprint #6:
Duration: 0:28
Min Max Avg
Power: 141 845 668 watts
Heart rate: 170 181 177 bpm
Cadence: 52 103 91 rpm

Sprint #7:
Duration: 1:28
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 873 429 watts
Heart rate: 164 183 177 bpm
Cadence: 55 105 89 rpm

Wind-Down:
Duration: 5:00
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 899 277 watts
Heart rate: 146 181 171 bpm
Cadence: 31 109 86 rpm

Cool-Down:
Duration: 28:40 (28:48)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 330 111 watts
Heart rate: 86 152 128 bpm
Cadence: 20 141 85 rpm

Entire workout (173 watts):
Duration: 2:13:42 (2:24:10)
Work: 1355 kJ
TSS: 191.9 (intensity factor 0.938)
Norm Power: 260
VI: 1.51
Distance: 42.366 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 981 173 watts
Heart rate: 86 188 152 bpm
Cadence: 20 141 85 rpm