Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 3 hours 46'. HR 129.

I planned to drive to Stony Creek for some lake laps with a group and went back and worth about going in the morning as it was much colder than I thought. Planned to go out on my fat bike to ride my own pace and check out the dirt road conditions. Decided to go, then realized I wouldn't make the meet up and my bike rack was frozen, so I got the fat bike ready and road that. Ended up being a really fun run to Holly and back through Ortonville, etc. Most of the roads were in great shape. Very few potholes and the roads were firm (mostly) a few areas where there was runoff and some ice spots but I just slowed down as I wasn't in a hurry anyway. Ended up being dressed perfectly. 

HR stayed very low. Just under 15MPH on the big bike. No power reading as my power meter seems not to connect and really hasn't since before Iceman. Perhaps I did something during my crash the week dad died. 

AM: 7 miles, averaged 9:40. HR 124.

HR was suspiciously low, but my breathing rate was almost unnoticable.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 220W. HR 124. 

Lunch: 96' on the trainer, including a Zwift race.

50' @ 295 watts HR 161

Decided to do a race as it has been about two weeks. Was thinking the crit race series, which would have been around 32-34 minutes I think. This race was what I figured to be around 45' though I didn't realize there was that much elevation gain. I raced B and got dropped pretty hard in the first 10 minutes, but I worked my way up from about last place to 6 (out of 10). The hills just left me behind as everyone in front of me was definitely much lighter. I just kind of kept the effort up and put in a solid effort, trying to catch the 5th place person. I had to plug in my computer, so I jumped off the trainer and back on and that was probably pretty much the gap I needed to close. This was a personal best for 30 and 45 minutes. 

PM: 5 miles, averaged 10:16. HR 127.

Called to check the status of the treadmill. Still waiting on a truck and no idea if ours will be on it. I recieved a $100 credit without asking, which wasn't too bad. No upset, just trying to avoid having it arrive when we are in Florida and having the delivery pushed back even further. 

AM: 10.3 miles, averaged 8:11. HR 146.

2'-4'-6'-8'-10' w/ 2' recovery jogs

This workout went very well. First midweek workout outside this year, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go and I am not sure if this ordering is harder or easier than cutting down from 10' to 2'. Decent effort on the bike yesterday, so I wasn't sure how legs would respond but felt really quite strong. Warmed up about 26' w/ a few strides. Need to start doing a proper warmup and this was a bit better than as of late. I expected to start around 6:15-6:20 and then get slower throughout the reps. I slowed a bit, but mostly held steady, which was very encouraging. 

2' @ 6:18 (159BPM); 4' @ 6:30 (161 BPM); 6' @ 6:24 (164BPM); 8' @ 6:29 (165BPM); 10' @ 6:27 (166BPM)

I felt like maybe I was holding back slightly but I didn't want to fade through the longer reps. I also didn't want to go too hard and just tried to keep the paces the same. I will have time for really getting after it in the future. This felt comfortably hard. HR never really peaked much more than 173, so these were quite aerobic. My overall average HR for the workout was pretty low. Usually a workout such as this I averaged at least 152-157, so I know my HR is low and also recovering more quickly than it sometimes does.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 210W. HR 126.

AM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:42. HR 126.

Solid recovery. Pace really dropping. Got out earlier, which helped the rest of the day.

PM: 6.9 miles, averaged 9:24. HR 129.

Quite lovely out at around 55 or so degrees. 

AM: 7.6 miles, averaged 8:32. HR 140.

Felt great. Lower-8' pace for the second half and my HR was around 147, so things are really coming along. It was starting to get warm, as the forecast called for close to 60 by the end of the day.

+ ancillary dumbbell sessions w/ some squats and shoulder stuff. Left my glutes and hamstring sore for a few days!

PM: 60' on the trainer. 221W. HR 132. 

Should have gone outside to run again, but the wind was blowing and I'm getting older and lazier about my weather.

PM: 3 hours 23'. 203W. HR 133. 17.1 MPH.

Decided to do a bit more pavement than I typically do in case the dirt roads were muddy. The ones I went on were in phenomenal shape for February, but it was nice to clip along on some country tarmac and get in some new miles/roads/data. 23 new miles. Kept it steady, but sensible, just tried to keep steady pedal pressure and keep it easy without smashing it here and there.