Saturday, May 31, 2008

Holy Crap! I Am One Tired Puppy

Oh wow. I have 650+mi for the month of May and my legs and body can sure tell it. I'm friggen tired as crap after today's 41mi ride. This ride was the shortest route of the 3 Mountain Madness ride. It really wasn't that hard of a ride, a few long-ish climbs, a few short ones and it really felt much harder than it was.

I think I'll have to take a couple of days off (per the coach/mentor guy) and maybe do my 3x30s intervals on Tuesday & Friday. But we'll see. My rhr has been about 6-7 beats higher than normal this week. Normally, it's around 52bpm in the morning right after I wake up, but this week that has not been the case. I really need to get some good rest this week, make sure I'm properly hydrated, and eat well. I do not want to go into AoM feeling tired.

I'll do a 3MM ride report tomorrow most likely. Right now, seriously considering going to bed since I got up at 4am to go do this ride.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Meh...Didn't Go As I Wanted

The intervals that is....

I got a pretty good warm up in on the way to Hwy 96 and rode this for about 8 miles. The first interval was good - started a little bit too hard, but backed off a bit so I could finish it. Started to fade after about 7 minutes, but had to just push on through. This interval took me all the way to Hwy 42, where I met Lawrence & the Hammers. Stopped and chatted with them for a minute or two and then did the second interval. Not nearly as good as the first. More hilliness on this section and I started out way faster/harder than the first one! Stupid. Really started to fade at 5 minutes on this one. Legs were burning something fierce, cardio was going out the roof. Saddle needed to be adjusted to tilt down a bit more.

The last one was done on Covered Bridge/Thanksgiving roads. Into the wind. Just didn't have anything to put into this last interval. Fade again after 6 minutes or so. Finished up on Thanksgiving and the climb up Jordan-Narron wasn't too bad. Made sure that I went easy (gear-wise) up this climb because I didn't want to get any pain or hurt anything. Knee felt fine for the whole ride. No pains at all.

Numbers:
#1: 183/177/100 (np/ap/rpm)
#2: 167/158/100
#3: 168/156/97

Total distance=21mi
Pace=17.2mph

Guess I should have eaten more before riding. /rolleyes/ Special K Red Berries & strawberries for breakfast w/hard boiled egg. Turkey w/swiss on whole wheat for lunch. Nothing to eat before doing the intervals, so I pretty much know why I didn't do well with them....

I'll most likely do these again on Friday and then the following Monday I'll do 3 sets of 3x30s intervals hard as you can go. Repeat this again on Thursday.

Almost time for AoM!!!! I sure hope I'm ready for this.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Gonna Try A New Sport...

That's right - I'm going to try something new! Kayaking! There is a Beginner's Clinic to be held somewhere in the Triangle area on June 14 & 15. I've sent my membership dues and the registration in to CCC (Carolina Canoe Club) and I'm really looking forward to trying this. I think I'm gonna love it. Anything to do with water sports, I totally enjoy.

My friend Andy was going to let me borrow his stuff but there was some question as to whether his stuff would fit me. I am going to be borrowing some stuff from one of the CCC members so that I don't have to buy anything until I'm sure I like doing this. I don't think that will be an issue tho. I can just about guarantee that I'm going to find another hobby to spend more of my hard earned DOT money on. :)

Anyways, I'm sure there will be more posted on this subject after the clinic.

Week of May 26

So, you ask, what is up for this week in wolfpack's training plan??

Since my knee no longer hurts, I'm back to the schedule for this week, which includes a set of 3x10min 95% of FTP intervals on Tuesday and 2 sets of 3x30s intervals (hard as you can go) on Friday. It was sort of nice not having to do those last week, but I really like the structured type of plan and I'm looking forward to getting back on it.

Wednesday & Thursday will probably be a 1.5-2hr zone 2/3 ride and a 2hr zone 3 ride. Not sure what's for Saturday....I had thought about doing the 41mi route of the 3 Mountain Madness and tackling Saurtown Mtn that day as well. I dunno. I'll see how I feel later in the week and also talk it over with the coach/mentor guy again. I think it has around 3000' climbing.

Huh. That looks pretty tame for this week. Am I missing something here??

Updates For Last Week...

Man......what a week last week and the week leading up to the BRP rides was. Last week, I had to take it somewhat easy and not do the planned intervals because of the left knee/leg pain I had. I got in a very easy, low cadence 15mi ride on Monday, a nice zone 2/3 lowish cadence 1.5hr ride on Wednesday - still feeling a bit of discomfort, and then I decided to commute to work on Thursday & Friday of last week. The commuting days were ok, not much pain on the first day and even less to none on the second day. Looking good.

Then on Saturday, I had to get new shoes for the car, so I had my bike with me and rode from the tire place home, doing 3x2min high cadence intervals. The cadence was good, but the power was way too high for these intervals. Not on the plan, but I figured since I was off the reservation already, might as well be off of it good. :) I had no pain at all during or after these intervals. Good news to me.

Sunday I rode the NCBC Summer Metric route with friends, Jon, Tim, Neal, Nick, Ken, & Mike. Route included Col de Lystra and Bynum Bridge Road. 2 of the harder climbs around Jordan Lake. I got dropped, as usual, on Lystra and was seriously thinking of turning around at 15/501, but Tim talked me into continuing. After that, I just had nothing left in my legs. I felt really tired. Tim and Nick hung back and rode with me the rest of the ride. It was a long day, but I finished what I started and that's a good thing. There was no pain on any part of this ride in my knee. I think I'm better. I hope so!

I also messed with the bike fit - and frustrated the coach/mentor guy cause there wasn't anything wrong with it in the first place. Then, I couldn't find the paper that I had written the measurements down on. Had to drive back over to work to get the paper that had measurements prior to switching out stem/seatpost. Got everything all back in the correct spot and will try it out tomorrow.

So, for the last 10 days (not including today), I've had only 1 day off from riding. Not good. Not following the plan. I had 175mi for last week. And, since April, I've racked up at least 110mi each week. The commuting isn't going to work until after AoM. Need to strictly follow the plan for the next 2 weeks prior to Marion!!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Mid-Week Stuff

Here it is the middle of the week and I'm thinking about what to do for riding this week and what to do over the weekend. I'll have a 3-day weekend and had previously thought about doing the RRR Century again on Monday. Not sure now that I developed some pain/issues in my left knee/leg.

I think it's an IT Band problem, so I've been doing stretches for that, icing, and taking 800mg ibuprofen 3x/day. I rode a little bit (15.5 miles) on Monday focusing on keeping the power in zone 1 and using a fairly low cadence (less than 80 avg.). Did pretty well, some pain/discomfort, but when I felt that, I would ease back off a bit. Today, it's feeling great - I'll probably try to get out for 1-1.5hr later this evening. If it doesn't bother me much this evening, I'm considering riding to work tomorrow and maybe even Friday. I have access to showers, so I could freshen up once I got to work...may try to do this at least 2x/week - just something to decrease the gas usage.

I have an appointment on Saturday with a guy who is going to look at my fit on the bike and make sure that it's decent and not part of the knee pain issue. I really feel good on the bike, so I don't think I'll let him make any drastic changes from what I currently have. The only problem I have on the bike is that it does not handle very well in curves on descents. It feels like it's going to just plow straight through and won't turn. That makes me really nervous & cautious. It's no fun at all descending when you are apprehensive about the bike handling.

So, with all that...what will I do this week? I should be doing 3x10min intervals 2x/week up till the first week of June, where I'll go back to the speed intervals (3 @3x1min and 3 @3x30s) in final preparation for AoM. Depending on how I feel this evening, I may try some of these longer intervals on Saturday. And, if I'm feeling really good after that, maybe I'll reconsider at least doing some part of the RRR, at least a metric if not the full century.

That's all for now I guess....................

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

3 Days of Blue Ridge Parkway Riding

OK....I know this is really lame....but, it's 12:07am Tuesday, May 20. I'm tired, sleepy, and hungry. I'm gonna link to the posts on Bike Forums for right now. Later this afternoon or evening, I might work on more details for the blog....

Right now...it's just this....sorry. Starts about post #263 and continues to page 10.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Hmmm - This Is Not Good

Last Thursday, I did hill repeats on our local "hard" hill. I felt really good doing them and I felt ok the next day. Hard ride on Saturday and I feel good - no pain anywhere. That is until I'm laying on the couch later that afternoon about to take a nap. My left knee is bothering me a bit, but I just shrug it off as "whatever". It doesn't hurt to bend it or anything like that (not like when I got hurt last year).

So, I really think nothing of it until I go out on Sunday evening for a ride. Not very long into the ride, maybe 5 minutes, I notice this pain behind the knee and to the outside. Hmmmm, what's going on?? I continue on with the ride, but this is really bothersome. No pain when not riding. I take Monday off, just had some personal issues to deal with and it was pretty windy.

Then yesterday, I head out to do my 3x10min intervals. Uh oh. I feel the same pain after 3-5 minutes. That's quick. Oh well, maybe it will get better are my thoughts. I do my intervals, but I really notice the pain now. So much so, that I don't do the last one very well. Finish that one up and I'm probably 10 miles or so from my car. Well, maybe I'll just take it a little easier to get back. Sigh. Now it really hurts. I have to concentrate and put more effort into the right side pedaling and sort of just let the left "be there". Try to do that soft-pedaling thing everyone has told me about. I think I did it ok.

It's getting late, around 7:30pm and I'm now about 5-6 miles from the car. I seriously consider calling Lawrence to come get me, as I know the Hammer guys are probably done with their ride, but I suck it up and continue on. It was also getting pretty dang cold too. I'm freezing, my knee hurts, and I just want to get back to the car and turn the heat on.

Finally get home, get the shower, eat supper and ice the knee. I'm gonna load up on the 800mg Ibuprofen and stretch a bunch the remainder of the week. Hopefully, I won't aggravate it too much this coming weekend. I think it could be the IT band, so I'll work on stretches for that as well as just general leg/hip stretches. It could also be that I stopped wearing the insoles in my Converse shoes last week. Someone posted something about that on one of the forums I frequent, so I put the insoles back in the shoes this morning. I just need to make it through AoM and then I'm planning on no structured training for the month of June. Just ride to ride and take it easy.



Monday, May 12, 2008

This Week's Stuff

Well, I've got my schedule from the coach/mentor guy for what I need to be doing now till AoM. Steady State intervals 2x a week until the week before AoM, when I'll go back to Speed Intervals.

The SS intervals are 3x10min at 95% of my FTP and I'm to hold that power steady for the interval. I can substitute one Hammer ride for one of the intervals. I haven't done the SS intervals yet...got rained out yesterday and today, the wind is just as bad. I'm also experiencing some pain/discomfort behind my left knee. I think this is from the hill repeats I did last Thursday on Jordan-Narron. I'll probably try to do them tomorrow and a Hammer ride on Thursday. Then Friday I'm off to WNC.

I also had a great, but short ride with the Cyclepaths on Saturday. Rode with 2 great guys up to the rest stop at 20mi and then we picked up Jay & Erica for the last 11 miles. Really good ride, everyone working together, taking pulls, and ended up with a nice average....30.6 miles, 19.1mph pace.

As far as the rest of this week....I may take it just a bit easy since I have some pain behind my left knee - most likely the result of hill repeats last week. Will try to get out and do the 3x10's tomorrow and a Hammer ride on Thursday.

4 Days Till I'm Back in WNC!!

Yes, it's only 4 days until I will be in the Western NC mountains for 3 great days of riding with my friends! I'll be picking up a friend (Jason) in Charlotte on Friday morning, who's flying in that morning from San Diego to spend 3 days riding with us NC folks. All of our rides will originate from the Pisgah Inn (except Sunday), located on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The itinerary for the 3 days:
Friday - Jason and I will meet our friend Andy at the PI and ride from there to Graveyard Fields on the BRP and back. Probably around 20 miles of good climbing. There may be one or two others who meet to ride also.

Saturday - About 8 of us will leave from the Pisgah Inn at 10 am for a long ride following the Pigeon Loop. We'll head out on the BRP to Hwy 276, follow that to Hwy 215 and then to the BRP and back to the Inn. Approximately 52 miles and 4500' of climbing.

Sunday - Since the majority of us will be staying at the PI Friday/Saturday night, we will check out Sunday morning and start the ride at Graveyard Fields on the BRP. From there, we will ride south to the highest point on the BRP, Richland Balsam and then back. Approximately 30 miles and 3000' of climbing.

I hope the weather cooperates and is nice & sunny! Ride report to follow next week.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

4 Weeks Till Marion!

Yes, that's correct! Today is May 8 and 4 weeks from now, I'm either going to be home chilling on the couch or chilling somewhere in the WNC mountains. I have my training plan for the next 4 weeks, and hopefully, will peak around this time for Marion.

So, here's what the coach/mentor guy has in store for me: for the next 4 weeks, I will be doing 3x10min intervals at 95% of my FTP with decreasing rest periods. Rest periods start at 5min and decrease to 3min. The week prior to Marion, I will cease these intervals and do 3 sets of 3x30s intervals 2x that week. I also have the opportunity to ride with the Hammer guys 1x a week in place of one of the interval sessions. I can probably do the Thursday evening ride, as they tend to go at a slightly slower pace...18-19mph! Yea, I can handle that (or so my brain is telling me).

Tonight, I couldn't get anyone to come out and ride, so I just did hill repeats on Jordan-Narron, our local "hard" climb. I did 6 repeats - 3 in the 34 ring and 3 in the 50 ring. Stats below...


First 3 are done in 34/26, 34/28, 34/24 (or whatever the top 3 cogs are on SRAM 11-28)
Last 3 are done in 50/26, 50/28, 50/24 (or whatever the top 3 cogs are on SRAM 11-28)


#1: 215/83/10.2; AP/rpm/speed
#2: 193/101/9.6
#3: 198/86/9.9
#4: 214/79/11.1
#5: 220/73/11.4
#6: 230/66/11.8


This is about a 3.5-4% grade over 0.75mi. Not much climbing available in this area of NC.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Holy Smokes Batman!!

Wow. 2 days after riding my longest ride (105mi) I met up with the Hammer guys (Lawrence - ride leader) and didn't intend to ride far with them because I didn't think I would be able to stay with them. Boy was I wrong!!!!

The pace started off nice and easy, like 16-17mph avg, and then after about 10-15 minutes, once we got onto Highway 231, it was on! There were 4 guys and myself and I knew that I couldn't take long pulls with them or I wouldn't last. My pulls lasted about 30s and then I was off...The other guys all took several minutes or more worth of pulls and I was content to just sit in. Seemed ok with them.

We took a turn on to Antioch (locals know what I'm talking about) and on the second short climb before Hwy 39, they dropped me. But, I didn't give up. I crested that sucker and then picked it up to catch up with them. Fortunately, they slowed a bit after crossing Hwy 39 and waited for me to catch up to them. That was really great, as they usually keep going. Once a person is dropped, you're dropped and on your own. Not this time. Awesome.

I got back in the group and we headed on down Hwy 222 towards Kenly. Lots of long stretches of road where we could go pretty fast and get the average up. A couple little short hills and I was bound and determined to not be dropped. Lawrence geared down and spun up this one hill and I just put more power to the pedals and hung on like glue! One other little hill, where Old Beulah turns into Brown's Pond, dropped me, but again, they slowed and I worked to catch them. All is still good.

Reach Hwy 96 and my friends Jay & Erica were stopped. Thought they were going to jump on the tail end of the group and get a pull back in, but they didn't. Just a little further to go...Bitch Mountain is the last obstacle...a long, easy grade, but usually a slow thing for me. Dallas (one of the guys) was pulling us pretty dang fast up BM...something along 23mph. There I am, 3rd rider with Lawrence & Artie behind me. The pace seems to pick up. I'm hanging on for dear life! Lawrence and Artie are my cheerleaders! "c'mon Karen, push harder, hang on, you can do it, harder!" Hell yes, I hang on!

Now, it's just another 4 miles back to the cars. I'm still sitting in, but with .50 to .75 miles left to go, Lawrence pulls off the front and says it's all mine, take us the rest of the way home. I figure, what the hell, I can just blow up now if need be. Stoplight in the distance is my carrot. I don't let up, pull those guys at a paltry 20.5mph. I didn't make it to through the green light though, but that was ok.

Back at the cars, everyone was telling me how good I did and what a great job I did staying with them. The ride was freakin' awesome. I can't ride with them more than once a week though and if the route they take is very hilly (by our standards), then I'm not sure I can hang with them. I'm great on flat terrain, but my weight is holding me back on the climbs. I just have to stick with the plan and eventually, the power/weight ratio will get better and I will climb better.

Ride Stats:
Distance=44 miles
Pace=20.1mph
Time=2:11hr
946kJ
NP=169 AP=120 rpm=92

First Half of Ride:
22 miles
20.0mph
426kJ
NP=160 AP=109 rpm=92

Second Half of Ride:
22 miles
20.3mph
520kJ
NP=177 AP=133 rpm=92

Monday, May 5, 2008

First Century+ Is Done

Yay! I have officially completed my first century! 105 miles of the Raven Rock Ramble.

I thought I would feel a bit better this morning, but I think I'm almost as tired this morning as I was when I went to bed last night. OMG. And, my legs don't like moving around too much either this morning. I almost feel like I need to go back home and go back to bed. I really don't feel too hot right now, but I want to get this typed up and posted, so I'll continue on.

The ride started around 8:30 Sunday morning under very nice conditions and the weather turned out great. It was a beautiful day - blue skies, not many, if any clouds. I'm not sure the number of people who rode the RRR, but there were 425 registered. I started near the front because I knew that on any hills, I would be getting passed, so I would just fall back to another group. I started too fast. You can just about guarantee that I'm gonna do that. Anyways, within the first 15min or so, I got hooked up with a woman I've ridden with at the Wednesday OMV rides (Frederika (sp?)) and her friend and a guy.

I rode with them for just a short while. The women were gone shortly, either on up ahead in a faster group or slower. The guy and myself got in with a group of people who would do the same stuff the peleton was doing at Burnsville. Speed up, slow down, rinse, repeat. There was a wreck just waiting to happen in that group. So, the guy I'm with decides to break away from this group. He goes past me and I jump on his wheel and both of us leave the group. Our little break away didn't last very long. The group caught back up to us and it was rinse, repeat again as far as speeding/slowing. It was like this for the first 13 miles. At this point, you had to decide on the metric route or the century. We know what I chose.

I skipped the rest stop at 13 miles so that I could hang on to the group doing the century. I found out later that I was with the faster century riders. So, anyways, I stayed with this group till we hit the first real "hill" and me and another guy were dropped. Might not have been dropped if I hadn't had to kill my speed using the brakes on the descent. Damn people wouldn't get out of my way and with double yellow, I didn't want to go being foolish. This guy and I rode together till the next turn, where his friend was waiting on him. Us 3 then attempted to bridge a several minute gap. Right. That's gonna work. Not. We get to Lillington and hook up with a woman that got dropped out of that group we were trying to catch.

The four of us rode together until the climb up into town, where, as usual I got dropped. I keep them in sight though and worked pretty hard to catch back up. Too hard as usual. Then it was off to the freakin' races again. We could see that first group ahead of us. There's the carrot. Now, I'm getting a bit tired. This pace is too fast. I lose a wheel. I can't hold it. Damnit. There's the large group ahead of us and then a single rider. My 3 people get the single rider and I'm left again. Fine. I can catch these people. I set off holding a pretty steady 20-21mph pace. I settle in, feel pretty good, thinking I can catch them. But, just me trying to catch that group wasn't working. I needed someone else to work with, but there was no one. I never caught them.

When I realize that I'm not going to catch them, I ease up a bit and just figure some other group will come along and I can jump on. Well, lo & behold, here comes my friend Neal and about 5 others. Neal is pulling and as he comes up to me, he tells me to jump on. Whew. I was never so glad to see some riders. I ride with this group for a while. Then we get split at an intersection. I'm with the group that gets past the intersection and we ride slowly until the other half (that includes Neal) gets back with us. Then, the pace just exploded. Off they friggen went. Damn. Neal bridges but can't quite stay with them. Eventually, it's just me. Occasionally, a rider will pass me and I'll take his wheel for a while. But, probably the last 5-7 miles before the rest stop at 40 miles, is solo.

Neal and the 2 guys I rode with in Lillington are there. I refill the bottles, eat half of a snickers bar and then Neal and I are off. We ride together for a while, talking a bit about the ride. Then here comes Mr. Tri-guy. Neal is ahead of me and I take Tri-guys wheel and he pulls me up to Neal. Gawd, I'm tired now. 45-48 miles in the book. Tri-guy's pace is too much for me. Neal grabs his wheel and off they go. I don't really remember if I saw Neal after that or not. He was doing the 87 mile route. I couldn't talk him into the 100. And, there was no way I was going to do just 87 miles. It was 100 miles or nothing for me.

So, now, I'm riding solo into the wind. I'm hating it. Where is everyone?? I think that was the longest 30 miles I've done in a while. I didn't think I would ever get to the rest stop at 70 miles. Trying to conserve the fluids too. Finally reach the rest stop and have half a bagel & cream cheese. Lord knows, how long that cream cheese had been sitting out in the heat, but it didn't make me sick. Re-fill the bottles again. Then I'm off. A couple of guys catch me and pass me. All I'm thinking now is I just want to finish this ride. F my time and average speed. I don't care what it is. I just want to finish.

I don't know where I'm at, but 4 guys come along and we are rolling sorta slow as there are a couple of intersections to go through, so I latch onto their wheel. I was so glad to see these guys. Top it off....they all have very nice legs!! :) I guess we're somewhere around 75 miles, don't really know. We ride a double paceline and I take my turn, I seemed to have renewed energy. Must of been riding with all those guys. So, me and the other guy pulling turn us onto Lick Road. My friend Jay knows where this is...down near Sanford. Anyways, it's a short downhill and then up to Lower Moncure Road. This uphill, of course leaves me leading the rear and then the guy I was pulling with passes me and gets about 15' in front of me when his right hamstring cramps really bad on him. He manages to unclip, still in the center of the road and cannot move. 2 of the guys wait, but then say they are going on as myself and Patrick (one with the best calves:)) stay with Cramping Guy.

The 3 of us head on towards the last rest stop at 91 miles. Am I done yet? For the whole ride, I had no cramping issues...that is till around 85 miles. We're just cruising along easily, side by side and next damn thing I know my right quad muscle (
vastus medialis obliquus) cramps. OMG. Can we say extremely painful?? I could not pedal with this leg. One-legged pedaling to the intersection where we stop and I try to massage it a bit. Good enough, now, lets get this over with. Again, Patrick pulls us all the way to the rest stop, where I re-fill bottles, drink more, eat a banana w/peanut butter & some chex mix. Off we go...13 more miles.

I have to turn any display of distance off the computers. Change the PT to show kJ and change the Garmin to something else. Looking at the distance countdown would make the remaining 13 miles seem like forever. It still seemed like forever. But, ya know what?? I've gone farther than I ever have. 91 miles in the book. I hang with Patrick & Cramping guy for about 2 miles, but I'm so tired. I just want this to end. I couldn't hold their wheel any longer. Next to last turn. 5 miles left. I ride those 5 miles with a guy who has only been riding for 3 months. He's doing his first century too.

Last turn. 2.5 miles to go. Uh oh. A grade. A cramp. I have to stop for a minute. Back on the bike. Pick the pace up a bit and try to not look so worn out as riders who are finished are passing me in their cars headed home. Turn into the park, make it to my car. Stand there, just in awe of what I have just done. Holy Crap. I just rode 105.107 miles! Hell Yes!!! Sitting here typing all of this out this morning...damn. I did it. Andy said that I could do it. I didn't manage to "start slow to finish fast" tho. Oh well. Next time. Did I say that out loud??? Next time?? Will there be a next time?? Most likely. Why not? I think I will probably do another one. I've got a time to beat now.

So...that's it. I've got a couple of pics, one at the 40 mile rest stop, where I'm all smiles and one at the end, back at my car. I'll have to post from home though, as I can't seem to do it from work.

Stats:
105.107 miles
6:28hr ride time
7:04hr total time
16.3mph pace
2593kJ

This one is at the 40mi Rest Stop. Next one is back at my car after just completing 105miles.


Thursday, May 1, 2008

It's Getting Closer....

Raven Rock Ramble that is. Three more days. And, the projected forecast is for 40% chance of T-storms. This is the third year I've registered that it will be raining. But, unless it's just a friggen downpour like I had up in Sylva on Sunday, I will be riding.

I've made up my mind to do the 100mi route. Must remember to start slow to finish fast. Ride smart. Pace myself. All the other things that the c/m (coach/mentor) guy tells me. It's only 2900' +/- of climbing over 104 miles...pretty dang flat. I did more than that at Crowders Mtn and at Burnsville. I'm feeling good about this ride.

Yesterday, I a recovery type ride, started out doing the Zack Attack route from the Grocery Bag. Felt really good and strong the first half of the ride, had an 18mph average to Pine Level. But, that didn't last. I didn't drink all of my water on Tuesday nor did I drink all of it on Wednesday - only half a gallon each of those days. I could definitely tell a difference - I started to get cramping in my calves on the way back and I also got cold. Cut out about 8mi from the route to just get back as quickly as I could. Ended up with 35.6 miles in 2:05. Not too shabby.

Today, I did intervals again. 4x5min VO2 max at 95-105% of my FTP. I nailed these today.

#1: 184/182/104; #2: 189/182/106; #3: 186/182/104; #4: 202/192/99 (np/ap/rpm)

These felt pretty good today, not too terribly hard, but some leg fatigue after about 3min. Just had to push on through that though. I would pretend that I was trying to hang onto Andy's wheel and not get dropped those last 2 harder minutes:) I guess all the other interval training I've been doing is paying off.