It was another banner week! I capped it off with a 3-hour ride today. Same directions, same wind, only stronger, and as a bonus, I got to play storm-chaser on the way home. When I woke up, it was rather cool (about 50F) and it had rained overnight. The forecast called for sporadic rain throughout the day and cool temperatures. Well, since I "only" had to ride 3 hours today, I procrastinated, and luxuriated with the Sunday paper and coffee and organizing my day and next week and such. As I procrastinated, the weather improved, and I decided, what the hell, I'm riding outdoors. ALWAYS a better option than the trainer.
Today I wore a regular short-sleeved jersey and regular length tri shorts. I got a decent sunburn yesterday and didn't need a repeat performance! As I headed out west, I could feel the wind pushing me there, only today I wasn't so happy about the prospect of >20 miles back in headwinds. Oh well, this is about work now, so I needed to get to work.
I shot a can of Ultra Violence before I started, which helped to clear the cobwebs from yesterday's big day. That really helped! And I loaded up some more Ultra Violence onto the bike, because I thought it might come in handy today. Big week, big workout yesterday, everything is pretty huge in training right about now!
The ride felt hard today, and I don't think I was able to push as much as I wanted to, yet I was pushing most of the time, because I was battling seemingly swirling winds. Although the weather had cleared somewhat, there were clouds gathering (lack of sun was not something I missed today!), and I needed to be on the lookout for potential storms.
Long story short, when I was about :45 from home or so, the sky looked really dark to the south and east where I was heading. I guess this was all the impetus I needed to push harder to make it home before getting soaked! All I could think was BEAT THE STORM, BEAT THE STORM. And I didn't want any stinking cars getting in my way. So I pushed, riding through the groovement zone again (arghhhhhhh), and about 3 miles from home I felt the first raindrops. No lightning or thunder, though, so I was good to go. I just kept pressing and pressing. I knew that at any minute the sky could open up and I could be in for some serious weather. I started to feel bigger raindrops. GO FASTER, DAMMIT! Luckily, it being Easter Sunday and all, there wasn't much traffic those last few miles. And I reached my house, exactly 3:00.38 after I started, and the sky opened up! Although my actual riding time was more like 2:50-something, I'm calling it 3 hours on the nose. That was enough for today!
After the typical admin time at home to suck down Endurox R4, eat a quick lunch, and lay in bed for about an hour (to the accompaniment of heavy rain and thunder, you can't beat that), I motivated again since this was my day to catch up on things. Laundry, dishes, cooking, a little cleaning, fixing bottles, washing bottles. At this point in training, there is precious little time on the weekends, so in a way, I was glad to have drunk the Ultra Violence and not actually napped as I still had some energy to get these things done.
And now for the happy totals. I'm on some kind of roll, as I should be, given how close Ironman Bra-zeel is:
Weekly Totals 04/10/2006-04/16/2006
Swim: 8,800 yards in 3.13 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1,096 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 158.96 miles in 9.08 hours; 52% of weekly workout time; approx. 3,789 calories burned
Run: Approx. 25.41 miles in 3.9 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 2,075 calories burned
Strength: 1.47 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 368 calories burned
All Sports: 17.58 hours; approx. 7,328 calories burned
Sleep: 9 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.9 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-04/16/2006
Swim: 256,850 yards in 90.93 hours
Bike: Approx. 2,402.82 miles in 138.32 hours
Run: Approx. 898.43 miles in 141.47 hours
Strength: 47.47 hours
All Sports: 418.19 hours; approx. 186,334 calories burned
Stretching: 45.11 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-04/16/2006
Swim: 8,285 yards in 2.93 hours
Bike: Approx. 77.51 miles in 4.46 hours
Run: Approx. 28.98 miles in 4.56 hours
Strength: 1.53 hours
All Sports: 13.49 hours
Sleep: 8.46 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.15 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Achieved highest ever amount of stretching!
- Persevered despite a "crash" day on Friday
- Reestablished my usual healthy eating after a junk festival on Friday
- Kept my piriformis in good stead, even though it bugged me for a few days this week
Goals for Next Week:
- Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
- Get in at least 2 hours of stretching for the week.
- Keep up the mental focus. Next week is harder than this week!
- Reestablish my power readings, after a week without the SRM and good power readings.
- Stay on top of my nutrition
- Keep my head in the game during every key workout
1 comment:
your rolling. i can't wait to see how you do at Brazil...it sure as hell looks like you are doing everything right. are you racing before IM Brazil? I would have to let loose before the big day. I am afraid I would come in with way too much pent up 'stuff' if that was my first race in xx months.
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