Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 90' on the trainer. 239W. HR 158.

4 x 10' @ 95% w/ 4' Recoveries 

Megan took the boys to a library event. I should have been doing work, but I got this in. Needed it. Semester stress and anxiety slowly building. 

Did 294 watts for all of them in ERG mode with HR 169-174. 

PM: 4.4 miles, averaged 10:12. HR 139.

Kind of blah. Just not feeling the running once again. Need to get back to four runs a week and it will feel more like a habit. Just easier to ride some days when I don't get out earlier in the day and end up on the trainer at lunch or when the boys are napping.

Off.

Blah. Turned off my alarm once again. Another zero. Will try to avoid too many of these for the month of April as the rest doesn't do much good.

I took the boys for a walk in the back field and on the subdivision trails. It rained a bit, but at this point they need to be outside and moving as much as possible. The house is somehow too small already. We saw a snake, which the boys enjoyed.

PM: ~105' on the trainer. 

Zwift Race. Same as last week. Faster with similar power and HR. 56:18' @ 281W. HR 175.

Tried to push the pace of the chase group, which really did nothing. I just wanted to put up a given set of numbers and although workouts can sometimes work that way races really don't. Stayed with the group I was with this time into the sprint. Beat some people but others beat me. Should probably race in the C category but I am too heavy for the power I am putting out, but I am not sure how strict the disqualification system is.

A good effort, just frustrated where I am at with both running and cycling fitness and overall weight. Can't seem to get it to move. 

Semester work is picking up and I am to the point in the semester where I have no idea how I am going to get it all done.  

Lunch: 90' on the trainer. 125W. HR 106. 

Recovery ride while the boys napped. 

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - 3 hours 14'. 180W. HR 152.

Seem to be making it pretty consistently this year, which feels good. Trying to remember any particulars of the ride, but I am 2+ weeks behind on my entries.

Loop Data: 18.1 MPH, 204W. HR 159.

PM: 94' on the trainer.

Zwift Race. 54:36. 276W. HR 166. The race had some uphills, but some fast downhills allowing be to catch back up. 

PM: 7.6 miles, averaged 8:37. HR 155. 

Warm and windy. Kind of frustrated running. Just keep going back and forth wheather or not I want to run for training.

AM/Lunch: 4 hours 16'. 191W. HR 142. 

Good ride to Fenton and back. 16.4 MPH over mostly dirt roads with some pavement. A few new miles. 

I think the boys had a good Easter. Yesterday we did the subdivision egg hunt, which was a lot of fun.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 87W. HR 93.

I guess this was in the morning and not at lunch, but that seems wrong as I must have been teaching at that point.

Lunch: 6.9 miles, averaged 9:27. HR 153. 

PM: ~80' on the trainer.

Zwift Race. Same one I have been doing a good bit on Tuesdays. 59:15. 266W. HR 167. A little more conservative racing, but premature on the sprint. Opps. Legs were tired from running at lunch.

Lunch: 60' on the trainer. 165W. HR 123.

Mostly recovery with 2 Volcano Circuit hot laps. Probably could have done with all recovery.

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - 3 hour 56'. 174W. HR 156. 

Warm out. People are doing Barry Roubaix, so attendance was light. I ended up riding with A group, which was spicy but not completely on fire. Small group. 

Loop data: 19.4 MPH. 221W. HR 171.

Boys turned two and a half today.

PM: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:08. HR 160. 

Steady. Pretty warm. Tired. Ran out of energy. 

AM/Lunch: 3 hours. 165W. HR 134. 

Out the Polly Ann to Casey and then through Oxford and Metamora. Roads were very slow in places, super fast in others. The Polly Ann had some muddy spots on the Lapeer County section, otherwise good. A very good easy ride. No pushing. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 218W. HR 137.

Really started to notice an increase in fitness this week, particularly on this ride as the power was up and HR down.

Lunch: 90' on the trainer. 216W. HR 135.

The boys took a slightly longer nap, so I got in a bit more time than usual.

PM: ~80' on the trainer. 

Zwift Race. 58:58 @ 282W. HR 170.

Tried to ride off the front of a chase group. Got caught in the last stretch. It was another idiot approach, but it was kinda fun trying to not get caught. Solid effort. Roughly the same power output as some of the earlier April efforts, but lower HR. I would like to see this race closing in around 300W at a lower racing weight, even with a higher HR. I think I can push around 177 BPM for this setup.

Lunch: 60' on the trainer. 106W. HR 95.

Had more time as the boys were naping longer. Last night they didn't sleep super well as they were on their matresses for the first time on the floor because they started climbing out of their cribs. Need to assemble their toddler beds this weekend. Bought them a while ago. Just wasn't ready to have them in them until it was absolutely necessary. 

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - 4 hours 19'. 195W. HR 155.

Weather was nowhere near the forcast. Still not bad. Rode A group. Felt good as we got going, but I had felt a little sluggish on my warmup there. I dropped a bottle on Gunn and people called it out, so I felt like I needed to be polite and go back and get it (I didn't want to). Bridging the gap back to A group was not something I wanted to try. I chased them for 4.5 miles and caught them. I am not sure if they were slowing, but I definitely was pushing. I think I was solidly over 300 watts. I wish I had hit the lap button for the data. Kept a solid pace with the group. Took a bad line in some loose gravel on the Dequindre Hill and got dropped. The combination of bridging back to the group and taking some solid pulls left me gassed. 

Took an extended detour home. Needed about 4 hours, so I went down the Clinton River Trail and then down Squirrel to campus and went through there and back toward home. 

Loop data: 20.2 MPH, 255 watts, HR 172

AM: 6.2 miles, averaged 10:31. HR 136.

50 and rainy. Good run though even though I would rather have stayed dry and watched Netflix on the trainer.

AM: 90' on the trainer. 232W. HR 150. 

Progressive pedal pressure. Headed to Toledo as Megan is running the Glass City Half tomorrow. We had a good night and a good dinner.

Off.

The boys and I slept until 8:30. We missed the finish of Megan's race, but it was cold. She was a touch faster than last year and was pleased with her time. We had a small party for her Mom in the afternoon and then headed back to Lake Orion.

Lunch: 120' on the trainer. 209W. HR 134.

The boys took a long nap, so I kept pedaling. 

PM: 135' on the trainer. 231W. HR 148.

2 hours of pressure, around 234-240 watts average. 

Lunch: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:40. HR 145.

Some new roads. 

Lunch: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:45. HR 145.

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - 4 hours. 190W, HR 151.

Good ride. Very fast in A group and a few of us got dropped early and worked together. I started to drop a bottle at one point, but caught it by pinch it between my calf and the seat tube. Don't have data for the full loop as I turned around before the actual end of the loop but for 80' we were 20.1 MPH 242 watts @167 BPM

Took a slightly different route home than I have been. It was getting chilly. Had a good ride. I think this makes five in a row, perhaps my most consistent attendance since pre-COVID, but I will have to check.

AM: 5.9 miles, averaged 11:04. HR 132.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 113W. HR 100.

AM: 7.1 miles, averaged 9:09. HR 148.

50s and light rain, pretty much as yesterday. Four run days in a row. I haven't done that in a while I am pretty sure. Back on track with my running. Semester was over on Wednesday, so I just have a little work for Oakland and submit grades tomorrow. Lawrence Tech will be done next week some time. Feeling good.

Ended up submitting grades, which was definitely a PR.

PM: 180' on the trainer. 205W. HR 142.

A bit of an overly ambitious workout. 20'-15'-12'-10'-8'-4', which started at 95% and went to 105%. I haven't done anything over 10-12' this year so I was nervous, but the 20' felt pretty good. I don't think I have done anything over 15'. The 15' was tough the last few minutes, the 12' I was hanging on to dear life by the end, and I didn't want to do the 10' but I got through. HR overall was not too bad and never got into the 180s, but my breathing was up there, so I assume that is just fitness coming along. Skipped the rest as it was counterproductive. Kept it pretty much steady zone 2 from there. Got my time in.

20' @ 294W. HR 165

15' @ 294W. HR 167

12' @ 294W HR 168

10' 297W. HR 169