To ensure this is not viewed as an April Fools Day shenanigan, I am posting this on the final day of March. This is the result of my final Tour Shenanigans. And because as a Knight of Sufferlandria I must uphold my honour and the honour of the greatest mythical nation in the world.
So, because of your fantastic fundraising that pushed the KOS Team over $15k, I will be riding Hell Hath No Fury and Who Dares on alternating days for all of April.
And as I have also pledged to the donor who pushed my personal fundraising over $2k, I will be riding them all in a knightās helmet. AND I will be adding in Violator on April 4.
And if my other 3 top donorās respond before the end of the month, I will be adding in a ride* for each of them as well, at their request. If not, I will add in a ride for them.
p.s. I will not be as public with these shenanigans as I was with Defender for Sir Dan in February. For multiple reasons. I donāt think you all need to see selfies and updates from me every day. February was special. I donāt want it to lose its luster. And thereās still all my own personal baggage to contend with. So, I will not be posting these on Facebook; they will only be here in the forum.
When I rode Full Frontal in Nov and then Half Monty in December, I hit all-time high numbers. Which was fantastic at the time.
But then I took time off in January, and was just easing back in when I started Defender for Dan in February. I definitely was not as the level I had been in December, but there was no time to do a new fitness test. So, February was extra painful because I was riding on old and all-time high 4DP number.
I was planning in March to take a recovery week and then do a new fitness test before the Tour, but with my dad passing I ended up having to take the entire month off. Plus, I caught my first cold in 3 years. I only got back on the bike just yesterday for a recovery spin. And wow, 135 watts never felt so difficult.
So, since I had no idea where my fitness level was, and feeling so awful during a simple recovery ride yesterday, it seem lunacy to ride on my numbers from December, I did a Half Monty this morning just to get some new and more realistic numbers. And boy oh boy did my numbers plummet. Down 50w in both MAP and FTP from my December numbers. Not quite, but close to my lowest numbers since April of 2020.
Boy my legs hurt. And my heart rate definitely showed that my fitness numbers had dropped, so it was definitely not a fluke. At least Iāll be able to ride this month with realistic numbers. In February, doing Defender at 80% was closer to riding it at 90% and 90% was basically riding at 100% because my real fitness had defintely dropped from December. And I want to avoid that feeling of not knowing what 100% intensity really is. So, regardless that Iām seeing my numbers drop so much, Iām glad that Iāll be able to do proper suffering and properly mentally prepare.
Donāt forget your mental state, youāve had a rough and trying month. Something makes me think those numbers may be down a bit from that experience and not just the time off the bike (but Iām no expert).
I was so happy to see your name yesterday morning on the the DPF prize list, so happy. You deserve it.
Keep in good spirits and have āfunā doing this!
@jesawdy Thank you. And youāre likely on point with that comment. I did some walking with my mom and her dog. But nothing strenuous for nearly a month. Yet, when I weighed myself yesterday morning I had lost 3 pounds from the end of February. I did consciously cut back on the food a bit, and tried to eat a bit healthier, but I was definitely not starving myself. And I did have a cold for 2 weeks. But the stress from everything Iāve been experiencing has definitely been and likely will still be a factor.
This comment hits me right in the feels. Thank you.
I had to make a few calendar tweaks due to some family April Fools Day shenanigans.
I ended up only being able to do HHNF on Saturday. I then did Who Dares on Monday. So, today I did both of them back-to-back.
That means I moved my Who Dares and Violator doubleheader to Thursday.
So now everything is back in some semblance of order.
And my knightās helmet needs some air freshener.
I have to add that doing these on reasonable numbers is refreshing. I was actually able to complete HHNF on Saturday and Who Dares on Monday both at 100%. I donāt know that Iāll be able to do them both back-to-back at 100%, but at least I can do them individually.
On Sunday I stepped around one of our dining room chairs, but my left knee didnāt get the message and collided solidly with the side of the chair. I now have a nice deep bruise that made my Monday Who Dares a little extra challenging. Fortunately, I didnāt notice it so much today, so fingers crossed I will be able to do HHNF tomorrow at 100% and then Who Dares and Violator at 100% on Thursday.
Did HHNF today at 100%. Itās definitely easier to complete a workout at 100% when my 4DP profile is correct. Defender was extra difficult in February because even on correct numbers itās a hard workout at 100%; and my 100% in February was closer to 90%. But itās still only the 5th. So weāll see what kind of hole Iāve dug myself into when I get past the 15thā¦
Today was Violator day. And boy do I feel violated.
Who Dares and then Violator both at 100%.
Who Dares - plus a week of riding at 100% - sapped the top end out of my legs so I wasnāt able to hit the top NM targets. But a little over halfway through the first set I was able to stay strong and reach the targets as they fell into my range. Then I hit them all for the rest of the workout.
Iām pretty sure I went into a dark place for most of Violator. I donāt remember most of the video during the sprints. There was some skydivers towards the end. But mostly I just remember Italian music, the intro, and the motorcycle ride in traffic at the end.
Had my dadās second celebration of life this past weekend. This time in Southern California which is where we grew up and lived most of our lives. That was nearly the epitome of chaos. Trying to recover this week.
So back at it yesterday with Who Dares and today with HHNF. Still at 100%. Need to make up a few this week and next as I wonāt be riding on my sonās birthday, either.
Didnāt sleep that good over the weekend. Or the past couple nights back at home either. Weather warmed up a bit more than I wouldāve liked. Summer is coming on too quickly.
Tomorrow will be a double ride day when I do both WD and HHNF. Probably not at 100%.
