Year's End...Time to start a new...

Well this year is about to be over, and last night's ride at Nick's was the final ride of the year for me.  Nick and I did a Sufferfest video - The Dark Side, which was a very HARD workout indeed.  I nearly reached my personal best MaxHR of 167 bt/min with a 166 bt/min burst in the second interval.  My goal for this years indoor rides is to build a tolerance for both higher heart rates and higher riding cadences.  I tried very hard yesterday to stay at the recommended cadence, but by doing so worked a bit harder than the recommended perceived exertion.  Here is my Garmin File:



This ride capped off a very tough year for me, and I look forward to a new one.  I am not going to dwell on the difficulties of the past, but set goals for the new.  Here are my stats from last year:

My Goals for 2012

1. To get over 3000 total mile for 2012 by doing over 200 activities.  
2. To average over 14 mph for 2012
3. To beat my Personal Best Max Avg Speed by 1 mph to 18.5 mph
4. To improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm.

To achieve these goals I need to have good luck with the weather, but ride indoors even on inclement weather days.  Also to improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm I will need to gear up a bit using larger rear cogs or the small front cog more often.  This will also take a higher tolerance for higher average HR as push my pedals faster is harder for me to maintain.

To achieve a higher tolerance for both HR and Cadence is going to require a concerted effort during this years indoor training season to keep my cadence over 90.  I must be diligent when working on the trainer to work at or above my threshold for sustained period of time to change my fitness level and tolerance.  

In addition, I need to watch more carefully what I eat and cannot eat pizza with my son Ben.  I need to pre-make my meals ahead of time for the evenings during the week, so temptation is not as likely to overcome my will power.  

I will also have to work a bit harder on my recovery rides and make sure to average at least 14 mph on all rides outdoors.  I will need to work a bit harder during rest intervals indoors to keep my avg speed higher for indoor rides.

I must also start keeping track of my weight again on the WiScale.  This helped a great deal this summer, and I should begin again a new.

So basic strategy:

• Work at higher cadences (90+ rpm) at or above my anaerobic threshold (150+ bt/min).
• Ride on all scheduled dates weather permitting or not.
• Track my Weight and prepare my meals ahead of time on workout nights.

This will hopefully yield better results in 2012 so I can reach my goals.

Wish me luck!