06/26~7/2 Well, this week was tougher on time than I thought. On one hand, heat is already becoming problematic on the longer rides. On the other hand, supplementation like salt pills, and plenty of water now is a must! 2 bottles does not seem like enough for even a 2h ride.
PLATEAU IN
Yes, plateau season has finally arrived. Indeed, giving the limited hours I only have each week I should have predicted it was gonna happen somehow. Doing the same intensity consistently on the same hours would only elevate my fitness measure (CTL) so far. According to my PMC (Performance Management Chart), this point seems to be near 100. Reading online trying to find a way to breakthrough the plateau, I found out CTL will stagnate either way due to limited training hours, at least theoretically. Race specific performance is not completely dependant on CTL since there are other metrics FTP, VI, Ef, etc. Thus, a plateau on this CTL area will not predict the most of your outcome on race day. However, for the kind of training I want to do now, this is a problem since I want a measure of how much I am improving. It does not have to be precise but that PMC has been a good guide to check on how I am doing.
Two options seem to be the solution: more intensity or more hours. Indeed, I have been thinking of increasing intensity, but that would risk me losing focus energy for other important tasks of the day like doing physics. More hours is also a difficult choice, at least until August. I already set an hour goal for each week and its sustaineable, but at this point I am not sure what to do next. I will keep my week normal for the next one, but I must think a better way to measure progress if PMC is not longer realiable for the rest of this base period.
CHAIN OUT
A flat on sunday meant I had to lose time fixing the puncture. However, it was actually time to realize that my bike needs an urgent maintenance. Casettes and Chain are in bad shape. Shifts not working properly. Big Gear keeps dropping. Wheels drifting respect to rotation axis. And now my tires are also gone. I need to measure more carefully how much I am riding with each gear I bike with. That is certainly something to think about. In the meantime, I guess trail running or running may do a good replacement when bike is in hospital, unless I fine-tune my commuter so I can still ride.
HR UP
I've felt recently HR being slightly low for intensities I would have struggled with last months. However, the summer season is here!! And now, judging on HR is becoming harder. For example, I do not feel the lactate accumulating in my leg yet (probably not yet above 2mmol/L), but my HR is already on 140~155! I find it frustrating since I do not know who to follow: The Legs or The Heart? So it's basically a question of Lactate vs HR.
WEIGHT DOWN
Seeing some fast improvements at first scared me. Was I not eating enough? Was I losing muscle. Indeed, I have been trying to up my protein intake to 170~200g to keep the most muscle possible during this weight loss phase. Upperbody workout at the gym shall help me build a muscle core, which I certainly did not have on last year winter as examined by a Body Fat Scan from University. On the exam results, muscle percentage was good on the legs, but negatice on the arms and chest. Surprisingly, I had some muscles on my core (low back), but difficult see anything thanks to my abdominal fat. Anyways, trying to keep being consistent will be the way to reach to my optimal body weight goal. For the meantime, going below 70 is something I wanna work towards to. It's been a while for me since being there, probably years! Since puberty maybe?
SCHEDULE
Remarks:
-> Tuesday I made more walking than usual but does not count. I like to call it active rest. Hope to do some swimming once university pool opens to students.
-> Wednesday ride was very chill only for the first three quarters of the ride. Having only the inner chain to properly pedal, I've become used to this spinning on climbs on good cadence, and its far more enjoyable than I thought. I usually used to push on big chain, but this spinning may actually be doing good for my HR and cadence. I only suffered the last climb (Golf climb) as the heat raised. What a suffering! Plus my chain dropped at a crucial time! I was really angry at the pain that I just pushed furiously at the suffering experienced at the moment. I do not hope to have more moments like that but I would like more of that mental image and power to push thorugh other difficult climbs.
-> New route for running set!
-> I said last week going up Yamanaka with rain would be a No-No scenario. Well, I thought I had avoided most of the rain on Saturday, but a midnight rainfall screwed me over at midnight. Luckily, it was my last hill repetition when it happened, so once I took it safely on the downhill it rain was over for me. Unexpectedly, I felt much better in rain. It felt like refreshing weather day compared to a humid heat suffocating one.
-> Chomeiji still looks beautiful! I really like riding there. Specially since I can push there along the Biwa Lake coast after a flat warm-up. Only a flat ruined the ride, but good thing I made the time and elevation I aimed to do.
->Finally, Le Tour finally here! Damn, what an effort by Victor Lafay to win second stage. I was deeply moved by that attack where even the favourites could do nothing but only watch.
Well, that's all! お疲れ様でした！
