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.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
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.
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.
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??
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!!
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....................
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.
Right now...it's just this....sorry. Starts about post #263 and continues to page 10.
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