I got something new from my coach today… two bike workouts on the same day.  Just like a double run day, this day was all about getting maximum benefit from long, hard sessions but balancing them with decent recovery in between.

I did session number one early this morning.  It was a ‘sweet spot’ session.  This is a session where I ride for a decent amount of time, at a power level just under my FTP.  It’s hard work, but not so hard that you end up completely exhausted.  You are able to recover enough from this workout, to do a second workout later in the day.

My second workout, which I did this evening, was a short workout that included five, three minute ‘Big Gear’ intervals, on one minute rest.  Big gear sessions are all about low cadence and high power.  I had a great workout, apart from the moment when I dropped my chain, while shifting into a big gear for the last interval.  A few cuss words and a minute later, I was back at it, albeit with very oily hands.  I dropped the chain because I wasn’t paying attention; I hit the power too soon after shifting.

This was my first big day after last week’s ‘down week’ and it showed.  I felt strong and ready to dig into this next block of hard work.