Looking at the power profile from my workout this evening, you might think that I did okay.  After all, my power (pink line) was consistently within the target power range (light blue boxes), that my coach had sent me.  In reality, I really struggled with my bike workout this evening.

What a simple power profile never displays, is the effort the athlete went through, to achieve the given power.  This is why dialogue between an athlete and their coach is so critical.  Without me telling him, my coach would not know how much I struggled, to reach the lower end of target power this evening.

This session was design as a ‘best average’ session.  What that means is, that on those four long intervals, I had to push hard and average the highest power I could achieve.  I did just that.  I pushed as hard as I could today.  Normally, by pushing hard, my power would be towards the top of the target range, or even above it.  As you can see, I didn’t come close to that today.

During the ride, my legs, and my quads in particular, just felt tired.  I couldn’t push power.  I was watching the power on my laptop screen, and it was quite demoralizing, to see the power so low.  This meant that the workout became a mental struggle, in addition to a physical one.  I felt my motivation start to wane, just like it did yesterday.  In the end, I was able to push through.  It was ugly, but I made it. 

So, I struggled on my bike workout, but I actually consider the workout a big win.  I didn’t quit, when I easily could have.  I could have backed off the power, to ease the pain in my legs, but I didn’t.  Many people would call such a workout a ‘bad’ workout.  I consider it a ‘good’ one, because I stuck with it, and gave all that I had today.