Hi All! Well, another week of hard training is in the books. Today marks the tenth day in a row that I've been pedaling a bike, and every single one of those rides has had a purpose. I can't remember the last time, if ever, that I've ridden my bike that many days consecutively. And it doesn't end today, tomorrow is yet another day in the saddle. Tuesday though, just work, no bike.
This week started out easy, a nice 60-minute spin around my neighborhood in Lake San Marcos. Tuesday was another story. 90-minutes on the trainer, with 5x3-minute max effort intervals. Ouch!!! Those have to hurt more then anything I've ever done on a bike! Wednesday, a nice 2-1/2-hour endurance ride out to the coast on Via De La Valle, then shooting up to Cannon Road in Carlsbad, and back home. Wednesday was a tough day. After the intervals on Tuesday, and the endurance ride on Wednesday, my body was in shock. An episode of "night sweats" Wednesday, causing a lack of sleep, didn't help the cause Thursday, which involved more trainer intervals, this time 6x1-minute max efforts! Again...ouch!
Normally I don't require a lot of pep talk, or massive motivation to get the training done. I just know what I need to do, and do it. But Thursday I found myself in a dark place, not wanting to do anything after work but sleep, and definitely not wanting to do intervals! If it wasn't for my good friends Mark Palmer and John Bailey, I don't know if I would of made it out to the garage for the prescribed workout. Thanks again guys, really appreciate the help!!!
Friday, ahh Friday, a nice, easy, really easy, 90-minute recovery ride! Those kind of rides really take you back to why most of us began riding our bikes in the first place. Enjoying the scenery, taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and just being glad to be alive, and able to be out enjoying the world the best way I know of, from the seat of a bike!
The next day the holiday weekend arrived, and with it another round of pain and suffering. Saturday has meant only one thing in my training schedule lately, and that's the infamous Swamis Ride. I left the house at 7:15, and made my way to Nytro Bikes to meet up with Mark and John, and get a decent warm-up before the brutal pace of the "A" ride was to begin at 8:30. I didn't have the time to ride the long route this week in to Valley Center, I knew I could only take the ride to the church in Escondido, which meant I needed to push it harder then normal because of the shorter workout. Last week, I was able to survive longer then I ever have in the ride, but this week, the heavy training load took its toll on me, that, and going with a small break away heading in to San Elijo town center caused me to slip to the back, and fall off, unable to stay with the lead group heading in to Harmony Grove. Oh well, still managed to get a good amount of work in pacelining with Mark and a couple of other guys to the church.
Today, hill repeats on San Elijo with Mark and John. 4x up San Elijo Road, slow-to-medium cadence, HR zone, high 4's to mid 5's all the way up. So here I sit, showered, strecthed, legs in my new compression socks, (thanks again Mark!), and writing to you all. As hard as today was, I feel great. I'm convinced the last two weeks of extremely hard training is really paying off. This coming week is all about tapering back and keeping the legs ready for the State Championships next Sunday in Bakersfield. I'm sure my fitness will be where it needs to be, I just need to remember to practice patience in the race, not work too much, and line up at the start line confident, knowing I've done my best to be prepared for the event.
Hope you all are enjoying a beautiful holiday weekend in our little slice of paradise here in sunny So Cal! Be safe, and talk to you soon! Until next time...
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