Eagle, ID — I don’t know if I’m still recovering from last week’s extended rides after Valley of the Sun, or I’m feeling the effects of my mini-crash on Sunday but the last couple of days I’ve been feeling kind of fatigued. Yesterday I did a run in the morning and then a 40 minute spin on the PowerCranks. I like running once in a while throughout the season. Running helps bone density since it is a weight bearing exercise. With all the cycling I do, I want to make sure I don’t end up with brittle bones. The PowerCrank ride felt pretty easy so I don’t think my hip flexors de-trained from being off them for two weeks due to the Phoenix trip. Since today I woke up tired again and decided to take today completely off. Last time I had a full day off was back in December when Heather and I got hit with that nasty flu.

So today I just caught up on house stuff and rested up. I also worked on my training diary. I have a pretty elaborate Excel-based training diary that I’ve refined over the last five years. Since I’ve been using a Power-Tap over the same period, I have incorporated macros that will go through a data file and calculate the peak CPs (critical powers). I had been tracking Joe Friel’s durations (.2, 30sec, 1min, 3, etc.) but since I’m also using CyclingPeaks software I wanted to add 5-second and 5 minute to the mix. So I added the columns in my spreadsheet and then used CyclingPeaks to figure out my peaks for each of the last 5 year so I have a basis of comparison. I have a chart that compares my current year’s bests with my all-time best. Here’s how it looks so far:

Not bad for this early in the season. Around 7% off for most of the CPs, and the others that I didn’t match isn’t necessarily an indication of lack of fitness, just that I haven’t done a full-bore effort for that exact duration. Plus, at Valley of the Sun time trial, I didn’t use the PowerTap but I’m sure I would have had a yearly best for my 30-minute CP.