Quads on Fire!

Day 28 of the Spinvervals 32-Day Challenge. Some of my team mates are finishing strong, and some are pulling out due to illness and family issues. It's a tough time of year to do a Challenge like this. I was thrilled that I would be on vacation for the last 10 days of it. But, with three rides left, I'm starting to feel pretty edgy. Can't imagine working a 40-hour week and doing this, over this past week. I've been following some of my team mates today as they tackled all five and a half hours of Kona--more will be doing it tomorrow--and wishing I'd had the legs yesterday to finish the whole thing. Had some intestinal issues last night, so I think that may have been part of my problem. Don't know if it's a bug or something else. I was hospitalized last year for five days with a colon obstruction--I'll spare my readers the details--but, it seems I may be prone to chronic dehydration in that part of my innards because of all my endurance activities. I drink enough, my body just doesn't use the fluids effectively. Anyway, just something I need to be attentive to...
I did Spinverals 42.0 today, Quads on Fire, and I loved it! This is a new title, so the first time for me. Don't get me wrong, it was tough. After conversations on our Spinervals Facebook page, I realized that I need to make a better effort trying to keep my wattage, heart rate and cadence all in the ranges that Coach Troy is suggesting. I tend to want to ignore cadence in favor of the gearing Coach gives, along with the speed and distance in the training plan. I've come to realize, with the help of my friends, that gearing and speed are variable factors on an indoor trainer. In order to get the desired training effect, I need to use the HR and power zones I established in my threshold test. Which would be the reason for the test in the first place. Duh! What I discovered once I stopped worrying about gearing, was that I *could* get my heart rate, power and cadence all in the proper ranges AT THE SAME TIME! I decided today to use my Garmin 500 along with my KK wireless, so that I could get HR, at least, to upload to Training Peaks to analyze. With each set during the workout, I focused on sweet spot cadence and holding my power in the proper zone, and my HR just fell in line. I was never in the gear Coach suggested, and I finished about 4 miles shy of the planned distance, but I felt like I did the workout the way Coach intended. I was able to hit power, HR and cadence for every set until the second 6 minute set. The set is long enough that I can see the difference between the two sets on the TP chart. I also struggled with the last of the three 1 minute sets (actually, the last two of the three!), but the sets were too short to reflect any difference in my HR. I could see my power drop off on the KK computer as I started pedaling in squares the last 10-15 seconds. Here's where I need the ability to upload power data. Also, I need to pay more attention to my TSS and IF numbers (and probably resting HR), to help plan my workouts. Maybe I could have predicted yesterday's struggle. That would be a good resolution for the new year. Here are my stats for today (I would include a link to the TP workout, but, for some reason, it isn't displaying properly): Time-1:30:14, avg rpms-83, avg hr-144, avg watts-164, avg mph-15.7, distance-24.73 mi.