And so the whole miserable process starts all over again. Here's a quick recap of how I got from the end of the last post to this one.
At the start of 2013 I was racing fairly well, scoring points regularly in 3rd cat races and looking forward to a decent season of road racing and crits trying to get up to 2nd cat. Unfortunately, I had a serious crash in the NW Regional Road Race Champs and broke my right collar bone and suffered concussion and road rash. The injuries took me out of training for a couple of months and I knew that I wouldn't return to racing because I didn't want to continue to risk my health with a load of weekend warriors with no race sense or respect for fellow racers.
In Sep 13 I had a titanium plate fitted (the bone wouldn't heal itself) which also required a bone graft from my hip; a fairly major procedure which took ages to heal properly and kept me off my bike for another couple of months.
Dec 13 saw a job move and I suddenly had a lot less time than before and spent a lot of my spare time decorating my new house and only getting exercise by commuting to work a couple of times a week.
Anyway, with another job move and an expectation of more time on my hands I have decided to use my time to regain some of my previous fitness and get into MTB endure, cyclocross and maybe even the occasional Time Trial.
Blogging is hugely self-indulgent and time-consuming, but it's a good way to improve motivation by ensuring that personal failings are published and I am held up to public ridicule if/when I fail.
Pending a 20 min power test, I estimate my 20 min power to be around 285W (previously around 320W), though my short-term power is likely to have suffered most, so I'll set 5 min and 20 min targets.
TARGETS:
5 min power: 380W (93% of previous peak)
20 min power: 310W (93% of previous peak)
Weight: 73kg
Once I get over my cold and my Xmas belly, I'll weight myself and complete a 20 and 5 min power test so I know how far away from my targets I am. In the meantime I need to finish off my Xmas chocolates and sherry and dig out my heart rate monitor.
