Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 70.7-mile ride. HR 145.

Good ride. Died a bit here and there, but felt mostly strong. Didn’t have a full proper meal, which would have helped. I think this is the first rides of any substance back to back. Beautiful day. Feeling very fortunate for the time and fitness I have.

PM: 12.3 miles, averaged 8:29. HR 144. Did some strides.

Legs were dead from yesterday’s long ride, but responded well. Most miles were lower 8s without pressing or much change in effort. It was lightly raining, which was quite pleasant. Felt great through 9-10 miles and then I had to hit the bathroom, which inevitably means very painful GI distress for much of the remainder of the day.

Sign up for two bike races two weeks from now. They are about 2.5 hours from home on back to back days, so I splurged and got a cheap hotel.

AM/Lunch: 10.2 miles, averaged 8:03. HR 157.

40' Tempo @ Marathon Effort

Around 80 degrees with dew point at 70 to start and 80+% humidty. Luckily it was overcast. Warmed up 4 miles. Felt pretty decent even after a longer run yesterday following the long Sunday ride. Pace was about what I would expect for current fitness and weather conditions. I started to work the last 1.5 miles or so when I was actually a good deal above marathon effort.

7:27, 7:17, 7:09, 7:11, 7:04, 7:01 (for .55 miles). Averaged 7:13

I got to just over 10 miles total and walked the rest of the way home as my stomach was going south again. I believe I have isolated the culprit. Cooled down .67 and walked 1.67.

PM: Off.

Late: AIS, PT, and pushups

PM: 10.3 miles, averaged 10:37. HR 127.

PM2: 4.2 miles with Megan, averaged 10:06. HR 127.

Dry and breezy. Feels like fall. Hoping this doesn't mean winter thinks it can arrive in October. One week of summer vacation left. Some people only get one week in an entire year. I am very fortunate.

I read a little bit this summer, but not as much as last. However, today I read one of the most fascinating articles on a guy who is a private detective specializing in stolen cars (very rare, extremely valuable ones): Esquire article

Lunch/PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 9:00. HR 142.

PM: 34.4-mile ride. HR 150.

Thursday Night Dirt. A bit windy, but a good ride. Set a handful of PRs for segments.

Lunch/PM: 11.4 miles.

16’ Tempo + 8 x 8” Hill Blasts

Warmed up 27’ with the scheduled 18’ tempo in mind. Felt decent and fairly strong but lost power on the very small hills. I ran out of prime tempo real estate at 16’ so I cut it short before the grinding, winding hill. Jogged 5’ then did the blasts, which felt snappy. Cooled down at an honest effort for 5.3 miles.

Averaged about 6:32. Faster than a couple weeks ago but I’m still very slow. Far off typical off season fitness I’ve had for the last 5 years or so.

AM: 4 miles, averaged 10:23. HR 130.

Noon: 8.3 miles on the bike for Cx practice. HR 161. I got some expert tips from one of our team riders on riding sandpits. I got a lot better in the span of 10 minutes.

PM: 7.2 miles, averaged 9:52. HR 131.

First few with Megan.