Intervals In The Rain

Yep. I seriously HTFU today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning at 9:30am, so I slept in, got up and went to that and then decided that I needed to get these intervals out of the way.

So, at 10:30am this morning, I got my gear on and headed out into a light drizzle. The street I live on is fairly straight & flat and dead-ends, so I figured this would be a good place to do the intervals today since the roads were wet. I rode 10min out, turned around and came back. On the return trip, I got in a 2.5min zone 4/5 with decent cadence, in preparation for the real intervals. I know people were probably thinking what is that fool doing - out riding in the rain.

The intervals: 2 sets of 3x1min zone6 with 1min rest between intervals and 6min rest between sets. Wow. I went wayyyyyy too hard on the first one initially and didn't even finish it. Did a little better on the other 2 for that set. Damn. Yes, those are a bit hard. Second set was a little better - I tried to not go as hard for the first 20s, but still hard enough, and then build up to the most I could do. I might have been able to get out of the saddle towards the end of each interval for 5s or so, but on wet roads, I didn't want to do something to cause me to wreck.

Wow. When I was finished with these, I was really hurting. Probably could have used a bit more time to cool down, but in the rain, all I wanted to do was get out of the soaking clothes, empty my shoes of the water sloshing around in them, and get a hot shower. Me just after getting back home:

Yes. These were hard. Yes, I'm tired now. And, I was tired earlier. Didn't go to work today either.

Numbers:
#1: 248/529/106 (ap/max/rpm)
#2: 244/398/92
#3: 230/360/85
#4: 267/357/82
#5: 227/345/82
#6: 244/341/88

And, it's still raining....looks as if it will be raining again tomorrow as well. There is a narrow window of riding opportunity from 10-12, but I think I'll wait till Wednesday to get the recovery ride in - no rain then.

Did I mention that these intervals were hard???? I bet Thursday's intervals are going to be worse!

Intervals Are On The Menu

I've got some new stuff to do now! The mentor guy changed up my training to include some new seriously painful interval work. I'll be doing this from now until the Burnsville Metric and then again starting about a month prior to Assault on Marion.

Zone 6 - anaerobic capacity work. Go as hard as I possibly can for the interval duration, minimal rest, repeat. 2x/week. Long tempo rides on the weekend, which for me, I want to be in the 4hr range starting next weekend and work up to 5hr or more by AoM.

Mondays: 2 @ 3x1min z6, 1min rest. 6min rest between sets.
Tuesdays/Wednesdays: one day will be an easy zone 2 recovery ride, 1.5 - 2hr, one day totally off bike.
Thursdays: 2 @ 3x30s z6, 30s rest. 3min rest between sets.
Fridays: probably off or a zone 2 recovery ride, 1.5 - 2hr.
Saturdays: long zone 3 tempo ride. i'll be starting at 4hr length and working up to more time in the saddle in preparation for AoM and other longer rides.
Sundays: zone 2 recovery ride, half the duration as Saturday's ride.

This stuff will, hopefully, help me get faster and also help to be able to recover more quickly (I think). If this dang rain would just stop now....(yea, I know we need the rain, but it's seriously messing with the training). I may have to learn to ride when the roads are wet....

Results Are In

For the bloodwork done this past Wednesday. The numbers are looking pretty good - I do wish the cholesterol was a little lower, but otherwise I guess the numbers are ok.

Glucose: 77 (2006-87)
Cholesterol: 186 (2006-185)
Triglycerides: 69 (2006-82)
HDL: 88 (2006-71)
LDL: 84 (2006-97)

A Lesson In Patience....

Today's lesson in learning patience is to get to the goodness that's found inside this grapefruit sitting on my desk. I've tried before, to peel it and it is very frustrating! Damn thick peel. So, brought the good knife with me to work today and I'm gonna skin this thing at lunch for my afternoon snack.

There's got to be an easier way! But, damnit, patience will prevail! :)

Yes!!! A sharp knife and patience have prevailed!! That grapefruit is h.i.s.t.o.r.y. I might have to have another one later tonight.

Foods Today--

OK...it's been suggested that the fatigue & tiredness I'm feeling could be coming from the fact that I'm not eating enough in my efforts to lose weight, specifically, this last 8-9 pounds to reach a weight goal I set for the Burnsville Metric. I have to choose between fast weight loss & poor cycling performance Vs. slower weight loss & better cycling performance. I can't have both.

Today, I chose the later, even though I want to lose it quickly, I'm not prepared to sacrifice my cycling performance any longer. That's really hard....I probably haven't been eating more than 850 to maybe, and I mean maybe, 1000 cal/day. I didn't really feel like eating this evening but I did. And, I used Fitday PC to log what I've eaten today. Grand total of 1143 calories. I feel like a slug now...like I've had too much to eat.

I'll give this (eating more) a try for the next couple of weeks, but if I start to gain weight, well, something will have to change.......

Rest, Recover, Get Stronger

That's it. After looking at my ride data for the past 3 weeks, I believe it's time for an easy week. I've had consecutive weeks of increasing mileage (100, 110, & 164mi) and I'm really tired now.

I went out last night to the Oh Melo Velo/Slow Spokes ride in Cary, planning on doing an easy recovery-type ride. The fast guys (18/19+) took on off and I made no attempt to tag along this time. Hooked up with Jon, who had just ridden 45mi before this ride, and we rode for several miles together. He turned around before heading up this really steep short hill and I kept going. I climbed that monster better than I have before but decided that I should not attempt to go any further...well, went on out to Hwy 55 and then headed back. A few people commented on how tired I was looking....yea, I am tired. Had the usual 2 Blue Moons & a portobella sammich w/salad at the post-ride chow & guzzle. I think if I don't make the rest of this week easy, that I'm going to see that performance loss and I will get frustrated. Gotta ride smart.

So, I'm going to finish this week out with zone2 rides, maybe work on the cadence some, take Saturday off and then do the pre-ride of the Crowder's Mtn Metric on Sunday. And, I need to get to bed by 11pm, not 11:30pm or 12am. I don't get enough rest and I can't sleep in till 8am every morning..

Rest, Recover, Get Stronger.

That will leave 4 weeks until the Burnsville Metric. 3 weeks of increasing mileage/hard workouts and then the week before Burnsville will be an easy week. I'd like to have 3, but at least 2, rides with climbing in them before BM. I'll get one of those this weekend, Crowder's Mtn (3000'), then again on 4/13, and maybe a trip to do some of the Triple Hump route for the last ride.

*Edit* Ride Smart. ^RRGS. I had to make a decision based on being smart, getting rest/recovery to get stronger. I'm bailing on the pre-ride of Crowder's Mtn metric on Sunday. I most likely will feel like I can do the ride, but in the best interest of my cycling, I decided to not do that ride this weekend.

So, I'm going to take it easy the remainder of the week, zone 2 rides of an hour, work on the cadence a bit, then be ready to hit it hard again for the next 3 weeks.

VO2max Intervals Hurt. But - I like the Pain!

OK...well, I'm not exactly ready to go to the mentor/coach and tell him "you can say 'I told you so' just yet"....but, damn....got my ass dropped like that (snaps fingers) in the first 5min of the ride! It was pretty cool (temp-wise) and along with the fast pace....the Exercise Induced Asthma kicked in pretty quick.

Shit. I could not get any air in on that short climb up to Thanksgiving Road. 2 of the guys waited on me, but I just couldn't catch them - I motioned for them to just go on....I couldn't get any air in my lungs. Damnit. But, I told Lawrence I wouldn't be riding very far with them....I turned off on Antioch to do my intervals. Remember - you NEVER skip intervals.

6x3min intervals at VO2max with 5min rest between each one. Good googley mooogley!!! They were hard. I also tried to do some last minute sprints....wow, those hurt like crap!!! Started out trying 10s sprints, but couldn't do that. Dropped back to the last 5s and was barely able to complete them. Fark. Hard as hell.

Damn. I soooooooooooooo want to ride with these guys. But, sad as it is, I don't think I'm ready for this pace. I'm a 17-18mph rider. I am positive that on longer rides, I can do this pace. Not so sure I can do 18+ though. Right now, these guys are doing 19+ probably. I just can't do that. I don't know...I'm not giving up yet. It's soon to be 'that time of the month' and maybe that's affecting me somewhat....I don't know.