Week 9

Week 9 required a significant amount of training schedule creativity as well as a focus on proper rest/recovery since I was traveling for work all week. This week also marked a change in training focus from doing lots of lactate threshold work the last 8 weeks to spending the next 6 weeks focusing on VO2max work (higher intensity). On the bike this means riding very short (30 seconds), but intense intervals at 120% of my FTP. These workouts are my favorite since you punish yourself for short periods over and over again - a nice break both physically and mentally.

On the running front, I'm continuing to ramp up the mileage. I hit a significant milestone for the ramp up by completing 30 minute and 35 minute run sessions with no walk breaks. No pain and the paces have naturally moved up too!

So here's how the week shaped up:

Monday: 2,600m morning swim with plenty of drillwork. Lunchtime 63’ trainer ride with 4x(5x30"@120% FTP, 30"@60% FTP), 20' @ .838. Total ride IF=.83 & 70 TSS. Afternoon flight to Phoenix.

Tuesday: 25' run at sunrise in beautiful, sunny Phoenix. Followed up with 45’ of core and stretching. Afternoon flight back home to Chicago.

Wednesday: Stayed home from work to take care of Drew (103 degree fever). Up early for a 60' trainer ride with 4x(5x30/30) & 20' @ .85. 30' treadmill run at lunch while Drew napped followed by 45’ of core work and yoga.

Thursday: Early morning flight to Denver for a 2 day meeting in Keystone. No workouts today.

Friday: 30' easy run at sunrise at 9,500 ft elevation in beautiful Keystone, CO. Chicago boy had tough time w/ altitude. Evening flight back home to Chicago.

Saturday: 110' morning trainer ride as 2x18' @ 296/295, 2x4' @ 327/327, 2x15' @ 249/246. Total ride IF=.864, 135 TSS. Lots of good work on heavy, traveled legs. Afternoon 35’ run through neighborhood in the beautiful weather at easy pace. Foam roller and The Stick in the evening.

Sunday: Bonus 45' on trainer as 2x10' @ 296/294, then 10' @ .85 followed by a great daddy/son breakfast out - I LOVE THESE!. Went for my first ever swim assessment/video analysis in afternoon – very eye opening! Have some specific things to work on that will really help me swim more efficiently and hopefully faster.

Here's the data for week 9:

Time spent training: 7:54

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 41'

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .84

Mileage: 104.2

Training Stress Score (TSS): 525

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 65.4 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -13.2
Weight: 172.6 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts

Vdot: Won't test until March

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 8: