Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 180' on the trainer. 217W. HR 146.

Good ride. Legs were a little sore from yesterday because I haven't run much, but they felt good on the trainer. Didn't want to press but also did want to doddle. This was a nice comfy, in between effort. 

The boys came down for a while and played on the trampoline and other various things they continue to scatter in the basement.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 175W. HR 121.

AM2: 7.6 miles, 9:15. HR 144.

PM: 3.7 miles, averaged 10:38. HR 131.

I don't think will be a typical pattern most days, but my schedule is great and I think stacking a bit earlier in the week is okay. Double run days Monday, Wednesday (depending on length of midweek session in the morning), Thurday, and Friday. 3-4 doubles a week most weeks will go a long way. I can't double 5-6 days a week like I used to but I don't need to and I am not sure I want to (okay, I would if I could). 

First day of the first full week of school. Boys were back in school. I set my alarm for 5:30 and got on the trainer before Megan and the boys got up, got them off to school and went for a run. Did some light work and got my grocery shopping done and took a power nap before class. Class went well and then I picked the boys up from school and started making dinner. We have been trying to do more dinners together, which means I need to get started much earlier than I am used to for the last 15-18 years. It is taking some regrogamming, but it is great. 

I'm not a morning person, but I do like gettting an hour of exercise in before anyone is up and sipping my coffee in the dark and quiet. I COULD be a morning person, but that will take some reprogramming. 

Lunch: ~78 minutes on the trainer w/ ~30' Zwift race.

30:51 @ 262 watts @ 165 BPM

Did the same race that I did toward the end of last semester. It times nicely for a warmup, race, and cool down with the boys nap. Tried to hang back but also not let the group get too far out. Felt that the effort was conservative, but unlike in a running race where you can just kick the tar out of someone with fitness, you cannot do that really in a cycling event, virtual or otherwise. Did some strategizing and made a mental note of a landmark on one of the laps that there was around 2' to go, so I figured I would start pressing there, knowing I descend a bit fast than some partially due to weight, partially due to overpedaling. I had the "feather" powerup and knew that on the uphills I tend to sag a little bit either due to weight or underpedaling. On the last lap I hit the power up just at the base of the hill and I shot up it quite well around third or maybe I was in the lead going up the hill. I then pressed and came out of the saddle trying to sprint several times. I could see the line and figured the whol group would pass me and one guy did at the last second. So I took second in a C race, which oddly felt pretty good because it was a decent sized race.

Not the same as in-person racing but it is fun and it is actually quite difficult and you get a good workout in. My first Zwift race was about two years ago, and I generally do them a bit more in winter. I think this year as my running continues to pick up I will do fewer bike interval sessions and more of these races, which are essentially unstructure intervals. I think when warmer weather picks up (yes, already thinking ahead), I'll probably do a trainer ride/Zwift race once a week, Thursday Night Dirt, and a long Sunday ride at whatever effort feels right after my long weekend run. 

I was hoping to push the running mileage up a bit this week, and it will go up but we have a storm Friday and I don't think anyone is going anywhere, so that is likely a 2-hour trainer ride.  

PM: 3.4 miles, averaged 10:43. HR 135.

40 degrees, dark, and raining. Not a bad run though. Got this in after Megan got home. Figured it will help get into the rhythm after a week or so off around the holidays.

AM: 60'+ on the trainer. 192W. HR 130.

Started a ride but I was having my car windshield replaced and got interrupted, so I reset and did my hour. Glad to have my windshield fixed. I waited to long. 

PM: 8.4 miles, averaged 8:53.

20' + 10'

Did this on the treadmill as I was worried about the footing. Ended up going quite well. I wasn't sure how it would go given that I haven't been on the treadmill since July. I thought 8.0 MPH might feel fast, but I warmed up about 25' to make sure. I started withthe first few minutes at 5.0 MPH and progressed down to about 8.0 or so to warm up. 

20' w/ 5' each @ 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.5 

5' jog 

10' w/ 2' each @ 8.5, 8.7, 9.0 and 4' @ 9.2

I was going to do one last speed change to 9.4 for the last two minutes, but I was riding the line but still feeling strong and wanted to focus on finishing at the same effort and not having to back down. 15' cool down @ 5.0.

This will give me something to work with. I will likely be doing my faster stuff on the treadmill for a while I think. Not interested in slipping and sliding at this point in my life or having to look for prime real estate. 

Weekender this week is 1:40 w/ 40' steady, so I think I will start @ 8.0 and try to work down just slightly over the 40 minutes.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 180W. HR 121.

Got up around 5:30 or so, fed the cats, and had my coffee. Got on the trainer about 6:15, hoping the boys would sleep in for at least 45-50 minutes. They mostly slept in, stirring a bit around 7:00 and decided I was just going to finish my hour unless they were really tuning up and would wake Megan. 

Lunch: 6.1 miles, averaged 10:40. HR 125.

Good recovery run. The township had plowed the safety paths, so they were mostly just wet, which was nice as I expected slush, water, and ice. 

AM: 60' on the trainer. 202W. HR 128.

Got up at a decent hour, but hit snooze a few times. I do love a wrist-based vibration alarm so it doesn't wake Megan. Still got on the trainer a bit after 6:30. The boys slept in until just before I finished. 

I thought the boys might have a snow day, but the snow held off, which was great as Megan is swamped and I needed to get some light work done. 

PM/Lunch: 7.3 miles, averaged 9:06. HR 144.

Glad to get my regular loop in one more time before the snow hits because next week the cold air comes in and I imagine the pathways will be a mess for a while. It was starting to get messy when I picked the boys up from school. 

AM: 3 hours 15ish on the trainer. 30' of up/down and Long Zwift Race

This was a longer Zwift race at 2 hours 45, much longer than I have done. Typically about an hour is about right. Pretty uneventful for most of it as you can't really push too hard too early. It was only 4 of us or so actually in the race in the piker division. I started to press a little the last hour as I felt the pace was too pedestrian (I was averaging high zone 2 and I can do that by myself on normal rides). I pushed pretty hard on the last time up Box Hill and we dropped on guy hard. The last mile the two guys put in some surges. I used a power up and should have hit the downhil harder as they only hard 2-3 seconds on me. I started to stand and sprint a bit in the last 1/3 of a mile but I didn't have much. Probably needed to be in the small ring. Got in a decent effort and it was a great way to get in a bit over three hours 

239 watts @ 154 BPM

We got about 7-8 inches of heavy wet snow so I switched my long ride day and my long run day. Will definitely be on the treadmill tomorrow. Everything is going to be a mess for a while with the arctic air coming in.