Knee of Woe: Wk 1, Day 2: SUPER 6

Webb: I had to ride solo on Day 2 of the Spinervals SUPER 6. Elle was out of the game.

Icing & pouting on the couch

Elle: Sadly I seem to have broken rule #2 of Triathlon...

3 RULES OF TRIATHLON*
Rule #1 - Don't get sick.
Rule #2 - Don't get injured.
Rule #3 - Don't break rules #1 & #2.
 
*Cannot remember who authored these tried and true rules.

Elle: I woke up one morning early last November, unable to bend my left knee. Luckily nothing was torn or broken, but I couldn't run or bike for a month (per Dr.'s orders). It sucked. Slowly I was able to start working out again. However, to my horror, some symptoms re-appeared last night. In my best efforts to be wise and not make a bad situation worse, I made the (hopefully smart) decision to stand down, and refrain from the scheduled workout.

Webb: It just goes to show when you think you are done with an injury, keep icing or NSAID'ing to be sure you have knocked out the inflammation.

Elle: So, I did an easy 10 minutes on the bike to warm up, then hopped on the foam roller to see if I could roll the bad out of my legs/hip. Then straight to icing, ibuprofen, and sulking on the couch. 

THE WORKOUT: Spinervals 16 Aero Base Builder - I
The SUPER 6 program called for Spinervals 39. However, it also allowed the use of 16 or 17 as an option. Spinervals 16 consists of 85:00 of sets of descending intervals. As the intervals get shorter, the cadence goes up and the resistance goes down.

Webb: I opted for Spinervals 16 since we own it. The workout is great in that it helps you understand the nature of power. Since your primary goal is to stay under your power or HR threshold, you can see how resistance and cadence work together. From there you can start thinking about what works best for you on race day. Is it lower RPM and higher resistance or is it the opposite? Finding that sweet spot is key - even if it may move as your strengths and fitness change.

At one point Coach Troy says, "You should finish this workout feeling refreshed."  This was the case. Sure I was tired and left sizable sweat puddles, but I wasn't smashed. I felt like I put in some good fat-burning, capillary network-building time. I just wish I had the sense to have a second bottle of nuun-water on hand.

Elle: It was super hard watching Webb workout, but if I don't sort this knee problem out now, it will continue to be a problem. Hoping that a good session in the pool tomorrow will help me feel better.

Webb: Thursday calls for a threshold test. We'll have to put that off until another time, once Elle's knee is up to the task.