[Ed Peterson]

I've resigned myself to the reality of indoor training as yet another weekend snowfall looms ahead in the forecast. This is the winter we've been missing for the past several years. Seems like every weekend is a wash. Like most of you my only realistic opportunity to ride outdoors is on Saturday and Sunday; and it's been tough to really get out this season.

Which is not a huge deal. I've come to realize that a short (45 - 60 minute), focused trainer session is probably more conducive to building fitness than a less structured two hour ride outdoors. I've just decided not to fight it and to stay with the plan. Race season is getting close; so I've started to add some intensity to the program. Last Sunday was the hour of power at 242w as an endurance session.

On Monday I went in with the VO2 max intervals. I scheduled myself for (6) x 3 minutes at 120% of threshold (310w); or at least my best guess. These were fairly hard, fairly painful; but eminently do-able. On Wednesday I decided to do (3) x 10 minutes at 280w (108%). Again....hard but do-able. The idea with these intervals is to get way past the "comfort zone" and start to simulate a sustained high intensity effort.

One thing that I always find fascinating is how fine the edge is between a sustainable effort and the point at which you crack. Last week I did (2) 20's at 275w and they were hard, but certainly not too grim. Bumping it up to the 280w+ range for 10 minutes felt twice as hard. And at 310w, only a 35w increase, three minutes felt like an eternity and I'd a been totally blown if I tried to carry that effort past five minutes. It's what happens to a marginal racer when he's (she) hanging on to the back of a fast group and they're just about surviving. Then the group hits a small roller or the hammers at the front decide to punch it and there's complete chaos at the back of the pack as all the pretenders get spit out. Race over.

And of course, that's what we're trying to train for. So that there's some reserve even when the going gets tough. Enough in the tank to survive, thrive,.....and for the best, to win!