Peak Weeks, Kingwood Win…
BY KENNETH LUNDGREN
Hey Gang,
Last week went well training-wise… I’m turning it up a bit, as I want to be 100% ready for Killington and State TT… The week of Somerset, I had long threshold work on the TT bike, then a grueling PowerCrank workout.
I was a touch flat at Somerset, but a few days after, I popped my strongest data of the year on the TT bike… I’ve been doing long threshold intervals, and last TUE I ripped the first one, 4w higher than ever, and then the second one there was only a 3w drop-off, the smallest drop-off all year — an excellent sign… The average of these two intervals was 12w higher than all previous TT data… I was VERY happy with the intervals, followed by a long Tempo session over rolling terrain…
WED I did a 3h Endurance Ride. I’ve been on the fence about Killington, the logistics of it, if I can survive the first and last days, how it can potentially wreck me for States, etc… But last week I 100% decided FOR the race, so am adding some steady volume here… Endurance has always been a strength of mine, and every three weeks or so I’ve had a longer ride and have felt fine… But last week I knew would be a great time to sprinkle in more volume… I felt surprisingly energetic during that ride on WED…
On THURS, I did two hard PowerCrank loops, and both loops were 30s faster than I’ve ever done before, so that was great to see… I was BLOWN OUT at the end…
FRI was another 3h Endurance Ride, and I was not 100% but pushed through. As the legs opened up, the ride got easier and easier…
SAT I sat in on the Park Ridge Ride, looking to keep the pack-riding skills sharp (I did a very good job of sitting in 🙂 this can be hard to do!!!), then did some mellow miles with the Goldsmith brothers after (that Matt Goldsmith can really pack a mean sprint — gotta get that kid back on a program!!!). But it was nice to get 40+ miles under the belt by 11 in the morning…
SUN I was at the Kingwood 36k. I was using a new helmet (the Uvex) and a new front wheel (the Jet 90). Goal was to go out HARD, suffer like a dog on the return leg. Well, I did go out hard, passed a lot of riders, was suffering near the end of the first leg, but I lopped off almost 20 seconds from my first split in April. I noted I was able to really hold the aero position very well, but the legs were loaded from the week’s training, certainly not firing on all cylinders…
Coming back, I WAS SUFFERING, lol… The conditions also felt slower than April, a slight cross/headwind on the way back, whereas in April it felt almost like a slight tailwind coming home. Either way, I was not a happy camper on the return leg, for sure didn’t have the same foom foom during the final 8 minutes like I did in April, but I was still happy with the ride. With sore knee, average cadence was UP (averaged 105+ rpms) and I put 90 seconds into 2nd place. I was 30+ seconds slower than April, but I think the conditions were slower, my legs were heavy from the week’s TSS, and my fast start did me in…
Dunno what helmet or wheel is faster. I’ll keep messing around ’til States, but the Uvex LOOKS more aero and that Jet 90 is much easier to control than the tri-spokes…
Heavy but lighter week here. Two recovery days, then hitting it hard on the TT bike WED, followed by Tempo on the PowerCranks THURS, then recovery on FRI, then the CRCA Power Points Race on SAT (which will be hell, lol), and then the Jersey Shore TT on SUN, which I hope to be fresh enough for to have a solid ride (sometimes with loaded legs, we tend to TT very well — so it’s a crapshoot come this SUN!!!)… With the windy conditions, Freifelder is certainly the favorite, as evidenced at Sandy Hook, whereas I think the longer distance (18 miles) favors me… We shall see how it shakes out… Gonna be lotsa fast dudes there, so I’m amped to see if I can ride to my potential and bring out the “A” game…
PREDICTION: Fritz blasts a stunningly fast time for the overall WIN!!! 🙂
I’m nervous about the knee. Feels okay on the bike, but I’ve been churning a higher cadence on all my rides. I just hope it stays together until States, and then I’ll see a doctor and take a break… Keepin’ the fingers crossed…
Thanks for reading and I hope the training is going well for everyone out there…
