Quality long ride

A free Saturday meant there was time for a nice morning swim before my long ride. For the first time in about a month I actually felt good in the pool. Lots of drills (about 2000 of the 3600 yds), but by the end of it I really felt like I had a strong stroke - even closing with 6x100 all out. Once baseball season ends I hope I can get out of the habit of "short" swim workouts (ie less than 4000yds). A good start to the day though.

A couple hours later I hit the roads with David, a gnarly triathlete who can (and did) crush me on the bike. The plan was to go 3-4 hours, take it easy on the ride out, hammer some hills, and then a couple short intervals on the way back. Well on the ride out I looked down at my watch/hr monitor to see that my heart rate was at 200! We were going up a decent hill, but that is not taking it easy... On the flatter sections I was still in the 170s. We were also making great time. I have no idea how far we went or how fast we were going because as I've mentioned before my little cycling computer is broken and David has never ridden with one. Well despite ripping out there, we still stuck to the plan and hammered the hills with a couple intervals on the way back. I was very interested to see what my average heart rate would be... Average for 3:40 was 160! That also includes a 10 min spin down at the end of the ride where I was completely fried and just getting back to my apartment. I got out for a quick 30 min run after (hr167). The short runs after my long rides go by like the blink of an eye.

I feel like I raced yesterday. I packed myself into my zoot recovery tights after I stretched, foam rolled, and showered. My legs still feel pretty beat up. Today's run will not be the focal point of the weekend. I just plan to get through about 12ish miles and have a nice long stretch afterward.

Let's hope this bike yesterday makes some serious improvements in my general ability. I've been thinking a lot lately about how hard IMLP's bike course is going to be. And how I tend NOT to stay within myself...something I can't afford to do there.

Anywho, off to spin the legs out a little before my run. Keep up the great work. And happy Mother's Day! I love you, Mom.