I am obsessed with numbers. I love to analyze stats and figure out how I’m progressing in my training. It should be no surprise that I have been fixated on doing long hours on the bike each week.
I finally had my longest week. Fifteen hours. Originally, I set a personal goal for 18. Then my coach scaled it back to 16. Then I realized I’d been reading his notes wrong and it was only going to be 14:30. Now, it’s ended up being 15.
So, I did 8 hours over the weekend. I’m so happy with that! That’s something to brag about a bit…
So, here’s the break down of the longest week:
Monday: Rest Day: an hour of Core and Yoga
Tuesday: Tabata Intervals, plus 1.5 hours of Zone 2 on the trainer
Wednesday: 2.5 hour easy paced Mt Bike ride
Thursday: 2.5 hours (1.5 hours of Zone 2, plus 1 hour of Zone 3 (really hard gear, low rpms)
Friday: 30 min of recovery spinning on the trainer, one hour of Core and Yoga
Saturday: 3:30 hour Road Ride (70 min in Zone 3, the rest in Zone 2)
Sunday: 4:30 hour Road Ride (Zone2, with big gear intervals, and power intervals)
That week marks the end of the long slow rides. This week is my rest week. There will be some easy spinning to keep the legs loose, a short set of Tabata intervals, a 2-hour easy paced mountain bike ride, and some core/yoga. Then the exciting stuff hits!
On Friday, I’m going to see Dr Michael Ross at the Velocity Sports gym to get a lactate threshold and VO2 Max test done. He’s going to give me a print out for my coach to use. Then on Saturday, I have a live ride scheduled with coach Mike. It’ll be the first time we’ll actually meet in person. We’ll spend a few hours on the rocky trails of the Lehigh, PA area. Finally, on Sunday, I’ll have my monthly time trial on the same course I used last time.
Then Mike will start decreasing the duration of my workouts, but increasing the intensity of them. This is where I get to start working on speed. It’ll become much more important for me to pay attention to my energy/fatigue. I’ll have to be sure I’m getting enough carbs and protein pre/mid/post ride.
I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see the improvements.
By the way, some exciting biking trips are being planned. There’ll be a girl’s weekend at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park. There’s also going to be a trip to Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest at Raystown Lake. I’m also beginning to pick my races for the 2012 season. I’ve been handing my boss vacation request forms left and right!
I’m loving life right now!
