So why was there such a long gap between posting my race write up? There are a few sorry excuses and some cycling fan excuses, which are much more acceptable-sort of I suppose, but not really. Let's start with the sorriest reasons and what I learned from them.
I rode the Wolfpack road race with no exotic nutrition supplements before or after. That was mostly the plan, but not to the exclusion of taking care of my engine. A bad idea on retrospect. I loaded the Jeep and headed home as the rain really set in. The college kids where going to have interesting race conditions, a little bit of Belgium in North Carolina.
I was smart enough to put aside a bottle with some sports drink a protein bar and a couple of bagels. I guess that wasn't too bad, but I had some recovery drinks at home. However, I spaced on packing any. I turned on the seat warmer on, which felt good on my legs and headed out. I intellectually felt good about my first effort, but I could feel the ride and the rotten weather settling into my legs and oddly enough my triceps. Did I stretch much after the ride? No. Was that a mistake? Oh yeah definitely-more on that later.
I got a long hot shower after the hour ride home and still forgot to put much of anything back. The rest of the day was spent helping out around the house and enjoying Valentine's Day with my lovely and amazingly tolerant wife. I felt pretty good the rest of the day after my shower. I could tell I had ridden very hard, but I wasn't destroyed. My very smart wife prepared a great post race dinner of grilled salmon, sweet potatoes, green beans and some pasta. Tomorrow, I felt pretty rough in spite of the great dinner.
I got up the next morning to find my legs were very stiff and sore. Now I remembered I should have stretched. My triceps were almost as sore as my legs. Now I remembered I didn't drink anything for recovery. I'd kick my own ass if my legs weren't so sore.
I stretched and got out and rode a short distance at a moderate pace, which helped my legs. Why the heck were my arms so sore? I talked with a cyclist friend who is also a life science guy who asked if I was pulling up hard on the handlebars on the hills for leverage. Yeah I definitely did more than I normally did. Well that mystery was now solved, because that's what I did out of frustration at being dropped and in trying to get back in the race.
I've gotten back into training mode, but I haven't been able to ride as much as I would like because the weather has been pretty bad-cold (cold for a southerner), my Garmin bit the dust without any explanation and the Tour of California was on. A quick side note. The Garmin guys are the best I've encountered in a long time with regard to customer service. It's obvious they care, really care, and back their products to the maximum. I have a total man crush on them! I will never ride with any other bike computer-ever. They've earned my loyalty and fandom.
I enjoyed watching the Tour of California even though Leipheimer pretty much had it put away after the second stage. Given the choice to watch the ToC or ride, I watched. Bad decision, but the weather didn't help. I could have ridden my trainer, and did a couple of times, but not enough. I also spent some time working with my editor on planning the column. I also spent some time working on a sponsorship strategy. Good excuses? Not really. Do I need to try harder to train more. To quote Yoda, "do or do not there is no try."
So now what? It's time to get back in the saddle where I need to be. I need to more proactively schedule training with my wife based on kid schedules. The weather is going to get better, but that's not going to matter.
This weekend is a very odd occurrence. The kids are with the "ex's" and my wife is taking our oldest daughter to a soccer tournament. I'll be alone! Yeah I will miss my wife and kids, but I'm going to get a little under 48 hours of limited responsibilities and loads of time to ride. The plan is to do two LSD rides-longer slower distance. I'd like to see if I can stay in the saddle 6 hours and see how far I can go. I will be smarter about nutrition on these rides before, during and after.
I am jealous of the pros who blithely Twitter they are heading out on an 5-6 hour training ride with "the boys". I wish I was one of "the boys"! I know I can't be, but I can ride to be the best I can be this year. That's the goal!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The first race and instant anerobia
I packed my gear the Friday night after getting a little time to ride on the road for the first time in days. It made since to get myself organized the night before. The drive was going to be at least a hour south of Raleigh and I wanted to leave time to get registered in time to warm up my legs.
Maybe it was excitement or worry over the race, but I didn't sleep well and was up at 5:00. I loaded all of my gear except my bike and clothes in the Jeep the night before. I made a quick breakfast of a couple of eggs and cheese. Next I got dressed, checked the weather one more time, and loaded my bike to head out. The weather looked like it was going to be warmer than anticipated by a few degrees with the rain possibly holding off until after my race.
I got to the race site with an hour to go. There were "kids" every where from colleges all over the southeast for their races in addition to the USACF races. That started to work on my head. I parked and found my way to registration. I had pre-registered so that was easy , but I did notice I had years on everyone in line except a few guys.
Race number in hand, I went back to the Jeep to unload my bike and trainer to warm my legs up. I didn't bring the pad to set up on, so I never really got the trainer settled, but I did warm up on it about 10 minutes before I gave up and decided to ride to finish warming up. It was 42 degrees, but no rain at that point.
I headed over to the start line about 5 minutes before and positioned myself in the middle of the pack. I made small talk with some of the guys enough to find a couple who also had never raced before. The race was late getting started by about 15-20 minutes. I looked down at my Garmin and noticed my heart rate was 150 beats per minute when it should have been closer to 100. Nerves and adreniline no doubt. I tried to calm myself down while the race organizer gave us some final instructions.
"Don't cross the yellow lines or you will be disqualified," she said. "I have no desire for any of you to die today. Also, you will NOT raise your hands in air when you cross the line. You are NOT Lance Armstrong." There was polite chuckles from the crowd. A few more instructions and then we're off. My heart rate was down to 137 bpm as I pushed off, which was calmer but I was still keyed up.
I promised myself that I wouldn't try to chase down the pack if it got away. I was going to ride my race and my race plan. The plan was to not wreck, finish stronger than I started and not finish last. The group took off and I tried to keep up and looked down at my Garmin at the top of the second hill, 180 beats per minute. Ok, I couldn't sustain that pace, so I dialed it back.
I tried to keep the pack in sight for as long as I could. I lost sight of them about the 10 mile mark. I settled down to ride "my race". An interesting thing happened at that point. I felt better and my heart rate slowed. I was last at that point, but I could see other riders up the road. So I picked up my pace and passed the first rider I met at about 10.5 miles. Man that felt good! I felt myself getting stronger, which was probably mostly mental, but it helped me push on. The rain started at that point. It continued intermitently until the end.
Between 11 and 12 mile mark I met the second rider and pushed on past him up the hill. Fourteen miles in I met the third rider, and I blew past him, but pulled up. "Hey you want to work together to try to catch up?," I called back. "Sure!", he yelled. So we worked together for the rest of the first lap. It was my turn to pull heading into the first hill so I took the lead, but he seemed to pull up and slow down. I looked back to see if he was going to keep up. He shrugged and motioned for me to take off. So I did
I felt my strength building because my legs were fully warmed up and my heart rate slowed down. I put my head down and picked up speed. I past my fourth and fifth riders as I got further into the lap. I yelled to one of the race officials to ask how far the group was ahead. "Over 5 minutes," he yelled back. That was really disheartening, but I pushed harder. The next turn cam and I asked again how far ahead they were and the answer was "4 or 5 minutes." Was I pulling some time back? Maybe, but maybe not. The answer gave me a little more energy to pull harder.
I past the the 1 KM sign and I heard "your left!" from behind me about 200-250 meters beyond it. DAMN! The women's CAT 4 group had caught me. They were scheduled to start 5 minutes after my CAT 5 race, but I don't know if that's what happened. Getting caught by them was a little disappointing, but I noticed 90 percent of the group were college women who would also be racing later that day in the collegiate races.
Recapping the goals of my first race, I realized I met my moddest goals. The first and most important goal was not to crash. That was easier since I wasn't riding in the pack for very long and the roads weren't too bad. Second, run faster than 18 mph, which I achieved by runnind 18.9 mph. I was very happy about that because the elevation of the course was more rolling than I thought and that Mapmyride.com had indicated. There were 3 ten percent grade hills and averal five percent or more. Third, I didn't want to finish last. I actually past 5 other riders, but didn't finish near the main group of riders. There's an area to improve on.
My average heart rate, 172 bpm, was significantly higher than a normal ride. That's another area to improve on. I got more comfortable and stable as the race went on, but there is a signifcant improvement that could be made in conditioning and weight. How much better would I have ridden if my weight was closer to 150 than 170 pounds? Professional riders my height are all 150 pounds or less. What if I had better equipment, coaching and nutritional advice? I hope to find out!
Maybe it was excitement or worry over the race, but I didn't sleep well and was up at 5:00. I loaded all of my gear except my bike and clothes in the Jeep the night before. I made a quick breakfast of a couple of eggs and cheese. Next I got dressed, checked the weather one more time, and loaded my bike to head out. The weather looked like it was going to be warmer than anticipated by a few degrees with the rain possibly holding off until after my race.
I got to the race site with an hour to go. There were "kids" every where from colleges all over the southeast for their races in addition to the USACF races. That started to work on my head. I parked and found my way to registration. I had pre-registered so that was easy , but I did notice I had years on everyone in line except a few guys.
Race number in hand, I went back to the Jeep to unload my bike and trainer to warm my legs up. I didn't bring the pad to set up on, so I never really got the trainer settled, but I did warm up on it about 10 minutes before I gave up and decided to ride to finish warming up. It was 42 degrees, but no rain at that point.
I headed over to the start line about 5 minutes before and positioned myself in the middle of the pack. I made small talk with some of the guys enough to find a couple who also had never raced before. The race was late getting started by about 15-20 minutes. I looked down at my Garmin and noticed my heart rate was 150 beats per minute when it should have been closer to 100. Nerves and adreniline no doubt. I tried to calm myself down while the race organizer gave us some final instructions.
"Don't cross the yellow lines or you will be disqualified," she said. "I have no desire for any of you to die today. Also, you will NOT raise your hands in air when you cross the line. You are NOT Lance Armstrong." There was polite chuckles from the crowd. A few more instructions and then we're off. My heart rate was down to 137 bpm as I pushed off, which was calmer but I was still keyed up.
I promised myself that I wouldn't try to chase down the pack if it got away. I was going to ride my race and my race plan. The plan was to not wreck, finish stronger than I started and not finish last. The group took off and I tried to keep up and looked down at my Garmin at the top of the second hill, 180 beats per minute. Ok, I couldn't sustain that pace, so I dialed it back.
I tried to keep the pack in sight for as long as I could. I lost sight of them about the 10 mile mark. I settled down to ride "my race". An interesting thing happened at that point. I felt better and my heart rate slowed. I was last at that point, but I could see other riders up the road. So I picked up my pace and passed the first rider I met at about 10.5 miles. Man that felt good! I felt myself getting stronger, which was probably mostly mental, but it helped me push on. The rain started at that point. It continued intermitently until the end.
Between 11 and 12 mile mark I met the second rider and pushed on past him up the hill. Fourteen miles in I met the third rider, and I blew past him, but pulled up. "Hey you want to work together to try to catch up?," I called back. "Sure!", he yelled. So we worked together for the rest of the first lap. It was my turn to pull heading into the first hill so I took the lead, but he seemed to pull up and slow down. I looked back to see if he was going to keep up. He shrugged and motioned for me to take off. So I did
I felt my strength building because my legs were fully warmed up and my heart rate slowed down. I put my head down and picked up speed. I past my fourth and fifth riders as I got further into the lap. I yelled to one of the race officials to ask how far the group was ahead. "Over 5 minutes," he yelled back. That was really disheartening, but I pushed harder. The next turn cam and I asked again how far ahead they were and the answer was "4 or 5 minutes." Was I pulling some time back? Maybe, but maybe not. The answer gave me a little more energy to pull harder.
I past the the 1 KM sign and I heard "your left!" from behind me about 200-250 meters beyond it. DAMN! The women's CAT 4 group had caught me. They were scheduled to start 5 minutes after my CAT 5 race, but I don't know if that's what happened. Getting caught by them was a little disappointing, but I noticed 90 percent of the group were college women who would also be racing later that day in the collegiate races.
Recapping the goals of my first race, I realized I met my moddest goals. The first and most important goal was not to crash. That was easier since I wasn't riding in the pack for very long and the roads weren't too bad. Second, run faster than 18 mph, which I achieved by runnind 18.9 mph. I was very happy about that because the elevation of the course was more rolling than I thought and that Mapmyride.com had indicated. There were 3 ten percent grade hills and averal five percent or more. Third, I didn't want to finish last. I actually past 5 other riders, but didn't finish near the main group of riders. There's an area to improve on.
My average heart rate, 172 bpm, was significantly higher than a normal ride. That's another area to improve on. I got more comfortable and stable as the race went on, but there is a signifcant improvement that could be made in conditioning and weight. How much better would I have ridden if my weight was closer to 150 than 170 pounds? Professional riders my height are all 150 pounds or less. What if I had better equipment, coaching and nutritional advice? I hope to find out!
Friday, February 13, 2009
The Power of Frustration and the Lessons of Scheduling
This has been a massively frustrating week. Sure there have been the usual work frustrations, and kid stuff, but that's normal. Nether of those are the cause of my frustrations. This week's frustration has centered around the weather and lack of training time.
The weather in Carolina has been amazing for mid February. The temps have been in the high 60's to mid 70's with blue sky. The only blemish on the amazing weather has been the wind, but even that would add to the challenge of training. It would have been something fun to manage on the bike.
How much have I trained since Monday? Forty-five minutes of a recovery ride and 20 minute of riding on my bike for pictures to be taken in conjunction with my column in Endurance Magazine. I haven't even been able to torture myself on my trainer this week. I guess this is a tapering of activities in getting ready to race tomorrow. That's what I'm telling or kidding myself with today.
The weather for race time at 8:00 AM is expected to be in the low 40's with wind and rain! Just like the boys deal with in the Belgium and France spring classics or the Tour of California last year. I'm going to get everything ready tonight and packed so I can get over early to try to warm my legs up on my trainer-under the hatchback of the Jeep, hopefully.
This week has been about more lessons learned. There seems to be a theme or trend here on learning lessons. First, medicine labeled with "Take with Food" is labeled that way for a reaons! I just about hurled yesterday morning when, on an empty stomach, I took the last antibiotic pill for my sinus infection. I think in the final analysis, I wish I had hurled, because I didn't feel right the rest of the day.
The other lesson is I should schedule my training a week ahead and communicate that to everyone relevant. I can get objections upfront and adjust as opposed to trying to shoe horn my way into saddle time. That will also give me the leverage to say, "remember, I scheduled this training time?".
I'll post again tomorrow when I get back from my race and have had a chance to thaw out. I have the gear to probably last two hours in the rain if that's what the conditions are. However, I'm pretty sure I will get to experience more of the legendary suffering cyclists go through for the love of our sport. I've set a goal of a sub 18 mph pace or less than 2 hours on the road. We'll see if I can make it.
The weather in Carolina has been amazing for mid February. The temps have been in the high 60's to mid 70's with blue sky. The only blemish on the amazing weather has been the wind, but even that would add to the challenge of training. It would have been something fun to manage on the bike.
How much have I trained since Monday? Forty-five minutes of a recovery ride and 20 minute of riding on my bike for pictures to be taken in conjunction with my column in Endurance Magazine. I haven't even been able to torture myself on my trainer this week. I guess this is a tapering of activities in getting ready to race tomorrow. That's what I'm telling or kidding myself with today.
The weather for race time at 8:00 AM is expected to be in the low 40's with wind and rain! Just like the boys deal with in the Belgium and France spring classics or the Tour of California last year. I'm going to get everything ready tonight and packed so I can get over early to try to warm my legs up on my trainer-under the hatchback of the Jeep, hopefully.
This week has been about more lessons learned. There seems to be a theme or trend here on learning lessons. First, medicine labeled with "Take with Food" is labeled that way for a reaons! I just about hurled yesterday morning when, on an empty stomach, I took the last antibiotic pill for my sinus infection. I think in the final analysis, I wish I had hurled, because I didn't feel right the rest of the day.
The other lesson is I should schedule my training a week ahead and communicate that to everyone relevant. I can get objections upfront and adjust as opposed to trying to shoe horn my way into saddle time. That will also give me the leverage to say, "remember, I scheduled this training time?".
I'll post again tomorrow when I get back from my race and have had a chance to thaw out. I have the gear to probably last two hours in the rain if that's what the conditions are. However, I'm pretty sure I will get to experience more of the legendary suffering cyclists go through for the love of our sport. I've set a goal of a sub 18 mph pace or less than 2 hours on the road. We'll see if I can make it.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Getting my legs working well again
Yesterday I took a day off riding, which was probably not a good idea. There wasn't time to get out and ride in spite of the amazing weather. Today my legs were still feeling a little rough, but not as bad as Monday. I got out for an pretty easy ride and focused on riding at a lower cadence and heart rate on a fairly flat route from downtown Raleigh, through NC State's campus and Dix Hospital.
I got stronger as the ride went on as my legs loosened up. I rode a steady average pace of 17.3 mph and 152 bpm heart rate. My climbing got stronger as the ride went on, which was good considering the climbs were mostly at the end of the ride. Maybe I actually rode a recovery ride without letting my need for speed to get the better of me. I hope I can get coaching to give me some real feedback on stuff like this.
Tomorrow is going to be in the mid 70's and I'm hoping I can get over to the Saturday race route to know what I'm facing going into the race.
I got stronger as the ride went on as my legs loosened up. I rode a steady average pace of 17.3 mph and 152 bpm heart rate. My climbing got stronger as the ride went on, which was good considering the climbs were mostly at the end of the ride. Maybe I actually rode a recovery ride without letting my need for speed to get the better of me. I hope I can get coaching to give me some real feedback on stuff like this.
Tomorrow is going to be in the mid 70's and I'm hoping I can get over to the Saturday race route to know what I'm facing going into the race.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Training Mistakes, Wind and Family Guilt
There were some clear lessons I learned this weekend none of them good. I'll break it down by training mistakes and then add the others. I rode a little over 80 miles this weekend in a 36 mile Saturday and a 45 mile Sunday. Saturday's weather was nearly perfect. Sunday was warmer, but the wind was a beast. I rode 4-6 degrees leaning into the wind at points and every direction on the compass seemed to be into a headwind. I lost time and energy in the wind. Wind like we get sometimes here can make a 40 mile ride feel like a 60 mile or more ride when you're done.
Saturday I took off way too fast in the beginning and I never got my heart rate under control. I ended up running 36 miles at 18.3 mph, but my average heart rate was 165 or at least 10-maybe 15 beats per minute too fast. My main problem was pace and control. I took off fast with no warm up and my body felt pretty good, but my lungs felt over used and abused when I was done and I know I lost power and speed toward the end when I was near empty. The reason possibly came from getting a later start than I wanted for my 36 mile route and wanting to beat the sun home. Dumb! I should have adjusted my route length and rode smarter.
Luckily, I felt pretty good Sunday and slept pretty well. I ate smart and got an earlier start thanks to my lovely and tolerant wife. I packed my bike in the Jeep to leave from my son's soccer tournament. Coming off the field he asked me for a drink off one of my water bottles and promptly drained half of a 24 oz bottle. I didn't think about it at the time and took off. I packed a decent amount of ride nutrition and a bit to spare since I was going longer so I was good there. Normally I take $5-$6 with me to refuel if needed while I'm out. I forgot this time, which is something I won't do again anytime soon. I was nearly bone dry at the 34-35 mile mark and completely dry at the 40 mile mark. I rode past my in-laws house to see if my mother in law would take pity on her boneheaded son in-law. Neither she nor my father in-law were home. That was at the 32 mile mark. By then I had already checked my jersey pocket and discovered no money there.
I took the most direct route home, but that was 13-14 miles from their house. I had a phone and could have called my wife to come bail me out, but I didn't want to do that, not because she would heckle me about it. I didn't want to admit I had been so dumb. Male ego strikes again! I limped home crawling up hills and trying to take advantage of the descents. My average speed on the ride when I was fueled was 19.4, that was awesome considering I was averaging 155 bpm on my heart rate. I felt good-right before the bottom fell out. I landed on my door step, very tired from the ride and the wind as well as completely empty. I crushed water bottles until I got a brain freeze and tried to get back something with a recovery drink. Both helped a little.
My wife then announced that I was cooking dinner since she had done the mom taxi thing and given me over 4 1/2 hours of ride time for the weekend. I could have whined, but I didn't. Instead I decided to make a great dinner and suck it up. The family was happy with the dinner. I announced I was dropping into the couch and the kids could get the dishes. I slept like I was in a coma and I'm sore today, if not wiser.
Now for the family guilt. I felt bad leaving my son's second game on Saturday to go ride, so I probably let that into my head as I took off. My wife was perfectly ok with me riding after both games on Sunday because she had run earlier in the day, but I didn't want to have her stop her mom time to come rescue me. My son didn't mind me riding because he thinks my training and racing is "cool". He understands training time too since he's an awesome little soccer player. I wouldn't use the "little" in front of him since he's 12 and clearly not little.
My wife would have lovingly come scrape me off the road without anything other than a smile and a knowing look that her husband had let testosterone and ego do him in as well as his legendary lack of memory. Both love me regardless and I am lucky, but I think I still feel a bit of guilty along with some sore legs and shoulders. All of that will heal with time. It was a good weekend with family that love and support me sometimes in spite of myself.
Saturday I took off way too fast in the beginning and I never got my heart rate under control. I ended up running 36 miles at 18.3 mph, but my average heart rate was 165 or at least 10-maybe 15 beats per minute too fast. My main problem was pace and control. I took off fast with no warm up and my body felt pretty good, but my lungs felt over used and abused when I was done and I know I lost power and speed toward the end when I was near empty. The reason possibly came from getting a later start than I wanted for my 36 mile route and wanting to beat the sun home. Dumb! I should have adjusted my route length and rode smarter.
Luckily, I felt pretty good Sunday and slept pretty well. I ate smart and got an earlier start thanks to my lovely and tolerant wife. I packed my bike in the Jeep to leave from my son's soccer tournament. Coming off the field he asked me for a drink off one of my water bottles and promptly drained half of a 24 oz bottle. I didn't think about it at the time and took off. I packed a decent amount of ride nutrition and a bit to spare since I was going longer so I was good there. Normally I take $5-$6 with me to refuel if needed while I'm out. I forgot this time, which is something I won't do again anytime soon. I was nearly bone dry at the 34-35 mile mark and completely dry at the 40 mile mark. I rode past my in-laws house to see if my mother in law would take pity on her boneheaded son in-law. Neither she nor my father in-law were home. That was at the 32 mile mark. By then I had already checked my jersey pocket and discovered no money there.
I took the most direct route home, but that was 13-14 miles from their house. I had a phone and could have called my wife to come bail me out, but I didn't want to do that, not because she would heckle me about it. I didn't want to admit I had been so dumb. Male ego strikes again! I limped home crawling up hills and trying to take advantage of the descents. My average speed on the ride when I was fueled was 19.4, that was awesome considering I was averaging 155 bpm on my heart rate. I felt good-right before the bottom fell out. I landed on my door step, very tired from the ride and the wind as well as completely empty. I crushed water bottles until I got a brain freeze and tried to get back something with a recovery drink. Both helped a little.
My wife then announced that I was cooking dinner since she had done the mom taxi thing and given me over 4 1/2 hours of ride time for the weekend. I could have whined, but I didn't. Instead I decided to make a great dinner and suck it up. The family was happy with the dinner. I announced I was dropping into the couch and the kids could get the dishes. I slept like I was in a coma and I'm sore today, if not wiser.
Now for the family guilt. I felt bad leaving my son's second game on Saturday to go ride, so I probably let that into my head as I took off. My wife was perfectly ok with me riding after both games on Sunday because she had run earlier in the day, but I didn't want to have her stop her mom time to come rescue me. My son didn't mind me riding because he thinks my training and racing is "cool". He understands training time too since he's an awesome little soccer player. I wouldn't use the "little" in front of him since he's 12 and clearly not little.
My wife would have lovingly come scrape me off the road without anything other than a smile and a knowing look that her husband had let testosterone and ego do him in as well as his legendary lack of memory. Both love me regardless and I am lucky, but I think I still feel a bit of guilty along with some sore legs and shoulders. All of that will heal with time. It was a good weekend with family that love and support me sometimes in spite of myself.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Life and Weather are the Enemies of Training
I had two great rides last weekend and one great ride Monday. And the rest of the week? A little bit of trainer time to practice pedal strokes and heart rate management. That's it. Maybe 10-20 miles the rest of the week. Hugely disappointing.
The reasons on retrospect are clear. First, was the weather that was not just cold, but it was damn cold. This was the kind of cold that damages exposed skin or induces things to fall off. Well it does to those of us in the South. I'm a cold weather wimp. I'm ok admitting it. I'd rather ride hours in 105 degrees than 2 hours in 35 degrees.
The second reason was life schedules that collide and the early onset of darkness this time of year. January and February are my least favorite months because of weather and light, but they are also busy times for large families. I use Google Calendar to keep up with it all. I have 5 individual calendars: 1) my work calendar, 2) my wife's work calendar, 3) my three kid's calendar, 4) her two kids calendar, and finally the new calendar-my training and race calendar. We as parents have demanding schedules, but add in two elite soccer player schedules, a basketball player, a competitive cheerleader, and our youngest that is a girl scout and wants to do gymnastics and you have the swirling vortex of chaos. This means my wife and I are frequently horse trading time for her to work out and run and I can ride. I'll admit that I probably come out ahead on total time to train.
What's the lesson of the week? PLANNING. I need to plan my training time ahead of time based on the projected weather and adjust to inside if needed. I probably also need to try to train early in the morning some. I've not been good at getting that done. On the plus side, the weather in eastern North Carolina is supposed to be spectacular this weekend. However, my sons have games 4 soccer games and one basketball game. Looks like there will be more juggling.
The reasons on retrospect are clear. First, was the weather that was not just cold, but it was damn cold. This was the kind of cold that damages exposed skin or induces things to fall off. Well it does to those of us in the South. I'm a cold weather wimp. I'm ok admitting it. I'd rather ride hours in 105 degrees than 2 hours in 35 degrees.
The second reason was life schedules that collide and the early onset of darkness this time of year. January and February are my least favorite months because of weather and light, but they are also busy times for large families. I use Google Calendar to keep up with it all. I have 5 individual calendars: 1) my work calendar, 2) my wife's work calendar, 3) my three kid's calendar, 4) her two kids calendar, and finally the new calendar-my training and race calendar. We as parents have demanding schedules, but add in two elite soccer player schedules, a basketball player, a competitive cheerleader, and our youngest that is a girl scout and wants to do gymnastics and you have the swirling vortex of chaos. This means my wife and I are frequently horse trading time for her to work out and run and I can ride. I'll admit that I probably come out ahead on total time to train.
What's the lesson of the week? PLANNING. I need to plan my training time ahead of time based on the projected weather and adjust to inside if needed. I probably also need to try to train early in the morning some. I've not been good at getting that done. On the plus side, the weather in eastern North Carolina is supposed to be spectacular this weekend. However, my sons have games 4 soccer games and one basketball game. Looks like there will be more juggling.
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Frustrating Day, so Drop the Hammer
I'm usually a easy going guy. I mostly live up to Deborah's nickname for me: "Tigger". But today sucked. I'm not going to give you the whole drawn out swamp of a day though.
I slept badly getting 3-4 hours. We went to bed about 11:15-11:30, but I couldn't turn things off. Did I have something with caffeine late in the day? I couldn't remember and that was more frustrating. Most mornings, I have the parent taxi duty which is dropping 5 kids at 4 schools. Today I had just Marrah and Bobby, but that meant getting up at in time to get her to school at 7:00. I felt rough getting up, so I got a long hot shower when I got back, which made me feel a little better. Next I got ready for work and got Bobby to school, which was easy. Bobby's my Ace and usually easy to get going.
The work day was frustrating trying to focus and get things done. I'm in charge of the IT and phone systems of our office move, which can be just loads of fun. Meanwhile there were "distractions" raging over email with one of my daughters, Deborah and "the ex". All was settled eventually, but it did nothing for my mood. I made a decision about 2:00 I was going to get out on a ride if at all possible and I was going to ride like I stole something, which would probably help me sleep at the very least.
I got home said hellos and checked on the status of homework. Thing seemed to be humming along with Jess our nanny in control. I headed upstairs to get dressed and get out. I installed a Google weather bug widget today, which might not have been a good idea. I watched the temperature rise all day and peak at 62 degrees about 4:00. I filled one water bottle, snapped in my Garmin and left the earlier part of the day behind.
One more frustration slapped me. I started out and my heart rate monitor wouldn't work right. I fiddled with it for about 5 minutes, gave up and pushed off. After a mile and a half in it worked fine. I was just going to ride away from the house into eastern Wake county for half an hour and then turn it around. I've ridden in the big ring for most of the last week and I was determined to stay there today. True to my commitment, I took off at a very fast pace of more than 20 mph, which I doubted I could sustain.
The route was pretty hilly for this part of the county with some pretty sharp climbs of 6-10 percent grades. I tried to save something on descents to have something to left for the climbs. I felt really good on the climbs and seemed to carry a lot of my momentum forward. I checked my numbers at the 30 minute mark . I had a 19 mph pace with more climbing than descending. Both were a surprise. The route felt more downhill than not. I took a big pull off my water bottle and headed back. The sun was setting, so I needed to head back.
Along the way back, I kept checking the Garmin to see where I was. I dipped below 19 mph for a good amount of the ride back, which honestly pissed me off. I started calculating what time per mile I needed to get to get back to 19 mph or north of there. The turn came at 9.7 miles, so I was assuming about 19.5 miles for the ride, which was good since it wasn't quite that much. At the 16 mile mark give or take, I calculated that I needed 3 minute miles the rest of the way back to hit the 19 mph mark for the whole ride. That's 20 mph average pace over road that was up and down, which meant it would be a stretch. If I caught too many speed and momentum killing lights, I wouldn't make it.
I fought the bike the rest of the way back only catching one light. I could see I was redlining my heart rate (170-180 beats per minute) and my legs were starting to bitch at me. I could tell I was pulling the bike and fighting up the hills, because I could feel my arms starting to complain too.
I topped the hill, pushed the button to stop the Garmin's time. I slowed and stopped feeling my pulse all over my body. 19:12 miles at 1:00:17! Finally I accomplished some thing positive on the day. I could feel sweat dripping everywhere including into and down my ears. That felt odd. I was scortched and I went home to get a shower. I finally felt like I acomplished something on the day. I know that pace might not be a lot for riders in better shape or with more experience, but it was a big thing for me. I think I'll sleep well tonight, or I hope I will.
It looks like the rest of the work week was going to be a trainer week since snow and colder weather is rolling in. I hate winter.
I slept badly getting 3-4 hours. We went to bed about 11:15-11:30, but I couldn't turn things off. Did I have something with caffeine late in the day? I couldn't remember and that was more frustrating. Most mornings, I have the parent taxi duty which is dropping 5 kids at 4 schools. Today I had just Marrah and Bobby, but that meant getting up at in time to get her to school at 7:00. I felt rough getting up, so I got a long hot shower when I got back, which made me feel a little better. Next I got ready for work and got Bobby to school, which was easy. Bobby's my Ace and usually easy to get going.
The work day was frustrating trying to focus and get things done. I'm in charge of the IT and phone systems of our office move, which can be just loads of fun. Meanwhile there were "distractions" raging over email with one of my daughters, Deborah and "the ex". All was settled eventually, but it did nothing for my mood. I made a decision about 2:00 I was going to get out on a ride if at all possible and I was going to ride like I stole something, which would probably help me sleep at the very least.
I got home said hellos and checked on the status of homework. Thing seemed to be humming along with Jess our nanny in control. I headed upstairs to get dressed and get out. I installed a Google weather bug widget today, which might not have been a good idea. I watched the temperature rise all day and peak at 62 degrees about 4:00. I filled one water bottle, snapped in my Garmin and left the earlier part of the day behind.
One more frustration slapped me. I started out and my heart rate monitor wouldn't work right. I fiddled with it for about 5 minutes, gave up and pushed off. After a mile and a half in it worked fine. I was just going to ride away from the house into eastern Wake county for half an hour and then turn it around. I've ridden in the big ring for most of the last week and I was determined to stay there today. True to my commitment, I took off at a very fast pace of more than 20 mph, which I doubted I could sustain.
The route was pretty hilly for this part of the county with some pretty sharp climbs of 6-10 percent grades. I tried to save something on descents to have something to left for the climbs. I felt really good on the climbs and seemed to carry a lot of my momentum forward. I checked my numbers at the 30 minute mark . I had a 19 mph pace with more climbing than descending. Both were a surprise. The route felt more downhill than not. I took a big pull off my water bottle and headed back. The sun was setting, so I needed to head back.
Along the way back, I kept checking the Garmin to see where I was. I dipped below 19 mph for a good amount of the ride back, which honestly pissed me off. I started calculating what time per mile I needed to get to get back to 19 mph or north of there. The turn came at 9.7 miles, so I was assuming about 19.5 miles for the ride, which was good since it wasn't quite that much. At the 16 mile mark give or take, I calculated that I needed 3 minute miles the rest of the way back to hit the 19 mph mark for the whole ride. That's 20 mph average pace over road that was up and down, which meant it would be a stretch. If I caught too many speed and momentum killing lights, I wouldn't make it.
I fought the bike the rest of the way back only catching one light. I could see I was redlining my heart rate (170-180 beats per minute) and my legs were starting to bitch at me. I could tell I was pulling the bike and fighting up the hills, because I could feel my arms starting to complain too.
I topped the hill, pushed the button to stop the Garmin's time. I slowed and stopped feeling my pulse all over my body. 19:12 miles at 1:00:17! Finally I accomplished some thing positive on the day. I could feel sweat dripping everywhere including into and down my ears. That felt odd. I was scortched and I went home to get a shower. I finally felt like I acomplished something on the day. I know that pace might not be a lot for riders in better shape or with more experience, but it was a big thing for me. I think I'll sleep well tonight, or I hope I will.
It looks like the rest of the work week was going to be a trainer week since snow and colder weather is rolling in. I hate winter.
Orange County Group Ride
Well here I go blogging my training and riding. I'm sure this will evolve over time, but I'm just going to get started.
Yesterday the weather in Eastern North Carolina as unbelieveable for February. The ride started at 2:30 with a group of guys I haven't ridden with before, but they were guys that ride with my cycling buddy Don. I met Don at his house and we road about 4.5 miles to meet the group. I didn't know quite what to expect. I didn't even know what route we were riding since there was no cue sheet. Don told me we were going to ride 25 miles "or so". There was a lot of "or so" since we rolled 34.5 miles. I was an hour late getting back to the house for watching the Super Bowl with friends and my family.
The group took off at a very comfortable pace, and slid into the group about two bikes back on the inside. The first fairly large hill broke up the group and I took off with the front group. There was a lot of testosterone flowing with a couple of guys trying to control the pace. I basically sat back. Don took off on one of the hills so I decided to chase him down and it was fun passing him on the way up.
Things slowed down after everyone calmed down a bit. I felt good that I held my own in the group. I've had my butt handed to me on more than one group ride. Orange county has much steeper hills than Wake county where I live. On an average ride, I'll have about 1100 feet in elevation change. The ride yesterday was over 2000 feet. That's nothing for guys that ride in the western part of North Carolina out west, but more than I was used to.
The ride pace was 17 mph and I felt pretty good after the ride.I didn't eat my self into oblivion when I got back. Fairly decent meal, no wine or beer-well a couple of root beers (that's one of my indulgences that I'm sure a nutritionist would stop) and lots of water. My legs were feeling a little sore later in the evening.
Yesterday the weather in Eastern North Carolina as unbelieveable for February. The ride started at 2:30 with a group of guys I haven't ridden with before, but they were guys that ride with my cycling buddy Don. I met Don at his house and we road about 4.5 miles to meet the group. I didn't know quite what to expect. I didn't even know what route we were riding since there was no cue sheet. Don told me we were going to ride 25 miles "or so". There was a lot of "or so" since we rolled 34.5 miles. I was an hour late getting back to the house for watching the Super Bowl with friends and my family.
The group took off at a very comfortable pace, and slid into the group about two bikes back on the inside. The first fairly large hill broke up the group and I took off with the front group. There was a lot of testosterone flowing with a couple of guys trying to control the pace. I basically sat back. Don took off on one of the hills so I decided to chase him down and it was fun passing him on the way up.
Things slowed down after everyone calmed down a bit. I felt good that I held my own in the group. I've had my butt handed to me on more than one group ride. Orange county has much steeper hills than Wake county where I live. On an average ride, I'll have about 1100 feet in elevation change. The ride yesterday was over 2000 feet. That's nothing for guys that ride in the western part of North Carolina out west, but more than I was used to.
The ride pace was 17 mph and I felt pretty good after the ride.I didn't eat my self into oblivion when I got back. Fairly decent meal, no wine or beer-well a couple of root beers (that's one of my indulgences that I'm sure a nutritionist would stop) and lots of water. My legs were feeling a little sore later in the evening.
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