Submitted by Adam Myerson on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 02:27.
I've won the last 3 Shootouts, and I've said repeatedly that while the ride suits me, the main reason I've been winning is because I was willing to lose. The Shootout is fun, but it's just the Shootout. It's a group ride. You want to use it for training in the way that suits you, and you want to have fun. And for me, that's just worked out that past few weeks. I don't care if someone goes away, I don't _need_ to chase them down, I don't ever make myself vulnerable. And so I have enough to jump across to the move if I need to, and win the sprint.
Well, today I finally lost. And I lost not because I had some friends working against me (which I did!), but because I wanted to win, and I let myself get drawn off my normal game. Jon Chodroff and Kirk Carlsen like the Shootout as much as I do, and they were definitely playfully out to keep me from sweeping for the month I was here. Jon makes a couple more watts at threshold than I do, as most of you know, and he spent most of the day attacking the shit out of the group. I definitely took the bait, and while Toby, Thom Coupe, and Kirk all also took some big turns bringing Jon's various attacks back, I was taking it personally and racing with a little too much ego. I would bridge up (one time by myself, to Jon and Cole House from BMC) and then do things like attack after I got there, sort of upping the ante when I had a weak poker hand.
The thing was, I actually did have really good legs, and you can't play around over threshold like that unless it feels good to do it. So while Cole lit me up in the sprint, I was pretty happy to have left more of it out there during the 45 minutes then I normally do, and knew the numbers were going to be good.
Shootout:
Duration: 44:56
Work: 787 kJ
TSS: 82.1 (intensity factor 1.047)
Norm Power: 330
VI: 1.13
Pw:HR: 14.82%
Pa:HR: 7.59%
Distance: 17.478 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1009 292 watts
Heart Rate: 102 207 165 bpm
Cadence: 44 139 96 rpm
Speed: 5.4 35.1 23.3 mph
So that's 20 more watts than what I did last week. It meant that I was way more active, but that I was _able_ to be way more active. But it also meant that I didn't have the big snap for the uphill sprint I've kept in reserve from being crafty up until that point. Still, I considered the way I felt and the increased power I had at my disposal a big success. I confess to being bummed about not winning. I can pretend not to care since it's just the Shootout. But dude - it's the Shootout!
From there we did the usual 30 minutes of descending and recovering to the base of Madera. Usually we ride tempo until the last 15-20 minutes or so, when the road gets steeper in the last 3 of the 13.5 mile climb. But Kirk had a little chip to get off his shoulder, and started really pulling hard about 15 minutes on, on the shallow section, and had the group of 25 or so that was left strung out and single file in the crosswind. Poor Kirk; he was on the roster for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad today, until he broke his collarbone and shoulder at Tour of Qatar. He was pretty motivated to make the day as hard as he could for himself, almost as a coping mechanism for his disappointment, it seemed to me. It's been good to have him here this past week training with us, but of course we all wish he was back in Europe, for his sake.
I was feeling the effects of the Shootout, so I was kind of hiding at the back a little. But when Kirk started blowing the group apart, I skipped from guy to guy until all of a sudden there there was only Chodroff, Cole House and Larry Warbasse from BMC, Kirk, myself, and a local triathlete who's really strong. There was a headwind as we got closer to the top, which helped slow Jon down and make it easier for me to follow, but I couldn't believe I was even still there. The group finally detonated in the last mile, and we all finished alone; Jon, Larry, Cole - and then me! It was pretty exciting actually, and when I rolled into the parking lot and Jon said "holy shit, Myerson!" I took it as the compliment he meant it to be.
Madera:
Duration: 48:46
Work: 775 kJ
TSS: 66.9 (intensity factor 0.907)
Norm Power: 286
VI: 1.08
Pw:HR: -19.63%
Pa:HR: 45.9%
Distance: 11.593 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 684 265 watts
Heart Rate: 135 183 162 bpm
Cadence: 40 147 85 rpm
Speed: 4.9 31.6 14.2 mph
Final 5 minutes of Madera:
Duration: 4:40
Work: 94 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -10.71%
Pa:HR: 1.15%
Distance: 0.638 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 134 513 339 watts
Heart Rate: 172 183 177 bpm
Cadence: 53 102 66 rpm
Speed: 6.5 14.5 8.2 mph
Pace 4:08 9:12 7:20 min/mi
Crank Torque: 128 695 442 lb-in
From there we did the usual lunch break. Pringles, some Twittering, some texting, a little Facebook, Mountain Dew. You know, just living the dream. And then we rolled home.
Enjoy.
Entire workout (163 watts):
Duration: 5:10:26 (7:08:18)
Work: 3029 kJ
TSS: 289 (intensity factor 0.756)
Norm Power: 238
VI: 1.46
Pw:HR: 14.68%
Pa:HR: -7.25%
Distance: 102.833 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1009 163 watts
Heart Rate: 74 207 136 bpm
Cadence: 30 177 87 rpm
Speed: 2.2 51.8 20.1 mph
Pace 1:10 26:49 2:59 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 990 155 lb-in
Peak 5s (890 watts):
Duration: 0:06
Work: 5 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: 1.84%
Pa:HR: 2.49%
Distance: 248 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 762 1001 890 watts
Heart Rate: 162 170 165 bpm
Cadence: 104 110 107 rpm
Speed: 27.7 28.7 28.3 mph
Pace 2:05 2:10 2:07 min/mi
Crank Torque: 585 797 707 lb-in
Peak 10s (855 watts):
Duration: 0:10
Work: 8 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: 12.86%
Pa:HR: 0.9%
Distance: 420 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 762 1001 855 watts
Heart Rate: 162 170 167 bpm
Cadence: 103 110 105 rpm
Speed: 27.7 29 28.5 mph
Pace 2:04 2:10 2:06 min/mi
Crank Torque: 585 797 686 lb-in
Peak 20s (747 watts):
Duration: 0:20
Work: 14 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: 0.34%
Pa:HR: -20.93%
Distance: 557 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 615 1009 747 watts
Heart Rate: 182 186 184 bpm
Cadence: 83 99 88 rpm
Speed: 15.4 22.6 19.1 mph
Pace 2:40 3:54 3:09 min/mi
Crank Torque: 553 990 717 lb-in
Peak 30s (689 watts):
Duration: 0:30
Work: 20 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -32.04%
Pa:HR: -20.72%
Distance: 805 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 470 1009 689 watts
Heart Rate: 180 186 183 bpm
Cadence: 83 99 89 rpm
Speed: 15.4 22.6 18.3 mph
Pace 2:40 3:54 3:17 min/mi
Crank Torque: 427 990 657 lb-in
Peak 1min (536 watts):
Duration: 1:00
Work: 32 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -52.04%
Pa:HR: 13.07%
Distance: 0.331 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 152 1009 536 watts
Heart Rate: 172 187 180 bpm
Cadence: 83 117 94 rpm
Speed: 15.4 27.3 19.8 mph
Pace 2:12 3:54 3:02 min/mi
Crank Torque: 123 990 490 lb-in
Peak 2min (396 watts):
Duration: 2:00
Work: 47 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -29.6%
Pa:HR: 41.27%
Distance: 0.692 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1009 396 watts
Heart Rate: 164 187 176 bpm
Cadence: 49 123 92 rpm
Speed: 6.6 29.5 20.7 mph
Pace 2:02 9:01 2:54 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 990 364 lb-in
Peak 5min (352 watts):
Duration: 5:00
Work: 105 kJ
TSS: 10.9 (intensity factor 1.142)
Norm Power: 360
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: -8.27%
Pa:HR: 8.94%
Distance: 2.06 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 904 352 watts
Heart Rate: 135 172 149 bpm
Cadence: 60 139 98 rpm
Speed: 19.1 31.9 24.7 mph
Pace 1:53 3:09 2:26 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 887 307 lb-in
Peak 10min (338 watts):
Duration: 10:00
Work: 202 kJ
TSS: 22.1 (intensity factor 1.15)
Norm Power: 362
VI: 1.07
Pw:HR: -22.34%
Pa:HR: -20.04%
Distance: 4.28 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1001 338 watts
Heart Rate: 135 207 167 bpm
Cadence: 64 139 100 rpm
Speed: 19.8 31.9 25.6 mph
Pace 1:53 3:02 2:21 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 887 287 lb-in
Peak 20min (332 watts):
Duration: 20:00
Work: 398 kJ
TSS: 39.8 (intensity factor 1.093)
Norm Power: 344
VI: 1.04
Pw:HR: 9.91%
Pa:HR: 18.33%
Distance: 7.175 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 904 332 watts
Heart Rate: 135 184 168 bpm
Cadence: 56 139 94 rpm
Speed: 16.1 31.9 21.5 mph
Pace 1:53 3:44 2:48 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 967 299 lb-in
Peak 30min (325 watts):
Duration: 30:00
Work: 585 kJ
TSS: 59.3 (intensity factor 1.089)
Norm Power: 343
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: 5.89%
Pa:HR: 21.23%
Distance: 11.197 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1001 325 watts
Heart Rate: 135 207 171 bpm
Cadence: 56 139 96 rpm
Speed: 16.1 31.9 22.3 mph
Pace 1:53 3:44 2:41 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 967 287 lb-in
Peak 60min (253 watts):
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:00:32)
Work: 911 kJ
TSS: 95.7 (intensity factor 0.982)
Norm Power: 309
VI: 1.22
Pw:HR: 11.09%
Pa:HR: 13.85%
Distance: 21.848 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1009 253 watts
Heart Rate: 97 207 156 bpm
Cadence: 38 170 94 rpm
Speed: 3.3 35.1 21.9 mph
Pace 1:43 18:13 2:45 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 990 225 lb-in