Three day update

Wednesday - 1:15 run, caveman style. I wore my Garmin, but didn't look at my HR or speed at all. Maybe next time I upload I'll check it out, but I went at a slightly faster than moderate pace - never pushing it (well, other than one time to make a light) but not going easy.

I also did 1:00 on the bike at an easy pace. I inadvertently exceeded the 120 bpm HR cap a few times, but didn't go over 130 bpm and spent 95% of the ride if not more below 120 bpm. Now, the only bad part of the ride was the programming I was watching. I DVRed the ToC and was watching stage 3. (SPOILER ALTER) A breakaway was away for a good portion of the day, but they were caught a few km's from the finish. However, about a km from the line a Rabobank rider took off. Phil Ligget (spelling?) is announcing that the Rabobank rider is 700m from the line with a 30m or so lead. The pack is likely gaining. This is going to be a good finish, I'm thinking. And then, out of no where, my recording ends! Damn you DVR, damn you! Guess I gotta check out cyclingnews.com.

Anyhow, a pretty easy day and I felt good - plenty of spring in the legs.

Tuesday - 3700m swimming with the main sets including 10 x 50 in 40 sec. on 50 sec. and 20 x 125m pulling (paddles + buoy + band). The sprints were tough - I think I only hit 40 sec. the first two, then was over by a second for a few, then over by two seconds. The pulls weren't as hard as Monday's pulls since the effort level was lower. I was able to maintain a pretty constant pace throughout. I also think I might be getting stronger, as my back/shoulders did not get as tired as I would have expected.

Next up was 1:30 riding with three 1 minute sprints. I sat at 130 bpm for most of the ride (though the sprints get my HR so high that I averaged 133 bpm) and had no problem maintaining that effort. The one minute sprints are tough - my legs burn after 30 secs or so, and I do not push a big gear. Guess that's what happens when one rides with a HR below 150 for two years.

Monday - Ugh, I developed a wicked headache around the time I left work. I'm not sure what the cause was, but I guess dehydration could be a possibility. I will try to drink even more on the weekends when not working out to see if that helps. I had had a few headaches, often on Monday, prior to this one, but never as bad. Still, I thought it the cause might have been caffiene related, so two weeks ago I drastically cut my coffee consumption - I'm down to to a few cups a week (and only because I love the taste - not for the pick-me-up).

Anyhow, the workouts were a nice distraction. The swim included 16 x 125 pulling without paddles but at a high effort level (95%). My pace dropped by 10 sec. between the first and third or fourth effort, then held pretty steady.

Finally, the picture at the top is of Battle Creek native, and next door neighbor to my brother's best friend growing up, Chris Baldwin in stage 2 of the ToC, courtesy of velodramatic.com (where you can see how one can spend $40,000 on cycling stuff in a single year).