Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 14.5 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 157.

120' w/ 80' Steady

Conditions were ideal. Mid-70s dew point in the low 50s and humidity in the 40s. Did a mixed surface loop of safety paths, some sidewalks, dirt roads, the Polly Ann, Orion Oaks two track, and neighborhoods. Kept my HR between 155-170 BPM for the steady portion and averaged 163 BPM and 7:46 pace. I was pleased to see the pace has dropped. My warm up was right at 9' and I had a few 7:30s mixed in the 80' section, so fitness is improving. 

AM: 5.7 miles, averaged 11:23. HR 122.

Nice and slow. Kept HR low. Going to be a lighter week toward the end of the week as we are doing a crash course in potty training. So no Thursday night ride this week. Probably due for a lighter week anyway as I have been 13-16 hours the last four weeks between running and cycling. 

185 miles this month, which is promising for the rebuilding of the machine take [whatever number this is]. That represents a good portion of my yearly total, so I think going forward I should increase each month. 

Lunch: 6.9 miles, averaged 9:32. HR 140.

5 x 20" strides.

PM: 90' on the trainer. 231w. HR 149.

Did 90' progression III on Zwift. I was a little over my head as I haven't done much of anything for bike workouts the last 5-6 weeks or whatever it has been. Tapped out the last 5' @ 300 watts and 5' @ 315 watts. I also didn't want to compromise my running workout for tomorrow morning.

AM: 9.6 miles, averaged 9:20. HR 154. 

6 x 5' (3')

Workout was supposed to be 8 x 5' but I lost concentration and confidence on the seventh rep. It was pretty humid, but not too hot, but I was soaked by the second repeat and by the cool down my shoes were squishy. After looking at the paces after, it was slightly fast. Might need to break down and turn pace on to help now that I have some sessions under my belt. I ran with current HR rather than lap HR and that probably hurt a bit, but I don't have a lot of data for shorter intervals like this and anything shorter than 8-10' is kind of hard to work with as fitness levels dramatically change how much heart rate drifts. 

This is the first time I have ever used the programmed function on my Polar, which I bought in fall 2019 (took some mile splits and so forth then but that was it).

Rep 1: 6:58 @ 165 BPM; Rep 2: 7:01 @ 170 BPM; Rep 3: 7:02 @ 172 BPM; Rep 4: 7:04 @ 174 BPM; Rep 5: 7:05 @ 177 BPM; Rep 6: 7:09 @ 178 BPM

Rep 5 and 6 HR started to drift a good deal and max HR was around 182-183, which I can do, but just found it unsustainable today. Might have been a bit too much on the bike yesterday, so I will rethink that going forward. Got 9 hours of sleep last night and I think almost a two-hour nap after lunch. 

Lunch: 5.9 miles, averaged 11:06. HR 132. 

PM: 3 hours 54'. 169W. HR 143.

Thursday Night Dirt

We started potty training aggressively today, which actually went well. Megan told me to still do the ride, so I did. Got dropped at the first dirt corner on Gunn as I let a gap open and I cannot corner. Really need to work on skills. Just made for a tough ride as I tried to keep up the effort. Had a good time at RJ's after. 

Loop Data: 18.2 MPH, 211 Watts. HR 159. 

PM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:43. HR 135.

Felt a little sluggish at first, but then felt pretty decent and progressed from 10:30 to 8:30 pace. 

Potty training is going quite well. Pleasantly surprised.

AM: 90' on the trainer (Phoenix -3). 216W. HR 128.

Potty training day #3. Going quite well.