Heck of a ride today. I really let 'er rip at one point, and found the (so far) top speed of the bike. Don't worry, Mom. I was on a quiet, two-lane back country road that leads out to a closed-for-the-season ski resort, so nobody was on it. But I still hit 47mph. Truth be told, I was still putting power into the pedals so I could have gone faster, but the road was getting choppy and I was running out of downhill. (Of course, if any of Montana's finest law enforcement officers ever ask me about this, I will deny deny deny... and then go brag to everyone I know that I got a speeding ticket on a bicycle!)
I think today definitely qualifies as a good day of training. Not sure if I'm going to be able to walk tomorrow, but I'll burn that bridge when I get there. The day started rather poorly. I was exhausted, slept in late, and hurt to move. I was dragging around all morning like an old, tired dog. (Unlike Dixie, who is neither old nor EVER tired.) I was scheduled for a long bike ride, a swim workout, and some strength training. Finally, after a lazy breakfast, I managed to get moving around ten thirty. "What am I doing if I'm not doing workouts?" I reasoned. After all, that's really the only reason I'm here. So I crawled out on the bike, sucked it up, and got moving. I trickled east on Broadway, which turns into MT-200 and then (later) Fas-210. For kicks, and because I'm here to not just ride my bike but ride my bike uphill, I went ahead and climbed Marshall Mountain even though I still didn't have my legs under me. Something about the uphill woke up my legs, though, and as I reached the top I felt great! It led to the best and longest ride I've had in a LONG time. I descended Marshall (18 minutes up... 5 minutes back down... I love gravity!) and continued east for another hour, ending up in the town of Clinton, MT. Then I turned around and came back, even doing Marshall a second time. The second climb was much slower than the first, but I'd been on my bike for two and a half hours at that point, so I think the slow-down is reasonable. All told, I rode 47 miles in three and a quarter hours. Not half bad. The ride was absolutely beautiful, too. It meanders through a valley between two big ridge lines.
Took these pictures at the turnaround point:
And don't it just make ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you are sufficiently far away from your starting point that the distance makes it onto the highway mileage signs? (Or is that just me?...)
When I got back home, suffice it to say that I did not move for a long time. I made a large recovery drink to get some protein, carbs, and fluids back in me (did I mention that it is dry out here?), and sat in our rather cold hot tub (don't ask) for a few minutes to soak my poor, battered legs. Once my lower extremities were sufficiently numb, I climbed out of the water, grabbed some lunch, then passed out in the hammock for a while.
But wait, there's more! (Wow... I feel like that TV infomercial salesman...) I still managed to get in a decent swim workout and a little bit of strength training. Total for the day: just over four hours.
Frankly, this week feels a little ridiculous. This is quite possibly my biggest week of training ever, and it's only Thursday. (At least, I think it's Thursday... I have absolutely nothing in my life with which to gauge the day of week, except for the notes I'm putting in my training diary.) Eleven and a half hours so far, with another three solid training days to go this week.
This has been a great start to the summer training, but next week will be the one that keeps me honest. Being a bit of a numbers geek, I not only keep track of training hours but graph them as well. (Note, anyone not interested in the more complicated or numbers-based side of training, just skip the graph and the following paragraph. You can keep reading after that.)
As you can see, consistency has not been my strong suit. I could occasionally achieve what passes for a decent training week with school and work, i.e. 6-8 hrs/wk, but when I did reach those numbers, the next week or two would fall off and I would get minimal training done. (Week 11 was Spring Break and my bike crash, which meant I was in the doctor's hands during weeks 12 and 13). In endurance sports, as in so many other things, the way to get better is to make small but consistent gains over time. (Though apparently Wall Street forgot about this little maxim.) In hindsight, it would have been better for me to consistently put in four hours of training a week rather than trying to up the numbers to eight hours one week and then suffering the next two weeks. The consistency would have given me solid and measured development, while the zig-zag line you see above shows cycles of training and detraining. A body loses fitness (from lack of work) faster than it gains new fitness (from work). Consistency will allow me to build on and continue improving my previously-gained fitness. The recent inconsistency meant that most of the time I was not gaining new fitness from a big training week but rather trying to regain the same level of fitness lost in the previous weeks. (For lots of good, scientific info about training and its effects, check out Alan Couzen's blog.)
Sorry if I've lost you in all the geek-speak. The long and short of all this discussion of training hours and consistency is this: Next week will let me know whether during this week I've done too much, not enough, or just right. If I'm having lots of trouble getting workouts done next week, I'm low on energy and motivation, or my body just can't find a rhythm during workouts, then I'll know I did too much this week. Knowing that, I'll do slightly less training next week, then reevaluate. Likewise, if next week I'm feeling good and finding extra energy during workouts, then I'll know I'm ready to do a little more work. Finally, if I'm tired and sore but still capable of completing workouts at the same quality level that I have this week, then I'll know that I'm in a good training spot and will keep plugging away. Of course, this process isn't really isolated week-by-week. I'm constantly evaluating how I feel and how my body is responding, then adjusting the training plans based on that feedback. Basically, although there's a general plan that I'm aiming for, it all depends on how I actually feel. After all, I'm trying to see how close I can get to the razor's edge of peak fitness without going over. Won't it be fun to watch and see how well I do? That's easy for you to say... it's not your body that will suffer if I mess all this up!
OK, enough training mumbo jumbo for now. Time to get back to my books!
P.S. - Don't be afraid to ask questions about the training or workouts or anything else. This blog is being read by a mixed bag of fellow triathletes and non-technical family and friends, so I'm trying to find a middle ground of explanation. If anyone wants a little bit of simplification, or even more technical drivel, just let me know.
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