Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 1 hour 53'. 31.9 miles @ 16.9 MPH. 197W. HR 126.

Tried to get up early and run the last two days, but just wasn't feeling it. Maybe tomorrow morning as Megan is going to take the boys for a bit so I can get a few things done. 

Good ride. Needed to get out. Boys were challenging today, not terrible, just kind of a long day and they were getting into everything and not listening, which is typical. Felt better to get outside. I was planning to do a scheduled 60' recovery ride on the trainer, but I needed some air. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 215W. HR 131. 

6 x 3' @ Vo2 Max

I decided to do the workout on the trainer as I could hear thunder in the distance while I was at the park with the boys. I didn't want to get stuck in it. I ended up doing my originally planned workout even though the program suggested to cut back and do a 2-hour endurance ride, or something shorter. I decided I felt okay and got it done. The workout went fine, but I find this sort of work challenging even though it is only 3' @ a time. Kind of like really honest 5k work running. 

I averaged about 320 watts. One of the intervals was slightly low given that I kept misfiring the lap button. 

It's been a crap week for running as I just haven't had the motivation to get out of bed early. Cycling is going quite well though. I might have to scrap Beach to Beacon if I can't get in some workouts or just run it to run it, which I really don't want to do. I have't run since last Thursday. 

PM: 3 hours 4'. 57.6 miles @ 18.8 MPH. 216W. HR 147.

Thursday Night Dirt!

Planned on doing B group to keep things lighter, but it was just one group and of course it didn't take long for that to separate out. I felt good, so I just rolled with it. I did a fiar amount of pulling and felt quite strong. It was a really good ride. 

Loop Data: 29.6 miles in 1:24:25. 21 MPH. 241W. HR 158.

AM: 12.6 miles, averaged 9:30. HR 9:30.

2 hours recovery to easy aerobic. Although of course a 2-hour run, even as slow as you can go, is not recovery. Just felt good to zone out and lap one of my two-mile loops around the neighborhood across from the middle school. The run felt very good. I haven't run in a week, but I don't feel like I have missed a step. Cycling keeps me strong. I lost 7 pounds of water weight. It was just under 80 degrees and slightly breezy without too much humidity.

I half thought of starting a running streak, but I don't know if I will be able to sustain that. Just trying to find goals that aren't race or time specific. Need to figure out whether I want to get some workouts in before Beach to Beacon or just start ramping mileage back up and see what happens and look toward fall. Thinking about a flat 50k in mid-October but I am sure this will change a million times. I do enjoy marathon training and 50k training is essentially marathon training and it might make for a good practice build up to decide if I ever want to run a standalone marathon ever again. It has been a full decade and if I don't do it soon, I likely won't, which is fine. 

Lunch/PM: 5 hours. 87.5 miles @ 17.5. 191W. HR 137. 

Long ride. It was very hot, so I brought a lot of fluids and added some extra electrolytes to my carb mixes. I went through the 2L in my hydration pack in about two hours and my three 750ml bottles in about the next 2 hours. Stopped at a local gorcery store and filled up the three bottles with water. I took about 110 grams of carbs from gels and I think 500 grams from carb mixes. I probably should have taken my other two gels on schedule to stayed topped off, but with it being warm, syrupy stuff is hard to want to ingest. 

Felt generally good if somewhat tired here and there. Kept everything very much in the endurance zone as scheduled. 

AM: 60' on the trainer. 138W. HR 92. 

Recovery ride. Felt pretty good. I slept about 10 hours last night. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 222W. HR 136.

Race Sharpening Intervals: 3 x 10' Sweet Spot

Decent shorter workout. Legs felt okay. I pushed in the last third a little bit into threshold. 271W (153), 278W (157), 279W (157). 

PM: 2 hours 31'. 44.7 miles @ 17.7 MPH. 207W. HR 127.

Solid ride. Picked up a few new miles, I think headed north on Hurd. I didn't realize it turned to pavement. I believe it terminates at Sutton, which is much farther north than I realized. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 210W. HR 121. 

PM: 2 hours 40' 45.3 miles @ 17 MPH. 205W HR 131.

Back and forth on racing on Saturday as it is almost a three-hour drive and the weather looks dicey. I am not sure I am interesting in perpetual delays if there are thunderstorms. I rode a bit longer just in case I need to skip it. 

Stopped taking creatine yesterday, sort by accident and think I will phase it out. The weight gain to performance gain hasn't been worth it for me. If the performance gains are there I am not sure I am seeing it. I am sure they are, but not enough for me to deal with the added weight. I was back at a pretty ideal racing weight in mid-April and that is gone, so I need to figure out how to get back there. Speaking of weight, I guess I forgot to record it. 

AM: 1 hour. 17.3 miles @ 17.3 MPH. 200W. HR 136. 

Openers! 

I managed to find all the roads with calcium chloride. I tried to avoid it, but it seemed to be everywhere I turned. I did some 4 x 3' threshold efforts  285-302 watts. Felt pretty decent. It looks as though the weather will be all set to race tomorrow, which is good. 

AM: 3 hours total.

242 watts @ 166 BPM. 20.8 MPH. Pretty solid race overall. Rode with a chase pack that worked together fairly well at times, but the effort was a little uneven at other times. I probably could have been a bit farther up early in the race to try to stay a little closer to the front, though I wouldn't have been able to hold the pace for the entire race. Still trying to work on conserving energy but also riding hard, which is not really something you do in running. 

Weather was decent. Quite warm and humid with the sun at the start, then cloud cover, which helped a good deal, but we had decent winds most of the day. 

I think we were around 22 or just under through the first hour, which was about what I wanted. I figured given a small group that that pace wasn't likley to last, but I still wanted to push as much as possible. My numbers were pretty much in line with Cow Pie Classic for 95' in a 35-mile race, so I think that was good to see. I thought at Watermoo I would be able to push around 235-240 for 5.5 hours, but I am less sure now. Though I guess on my own I have done 235 or so in training for 4 hours, so I will just have to see when race day comes. I think that is about what it will take to ride 20+ MPH on that course. 

It was about a 2.5 hour drive to the race, but the drive wasn't too bad. Got to see some new towns and ride all new roads, which were in really good shape and fast, so that isn't a bad thing. Looking forward to my next race. Need to get some running in this next week, but I really just want to be riding bikes. Right now I am not at all looking forward to Beach to Beacon. I was earlier in the year, but now it just seems like a waste of time, when I could be doing final prep for Watermoo if I can get my bike with me to Maine.

PM: 3 hours 1'. 52.3 miles @ 17 MPH. 188W. HR 134. 

Good ride. Quite warm. Air quality warning and the day after a race, so I just kept it very much in the endurance zone and didn't let my HR creep too high.

AM: 4.2 miles, averaged 9:29. HR 124. 

Short run before a doctor's appointment. Megan took Charlie and Sawyer to the dentist, so I was able to get in a short run. Legs feel decent from Saturday. First run in about 9-10 days. Not ideal, but just much harder to get up early lately.

PM: 2 hours 42'. 42.3 miles @ 18.3 MPH. 217W. HR 143. 

3 x 20' Sweet Spot + 10' Threshold 

Quite hot, but it didn't feel too bad. As soon as I tried to put down power, my leg started to hurt and ache. I kind of forgot it was only Saturday that I raced and it was probably a bit early for a workout. This would not have worked well with a longer running race on Saturday and trying to do a midweek the next week. 

The program called for 2 hours at sweet spot, which sounded insane at this point, but figured if I kept it on the lower end of that zone I would see ho wlong I made it. I tried to extend my tempo loop a bit, but it just wasn't going to work. There was a downhill directly before a downhill and didn't allow consistent pedaling. 

I modified the workout to 3 x 20' w/ 5' recoveries. I didn't have much to start, but worked into it. Legs felt a bit better as I went along. I felt pretty decent on the efforts even if the power wasn't what I wanted. I decided to tack on some threshold just to see if I could push a little at the 2 hour mark. I did one 10' threshold interval and felt pretty good. I figured that was plenty. I probably need to do a 20' effort at the start of a long ride and 20' effort toward the end to see what I can hold and see what my dropoff is, but those rides are pretty daunting. Ended up being a solid session with warm temps and bad air quality. 

247 watts (151 BPM), 251 watts (154 BPM), 265 watts (158 BPM), 289 watts (HR 163)

PM: 90' on the trainer. 188W. HR 114.

Light endurance.

I went to donate plasma this morning, but my pulse was 37, and they wouldn't let me donate. I need to exercise before I go to make sure it is above 40. Kind of a wasted trip, but oh well. 

PM: 2 hours 27'. 43.7 miles @ 17.8 MPH. 223W. HR 134. 

90' Tempo: 239 watts @ 136 BPM

Air quality has improved significantly, and it felt cool outside. My HR stayed low, even on the tempo portion. Kind of felt like a warm fall day. 

The plan called for 60' up to 65-70' if feeling good, but I felt great, so I went to 90' and called it good there. 

Had an epic blowup with some cars. Just wasn't in the mood to deal with more than one jerk in a 2' period.

AM/PM: 4 hours 2'. 73.6 miles @ 18.2 MPH. 225W. HR 148. 

3-hour Tempo: 238 watts @ 150 BPM

The original plan was a gravel simulation of about 5 hours. Program triggered I lighter workout of 2-3 hours of endurance, but I wasn't interested in a short ride with the weather being perfect and a few weeks ago from a long gravel race, so I figured the best thing to do would be to try to do around 3 hours at target 5ish hour power, which is generally around the lighter end of tempo. I felt pretty strong throughout. I didn't take in many carb to start and I could feel it when I took them in. Managed to get by with two 1L bottles of high-carb mix and a 20 oz bottle of electrolytes and two high-carb gels. 

I was going to do a few shorter threshold intervals as I was near the tempo loop at the end, but I had just finished the 3-hour tempo mark and figured that was probably plenty. 

AM: 7.3 miles, averaged 9:35. HR 127. 

We went to Toledo to visit Megan's parents and her Uncle. We had a good time. 

Off.

I could have got something in, but just decided to take a day off. I napped in the car on the way home and fell asleep at home too. Can't tell if I am tired or just feeling down. I sometimes get the summertime blues around this time. I always feel guilty not bringing in money in the summer. 

PM: 2 hours 15'. 199W. HR 133. 

Failed 20' FTP Test

I was scheduled to do this tomorrow, but I didn't want to wait any longer. It went okay, until it didn't and then I just gave up. I thought I was pacing sensibly but my power dropped below last test threshold and I wasn't too pleased. I feel as though I have gotten fitter endurance-wise, but my threshold power has gone down, so I just finished out my ride not quite sure what to do. My running has gone to crap and I feel like my cycling is going to go in the same direction. Might just need to reevaluate my training. I feel as though there isn't enough threshold intensity or higher and I think that is a mistake. You would just do high aerobic stuff for running either. 

I probably could have done this one the trainer or a better stretch of road, but it was at least straight and mostly flat to slightly uphill. 

18' @ 291 @ 165 BPM

PM: 3 hours 11'. 56.5 miles @ 17.7 MPH. 211W. HR 140.

4 x 10' Threshold 

Decided to do a workout after bombing yesterday, which probably wasn't the best idea, but I had a good workout and picked up a few new miles. Tempo loop was in rough shape, so I just did them as I went along on the dirt roads, which worked fine.

289 watts (161 BPM), 292 watts (162 BPM), 291 watts (161 BPM), 294 watts (161 BPM)

A pretty solid workout, really. 

I am way behind on my blog entries. Looks like I missed most of the wee before we left for Maine and didn't add any entries from then, so I am now catching up on two weeks or so on August 6.

AM: 3.7 miles, averaged 9:29. HR 129. 

PM: 2 hours 27'. 40.7 miles @ 16.6 MPH. 182W. HR 121.

Lighter endurance ride. Did the Oakland County section of the Polly Ann and just a touch of the Lapeer County section. I don't think I have done the full Oakland County section this year. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 221W. HR 137. 

Antelope -3 on TrainerRoad: 5 x 10' Sweet Spot w/ 30" Recovery Valleys w/ 5' Recoveries 

Switched to TrainerRoad from FasCat. It seems to have higher intensity workouts as well as scheduling in a recovery week every fourth week. The other program seems to take account of a down week here and there, but nothing consistent. Of course, I could ask it to put those in. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 169W. HR 111.

Recovery/light endurance.

PM: 120' on the trainer. 217W. HR 143. 

Izaak Walton on TrainerRoad. 4 x 6' Under/Overs

On the more challenging side. I haven't seen my HR get in the upper-170s-180 indoors on the bike in some time.

AM: 2 hours. 35.1 miles @ 17.6 MPH. 205W. HR 134. 

Headed to Maine tomorrow, so I will take a day or two completely off. 

I have decided not to do Beach to Beacon, which sucks as I was excited for it, but only got in 3-4 runs this month and just don't feel like it is a good idea.

Off. 

We travelled part of the way to Maine. The boys were excellent (thankfully). We tried to stop at our usual spot in Utica, but no vacancy everywhere we looked. We kept driving a bit, but it still took us a while to find something. 

Off.

We got into Maine around 4 or 5 or maybe a bit earlier. Quite warm out. I was going to go for a short spin to the cemetery, but decided against it as family was coming over. Plan to head out for some exploring time tomorrow.

PM: 2 hours. 32.3 miles @ 16.1 MPH. 213W. HR 140. 

Definitely some elevation here. This is actually the second trip to Maine I have had a bike with me but first time I have actually ridden. I did find some dirt roads, which were in great shape, but nothing of any really length, but some good exploring. That same power in Michigan would likely be 17.3-17.8 MPH or even faster depending on the route. 

I was pleased to get this in. I want to get in some running with Megan, but I didn't want running to be my only option.

Lunch: 1 hour 36' 22.7 miles @ 14.1 MPH. 188W. HR 128.

Mox on Trainer Road (Vo2 Max session).

I did these on a dirt road hill, but it was way too steep and I was pushing power way over target, so I had to adjust and find a gentler uphill and eventually found my rhythm. Felt pretty good. Effort wasn't actually that hard but the recovery was very long.