Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 3 hours 45' ride. 196W. HR 133. 17.4 MPH.

Last night I decided I wanted to ride in the morning and maybe run in the afternoon time permitting. I got out later than I planned and back a little later than I planned, so I decided to skip the run as Megan was with the boys all day. It was beautiful out and I had a good ride. Picked up a few new miles. Roads were in decent shape. I tried to take in nutrition at a sensible rate as I had only eaten a banana before leaving. 3 bottles was plenty today. Got a little warm at the end (into the mid 70s I think), but it was quite comfortable. A very nice start to summer. 

Looking forward to my first Thursday Night Dirt of the season tomorrow night. Last year I did 5 or 6 before the semester ended. Didn't work that way this year. Not sure how many official rides there have been but they have definitely been taking place.

AM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:47. HR 126. 

Good recovery run. Even at 9:25-9:30 pace my HR was still only at 130 BPM. Weather was beautiful. Looking forward to the group ride tonight. 

100 Pushup Challenge Week 1 Day 3 (I guess I did Day 2 Twice): 11, 15, 9, 9, 13; 30 Day Plank Challenge Day 1: 3 x 45" Front Plank

Threw the plank challenge into the mix as well. I think doing planks every day is probably not a good idea when you haven't done much core for a while, so I will see how it goes an space appropriately.

PM: 3 hours 8' (55.5 miles). 193W. HR 141. 17.7 MPH.

Thursday Night Dirt!

Good ride for the first one of the season. I got dropped going through the Proving Grounds as a gap opened up, but another guy and I worked together and kept the effort going. We didn't really slow down, but the others really hammered. 

Loop Data: 20.8 MPH 252W HR 162

It's been I think since pre-COVID that I have been that fast on the loop, which has changed slightly since then but the climbs all remain the same. I think one of the rides last year I did something in the low 20 MPH range. 

It was nice to see everyone. It's been a while. I skipped the bar as Megan had a party to go to, which worked just fine for me as I kept rolling once I left the group. I was pretty hungry when I got home. Weather was warm, but not humid and I didn't take in a ton of fluid. Looking forward to these this summer. I wasn't sure if I would make it weekly, but it looks like I might be able to. Since I will be riding only 2-3 times per week it makes sense to do this and to probably do A group to practice faster riding in groups and bring my fitness level up a bit.

AM: 7 miles, averaged 9:47. HR 126.

Good recovery run. After last night's harder bike effort it made sense to treat the run as if I did a run workout. It was raining anyway and felt good to plod. Recovery pace continues to be down even though it was in the low 60s.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 9:51. HR 123.

Another good recovery run. HR stayed very low. Looked like thunderstorms but they stayed north. 

AM: 70' on the trainer. 225W. HR 132.

Got up early to get something in. I was going to run on the treadmill, but find it hard to focus on running while the boys are stirring in the morning, so the trainer it was. I ended up doing a hard effort for 30'. I thought that I was doing a course for the second time, but it sent me on a different route, so I didn't get the full data, but it was 30' @ 289 watts, but I don't have the HR data. It only peaked at 167, however, with a good deal of it only in the 150 range. Cooled down to 70', so about 14'. 

PM: 11 miles, avweraged 8:12. HR 146.

30' Steady

Decided to just get the weekend long run/weekender in. Slightly humid, a bit warm, but overcast with a few very light sprinkles. Pleased with how this went off not much sleep and a slightly hard morning bike session. 30 up/30 down

Averaged 6:46 @ 166 BPM

Finished the last mile in 6:34. Felt quite strong. I think things will start to turn back around now. I expected to struggle with the warmer more humid weather, but it went well. Hopefully I don't get blasted this summer when the conditions are much worse, but I will likely just be on the treadmill.

AM: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:22. HR 120. 

Good recovery on the Polly Ann for the first part of it. I ran most of it with my HR averaging in the 1teens, which was good to see even if the pace was quite slow. I actually find 10' pace to be perfect for recovery. Legs were tired from the double bike/run session yesterday but I just let them do their thing, which is really all a recovery run should be. 

Week 2 Day 1 of the 100 Pushup Challenge: 14, 14, 10, 10, 16

PM: 6.1 miles, averaged 9:48. HR 123.

AM/PM: 5 hours 47' (100.1 miles). 213W. HR 141. 17.3 MPH

Spring R&R 57-Mile Course Recon + Warm Up and Cool Down

I realized there was a gravel race next weekend that is about 20 miles or so north of us and it begins on the Lapeer County section of the Polly Ann about 20 miles out, so I figure why not ride to the course, do the route at a steady effort, and then ride home for about 100 miles as I have been trying to get a hundred miler in for my spring into summer mode. This worked quite well. 

I bought a new hydation pack as my old one just didn't function as I wanted it too. This one worked out much better. Less bulky and more comfortable. Kept the effort pretty steady at 18.1 and 238 watts with a heart rate of only 147, which was quite good. The course is 99% dirt roads and most are in great shape. The Polly Ann should make for a very interesting start and finish.

Toyed with the idea of maybe doing the 35-mile race, but we shall see. They also had a run/ride combo, which was kind of cool, but I am not sure I want to do that though probably should just to wing it. 

I had two 18-20 oz bottles of electrolytes and about 70 oz of water in my hydration pack. I think I took 4 packages of Cliff Bloks. My energy was generally very good throughout and felt like I could have gone longer but my butt hurt and I was a little tired, but I definitely had fuel to burn. 

This felt overly indulgent for a Monday, but the boys were in school and I got back in plenty of time to pick them up. 

AM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:43. HR 124. 

Got in a recovery run as the boys went to their friend's for 2 hours. If they go, they usually go on Wednesdays, so this was a nice way to get in an outdoor run in the morning on a Tuesday, which I haven't done in many months. Legs were tired, but not sore

PM: 7 miles, averaged 9:18. HR 129.

Legs were moving along a bit better than in the morning. Felt good, especially as recovery pace is creeping through the 9's. 

The boys were pretty good most of the day, but just before dinner they went off. Just very challenging lately not listening, throwing stuff, including toys and food, slamming doors, etc. Very stressful.