Race against the clock #4

The last few weeks have seen a good training blast in New York, then the excess of two conferences, and riding in Spain.  I can't say that the trans-Atlantic flight back felt very good on the legs, but nevertheless this Wednesday evening was just asking for 10k TT #4.

The stage:

1.  Silence in the trainer room

2.  Visual stimulus was a closet door

3.  Feeling decently rested, have been getting good nights of sleep

4.  Pre-game meal was a bagel with peanut butter and banana a few hours ago, and a non-alchoholic beer at Fuel on the way home to appease the co-worker crowd (uhhh, right)

The result:

10k, 16 mins, 16 seconds, average of 330W.    

The reflection:

That's 1W more and 15 seconds less than two weeks ago.  It felt good I guess, the pre-game "beer" didn't seem to bother me.  I guess the question is one of diminishing returns.  If every extra single Watt I manage to eke out takes two weeks of effort, this is going to get hard!

I've had this run in with the 330W level before I must say.  I know cycling is all about digging in, doing your work, and overcoming... but I've never broken this barrier for any extended duration.  There's something about 330W that stumps my body.  

I'm trying to decide if I'm enough of a glutton for punishment that I simply switch gears and start doing slightly longer TT's and see if I can still hold power.  I've had luck extending the duration of TT efforts in the past when I've hit whatever wall it is that I can't put out more energy.