Matt Wilpers Doin’ His Thing
Cycling
Ok. In keeping with my decision to return to Power Zone Training, starting today I’m following Matt Wilpers’ advance PZ training program. Yay! Trouble is, the very first ride is the FTP test to gauge physical condition and set zones for subsequent rides. Sounds good, right? An FTP test requires riding at the maximum output sustainable for 20 minutes. If done correctly, you’ll feel like barfing at the end and hardly be able to dismount the bike. This is not “fun”.
I’ve taken four FTP tests in the past, I knew what I was in for. Knowing and doing are two very different things. I went out a bit too hard. If I hadn’t corrected I would have blown up and not finished. As it was the last five minutes were a struggle. At least twice I chose to quit and backed off power output only to get back into it a few seconds later. Success in life is very much a mental thing.
My output was 2% below my last FTP test. That’s not bad, but it is not good either. Though I’ve been riding regularly, I have sloughed off some. Time to get back in the game.’’
Bread
I’ve been making pizza dough for months now. It is easy to do with a mixer; it just takes a bit of time and planning ahead. Shopping at a local grocer today, I picked up a loaf of my favorite (non specialty) bread. Typically I don’t pay attention to pricing. I just get what I want. Today I noticed that this single loaf of bread was $6.39. Six plus bucks for a loaf of bread. It’s good bread. But $6?
So I bought pounds of stone ground whole wheat and I’ll make whole wheat bread. The first few batches will be “plain” whole wheat. Later I’ll get more adventurous and add nuts and dried berries/fruit/pureed fruit to the bread. Making bread is easy. I did it in college for fun. I’d knead between study sessions. The reward? Who doesn’t love the scent of freshly baked bread or the joy of cutting into a hot from the oven loaf?
Cycling Revisited
I’ll have to redouble my cycling effort just to maintain my weight.