Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 8 miles, averaged 10:10. HR 123.

Quick trip to Toledo to see Megan's parents and for a birthday party.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 142.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 8:59. HR 131.

About 80 degrees out. I missed most of it during the second run though.

PM: ~1:40 on the trainer. 

Zwift Race - Oktoberfest Handful of Gravel (5 Laps)

Decided to do a Zwift race as a kind of last harder effort before Iceman. I did not run at lunch as I ended up napping while the boys napped. Passed out for 90'. It was needed and glorious. 

Race went okay. I have done this race in the past (February 6 or 7?), though it was 4 laps. I think that race was around 50' and 292 watts. I knew this race would be approximately 60' and I wanted to try to hold 300 watts for the full hour. Didn't quite get there and could have maybe pressed a bit but it is racing and a group of teammates were working together, so they were able to draft any time I pulled ahead, so I backed off just a touch here and there. 288 watts @ 165 BPM. I am also down 8-10 lbs from February, so my watts/kilo was slightly better even with the power being a few watts lower (could be explained by racing tactics, fatigue, etc). Finished gasping for air even though my breathing wasn't that heavy. It was like all of a sudden the air was thin and the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. I had a decent coughing fit, but recovered. 

25' up/15' down

AM: 8.1 miles, averaged 8:01. HR 146.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 8:10. HR 144.

Broke in a new pair of flats/lightweight trainers. I have been looking for a more traditional racing flat that works for me. I like my super shoes okay for longer stuff, but for shorter races I am not sure. I haven't done a lot of faster end stuff in the super shoes. These are Active 88s from Danny Abshire who was one of the co-founders of Newton running. I haven't really run in Newtons for a while since the quality went down hill, but these remind me of my first pair of Newton MV2 but they are a touch firmer and hoping they will break in a little bit. Weight is solid on them, but my foot wasn't happy but I was excited to try them. I had just enough time to squeeze in 4 miles before picking up the boys. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 240W. HR 143.

4 x 8'

10ish-day-out Workout. I probably could have done something a bit more difficult and involved, but I think this worked out okay. 90% of FTP was around 289, but I knew I wanted to hit around 310-320 or 95-100% of FTP. Managed that without too crazy and effort.

Ended up getting in 90' when I thought I was only going to get an hour. The boys watched Scooby-Doo while I extended my cool down. 

312 watts @ 156 BPM; 317 watts @ 158 BPM; 315 watts @ 162 BPM; 316 watts @ 164 BPM

Lunch: 10 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 146. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 219W. HR 125.

PM: 4 hours 6'. 71.5 miles @ 17.4 MPH. 215W. HR 137.

Solid ride despite some jerk at the Baldwin circle who squeezed me out and I raised my hands in a WTF gesture. He then proceeded to follow me. You've never seen road rage like you see in Michigan. Car culture is all that matters and it really shows up when you are a cyclist. I could just have easily spit tagged his car or put out a taillight with my bike pump. Decided to ignore him and keep riding, but he slow rolled behind me for a while. Took me a long time to settle down. Usually I stew for a few minutes and carry on, but this sent me for 90' or so. Decent power. I was around 220 or so until I hit Orion Oaks and the power dropped. I thought my speed would be closer to 18+ with slightly higher power than normal, but I think the wind did it. I didn't feel as good energy wise as last week, but I took in a good deal of calories. I think for rides of 4+ hours I will mix my bottles at race strength. 

We took the boys to Canterbury Village for the Halloween event. It is always a highlight of the fall for us.