James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Norm said:
You can call it a Taper, I just call it a Build.
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Just to bust your balls...so you're tapering going into Nationals? A taper has the desired effect of maximizing race readiness by shedding fatigue while maintaining fitness; a build cycle looks to increase fitness with little concern for the corresponding build up of fatigue.


#renameitadamntaper #dontstopthetrainingtalk
 
Great post. Some random thoughts:

*I couldn't agree more about training being an art. Some years ago I became frustrated that I wasn't improving as a cyclist. While my bike handling was certainly a huge part of that equation, I felt myself getting burned out from trying to do too much in what I thought was structured training at the time. I ended up working with a coach for a couple of years. No regrets as I made some great gains in fitness and learned a lot in the process. However, burnout eventually set in which clearly illustrates your point that what works for someone today may not work for him in a few weeks/months/years...even under the watchful eye of a coach, who I still have a lot of respect for despite parting ways.

*I will 100% NOT lose interest in this blog even if you come in 56th of 56th as long as you gave it your all. One of the cool things about cross is that there are so many mini battles going on whether they be for a podium spot, top 10, or not coming in DFL. In fact, someone wise once said something along the lines of 'if you are consistently winning races, you are not lining up with the right people.' I won't even use the inflammatory term that rhymes with bandsagger.

*Chocolate milk for recovery all day, every day.
 
2x20 question, since i never did it, was never instructed to do it, and never found that workout in the book i've skimmed, what % of your max 20m power do you typically do these at? is it really 100%?

My best 20m was in a race (obviously) and I most certainly feel that I could not replicate that by myself. I guess I could try but if I failed I would be extremely disappointed in myself.
 
Norm said:
> On a chain gang...

At a high level we go to work to live - work to live not live to work. It is a necessary evil some would say, but I would argue that it is a necessary construct to keep mankind's mind occupied. There is an age-old adage about idle hands, and in a general sense I think there is some truth in that. We humans do poorly when not given something to do. I think as our society gets easier, we get more angsty and then angry about the world at large. I think having a purpose in life takes much of that away. For many, this is work. For many of us here, it is a combination of work and the bike community.

So here is the point. I sent 4 stories to test today, they were assigned to a certain individual who is from Delaware. It would probably take this individual 2 hours max to test these. Now mind you, this is part of the job they are supposed to be doing. The response was this. I am off Thursday and Friday, so I can't do this until Monday.

Essentially, I am off for 2 days, so the next 4 days I will be doing nothing at all. To me, this redefines the expression, "Totally f'ing useless."

I don't understand anyone anymore. I cannot comprehend how lazy so many people are.
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I am behind here but wanted to comment on this, I agree on the work to live thing. In your example, you didn't state a deadline for such work, which I think makes a difference. If the deadline is always as soon as possible then it is fair game for the worker to prioritize as they see fit, because as soon as possible means different things to different people. If the person gets 4 things that are need as soon as possible; as soon as possible means nothing. In any case, if I have planned PTO, it is because i am doing something, so anything at work can wait. I typically don't fully check out on days off because there is always those people who go full retard the second your not there, but yeah, I probably wouldn't touch it until Monday morning.

That being said, I had PTO this past Mon/Tues and was at the beach Sun-Tues. On Friday, a client had a fire drill for a scope and cost that is for a project that I manage and it was an ASAP request. So yeah, I worked on it parts of Sat-Tues. It was no question in my mind to do so.

But no timeframe given = no timeframe given
 
Ha. Time off is time off. I turn my work phone off and do not log back in until I get back in on the day I am not PTO.
Granted, I'll make sure things are covered by preparing people for my upcoming time off, and ask someone to be my delegate (99% useless 100% of the time).
I know things have stopped still when I am out. I really don't worry about it. I don't get paid enough to care about shit like that. When I get back in, I'll take care of it.
 
jShort said:
Ha. Time off is time off. I turn my work phone off and do not log back in until I get back in on the day I am not PTO.
Granted, I'll make sure things are covered by preparing people for my upcoming time off, and ask someone to be my delegate (99% useless 100% of the time).
I know things have stopped still when I am out. I really don't worry about it. I don't get paid enough to care about shit like that. When I get back in, I'll take care of it.
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this only works when it is required (ie banking industry, if in production, it is required that you take a no-contact vacation.) - otherwise the person that doesn't check-out when on vacation will get the bigger raise, and the next in line for the promotion. same as having a hard end-of-day rule if not required by the employer (i spoke with @shrpshtr325 today about this) although he might leave work, the problems and their solutions travel well - cause ya just gotta think about it.
 
i'll throw one other thing out there - except for a few of the people, i really enjoyed the corporate world. the problems were engaging, we solved them as a team, we challenged each other to innovate. work was a part of being me. this total immersion let me take a 2 hour lunches to get 9 holes in with a co-worker, while we brainstormed a problem. or play racquetball until 10am. (we rode watchung after work)

perhaps it was the environment "solve this non-trivial problem" cause IT says it can't be done. It never felt like work, but so much got done. there wasn't a formal development process because what i did was not for production, but to prove it could become a product, or monetized.

ultimately i got a bit disillusioned with it (what i actually did has its good and bad - documented elsewhere) - but it was a good run, and i was never far
from a computer.
 
Best part of my job... when the car is parked and the locker gets closed at the end of my shift, I don't even THINK about work unless someone calls me.

And if you call me, the first words out of your mouth best be, "Sorry to bother you on your day off, but..."

I've never wanted to go into the detective bureau because of this. I worked the DB catching routine cases for the full-time detectives while they worked a homicide years ago. Absolutely hated that I could always make one for phone call before leaving for the day.

Punch in, punch out, GFY.
 
fidodie said:
(i spoke with @shrpshtr325 today about this) although he might leave work, the problems and their solutions travel well - cause ya just gotta think about it.
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this is called engineering no matter when your off the clock you mind doesnt turn off, i do alot to occupy it with non work related stuff when im not at work, but it doesnt usually work. On the plus side my job doesnt allow unplanned OR unpaid overtime, and doesnt give out cell phones (at least not at my level) so when i punch out, im not spending any time directly doing work, and im not expected to be reachable, im OFF and wont be bothered unless i come up with some solution on my own.
 
Many things have happened since the last post. None of them are really training-related so I hate to disappoint you all with some non-training stuff. Here's an assortment of stuff:

* Friday I hit my 40 hours at 10:00 and went out to Clinton to meet my parents for lunch. Julia went to spend the weekend with them so we met up for lunch then they took off for Crystal Cave and I headed north. I had a Greek Omelette.

* Got to the BSA around 12:30 where @seanrunnette and various assorted other people were there checking in. We made our way to camp and Sean put up his tent while I sat there doing nothing to help. After he went back home to read a book out loud, I set up my camp. Then I got a work call which I took in my camp chair. Then I had another work call which I kinda blew off. I just wanted to sit in my f'ing camp chair for 3 hours to read. Before I could even get to page 1, we were told that the camp was reserved for NICA. So Ashton and I relocated to another camp.

* After a few trips back & forth we finished relocating the camp to our new location. Then I had to set my camp up for the second time. I read 2 pages before @Santapez and @MissJR showed up. I continued to read while they setup camp, then @JimN showed up and I finished my chapter which totaled a whole 12 pages. Shortly after, @2Julianas & @MurderBort showed up then finally @Dominique came in after work. Steph was also there as was Alex's sister/family plus a few random people.

* Did a night ride Friday, partly following last year's course which went through a monster mud hole about a mile in. Ended with Earthworm down to the road and back into camp. Got back to camp, went to shower, hung out for a little then went to bed. Slept like complete & total ass.

* Woke up around 6:30 and drank coffee & made oatmeal. Got ready to ride for 9:00 and saw a bunch of people as they randomly rolled through camp.

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* Did the 9:00 JORBA advanced ride into Mooch north, which included Lumpy Bumpy, Rolly Polly, Dan's Trail, and 4 Bump. Pretty solid ride and got back to the camp, showered up again, then hung out eating, drinking coffee & tea, eating more, and hanging out with a bunch of people. Got to spend a lot of time with a lot of teammates this afternoon. Good stuff, good times. Back at camp and a bunch of people came through on & off.

* Made more food, ate a pre-dinner before going to the cookout. Had a salad and talked to some more people before heading back to camp to get ready for the night ride. Ended up with 12 people on the Saturday night ride which I ended up leading. This time we followed the pie plates and Sean later said he thought this was the best of the 3 rides he had done. Got back, took the 3rd shower of the weekend, then went to bed shortly after and slept like ass yet again.

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* Woke up, more coffee, more oatmeal, but this time a 9:15 ride led by Steph, the Stephens intermediate ride. Good ride, almost 2 hours total. Solid group and got to talk to @ChrisG a bit on this ride. Managed to keep the big group mostly together and made it back in 1 piece. Back to the camp, shower #4, and ate various things that Alex & Mark made for us.

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* Parted ways from everyone, grudgingly. In all, I rode 6+ hours this weekend with @Dominique, @2Julianas, @MurderBort, and @seanrunnette - we rode everything this weekend together. Ok well almost. Sean took off a tad early Saturday and Alex skipped the Saturday night ride. But by and large, we rode a lot of time in each other's company and yet again, we were planning our next getaway as this weekend ended (3 weeks from now, VT/MA adventure).

* Drove to PA to get Julia while D went home. Had a few cups of coffee with my parents before heading home. D unpacked the whole car and started laundry. Came home, had a cup of tea, then went out to mow the lawn. When I got done, I was drenched from head to toe. Shower #5 on the weekend.

* Took Julia back to her mom's with a quick stop at Shoprite. Back home, first bowl of ice cream of the weekend, wrote this blog, did not proof read it because I am too tired, hit submit, went upstairs in the hopes that I will not sleep like ass again tonight.

Another great weekend with great friends. I don’t understand why more people don’t do this. I feel like this event has hit Critical Mass and it’s getting close to being a can’t miss weekend.
 
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You know, all I really wanted last night was to go to bed and have a great night of sleep. By 10:30 I was just about out, barely able to stay awake. By 11:30 I was wide-awake with an excruciating toothache that was making it impossible to sleep. I went downstairs because laying down never makes it feel better. After reading a bit I found that this is due to the higher blood pressure from laying down. So, sitting up feels better. But those of you who have ever tried sleeping sitting down or standing up know that's not ideal. Eventually I got to sleep around maybe 2:00 with a bag of ice on my face, and slept until just after 7:40. What a shitty night. I went to the dentist today and I'll need to get 1 of my wisdom teeth pulled. He also gave me an antibiotic to stop the infection but at 9pm I'll tell you it ain't really f'ing working yet.

So after 3 shit nights of sleep, the best I can hope for is a night of moderately shitty sleep.

We are watching The Tunnel, season 2, episode 7 right now. The family got a dog and the dad joked they should name it Brian. So the kids named it Brian. This made me laugh so hard it made my tooth hurt. By the end of the night, we ended up watching E5->E8 and finishing the 2nd season. Another good watch, maybe not quite as dark as the first season, but more arcane/confusing. I think after discussing with the crew on Saturday, we may put Wild Wild Country in the Up Next queue. I have also added Black Mirror to my Zwift TV queue.

On that note, I rode Zwift for 90 minutes today while I worked atop my makeshift desk. @seanrunnette and @Magic both think I should get the bike-work specific desk which I rejected last time they suggested it. After today, it may be something to consider. Today's effort was nothing real. It was a day of just spinning the legs out. So doing real work wasn't too hard and it made the 90 minutes go by in no time. Having said that, I did almost knock the laptop off the board a few times. Not super close, but if I keep doing this it's only a matter of time. Can one of you link that again for me?

The next 2 days I intend to go hard on the bike, but at the same time I think I need to see if I can get this pesky tooth removed, so when I hear jokes about people naming the dog Brian, I can laugh and not hurt. As I told Sean today, I am taking it one day at a time right now. So in terms of what I will do on the bike tomorrow or the next day, I have no idea how it will shake out. The reason I told Sean that I am taking it one day at a time right now is because he is worked up about KMC because Gloucester is sold out already. So Gloucester is out, which knocks out 1 of our potential 2 cross-weekend-Massachusetts trips. I like pie. This paragraph is all over the place.

On Wednesday after work, we are going to Montreal. Adventure #49 commences. I'll get more into that on Wednesday.

@fidodie really speaks to a lot of things I agree with but I think this is one of those conversations best had in real life.

@pearl asks about training

FTP work is typically something that can be done in *any* length. I am a follower of Coggan's training approach and used to read some message boards where he was a contributor. He was of opinion that the following are all the same in terms of FTP work:

* 1x60
* 2x30
* 3x20
* 4x15
* etc

The idea is to get the work done. The point I am making here is that 20s are 15s are 8s. I think one of your coaches was a fan of the 8. Now, how you go about raising that FTP number is the topic of some debate. Rather, maybe not debate, but how best to get it done. Let's assume your FTP is 300, for the sake of argument. You've got 2 ways to do this, and these numbers are just to make the point:

1. Push - Train at 295. You train below your FTP in an effort to gently push it up.
2. Pull - Train at 305. You train above your FTP in an effort to pull it up.

I don't think there's a lot of debate that #2 works better. If you train this way every week you will raise your FTP faster. So why would anyone suggest #1? Well, the answer is that the pull method also burns you out/blows you up faster. Any coach concerned about the long term health of their athlete will choose the push method. The only way a coach would suggest a pull is with someone they know really well, and have a very set plan in place. This plan would be one where this is a short-term approach. Alternately, it can be used in very small doses to kick-start a training block, etc etc.

These efforts are not really done with the CP20 in mind, but with your FTP in mind. So you don't get the CP20 and train with that. You find your CP20 that you nailed in the race, figure out your CP60 (FTP), and train with that. Then you push or pull.

Having said all that, I believe your CP5 is a better race predictor than any other number. I absolutely hate training my CP5. It's just brutal.
 
I too have slept shittily for the past 3 nights as well.
Last night was banner- couldn't fall asleep until 12:30, and have now been up since 3:45a. It's really no way to run a business.

I too have the wisdom teeth that need to come out. They can pry them from my cold dead mouth. The next time I have surgery it'll be for something I can enjoy, like a knee replacement.

In The Bridge, they named the dog Edgar, which is like 20 times funnier.
Just sayin'.

And I do numbers for a living, and I have no idea what you are talking about. Is that new math?
You should definitely do the C3P0.
 
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Duuude... No more math. I'm still trying to figure out what the heart rate numbers BS means. WTF is this CP stuff?!

Count me in with the can't sleep crowd even tho I'm exhausted. And I also need wisdom teeth pulled but they have NEVER given me any issues, so why would I want to go thru surgery to get them pulled?!
 
MissJR said:
Duuude... No more math. I'm still trying to figure out what the heart rate numbers BS means. WTF is this CP stuff?!

Count me in with the can't sleep crowd even tho I'm exhausted. And I also need wisdom teeth pulled but they have NEVER given me any issues, so why would I want to go thru surgery to get them pulled?!
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Guess you never read any of Norm’s pre 2013 threads?

Day 2-3 for the antibiotic to work. I rode my last HOH with an infected tooth, fun.
 
MissJR said:
Duuude... No more math. I'm still trying to figure out what the heart rate numbers BS means. WTF is this CP stuff?!

Count me in with the can't sleep crowd even tho I'm exhausted. And I also need wisdom teeth pulled but they have NEVER given me any issues, so why would I want to go thru surgery to get them pulled?!
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cp is critical power, the number is the time interval in minutes that its referencing.

cp20 is 20 minute max power output
cp60 is 60 minute max power
ect ect
 
shrpshtr325 said:
cp is critical power, the number is the time interval in minutes that its referencing.

cp20 is 20 minute max power output
cp60 is 60 minute max power
ect ect
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Oooohhhhh... I see...

Beware: I'm probably going to need a few things translated when all this training talk happens. 😉
 
Norm said:
Can one of you link that again for me?
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https://www.clevertraining.com/wahoo-fitness-bike-desk
...and if you do the VIP thing, which costs like 5 bucks, you save like 10%. Link to it through DCRainmaker's site and he gets a taste. Just sayin'.
I had my wisdom teeth out 20 years ago. The dentist had to straddle me to get the uppers out. Then one exploded and he spent 15 minutes grinding and tearing. There was actual smoke. The nurse had the nitrous cranked WAY above the normal dosages, which was great, but wouldn't have been necessary if I hadn't done all those whippets when I was younger, but that's another thing entirely. Cool thing, the pockets end up with food in them for weeks after. Surprise snacks!
 
MissJR said:
Oooohhhhh... I see...

Beware: I'm probably going to need a few things translated when all this training talk happens. 😉
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feel free to ask, i know ill explain as best i can, and im sure others will help you along too! 🙂
 
Lol at Sean. I got two knocked out 2-3 years ago. Surprisingly the one that they had to break into pieces to get out went fine. The second one, the doctor was yanking up, down, left, right with his pliers. Seeing that, I almost passed out and they threw oxygen on me for a few minutes.

There's also a Wahoo Knock Off Desk.
 
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