It turns out I accidently packed them away when I was getting ready for the Chinook half. I had to do without them that day, and I think they've been sulking ever since. I found them yesterday, dusted them off, gave them a bit of lube, and promised them a run this morning. They were quite anticipatory about it.
I was up a little (only a little) after 4am. Dressed, stretched a bit while nibbling Cliffs bar remnants and energy drink. Reviewed the IGP™ again, trying to remember the complicated instructions. Normally I run some, and walk a bit, and have lost track of that. Now IG has thrown in some hard as well. That's three things to keep track of. That's really hard at 4:20 in the morning. Still dark. Cool, humid, but no rain. Remembered my reflective vest, but forgot my cap.
The plan: R 40-45, 2 min EZ, 1 min hard, and 1 min walk. I seriously considered writing it on my hand, but with lots of effort didn't lose track. Warmed up some more with a brisk walk, then started my normal 5 K loop. Legs felt good running for the first time since before the Half. I was back to my normal pace, or even a little faster than that for the first K. For most of you reading this, that pace would be glacially slow, but I'm still new at this.
Here's the approximate times for the kiloposts:
1 - 6 min almost exactly. I'd love to run at this pace all the time.
2 - ~13 min mark
3 - 20 min almost exactly
4 - ~27 but I'm not really sure
5 - 34 min or so
Actually, now that I think about it, that's pretty good time for me. Walked another 5 minutes as cooldown after the last cycle. If I've done the math right, that's 9 repeats. Stretched about 10 minutes after, then a nice shower. My legs feel a bit tired, especially the left, but aren't aching and sore like they have been. I still can't touch my toes again, but I'm slowly getting closer.
I think I can finally say I'm fully recovered from the Half. Only took a month. But when I consider that if I'd tried this last year I'm sure it would have killed me, and it doesn't seem so bad. I sure hope that recovery after the Alberta Challenge Half doesn't take as long.
That's three really good workouts in a row!! Yahoo! Let's call this .75 hr.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tempo ride
I slithered out of work early today. Maybe being there at 6:45 and only taking a half hour for lunch has something to do with it. The intent was to get a tempo workout done before it started raining.
Got home, nibbled some Cliff bar bits, and got ready for the ride, and was on the road shortly after 5.
20 min, warmup down 37 st to 22X
4 x 10 min tempo then 5 min ez, head out and back along 22X
10 min cool down
What does tempo mean? I couldn't remember what it meant last time. So I interpreted this as meaning "pedal pretty darn hard, certainly faster than my usual pace." I wanted to keep cadence up and heart rate up in high 130's during tempo sections.
I made it out to just past where 22 South turns left, to the top of the hill where it turns into a 2 lane highway in almost exactly 45 minutes, and was back home at 92 minutes. Considering there was a bit of a headwind on the way back, and my legs were starting to get tired, that's pretty good. There and back was almost exactly 40 Km, for just a hair over 26 Kph average speed. Average cadence 84 rpm. That's a bit better than my usual pace on that road. And I didn't get rained on!
Total 90 min, plus some stretching after, and more stretching before bed.
Got home, nibbled some Cliff bar bits, and got ready for the ride, and was on the road shortly after 5.
20 min, warmup down 37 st to 22X
4 x 10 min tempo then 5 min ez, head out and back along 22X
10 min cool down
What does tempo mean? I couldn't remember what it meant last time. So I interpreted this as meaning "pedal pretty darn hard, certainly faster than my usual pace." I wanted to keep cadence up and heart rate up in high 130's during tempo sections.
I made it out to just past where 22 South turns left, to the top of the hill where it turns into a 2 lane highway in almost exactly 45 minutes, and was back home at 92 minutes. Considering there was a bit of a headwind on the way back, and my legs were starting to get tired, that's pretty good. There and back was almost exactly 40 Km, for just a hair over 26 Kph average speed. Average cadence 84 rpm. That's a bit better than my usual pace on that road. And I didn't get rained on!
Total 90 min, plus some stretching after, and more stretching before bed.
Monday, July 21, 2008
First 1 hr swim in a long time
After feeling kind of down yesterday, I was in the mood for a nice long relaxing swim. There was hardly anyone in the pool, and my usual lane had only one other guy in it, and he's great to share a lane with. I started off by swimming most of the first length under water with a strong kick, then surfaced with an unusually smooth sharky stroke and breath. That got me in the groove. The water was a bit warm, and the pool seemed shorter than normal.
About two laps in I finally figured out why the inside of my right elbow has been hurting when I'm swimming. We all normally swim anti-clockwise laps, so it's very natural to grab the wall with my right hand for the turn. What I normally do is grab the lip with the tips of my fingers, and pull down and in. That helps me tuck my feet and and turn. Well, the other end of that muscle anchors to the inside of the elbow bone, and it's been giving me hell lately. So I was changing how I grab the ends, which means my turns weren't quite as smooth as usual. I suppose I'll have to learn tumble turns.
I settled into a nice strong steady pace, 19 or 20 strokes per length. Buddy went away, and another regular was in for a while, then she went away too. I was having a good time communing with my inner shark. I'd had a Cliffs bar that was left over from my aborted bike ride yesterday before the swim, so I had lots of energy. We were just going back and forth, hanging out, being smooth. He was telling shark jokes.
Like,
What is sharks favorite James Joyce novel? Finigan's Wake.
And,
What are sharks favourite creature from Star Wars? Jawas.
And,
Why do sharks make terrible lawyers? They're too nice!
And,
Which shark works in the construction industry? The Hammerhead.
And,
What do you get when you cross a shark with an opera singer? Something that eats up critics.
And,
Why do sharks live in salt water? Because pepper makes them sneeze.
I wasn't looking at my watch at all, so I have no idea the pace I was at, but I'm guess about 2 min/100, till about the 45 minute mark. I started slowing down a bit after the last person got out of the lane. I'd been chasing her a bit, wanting to lap her, but she kept being too considerate and stopping to let me by. At the 1 hour and 33 second mark I stopped, stretched a bit, and hopped out. I should have checked my heart rate. Breathing like that during a run would be about 115 to 120 bpm.
My kick felt strong, and I didn't get the temporary foot cramp that I usually get about the 50 min mark. I'm pleased with the swim, and found it relaxing, both mentally and physically. In between the jokes, my inner shark reminded me that even the best hunter sharks sometimes don't catch anything, and that it's important not to change the things that you know work. When things are going good, you go with the flow, and chomp lots of nice juicy seals. When things aren't going so good you relax, and stop trying so hard. Cruise along, the prey will come.
About two laps in I finally figured out why the inside of my right elbow has been hurting when I'm swimming. We all normally swim anti-clockwise laps, so it's very natural to grab the wall with my right hand for the turn. What I normally do is grab the lip with the tips of my fingers, and pull down and in. That helps me tuck my feet and and turn. Well, the other end of that muscle anchors to the inside of the elbow bone, and it's been giving me hell lately. So I was changing how I grab the ends, which means my turns weren't quite as smooth as usual. I suppose I'll have to learn tumble turns.
I settled into a nice strong steady pace, 19 or 20 strokes per length. Buddy went away, and another regular was in for a while, then she went away too. I was having a good time communing with my inner shark. I'd had a Cliffs bar that was left over from my aborted bike ride yesterday before the swim, so I had lots of energy. We were just going back and forth, hanging out, being smooth. He was telling shark jokes.
Like,
What is sharks favorite James Joyce novel? Finigan's Wake.
And,
What are sharks favourite creature from Star Wars? Jawas.
And,
Why do sharks make terrible lawyers? They're too nice!
And,
Which shark works in the construction industry? The Hammerhead.
And,
What do you get when you cross a shark with an opera singer? Something that eats up critics.
And,
Why do sharks live in salt water? Because pepper makes them sneeze.
I wasn't looking at my watch at all, so I have no idea the pace I was at, but I'm guess about 2 min/100, till about the 45 minute mark. I started slowing down a bit after the last person got out of the lane. I'd been chasing her a bit, wanting to lap her, but she kept being too considerate and stopping to let me by. At the 1 hour and 33 second mark I stopped, stretched a bit, and hopped out. I should have checked my heart rate. Breathing like that during a run would be about 115 to 120 bpm.
My kick felt strong, and I didn't get the temporary foot cramp that I usually get about the 50 min mark. I'm pleased with the swim, and found it relaxing, both mentally and physically. In between the jokes, my inner shark reminded me that even the best hunter sharks sometimes don't catch anything, and that it's important not to change the things that you know work. When things are going good, you go with the flow, and chomp lots of nice juicy seals. When things aren't going so good you relax, and stop trying so hard. Cruise along, the prey will come.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Warning, depressing reading ahead
Today started so well. It's a perfect day for a bike ride, and I had high hopes. Started with my fave breakfast, granola with 2 kinds of nuts and choco chips and banana added, with yogurt mixed in. Plus OJ. mmmmm. I'd made my energy drink the night before, and put it in the fridge. Cliffs bars were in the fridge overnight as well.
The plan was to ride down to Okotoks via the Road to Nepal and back. That's about 80 K, and I was thinking between 3.5 and 4 hours. Lots of hills, and I was looking forward to the big one on 549. Puttered around getting everything organized. Started off about 8. It was still a bit cool, but I knew the day would warm up quickly. All was going well.
Then things started going downhill while going downhill. I got a flat at about 60 Kph just before the turn off to the Leighton Centre. No bang, just a sudden thwap thwap thwap noise. I was actually kind of cheerful about it. This was my first flat out on the road. I was going to get a chance to use the CO2 thingie for the first time.
I pulled off, and I must say Estela handled very well with the flat. My thought was to go through everything in a calm, cool, collected way. (Cue quiet ominous music.) Took all the stuff out of my stuff bag, took my drinks out of the cages, made sure bento box was closed. Flipped Estela upside down, took off the back wheel, removed tube. (Cue the da-na, da-na, da-na shark music.) Checked the tire, nothing to indicate why I got a flat. Looked carefully and felt with fingers. Nothing, which is nervous-making. With the new tube lying in plain sight on the ground beside the wheel, I proceeded to install the tube I just took out. Put the wheel back on. Fix the chain guddle. And fill it with CO2. I'm just congratulating myself on a job well done and getting ready to start putting things away and get going again when I notice the tire doesn't look right. Poke it with a finger and it's softer than my belly used to be. Then I notice the new tube on the ground.
Grrr. Wheel off, tube out. More from curiousity than any real reason, I use the pump to pump it up. Can't find a leak, but it sure goes flat fast. Install new tube. Install wheel on bike. Fix chain guddle. Pump up with pump. (shark music gets louder.) I'm having a hell of a time with this. Eventually get it inflated, and I'm poking it with my thumb. It really isn't hard enough, so I go at it again with my pump. And the valve stem breaks off in my hand.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Fortunately, I'm carrying two tubes. I'm thanking whoever told me "Never just prepare for something going wrong, because it's never just one thing. Prepare for a bunch of things going wrong in sequence, pretty well all at once." Wheel off, tube out. Install new tube, double checking, (my second, and last) being careful of the dreaded pinch flat. I do not want to wake up Linda to ask her to come get me two rides in a row. Install wheel on bike. Fix chain guddle. What is it with me this am?? Never had chain guddle before, now 3x in a row. Pump up tire. Carefully. Really carefully. It's still not quite as hard as I'd like it to be, but I already know a new pump is on my shopping list along with a couple more tubes. Get Estela all put back together. Take a drink, nibble a piece of Cliffs bar.
At this point I've been playing around for more than 45 minutes. 3 different small groups of riders have stopped to see if I'm ok, and we chat for a few minutes about the day, the various planned rides, what a great ride the Road to Nepal is. Even one car stops to ask if I'm ok. I'm getting ready to head up the hill that I did the repeats on the other night, and wondering how my legs are going to do after having stiffened up again from not riding. I get back down into an appropriate gear and head up the hill. (The intensity of the shark music picks up.)
I'm a bit nervous, well, no, a lot nervous about the concept of riding all the way to Okotoks with no spare, on a tire that isn't as hard as I'd like it to be, not knowing what gave me the first flat, given the size of some of the hills, and the downhill speed potential. I'd been hoping to break 100 Kph on the one hill on 549. My calves are doing some funny twitchy stuff that I don't like. I was thinking about just going to the end of the road and turning around there. I'm about half way up the hill, settling in. My bike computer is showing me distance, so I go to switch it to show me cadence. And it resets itself into the initial set up mode. I nearly ripped it off the bike and threw it into the ditch.
All my enthusiasm and eagerness for the ride instantly disappeared. I just wanted to go home, and clean up. I turned around and plodded home. It's still a beautiful day, but there was a metaphorical rain cloud over my head. I saw a zillion riders out enjoying the day, singles and groups, having a great time. My only consolation is that I wasn't with someone else to ruin their ride. I took it easy up the hills, and coasted down them. Tried to reassure Estela that it wasn't her fault.
This is the worst I've felt about training since I started. I'm disappointed that I'm missing out on a great day for riding. I'm disappointed that I messed up so bad dealing with what should be a fairly simple issue. (I've lost count of the number of times I've changed the back wheel between training tire and outdoor tire.) I'm disappointed that I didn't have the mental stamina to simply carry on, knowing that the bike computer data would be worthless, and that as a training ride it wouldn't be worth much, but better than nothing. But I think about the consequences of a soft tire going down a big hill on rougher pavement, or getting another flat, and I'm pretty sure I did the right thing in bailing on the ride.
Still, I'm grumpy about it, and didn't do the run off the bike either. I want to associate running with feeling good. I'd be tempted to take out my frustrations by pushing too hard on the run, and that's the last thing I need right now. I'm disappointed that I know that even after going shopping, and installing stuff, I'm not going to go for a ride later today, and I'm not even sure why.
So once I got back to the house, I had a coffee, and a recovery cookie. Two cookies. Well, I suppose I should say three. If you must insist on saying that third cookie is really two cookies stuck together, I suppose it really is 4 cookies. I feel better now, especially having vented here. I've been making up a shopping list.
New tubes
New bike pump
new CO2 cartridges, and recycle old one. (It actually worked pretty slick.)
New wireless bike computer, not Sigma. Maybe my buddy JN from work wants the old one if he doesn't mind the periodic resets.
The training week ended up less than what I'd like to do, given the short bike ride today.
Swim 2 hr
Bike 1.5 hr
Run .5 hr
Total 4 hours.
I've got the Canmore Oly in 2 weeks. In fact, I should be just finishing it exactly 2 weeks from now. Right at the moment I'm regretting signing up for it. I'm not ready now, mentally or physically. Maybe it will all come together. I know perfectly well that attitude is important, and I'm just going through a temporary down cycle. I'll probably be fine for the event, and even if I'm not, it will be good practice if nothing else. But it's hard for me to have fun when I feel this way. At least it won't last long, and I'll be my normal self again tomorrow, or even later today.
The plan was to ride down to Okotoks via the Road to Nepal and back. That's about 80 K, and I was thinking between 3.5 and 4 hours. Lots of hills, and I was looking forward to the big one on 549. Puttered around getting everything organized. Started off about 8. It was still a bit cool, but I knew the day would warm up quickly. All was going well.
Then things started going downhill while going downhill. I got a flat at about 60 Kph just before the turn off to the Leighton Centre. No bang, just a sudden thwap thwap thwap noise. I was actually kind of cheerful about it. This was my first flat out on the road. I was going to get a chance to use the CO2 thingie for the first time.
I pulled off, and I must say Estela handled very well with the flat. My thought was to go through everything in a calm, cool, collected way. (Cue quiet ominous music.) Took all the stuff out of my stuff bag, took my drinks out of the cages, made sure bento box was closed. Flipped Estela upside down, took off the back wheel, removed tube. (Cue the da-na, da-na, da-na shark music.) Checked the tire, nothing to indicate why I got a flat. Looked carefully and felt with fingers. Nothing, which is nervous-making. With the new tube lying in plain sight on the ground beside the wheel, I proceeded to install the tube I just took out. Put the wheel back on. Fix the chain guddle. And fill it with CO2. I'm just congratulating myself on a job well done and getting ready to start putting things away and get going again when I notice the tire doesn't look right. Poke it with a finger and it's softer than my belly used to be. Then I notice the new tube on the ground.
Grrr. Wheel off, tube out. More from curiousity than any real reason, I use the pump to pump it up. Can't find a leak, but it sure goes flat fast. Install new tube. Install wheel on bike. Fix chain guddle. Pump up with pump. (shark music gets louder.) I'm having a hell of a time with this. Eventually get it inflated, and I'm poking it with my thumb. It really isn't hard enough, so I go at it again with my pump. And the valve stem breaks off in my hand.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Fortunately, I'm carrying two tubes. I'm thanking whoever told me "Never just prepare for something going wrong, because it's never just one thing. Prepare for a bunch of things going wrong in sequence, pretty well all at once." Wheel off, tube out. Install new tube, double checking, (my second, and last) being careful of the dreaded pinch flat. I do not want to wake up Linda to ask her to come get me two rides in a row. Install wheel on bike. Fix chain guddle. What is it with me this am?? Never had chain guddle before, now 3x in a row. Pump up tire. Carefully. Really carefully. It's still not quite as hard as I'd like it to be, but I already know a new pump is on my shopping list along with a couple more tubes. Get Estela all put back together. Take a drink, nibble a piece of Cliffs bar.
At this point I've been playing around for more than 45 minutes. 3 different small groups of riders have stopped to see if I'm ok, and we chat for a few minutes about the day, the various planned rides, what a great ride the Road to Nepal is. Even one car stops to ask if I'm ok. I'm getting ready to head up the hill that I did the repeats on the other night, and wondering how my legs are going to do after having stiffened up again from not riding. I get back down into an appropriate gear and head up the hill. (The intensity of the shark music picks up.)
I'm a bit nervous, well, no, a lot nervous about the concept of riding all the way to Okotoks with no spare, on a tire that isn't as hard as I'd like it to be, not knowing what gave me the first flat, given the size of some of the hills, and the downhill speed potential. I'd been hoping to break 100 Kph on the one hill on 549. My calves are doing some funny twitchy stuff that I don't like. I was thinking about just going to the end of the road and turning around there. I'm about half way up the hill, settling in. My bike computer is showing me distance, so I go to switch it to show me cadence. And it resets itself into the initial set up mode. I nearly ripped it off the bike and threw it into the ditch.
All my enthusiasm and eagerness for the ride instantly disappeared. I just wanted to go home, and clean up. I turned around and plodded home. It's still a beautiful day, but there was a metaphorical rain cloud over my head. I saw a zillion riders out enjoying the day, singles and groups, having a great time. My only consolation is that I wasn't with someone else to ruin their ride. I took it easy up the hills, and coasted down them. Tried to reassure Estela that it wasn't her fault.
This is the worst I've felt about training since I started. I'm disappointed that I'm missing out on a great day for riding. I'm disappointed that I messed up so bad dealing with what should be a fairly simple issue. (I've lost count of the number of times I've changed the back wheel between training tire and outdoor tire.) I'm disappointed that I didn't have the mental stamina to simply carry on, knowing that the bike computer data would be worthless, and that as a training ride it wouldn't be worth much, but better than nothing. But I think about the consequences of a soft tire going down a big hill on rougher pavement, or getting another flat, and I'm pretty sure I did the right thing in bailing on the ride.
Still, I'm grumpy about it, and didn't do the run off the bike either. I want to associate running with feeling good. I'd be tempted to take out my frustrations by pushing too hard on the run, and that's the last thing I need right now. I'm disappointed that I know that even after going shopping, and installing stuff, I'm not going to go for a ride later today, and I'm not even sure why.
So once I got back to the house, I had a coffee, and a recovery cookie. Two cookies. Well, I suppose I should say three. If you must insist on saying that third cookie is really two cookies stuck together, I suppose it really is 4 cookies. I feel better now, especially having vented here. I've been making up a shopping list.
New tubes
New bike pump
new CO2 cartridges, and recycle old one. (It actually worked pretty slick.)
New wireless bike computer, not Sigma. Maybe my buddy JN from work wants the old one if he doesn't mind the periodic resets.
The training week ended up less than what I'd like to do, given the short bike ride today.
Swim 2 hr
Bike 1.5 hr
Run .5 hr
Total 4 hours.
I've got the Canmore Oly in 2 weeks. In fact, I should be just finishing it exactly 2 weeks from now. Right at the moment I'm regretting signing up for it. I'm not ready now, mentally or physically. Maybe it will all come together. I know perfectly well that attitude is important, and I'm just going through a temporary down cycle. I'll probably be fine for the event, and even if I'm not, it will be good practice if nothing else. But it's hard for me to have fun when I feel this way. At least it won't last long, and I'll be my normal self again tomorrow, or even later today.
Friday, July 18, 2008
First 2K swim in a month
The first K was good, just about exactly on 20 minutes. I kind of fell apart during the second K. I had a few laps where I really lost my concentration and slowed down. I could feel my kick not working quite as well. Time was a just short of respectable 40:33. Stretched after.
The number is back on the right track. 232.
I'm supposed to run tonight, but I'm not going to. I've already had a big glass of wine, and I'm actually feeling like going to bed. Calves are feeling sort of crampish, and it just started a cold rain. WHINE! If I'm up early tomorrow I'll run then. Bike on Sunday.
The number is back on the right track. 232.
I'm supposed to run tonight, but I'm not going to. I've already had a big glass of wine, and I'm actually feeling like going to bed. Calves are feeling sort of crampish, and it just started a cold rain. WHINE! If I'm up early tomorrow I'll run then. Bike on Sunday.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A Hill, and a new land speed record for Estela!
The road to Nepal has many hills. I picked one for my hill repeats. It's not the longest, and maybe not the steepest, but it was convenient, and besides, it looked like it was raining further south. This one starts where the Leighton Centre turns off, and ends at 274th or so. The hill is actually about .8 K long, and I don't know how much elevation.
The first time up the hill was nice and easy, then I pushed harder. I think the fastest I made it up was 5:30, but I had to do complicated math in my head for that number, since I didn't do any lap time stuff on my watch. It might have been a faster or slower. Of course going down was way quicker. Way, way quicker.
I think I did 7 times up the hill and back down again, but it might only be 6 times. I lost count. We all know how my brain shuts down for higher functions while I exercise. Next week I'll do lap times for up and down, although I might try a couple hills further down. Mostly the legs felt good, though I got a couple twinges in my calves. The strong headwinds going up didn't bug me since I was looking for a work out, and made going down faster. I used the downhills to spin up past 130 rpm and loosen up the legs. I only rode 50 minutes, giving up when it started to rain, and get some gusty cross winds.
Overall, a pretty nice night for a ride. Just as I was done I saw a few more riders. I really enjoyed getting out and pushing my legs a bit. Worked a bunch on trying to spin up the hill.
I've been told that this post is incomplete. That there's more to the story. Sigh. The pressures I'm under here. Sheesh. This is how it goes. I have car keys with me, and attached house keys and stuff. It goes into the bento box. I come back to the car after my ride. Dig keys out of bento box. Open trunk. Drop keys back in bento box. (Note that it's cooling off, it's windy, it's starting to rain a bit, and I'm still coming down from the workout.) Take off front wheel. Put Estela in the trunk. Put front wheel in the trunk. Close trunk. Walk to driver's side door, reaching into my pocket for keys. Oops. Much bad language. Decide not to break a window. Walk to nearby house, borrowed phone. Linda laughs at me. She borrows neighbour's car and comes to get me. She is very suspicious that I have in fact fallen, strewed bits all over the road and broken my phone. Once she checks me over, opens the car, she shakes her head, and says "Only you!". I DON'T say "You married it!".
Here's some numbers:
22Kph overall average speed, which is pretty good, all things considered.
Average cadance was 70, again, higher than I thought it would be.
90.33 Kph max speed. Like I said, there was a pretty stiff wind, probably 35 Kph. I'm not sure which run generated that, since the fastest I actually saw on the computer was 89.5 Kph. I'm just thrilled to know I could have got a speeding ticket on a provincial secondary road.
155 max heart rate,
125 average heartrate.
The first time up the hill was nice and easy, then I pushed harder. I think the fastest I made it up was 5:30, but I had to do complicated math in my head for that number, since I didn't do any lap time stuff on my watch. It might have been a faster or slower. Of course going down was way quicker. Way, way quicker.
I think I did 7 times up the hill and back down again, but it might only be 6 times. I lost count. We all know how my brain shuts down for higher functions while I exercise. Next week I'll do lap times for up and down, although I might try a couple hills further down. Mostly the legs felt good, though I got a couple twinges in my calves. The strong headwinds going up didn't bug me since I was looking for a work out, and made going down faster. I used the downhills to spin up past 130 rpm and loosen up the legs. I only rode 50 minutes, giving up when it started to rain, and get some gusty cross winds.
Overall, a pretty nice night for a ride. Just as I was done I saw a few more riders. I really enjoyed getting out and pushing my legs a bit. Worked a bunch on trying to spin up the hill.
I've been told that this post is incomplete. That there's more to the story. Sigh. The pressures I'm under here. Sheesh. This is how it goes. I have car keys with me, and attached house keys and stuff. It goes into the bento box. I come back to the car after my ride. Dig keys out of bento box. Open trunk. Drop keys back in bento box. (Note that it's cooling off, it's windy, it's starting to rain a bit, and I'm still coming down from the workout.) Take off front wheel. Put Estela in the trunk. Put front wheel in the trunk. Close trunk. Walk to driver's side door, reaching into my pocket for keys. Oops. Much bad language. Decide not to break a window. Walk to nearby house, borrowed phone. Linda laughs at me. She borrows neighbour's car and comes to get me. She is very suspicious that I have in fact fallen, strewed bits all over the road and broken my phone. Once she checks me over, opens the car, she shakes her head, and says "Only you!". I DON'T say "You married it!".
Here's some numbers:
22Kph overall average speed, which is pretty good, all things considered.
Average cadance was 70, again, higher than I thought it would be.
90.33 Kph max speed. Like I said, there was a pretty stiff wind, probably 35 Kph. I'm not sure which run generated that, since the fastest I actually saw on the computer was 89.5 Kph. I'm just thrilled to know I could have got a speeding ticket on a provincial secondary road.
155 max heart rate,
125 average heartrate.
Damn drafters!
Wed am swim was a good solid brisk swim. Shared the lane with one other person. While I was getting my goggles sealed, I timed him so I'd know to start just in front of him, or just behind him. He turned out to be swimming 50 m in 65 seconds or so. I swim faster than that, so I started just ahead of him.
After about 6 or 7 laps I caught up to him. He stopped, let me by one lap quicker than I thought he would. And then the bugger started right behind me, and stayed just about right on my toes. I picked up the pace a bit, and he stayed right there. He even touched me a few times. By accident. Not the deliberate, "I've caught up to you and want to pass" sort of way. I figured since he let me by, he didn't want to pass me. Just draft.
The last couple laps I really picked it up for a strong finish, and left him half a length back. I was breathing strong, but not panting. He kept on going which was fine. I timed him, and he went back to his 65 seconds again, as opposed to the 58 or 59 we were doing. I guess he didn't want me to lap him twice. Or he can keep up when he's pacing someone, but can't drive himself to that pace.
I'm pretty pleased, 1000m in 19:21, feeling strong, good stroke, pretty good kick. Pace was brisk, but not all out, since I was still thinking about stroke mechanics and body positioning. My inner shark gently approved, though he was tempting me to turn and chomp after the second time he touched me. Stretched a few minutes after, then into the dive tank for about 15 minutes for more core work. Total 45 minutes.
After work Linda I planned to walk around the block, then follow along with a yoga DVD. However her knee went sort of wonky during the walk, and thought yoga wasn't a good idea. I puttered about a bit, doing a bit more stretching, and went to bed fairly early.
After about 6 or 7 laps I caught up to him. He stopped, let me by one lap quicker than I thought he would. And then the bugger started right behind me, and stayed just about right on my toes. I picked up the pace a bit, and he stayed right there. He even touched me a few times. By accident. Not the deliberate, "I've caught up to you and want to pass" sort of way. I figured since he let me by, he didn't want to pass me. Just draft.
The last couple laps I really picked it up for a strong finish, and left him half a length back. I was breathing strong, but not panting. He kept on going which was fine. I timed him, and he went back to his 65 seconds again, as opposed to the 58 or 59 we were doing. I guess he didn't want me to lap him twice. Or he can keep up when he's pacing someone, but can't drive himself to that pace.
I'm pretty pleased, 1000m in 19:21, feeling strong, good stroke, pretty good kick. Pace was brisk, but not all out, since I was still thinking about stroke mechanics and body positioning. My inner shark gently approved, though he was tempting me to turn and chomp after the second time he touched me. Stretched a few minutes after, then into the dive tank for about 15 minutes for more core work. Total 45 minutes.
After work Linda I planned to walk around the block, then follow along with a yoga DVD. However her knee went sort of wonky during the walk, and thought yoga wasn't a good idea. I puttered about a bit, doing a bit more stretching, and went to bed fairly early.
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