Of Mice and Marathons

Off.

We went to a baptism in Toledo. I took care of the boys, taking them outside after only about 5 minutes into the ceremony. I didn't feel like doing much when I got home. I took a quick nap in the car as did the boys.

PM/Evening: 2 hours 39' on the fat bike (42.6 miles @ 16MPH). 209W. HR 132.

Pretty good ride. Weather is a bit more comfortable and it is really nice to be able to ride 16 on mostly dirt roads at endurance effort. It is like running in really heavy trainers. My power meter pedals only needed new batteries.

Took my Crux to the shop as the headset bearings are locking up. Not sure if they just need lubricant or if it needs to be replaced. Chain actually has life left in it, which is good. I think the drive train has more life left on it as well. I broke down and bought a new saddle, which is one of the more expensive parts (other than wheel sets and the like). Took the boys with me. They were quite wild. 

Lunch/PM: 11.3 miles on the treadmill, averaged 7:57. HR 156.

10-Mile Progression 

10:10, 9:13, 8:34, 8:00, 7:46, 7:36, 7:26, 7:15, 7:05, 6:47, 6:36, 10:54

The 7' pace stuff was moderate HR to marathon and then aerobic threshold. Sub-7' pace was threshold. Last mile at 179 BPM, which felt hard but not out of control. Lately I haven't been able to hold much more than 170-175 without really breathing on either the bike or running. This felt as if I could have gone another mile, though it would have been tough. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 221W. HR 130.

Lunch/PM: 10 miles, averaged 10:03. HR 129.

Recovery for the most part, though too long to be true recovery, but I am getting impatient.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 223W. HR 126. 

Did this while the meatloaf cooked. Still watching Suits, which I cannot remember when I started. Watchable, but nothing special. Good trainer viewing. 

Looks like I will be riding my fat bike for Thursday Night Dirt tomorrow as I figured I would be. 

AM: off. 

Planned to run as the weather was very runner friendly but realized I had an advising session about 10 minutes before I needed to be on campus. Did squeak in just as students were shuffling in. 

PM: Thursday Night Dirt on the fat bike - 3 hours 20' (53.5 miles @ 16 MPH). 190W. HR 134. 

There was a bad accident on the loop, so we did the loop in reverse to give them time to clear things out. This made the loop much faster as the two significant hills were downhill rather than uphill. Weather was in the 70s and dry. Perfect riding weather. 

Loop Data: 27+ miles @ 16.9 MPH in 1:36:04. 193W. HR 135.

PM: 1 hour 27' on the fat bike @ Orion Oaks. 177W. HR 126.

Polly Ann to Orion Oaks. One warmup lap and then a hit lap, which was decently fast and felt good enough for another lap, but flatted. I got a stick puncture, which must have been what was hitting my frame. I should have checked it sooner as it beat the frame a little bit. Managed to remain calm and got a plug in the tire and hit it with two co2s and slowly finished the lap at an easy pace and headed home. It is amazing how such basic technologies as so effective. Such a puncture would kill a race but at least you can continue riding or get home if you need to. 

We took the boys to the zoo earlier in the day. We had a good time.

AM/Lunch: 15 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:16. HR 148.

8 Miles Steady

Warmed up progressively for 5 miles, then ran 8.0-8.3. Goal was not to press but keep the effort and HR in the moderate to slightly uptempo range, maybe touching marathon effort, but not going to deep that marathon effort became aerobic threshold. On the treadmill with dry cool air there isn't much cardiac drift, but I still progressed quite slowly just to keep the effort dialed. HR averaged ~161. Average pace was around 7:22/23. Cooled down 2 miles. Definely the longest run in the basement. I could have kept going but this is a solid starting point. I have bumped up around two hours the last two years and run I think as much as 2 hours 20' since I have moved back to more focused running. I will try to keep my long runs up this way through the summer so as to continue building them in the fall.