Like a rock...

Hi All! How are things? Going good here. Life's been a little on the hectic side, but managable. My weekend of work is over, and am really looking forward to getting some seriously big miles on the bike this weekend. This week I've managed to get some good training in with the exception of Tuesday. Funny story now that it's over...

Monday after work I decided that since I wasn't able to log some good time on the bike over the weekend that I'd head out after work for three hours, and hit my old stomping ground...the hills in the Escondido, Valley Center, Bonsall area. About a qurter of the way through the ride, I made the decision to tackle most of the ride in the "big ring" to help build some strength in my legs. My weight is been good, actually a little too light lately, and my base is better then it's ever been, but I'm always in need of more power.

Needless to say, the ride was great. I pulled in to the driveway after three solid hours pretty whipped. That same day John Bailey sent me an email of my workout schedule for the week. The schedule almost always includes taking Monday completely off the bike as a rest day. Tuesdays are then reserved for intervals, typically 2x20FTP's. This particular Tuesday was different. Here's how I read the workout...

VO2 Max intervals...start by warming up, followed by a set of 4x3-min max effort intervals, followed by a set of 4x4-min max effort intervals, followed by a set of 5x4-min max effort intervals. 5-min rest in between each set. My only question other then why is John trying to kill me, was, "is that 5-min rest in between each effort, or between each set?" I decided that it was between each set, and the rest time whould probably match the interval time. So on the trainer I hopped, for what I thought was going to be one of the hardest workouts I had ever done!

I managed to ge through the 4x3-min set of intervals without too much difficulty, spun my legs out for 5-mins, before diving in to the second set of 4x4-min intervals. It was halfway through the second 4-min intervals that I began to question whether or not I was going to be able to complete this workout, and also the time that I questioned whether John was truly a friend! Mind you, I've never quit on a workout, so the thought that I may was really bothering me.

I finally finished the second set of intervals, and wsa having trouble focusing my eyes, and the thought of even attempting to begin the third set of 5x4-min intervals was daunting to say the least. But push on I must! I limped in to the first interval, giving it everything I had. I noticed that my heart rate wasn't getting quite as high as before in the previous intervals, and my legs were actually going a bit numb. It was halfway through the first interval that I made the decision this one was going to be my last.

So after nine intervals, and ninety minutes on the trainer, I quit!!! Mind you, this was all after a hard, hilly, big ringin, three hours on the bike the day before! That night I emailed John to let him know that I was unable to complete the workout, here's his reply...OMG you misunderstood the workout. Holy hell you must be fried.

"What I meant was - this week you should do 4x3min...next week 4x4min...the
week after 5x4min!"

"Take it easy tomorrow - you will be tired...."

Tired! That would, and is, a HUGE understatment!!! LOL! Over two weeks of prescribed intervals in one day! Yeah, I know, I'm an idiot. Wednesday's scheduled 2x20ftp intervals became a 90-minute recovery ride, which as it turns out, I also screwed up. Per John...A recovery ride should be no more then 45-60 minutes max. Ugh! Guess what Thursday was...

Legoland Crit. That's right. You heard me. I rode in a crit again! I say rode, not raced, because this ride is basically a workout, similiar in every way to Thursday nights Fiesta Island hammerfest. As it turns out, someone decided this year, that us North County rides and racers needed a good, hard, race pace simulated ride, similiar to Fiesta Island, without having to load up the car, and drive forty five minutes. So he/she, got permission from Legoland to use their lower parking lot every Thursday night at 6-7pm, to hold a workoput crit, open to anyone who wants to get severly punished.

Yes, I did quit racing crits over a year ago, and honestly haven't missed them, but I figured I needed a change of pace, and since this wasn't a "race", it may be on the safer side. I decided to ride my bike to the crit, via Leucadia up the coast to Carlsbad, and in to Legoland as a warm up. I arrived way too early, (5pm), and decided to run hard laps around the course until people started showing up. Why?

Anyhow, around 5:45, other riders began appearing, and by 6pm, Mr. Karl Bodine, led the group out for what was sure to be a punishing ride, at least I knew it would be for me! Eighteen minutes later off the back I went! Even though I was dropped like a rock, I decided to keep pedaling hard, picking up other riders who were also dropped, and we formed our own little race, and I kept this up for about another eighteen minutes, and called it quits. My legs and lungs were fried. Two hours of riding, an 18.2mph average, that's counting the 1-hour warm up portion of the ride to get to Legoland. I'm sure Tuesday's little interval mishap didn't help my cause last night at Legoland!

Hope all is well! Thanks for tuning in! Until next time...