Had a 2 hour run last night that went weird - first half was fine; running between Z1/Z2. Hit the turn around and stepped on the gas a little to move it to Z2/3 for the return and felt ok - but at mile 10 I blew up (dizzy, sick). Took a walk break to get myself together and then took it back in slowly. This was a good test to review my fueling, which I still need to tweak in prep for the training session up at LP next weekend. It's also a reminder to customize my Garmin more: my pace on the return was good but my HR was way high by the end...need to set up the watch so I can find all that data easier!
I'm moving today's 5 hr bike to Sunday, so I'll focus on rest and hydration. It will be a day of helping my Mom move furniture and setting up a new computer for her; all that's gotta get done sometime!
Ugh - today is turning out to be an enforced rest day. Remnants of Tropical storm Anders have made their way northeast, filling the Four Corners region with moisture. NOAA reports that the air is wetter for this time of year then ever recorded. This weekend, here in Snowmass, Ragnar is holding a trail relay event. There are probably 800 runners/100 teams camped down on the soccer and softball fields, each running three routes up into the hills, mostly singletrack. Right now, it's raining fairly briskly. I can see the poor runners trudging up the hill just past my house. I hope they all brought multiple sets of warm, breatheable layers - the temp has not gotten above 53, and it was down in the 40s overnight. Luckily, the first day (yesterday) was merely overcast, still warm. Still, not the best weather for an endorphin junkie slumber party.
My plan for the day was the 2+ hour run, in my favorite spot about 2000' lower in elevation, 18 miles to the west. But I'm a wuss, won't run that long in the wet, so I've been delaying the start ever since 8 this morning; it's now 3 PM, and getting time to pull the plug. I'm trying to look on the positive side: my body can always benefit from some rest, especially in the first few days after getting back up to altitude. I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be a perfect day for a long run. Then the only question is what do do with the workouts I;d planned for Sunday? Mainly, a 3 hour ABP ride up into the mountains. Something will have to give somewhere down the line, as I start to butt into the new week's interval workouts. And my planned day off on Wed, when I will be driving my son to the airport in Denver, and then getting a bike fit at Retül headquarters in Boulder. 9 Hours of driving (even if my son drives there, I'm still in the car) leaves little time for any training, but with late sunsets, I might try a run on the way home to break up the drive.
A tough weekend of rides for me. The 4 hour Saturday ride was a triage from the start with my HR still elevated from being sick I guess. Got the workout done with shorter work intervals and a little longer rest periods in between. The last two hours was alternating a slightly lower intensity in as well.
Similarly today's bike was hard, with the HR slightly better. I got in 50' of .75-.8, definitely not as much as I would have liked. I know my legs were very tired at the end so pretty much all I could muster. I'm just happy to get in the 7 hours of riding this weekend after being sick.
G, strong work getting back on the saddle. Your HR was probably due to lost fitness, not lingering effects of illness. Pushing to, but not past, your limits today will probably pay dividends next week.
I finally got around to my long run today, 13.75 mi/2 hours. At altitude, that satisfied me - it was within 1 second/mile of the same distance, same course last fall, 3 weeks before an IM, so I'd say my fitness looking forward is at least stable. I'm gonna see if I can get a ride of 90-180' late this afternoon around my neighborhood hills, using the downs to aid recovery and the ups to JRA as best I can on the grades.
Today's 5 hr ride turned out reasonably well. I'm trying to refocus my approach from the "muscle up the hills and apply speed" to Z2 work that will enable me to run off the bike. My goal for today was to reduce the intensity, consistently stay aero, and check my nutrition. I got a new 12/30 cassette for Lake Placid and this was a good time to test it out. No problems and the small chain ring feels like granny gears on my MTB now. I may be able to put that to work at Placid (heavens knows I could have used that last year at Coeur d'Alene!!)
First lap (43miles) was inifinit and powergels with high caffeine. I take the powergels with nuun since they're formulated for water, not a sports drink. Felt good on first lap. Second lap I switched over to Gatorade endurance and powergels with less caffeine (still nunn) since that's what I expect on the course after I drain my infinit bottles. I had a Clif powerblok but never felt like eating it. I averaged ~325 cal/hour and took a S-cap per hour for salt. My Garmin results are still a mess: the IF reads WAY high (in the 0.9s..!!) but my average watts were pretty much were I thought they should be (was shooting for 168-170s for Z2 and ended up 180s). I have to figure out how to dial it back a little to conserve for the run!
Looking at the EN Strava board and a lot of you guys are putting in some serious work this week! Looking strong across the board!
Had a good 5 hour ride yesterday. The last hour was rough due to heat mostly. Long run completed today as well and, again, the heat index was 94 degrees when I finished.....I managed through that but still pretty tough.
Looking forward to meeting several of you at camp next week. I'll be following the EN Camp week schedule pretty closely starting tomorrow.
Checking in ... Looks like everybody is just getting it done!
Great Weekend Racing/Training.... 7.5 hrs of Intensity done as The Quassy Challenge, Saturday was a 2:21 OLY , Sunday was a 5:10 HIM..... yep lots of intensity... will do a double race/report soon.....
Comments
I'm moving today's 5 hr bike to Sunday, so I'll focus on rest and hydration. It will be a day of helping my Mom move furniture and setting up a new computer for her; all that's gotta get done sometime!
Ugh - today is turning out to be an enforced rest day. Remnants of Tropical storm Anders have made their way northeast, filling the Four Corners region with moisture. NOAA reports that the air is wetter for this time of year then ever recorded. This weekend, here in Snowmass, Ragnar is holding a trail relay event. There are probably 800 runners/100 teams camped down on the soccer and softball fields, each running three routes up into the hills, mostly singletrack. Right now, it's raining fairly briskly. I can see the poor runners trudging up the hill just past my house. I hope they all brought multiple sets of warm, breatheable layers - the temp has not gotten above 53, and it was down in the 40s overnight. Luckily, the first day (yesterday) was merely overcast, still warm. Still, not the best weather for an endorphin junkie slumber party.
My plan for the day was the 2+ hour run, in my favorite spot about 2000' lower in elevation, 18 miles to the west. But I'm a wuss, won't run that long in the wet, so I've been delaying the start ever since 8 this morning; it's now 3 PM, and getting time to pull the plug. I'm trying to look on the positive side: my body can always benefit from some rest, especially in the first few days after getting back up to altitude. I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be a perfect day for a long run. Then the only question is what do do with the workouts I;d planned for Sunday? Mainly, a 3 hour ABP ride up into the mountains. Something will have to give somewhere down the line, as I start to butt into the new week's interval workouts. And my planned day off on Wed, when I will be driving my son to the airport in Denver, and then getting a bike fit at Retül headquarters in Boulder. 9 Hours of driving (even if my son drives there, I'm still in the car) leaves little time for any training, but with late sunsets, I might try a run on the way home to break up the drive.
A tough weekend of rides for me. The 4 hour Saturday ride was a triage from the start with my HR still elevated from being sick I guess. Got the workout done with shorter work intervals and a little longer rest periods in between. The last two hours was alternating a slightly lower intensity in as well.
Similarly today's bike was hard, with the HR slightly better. I got in 50' of .75-.8, definitely not as much as I would have liked. I know my legs were very tired at the end so pretty much all I could muster. I'm just happy to get in the 7 hours of riding this weekend after being sick.
G, strong work getting back on the saddle. Your HR was probably due to lost fitness, not lingering effects of illness. Pushing to, but not past, your limits today will probably pay dividends next week.
I finally got around to my long run today, 13.75 mi/2 hours. At altitude, that satisfied me - it was within 1 second/mile of the same distance, same course last fall, 3 weeks before an IM, so I'd say my fitness looking forward is at least stable. I'm gonna see if I can get a ride of 90-180' late this afternoon around my neighborhood hills, using the downs to aid recovery and the ups to JRA as best I can on the grades.
First lap (43miles) was inifinit and powergels with high caffeine. I take the powergels with nuun since they're formulated for water, not a sports drink. Felt good on first lap. Second lap I switched over to Gatorade endurance and powergels with less caffeine (still nunn) since that's what I expect on the course after I drain my infinit bottles. I had a Clif powerblok but never felt like eating it. I averaged ~325 cal/hour and took a S-cap per hour for salt. My Garmin results are still a mess: the IF reads WAY high (in the 0.9s..!!) but my average watts were pretty much were I thought they should be (was shooting for 168-170s for Z2 and ended up 180s). I have to figure out how to dial it back a little to conserve for the run!
Looking at the EN Strava board and a lot of you guys are putting in some serious work this week! Looking strong across the board!
Had a good 5 hour ride yesterday. The last hour was rough due to heat mostly. Long run completed today as well and, again, the heat index was 94 degrees when I finished
.....I managed through that but still pretty tough. 
Looking forward to meeting several of you at camp next week. I'll be following the EN Camp week schedule pretty closely starting tomorrow.
SS
Great Weekend Racing/Training.... 7.5 hrs of Intensity done as The Quassy Challenge, Saturday was a 2:21 OLY , Sunday was a 5:10 HIM..... yep lots of intensity... will do a double race/report soon.....