Trying to catch up

Saturday is normally my rest day. We like to start the day by drinking coffee and reading the papers. We can't always, of course, but it's a nice way to start the day. Normally I have no guilt about my rest day; I put in lots of workout hours the rest of the week. Today, however, I was thinking I should have a go at the missed Thursday workouts.

Lately my bike workouts have sucked slough water. My legs were not wanting to spin very well or for very long. I figured it was a reflection of working on the run during the build up to the Hypo Half, and didn't mind so much. A few days after for recovery doesn't bother me, but I'm beginning to think the bike skills should be coming back.

The core went well, so that was a good start. 30 minutes there. Then onto the bike. Warm up was fine, but I could tell there was no real gas there. Spin was better, much smoother, so that at least is an improvement. But even a minute at 120 in an easy gear had my heart rate much higher than expected, and I could start to feel my quads and calves complain, especially the left. I did a bit more easy spin, and could feel myself starting to feel the burn. Which is rediculous. Called it a day at 30 minutes.

Did I say I bought The Stick when I bought new shoes? Rollered myself with that really good, and found a few really tender spots. I also played with the speed laces. I'm sure they must be making them shorter now. My last shoes had a good 6 inches left at the top. These now have the lace tips jammed into the zipper mechanism, and they still might be a little bit tight. I'll find out on my run tomorrow. I tried taking the zipper mechanism apart again, but it doesn't seem to want to go. Has anyone had any success with this? I might need to take the laces out of a couple pairs of eyelets.

Oh, and I ran outside, in shorts and a short sleeved T shirt, at -5 C (23 F), with a bit of wind chill. Admittedly, it wasn't a long run, just to see how the shoes felt with the laces as loose as possible.