USADA v Armstrong - Charges

The USADA report list six charges against Lance Armstrong:

1. Use and / or attempted use of prohibitive substances
2. Possession of prohibitive substances
3. Trafficking of prohibitive susbstances
4. Administration and / or attemted administration of prohibitive substance to others
5. Assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up and other complicity
6. Aggravating circumstances

The difficulty I have with charge one is that testing should have caught it. According to the report, from 1999 - 2005, 20 of the 21 Tour podium finishers have been linked to doping and that from 1996 - 2010, thirty-six of forty-five have been linked.

Hopefully the report will give some insight into how Lance Armstrong could have avoided detection during that time when so many others were caught.

USADA v Armstrong - Introduction

The introduction of the USADA report summarized that the USADA interviewed multiple team members and that several of those team members are quite prominant. It also stated that financial records had been obtained. The USADA requested to interview Lance Armstrong and that he refused and based upon that refusal, the USADA published their reasoned decision.

Since Lance Armstrong chose not to cooperate with the USADA, they were able to review the information they received and reach their decision. I'm assuming it's called a reasoned decision since the information was not initially reviewed by a nuetral arbitrator.

USADA Report

I wasn't going to read the USADA report against Lance Armstrong but after being asked what I thought by several friends, I decided to take a look. First, a little about where I stood at the start. I am someone who believes that Armstrong did it clean. I wear the yellow band. I find it hard to believe that anyone could consistantly beat the system. It would have to require inside knowledge of when testing was going to be done. It would require having access to doctors around the clock to help beat the test.

That's where I start from. I hope to read a few pages a day and write what I find and think.

Computrainer - Super 6 - Week 2 - SP33

The first couple weeks of the Spinervals Super 6 program is focused on building your aerobic base with a weekly higher intensity session. Today's workout was the intense session for the week and is based upon Spinervals 33 The Pain Cave.

The Super 6 plan is being offered through Training Peaks so in order to take advantage of their many features, I converted Spinervals 33 into an ERG workout to be used with the Computrainer coaching software. The workout is pretty intense and went really well until I decided to mess with the heart rate sensor and reset the entire workout. Not a good move, especially when you are in the last set.

One feature that I'm using in Training Peaks is the charting function. By exporting my workout from the coaching software, I can upload it to Training Peaks and chart my performance.

The pink color is watts and I am real consistent with the workout. During the long interval set starting about minute 21, the power is steady for the entire ninety seconds.

Harvest Moon - Post Race Report

It's been a month since Harvest Moon and I've had a lot of time to reflect on what when wrong. The first thing that was wrong was the mental game. I don't know exactly what it was but I think all the solo racing just played on my mind too much. Racings a lot of fun but it's always been more fun when it's with friends. The sharing in the struggle and accomplishments make the day much more fun. For 2013, I've got to either talk my friends into more races or make more friends at the races. Either way, I've got to put the fun back into the race.

The second thing that went wrong has to be run training. Prior to Harvest Moon, I spent some time trail running in Durango. While it was fun, it was a lot harder than my normal running with lots of steep ascents and descents. I think this put a lot of stress on my calves and I didn't give them time to adjust and recover.

The last thing that went wrong was the cycling. When I returned from Durango I did back-to-back seventy mile rides. Prior to that my previous long ride was near forty and it wasn't back-to-back. While the long rides were fun, they put too much strain on already tired legs. It was definitely a violation of the ten percent rule.

As a result of the two training errors, what I thought on race day was a cramp was probably a grade two strain of the soleus. It's been four weeks and I'm barely able to run three miles without pain and that's after three weeks of no running. It also cost me two races, Crescent Moon and Panerathon, both of which I really like doing.

Next year, leason learned. Keep the training increases reasonable and stay within the plan. When I have spare time, take a longer nap, not a longer ride.

Harvest Moon Race Report

Harvest Moon Half Iron has always been one of my favorite races but this year, maybe I should have sat it out. The season had been really good through the triathlon in Estes Park but lately it seems I lost my motivation. I've been racing and most of the time, my usual friends have been absent.

When I showed up at Aurora Reservoir, Steven was there set up ready to go. The swim sent really well for not having much motivation. I set a good pace from the start and swam pretty straight considering you have to swim staight into the sun. It would be really nice to not have to swim into the sun but I guess that's what you get.

The bike course had a small modification at mile one; the exit from the reservoir was modified and now exits like Rattlesnake. The first ten miles were typical eastern Aurora with the rolling hills to the turn around. The northbound leg to Watkins had a nice tailwind and I literally flew. Somewhere along the course, I had caught up to Steven and for some reason, I just settled in. I don't usually settle in on a race but for some reason today it seemed like the thing to do. Overall, the bike was ok, not a great performance, not a bad ride, just ok. I know it didn't take too much out of me so I should have had plenty left for the run.

I was in and out of T2 pretty smoothly and onto the long out and back that is Aurora Reservoir. The initial pace felt pretty good so I tried to dial it back a little. I know 13.1 is a long way to run and going out too fast at Harvest Moon is a recipe for disaster. The course has some small steady climbs but it has almost no shade and by the time the run starts, the temperature has climbed. About three miles into the run, I had to stop for a pit stop. Something had been bothering my stomach since mile forty on the bike and it was time for a stop.

I was running really well through the turnaround and heading back when the wheels or left calf literally fell off. One second I was running nice and smooth and the next the left calf was starting to hurt and then I was walking. I tried to stretch a little but nothing gave me any relief. With six miles to go, a short run turned into a long hike. After walking a couple miles, I was able to shuffle for a minute and then walk for a minute. It was the best I could do and it got me to the finish, not pretty but still a finish.

Computrainer and Spinervals

Last year at this time I decided to change up my training with the Performance Improvement Guarantee (PIG) plan. This year I've decided to change it up using the Spinervals Super 6 plan. To do the plan with the Computrainer is going to require a little prior planning.

For the aerobic base building sessions, I think I can either use a Spinerval DVD and manually set the resistance or I can just pick a Computrainer course and hold the target power for the duration of the workout.

I think the best way to handle the interval workouts will be to build ERG workouts. My reasoning is that interval workouts involve changing resistance quickly and sometimes within short intervals. I don't think that this will work as well with a DVD and manually changing resistance.

The plan starts, like all good plans, with an assessment of your current ability. Like the PIG, the Super 6 starts with a threshold test. I was able to hold 247 watts for the test which was a little lower than the 253 I held for my final PIG test. I'm pretty happy with that since I'm coming off a three week rest period.