In case you missed it, here’s my camp wrap-up and Clasica San Sebastian for VeloNews: http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/08/news/chad-haga-journal-getting-back-to-work_380326
In the journal, I mentioned the power analysis that I did after the race, and I thought I might as well share since some people like numbers (sorry, Mom, you can skip this bit).
The first three climbs of the race, by the numbers, were exactly the same in the 2014 and 2015 editions:
1) 16min@330w after 1:20 of racing/950kJ
2) 18min@370w after 3:00/2200kJ
3) 7min@340w after 3:40/2900kJ
Then the race really started, and this is where the gains I’ve made since last year showed up:
4) 17:30@400w after 4:00/3200kJ
5) 6min@420w after 4:40/3900kJ
I spent my last matches getting over that climb with the favorites and could only manage on the final climb:
6) 9min@360w after 5:00/4400kJ. The leaders did this climb a bit over 2 minutes faster, so I needed about 80 more watts.
I finished the race in 56th place a few minutes back, 4700kJ in 5:35. That’s an average power of 231w, NP of 304. I spent 1:05 in total (nearly 20% of the race) over 400w. You only get about an hour of time over threshold on any given day before your legs go away, so to make the selection on the final climb I need my threshold to be a bit higher and/or do a better job of really saving energy throughout the rest of the race. But in all, I’m very happy about my form in my first race in 7 weeks.
I wrote that VeloNews journal the day before news of Danielson’s positive test reached me, which made me chuckle. I had only my final edits to make before sending it to them, which really only consisted of adding “and testosterone” to one sentence.
The day wasn’t complete without another coincidence: USADA knocking on the door just hours after the journal was posted, as if they wanted to help me prove my claims. I just wanted to laugh, though, as during the test I was sweating like I had something to hide. They came just as I sat down to eat dinner: a heaping plate of quinoa and veggies straight off the stove, barely visible through the steam wafting off it. I didn’t need to pee yet, so they waited while I ate it in the un-air-conditioned apartment. Then it was time to provide a sample with a belly full of really hot food on a hot summer evening, and the sweat just started rolling. It must have looked rather comical.
Today I finished the last of my intervals leading up to Eneco Tour next week. Yesterday I did 2 8-min full-gas TT efforts and today was 5x3min hard VO2 climbing. The power is looking good as my form builds. I’m really hopeful that I can do something at Eneco, but I’ve only done a few races before in Belgium and just one in the Netherlands, and it’s a completely different type of racing than most of what I do. I’m excited for the challenge, though!