Metrics | Low Cadence

Posts Tagged ‘Metrics’

Getting off to a heavy start

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

Today I started tracking my metrics. This is part of my training for the next season. I was pretty good about reporting my numbers to my coach each day last year. We’ll see how I do in 2011. One thing is certain, I hope I see one data point change!

My “fighting weight” is between 160 and 165 pounds. During the race season I have little trouble maintaining that weight. The last time I stepped on the scale was late September. At that point, I was still under 170. Well, this morning the scale stared back at me with a 178.

I’m not too concerned. As I told the Beautiful Redhead, “Just getting my stored energy levels up for the training. I’ll burn this stuff into muscle by the start of the season.” Of course, I realize that “fat” doesn’t turn into muscle. At the same time, I’m glad my body has had an opportunity to “chill out” a bit. At nearly 6 foot 2 inches, 178 is not an unhealthy weight. The extra weight will help provide some stored energy and start me off training with a few pounds which I hope will make me that much faster when it is gone.

TraingingPeaks has a mobile app that makes it easy to track my metrics each day.

As for my other metrics… here are the things I am tracking / and today’s data.

Pulse / 71 bpm (which is pretty high for a resting heart rate)
Weight / 178 lbs (target for the season 160 – 165)
Sleep / 6 hours (I find I need 7 – 8 hours)
Body Composition / 18% fat (this is about 4% over what I’ve maintained in the past)

There are some other subjective metrics that I keep. I’ve never really got into this that much. The subjective nature of it makes me wonder 1) how it affected by my mood, and 2) do the numbers accurately reflect the impact these categories have on my ability to train. I guess what you have to look at is the overall trends created by the data over time. Anyway, here they are:

Sleep Quality / 6 (I had a dream that I was teaching a class and my teammate, Paul Mills, was in the back of the class clowning around. Weird.)
Fatigue / 1 (I’m mentally a little lethargic, but physically I have no real tiredness)
Stress / 4 (This is the one I have the most trouble with. I mean, what is the baseline?)
Soreness / 4 (This is due mainly to my neck issues)
Overall / 7 – 1 being bad and 10 being great.

Now I just await my training plan from Coach Cunningham. I’m glad it didn’t come today. I wanted to get out late this afternoon and get my fixed gear bike calibrated with the iBike. I’ve asked Jim to include some fixed gear riding into my training. Having the power meter on there will help me give him data. Also, I am very curious to see how a ride on the fixed compares to power data collected on my road bike.

I know. I know. You all just say, “Hey, Jonathan, just ride your bike!” I will. I will. You just have to understand that for me all this data collection and analysis is part of what makes this fun.

The good news is, I think I’m ready to get started!

Tags: Metrics, TrainingPeaks, Weight
Posted in Training | 3 Comments »

Hitting a low when I need a high

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Every day I log into TrainingPeaks.com and enter my metrics for the day. This is how my coach, Jim Cunningham, keeps up with how things are going off the bike. Earlier this week he gave me an assessment of how I was coming on the bike for this weekend. He added, “Let’s get those metrics into the green before Saturday.” Well, yesterday didn’t help.

Things started out pretty well. Yesterday’s post about the new Low Cadence kit design drew a lot of traffic and better yet, I got 16 responses expressing interest in buying one. I also was looking forward to getting my Boyd Bikes wheels and a iAero from iBike was supposed to arrive on my doorstep.

The day ended with my wheels at the wheel builder. The arrival of the spokes was delayed and the builder wasn’t able to get them complete in time. The iBike didn’t arrive by the time I started out on my ride. Plus, someone had relayed some information to me that shouldn’t have gotten under my skin, but the more I thought about it, the more perturbed I got about it.

But that wasn’t what got me the most. The training plan called for me taking an easy hour spin. My son had left for his baseball scrimmage out in Greer and I wanted to see him play. So, I figured I would go out there and watch for a few minutes.

Now, riding from Greenville to Suber Road in Greer at 5 PM can be a hair-raising experience on a bike! I cut through as many neighborhoods as I could, but still ended up having to ride a short distance on Brushy Creek. I was feeling pretty good about it until I came upon some road construction that had stripped the shoulder away.

The cars were squeezing through on the even more narrow road than usual. There simply was not room for me. So, I went off on the dirt where the asphalt and grass had been removed. This worked for a bit until I came to a rough section. This was worse than cyclocross and I was on my race Michelins!

I tried to go over a ridge of dirt and clumps of grass and it stopped my bike cold. I went down unceremoniously into the dirt. Popping up, I lifted my bike up over the obstacle and continued my ride in the grass farther from the road until I came to a spot where the ditch and trees would not allow me any further.

At that point, we were near a flagman and the traffic was slower. A kind driver let me into the line and I continued past the construction following a white Corvette. The driver was talking on a cell phone and didn’t see me. For a bit I was able to motor pace behind him until he looked in his rear view mirror and saw me. Once he did, he stepped on the gas and was gone until I caught up with him at the next light.

Finally, I made it to the field. The practice had not yet started. After saying hello to Thing Two, I sat to watch hoping to get the opportunity to see him play. As I did, the sun kept dropping in the east. Time required me to leave before he got on the field.

As I rode back – taking another route that allowed me to avoid the construction – I got hit with some doldrums. One of the reasons I started riding was so I could be in shape to do things active with my children. Now, here I was riding a bike alone while my son was sitting on the bench at a baseball game. This wasn’t what I envisioned.

I don’t know if he will ever get bitten by the bicycle bug. If he doesn’t that is okay. I don’t want to force my sport of choice on my children. The fact that he wasn’t riding with me wasn’t what bothered me. What bothered me was that I was not there at his scrimmage. “Here you are a forty-year-old guy riding down the road in a race team kit,” I said to myself. “What are you doing?”

It sent me to bed feeling a little down. What I know is that physically the bike saved me. I would not be in the condition I am in today – in my forties – had I not started pedaling when I did. Ultimately, I is good for me and my family.

I’ve scheduled my riding around Thing Two’s baseball games for the season. I’ll be there for him. There is also time yet for him to discover the joys of riding. There is no reason to give up on that… only he will have to come to the decision himself.

Most likely the wheels will be done today, the iBike will arrive, and I’m already getting over the information that was relayed to me. Besides, just spilling my guts here at Low Cadence has helped. I think I’ll be okay.

Today’s metrics: