Krieg's Perspective.

I follow the Google Wattage forum, more as humor but also for general technical training guidance, reference, etc. There tends to be a lot of folks much too bent on insane levels of details in their training but there also is quite a bit of info I personally find quite useful.

One person who has provided some interesting info is Sam Krieg, a racer and coach from Utah. Here is a recent entry of his.

"Don't trust your legs on a flight of stairs. They will always lie!
Stairs and cyclists are not friends. They are the devil. I would only
train 1 day per week if I used the stair test.
If I listened to my legs I would have stopped training this morning,
last week, and probably about 8 years ago. I have had some great days
when I feel awful, and some awful days when I thought I felt great. I
have had the most negative TSB in the world and still have ridden peak
wattages.


8 years ago I felt like I needed a ton more rest.......... and took it
often. Looking back I am pretty sure I rested myself right out of
shape.
4 years ago I broke my back and spent 84 days in a brace. I couldn't
ride so I went to the gym and used the (stair-master) I learned a ton
about my body/mind in those 84 days. I couldn't sleep much so I would
just walk around for 15 hours a day. I would go to the gym for 1-2
hours to murder the stair machine. I never took a day off. I just
would go until I would snap. Every morning at 3:30-4am my back would
wake me up. It would hurt so bad. Trying to sleep in TLSO brace isn’t
fun. I would get up and start walking. Most of the pain would go
away. I would head to the gym and just crush myself on the stair-
master. I found that if I ignored how my legs felt and gave myself a
decent warm-up... I could perform just as good as the day before.

I have had some of my most incredible days on the bike when I could
barely walk up from my basement. Just do a nice warm-up and a few 1
minute 90+RPM efforts at FTP. I find that you might just surprise
yourself. I went back and ran all of my PEAK 20 minute files for 8
years.
I found that I often put out my Peak efforts (20 and 5) when my CTL
and ATL are crazy high.
I find that ramp rate has more to do with where your CTL has been
before. If you have been to 100CTL, 120, 140.... you can go back to
that level a bit quicker than if you have never been there before. Be
careful this is just what I have found. Think of CTL like a mountain.
The first time you climb it you are full of panic and nervous as
hell. If you have a good “guide” you might make it the summit a bit
faster, but you will still be scared. The 2nd time it will be easier
and you will be a bit more confident, and the 3rd, 4th,5th etc…. the
mountain gets easier both physically and mentally. The goal isn't
always to (summit your CTL) and then run-away. Try and live there for
awhile. See if your body can adapt. Don't panic if you have a few bad
days or even a week or two. It takes some time to acclimatize to the
new load. Right now I am riding around 130CTL and the load feels
pretty easy. I remember years ago struggling at 80 and trying to get
it to 100ctl.

I have found that if you want to really improve you need to endure a
significant load change and attempt to bash through a few mental/
physical barriers. Use the Performance Manager Chart as a tool to push
yourself… not limit yourself. Just because your buddy snapped 80ctl
doesn’t mean that you will. Just because last year 80CTL was hard
doesn't mean that this year you can't or shouldn't try and ride at 90
or 100+.

I remember getting a workout from Hunter about 6 years ago….. The day
before I had done 4 x 15 and was pretty blown and very stoked about my
efforts…. The workout for the day was to do the HOUR OF POWER at the
same wattage as I had done the 4 x 15!..... My brain was in shock.. I
thought he was crazy…..He had added a short sentence below the workout
that said “so do you want to be good or what?”
It is easier now to be critical of my riding and training than years
ago. I wish I could go back and shake the crap out of myself and give
myself a little push. I was so scared that I was doing to much to fast
that I was barely doing enough."

I like the idea that you should push yourself. I don't necessarily subscribe to the "no pain, no gain" philosophy... well, maybe i do. I have found myself looking at what I've done in terms of training and held myself back, used the "walking up stairs" bit, etc. This last 6 months I've pushed myself quite hard (I think) but probably could do more.

Enough for now.