An Unflattering Picture

First up is a summary of my past two weeks of training. Last week I logged 19 hours and 15 minutes, broken up as 6h35m swimming (34%), 7h30m cycling (39%), 3h40m running (19%) and 1h30m cross training (8%). The main thing I missed was a long ride. On Saturday, my first long ride attempt, I bailed because getting nailed in the face with hail at 30mph didn't make for a pleasant time. No problem, I figured, I'd just do a long ride Sunday. On Sunday, I rode outside for a bit over two hours then decided to finish the ride up on the trainer because I kept having to slow down due to snow on the bike path. Once on the trainer, I rode for about 10 minutes before realizing my trainer wheel had a flat tire. That was enough for me to bail on that ride, too. That won't happen again before Oceanside.

This week went well. About 21 hours (I say about because I'm off to the pool right after writing this for an easy swim) broke down as 6h swimming, 9h5m cycling, 3h25m running, and 2h30m cross training. Solid, I'd say.

Two workouts of note this week: First up, a treadmill run yesterday. I decided to do 5 x 1 mile intervals. For the first two I set the treadmill to 6:30/mile pace and to a 1% incline to more accurately mirror outdoor conditions. My HR averaged 155 bpm for each of those two miles. That's a good pace to HR ratio, but I've got to make sure it's repeatable.

Second, a long ride in Boulder today. Boulder sure is pretty:


The ride did not include much climbing due to snow/ice in the mountains, but I did make it over Old Stage Coach coming from Lee Hill. I think Old Stage Coach may be part of one of the races I'm doing this summer (Boulder Peak?). If so, I expect a record 5 minute wattage. That climb is brutal! I snapped a few pictures, but they don't do it justice.

Here's a shot of the climb from near the top:


Stacey making her way up (and riding a bit side to side to effectively decrease the road's gradient, at least that's my take judging by the angle of her bike relative to the road...I've been meaning to put a cassette with a 27 or 28 on her bike for these types of rides):


Finally, here I am:

A shave is in order, as is a Kleenex. I took this picture while riding down St. Vrain, and I was trying to get a shot of the mountains in the background with myself in the foreground. Turns out, I just got myself. In what must have been an attempt to prevent itself from ever again being subject to such a horrid image, the camera promptly ran out of batteries after I took this picture.

Four hours at 127 bpm. Good base work.