Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 120' on the trainer. 231W. HR 135. 

4 x 15' Sweet Spot w/ 5' Recovery 

267 Watts (146 BPM), 277 Watts (151 BPM), 275 Watts (152 BPM), 283 Watts (152 BPM)

Got up at a decent hour as we were headed to a graduation party. Solid session. 

PM: 4 hours. 72.8 miles @ 18.2 MPH. 212W. HR 127. 

Pretty steady pedal pressure throughout. I decided not to run today. I tried to get up early and run before the boys got up, but I was just too tired. It was way too nice out not to ride and I didn't get a longer ride in this past week and I won't get one in this weekend with a half marathon on Sunday, so this worked out well. I had a really good ride other than dropping my chain three times and getting stung by a hornet. My energy was great throughout and never dropped. I could have pushed a bit harder without much trouble, but tried to stayed focused, relaxed and disciplined and not get too much above mid to high zone 2. 

Worked in the yard while the boys played in the backyard, the swamp, and the neighbor's backyard in the morning. Finally warming up a little bit. 

PM: 2 hours 26'. 45.4 miles @ 18.6 MPH. 223W. HR 136. 

3 x 15' Threshold

I tried to get up before the boys got up, but I was tired and decided to sleep. Worked in the yard a bit while they played in the woods. It was quite nicely actually. Did some mulching. Headed out just before 7 after Megan got home. I decided to do a straight 3 x 15' rather than the 3 x 15' criss cross diabolical given my recovery metrics and feeling, though I think I would have been fine. I ended up feeling very strong and felt stronger throughout the intervals and throughout the set, which has not been happening lately. 

292 Watts. HR 157; 296 Watts HR 161; 301 Watts HR 163. 

5' recovery easy, then progressing to high zone 2.

I think without the turns I would have held a bit higher power. Maybe 3-5 watts at least, maybe 8-10 per interval. Good cornering practice though. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 9:14. HR 124. 

It was cool and breezy but slightly humid. I felt very good. I realized I ran Saturday but not Sunday-Tuesday. I don't need too much this week with my first race of the season on Sunday. I will try to do a sharpening workout tomorrow or Friday just to stay sharp.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 145W. HR 95. 

AM: 9 miles, averaged 8:08. HR 141. 

Sharpening Workout: 3 x 5' @ Race Effort

Cooler morning, but somewhat humid. Legs were a little sluggish, but just ran by feel and picked it up the second half during which time I also did 3 x 5' around steady state to half marathon effort. Around 6:30-6:35 pace. Hopefully race pace is faster than that. 

Figured out the boys have school all next week, which is great as that gives me an additional week of vacation. Planning to do Thursday Night Dirt, but I will do B group to keep things easy for the race this weekend. I will taper off more significantly on Friday and Saturday. 

PM: 3 hours 6'. 54.3 miles @ 17.5 MPH. 191W. HR 127.

Thursday Night Dirt. B group. Good ride, mostly quite easy with some shorter efforts here and there. Roads were decent but had chloride in places, making them wet. 

Lunch: 6.3 miles, averaged 7:59. HR 145.

Warmer than it has been, which felt nice but made the effort slightly higher than it has been. Legs felt okay. They responded but weren't snappy. Apparently, there was an air quality warning, which makes sense as my breathing was elevated. 

That's it for today. Short run tomorrow. Running is getting in the way of my weekend riding :-) 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 209W. HR 123.

Decided to do a trainer ride as it would give me some aerobic activity but not stress the aerobic system or legs and I generally don't run on Saturdays lately.