A great couple of weeks' training

Yes, I know, it's been a while (and yes, I know, this post has no photos...).

The last couple of weeks have been grand; it's amazing how much better I feel having had a couple of weeks of injury and illness free consistent training (give or take).

Apart from my left calf going into spasm while running down Old Mill Road (upwards of 20% gradient), the running has been going well, and I've had a couple of 4 hour rides. We also went for an awesome 1:30 run in the Waitakere Ranges on Sunday. Basically ran up a hill for 45 minutes, then came down/up/down a rather technical decent. My legs have been sore for a couple of days since - good sore. It's been a while since we've done a good off-road run, and it's amazing how much harder your legs have to work.

Also, I've been able to play with the Powertap. At the moment, I'm just riding as normal, getting a good idea of the sorts of watts I will normally produce, and what different wattage levels feel like. It's also a little scary how inconsistent my power output is.

I'm currently reading Training and Racing with a Power Meter, which is basically the bible on Power Meters. Once I'm done, I'll do a test to establish my FTP (Functional Threshold Power - essentially, the power I can hold over a 1 hr TT) - you can then use that to work out training zones (which are more accurate than using HR), and can track your training using WKO+. So my training will be the same, and I'll be doing what Paul schedules, but I'll be able to do the workouts more accurately/efficiently, and track my workload much better.

Promise I'll have some pretty pictures soon =)