Friday, March 6, 2009
Power
Yes, I know. I had a different post up. Now it's gone. Ho Hum. I've been thinking about power. I like power. I don't wield much power in my life, though, and it's high time I began wielding more of it. There is power in words, but sometimes there is power in silence. Have you noticed that? It's an interesting thing. I talk too much, confide to much, put too much out there. On the one hand this is good: when you are out there, people respond to you and befriend you and relate to you. In fact, by putting myself out there I made a great connection just yesterday. However, sometimes just keeping your trap shut has enormous power. You can bend people to your will just by being remaining quiet. Really! I've never done it, but it's been done to me. It's an interesting phenomenon. On to triathlon and power. I need more power there too. I need the power to believe that all my crazy training will translate into finishing IM. I need the power of will to get me through the next few months as I journey toward IM, and as I journey toward figuring out some pretty complex personal stuff. BUT most importantly, I need power in these quads. I need the numbers on the power meter to stop mocking me. I need to push more watts than my dead grandmother (rip). I need to do this or I'm going to be dead fucking last on the bike at IMLP. I know I'm little, and I know about weight to power ratio etc. blah blah. But my numbers are really quite embarrassing, still. My awesome coach, (jen), has me doing some great bike workouts that I know, eventually, will help me to increase my wattage output. But the journey is a slow one, and I've been wondering if a little person has a shot in hell at ever getting really, really good on the bike. Are there enough muscle fibers in my itty bitty quads to ever really put out serious POWER? That is the question. More importantly, if I can get some power in these little quads, if I can make them bigger out of sheer work-out will, will that power float through my body, into my brain, and make me a more powerful, not to be fucked with person?
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9 comments:
mary - the thing is that you are already awesome on the bike - seriously - if you're not pushing a ton of wattage, then how is it that you are still so speedy??? im glad that jen is helping you, and you will get there, but you are still incredibly strong, and you better believe it!!!
Mary, you proved it in Clear Water. You ate the swim, bike and the run. You had a stellar bike performance. You have a high voltage body. You name it you got girl. You going to rock this IM.
mary - you are going to rock that bike course at imlp. i know it.
You will get there no problem... some how I imagine you are being tough on yourself and your watts are a lot stronger than you think. I hear you on those bike workouts from Jen - mind numbing!!!
This time of the year just sucks - I usually have one or two weeks of 'in a funk' around this time. You are starting to put in a lot of workout time, but all the fun is a long way off (and the weather still sucks). I can just tell from your blog that you kick ass. Give yourself a treat and get back out there and be awesome.
Mary- You're right- the bike is all about power...and the ability to sustain the power output. Now to put my tri-geek hat on, it's actually about power per Kg of body weight. For help on that one, see your previous blog. Finally, it's about sustained power/Kg and AERO. It's all about AERO.
Hold on a minute- You averaged 21.7 mph on the bike at Clearwater! Even on a flat course, that's great! Even better, you followed it up with a strong run. Stop worrying and think about kicking butt on the bike.
If you want the numbers on your powermeter to stop taunting you, you could always rip the damned thing off. Not that I have tremendous experience or anything, but I don't know what you're so worked up about. Would you ever let a novice marathoner put as much pressure on themselves as you're putting on yourself for your first ironman? There are too many question marks. If you're stressing out about things that you can't possibly know for another 4 months (like "what's my body going to feel like after riding 112 hilly miles as fast as I can?"), then of COURSE you're going to feel powerless and out of control!
And anyway, you are a far better runner than you are a "crappy" biker (which you're not). Let me know when you'd be down to take a long bike ride field trip to the Adirondacks, by the way. I know I'll need to book you weeks/months in advance...
actually to correct Maine Sport here...in a TT situation, on a flat or moderate course (Lake Placid is moderate at best), it is about absolute power.
see, a bigger person can get near the same CdA as a small person and since Maine sport points out it is all about aero, then absolute watts + very aero = very fast bike...or I should say a very "ideal" bike and a FAST run!
Do the work Mary!
KP
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