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The weather was uncertain and the risk of rain was 2013 Ballon significant! But fortunately the event! blessed by the
heavenly gods since its creation! will once again 2013 Ballon pass through the
rain. And even benefit from optimal weather with clear spells and 20
degrees at the start / 15 at the summit with little wind! Once again the organization
managed to close the road and we will have the Col du Ballon reserved for
cyclists all afternoon! hats off! For my part! it is already my 10th.
participation out of the 11 organized! I will have missed only the first one in 2003!
For these 10 years I am keen to perform well and I bet everything 2013 Ballon on a peak of
form to beat my 28’25 of 2012. For
this and as explained here ! I charged well until the beginning of September then lowered
my load with a view to triggering a peak of form.
To make it happen fasterthan in 2012
I deliberately limited my outings to between 1h30 for the qualitative (often) and little beyond 2h30 for the critical endurance (because only short events in sight) over job function email database the last 3 weeks. The CTL (total load) has risen to a
level equivalent to September 2012 but the residual fatigue is much less!
Load falling and form rising!
Indeed! the long training outings for the Vosgienne 160 km in 2012 had dried me out and I needed 15 days of lightening to have an optimal rebound at the
Amic pass… My tire tests last Thursday also gave me confidence. In
addition to having found ‘the tire’ for the event! the 4 *10min@315w held quite easily
showed me that the form was already well ascending. From the warm-up I feel that the legs
are there. As usual I use a protocol that matta joseph suits me well: 20 minutes
very easy at I2 then 10 minutes of progressive increase in intensity from I2 to I5 then
another 10 minutes @I2 with 3 short sprints of 5s. 5 minutes to get to the
starting line and go.
The 40-minute warm-up protocol
The first 10 minutes confirm the sensations! I have
good legs. 322 watts but I know from experience that you shouldn’t get carried away
and I even prefer to ease off a little. Indeed and even if I hope to be in
peak form! you have to know how to remain realistic in terms of progression and
aiming for 315 watts (+10 watts in 3 weeks) on the climb clean email would be perfect. Better to be
able to speed up a bit in the last 5 minutes than to get a stitch
and suffocate on the last part. Indeed after 15 min I’m still
happy not to have been faster! thanks to the power meter management
! It’s getting tough and I’m digging in to maintain the 310 w but it’s
holding!