Friday November 23, 2006 (day after Thanksgiving)

I was tired last night so I crawled into bed at 8:30pm (yes that is right). Slept till 9:00am this morning. For sleeping a solid 12 hours I still felt a bit tired...maybe it was too much sleep. So as I was laying in bed trying to convince the dog to go make me some coffee (he wasn't stirring), I decided that if it was raining I'd ride around Lake Sammamish (29 miles when ridden from home) and if it wasn't raining I'd ride 50 miles. So I crawled out from under the covers and made my way to the bathroom where I looked up at the skylight and saw no rain....so it was a 50 miler type of day.

After some peanut butter and jelly toast washed down with 2 cups of coffee I drove to Marymoore. I decided the 50 miles wouldn't include any major hills. Last week 17 miles from my car my quads began to complain and they were screaming by 7 miles from my car. So this week I wanted to make sure I didn't over do it. I left Marymoore with a tail wind and began hoping that it didn't rain before I got to Seattle. I figured I could handle 25 miles of rain (the whole ride was dry). I was a bit cold when I started my ride (it was 44 degrees). Once I warmed up a bit, I began enjoying the ride. I made good time till I entered North Seattle, my speed dropped considerably as I began the gradual climb into the U district and the winds picked up a bit. I made it to Gasworks still feeling good with a time of 1:55. Stopped long enough for a bathroom break and started back towards Redmond. I got nice speed on the trip back until I hit 40 miles (Bothell). The head winds began to pick up and at mile 43 my legs began to burn. I decided that I wasn't limping back to the car...I wanted to finish strong. So I didn't let my heartrate drop below 80% and it was up around 85% quite a bit. The last 4 miles seemed pretty long but I finished well and didn't coast till I could see my car. I was trying for a negative split but it didn't happen. One thing I worked on today was trying to get my cadence up to 90 rpm on the downhills and some on the flats.

Total distance 50.4 miles. Ave mph 13.2. Max speed 24 mph. Cadence 78rpm. ride time 3:55 (includes stop lights). Ave Heart Rate (as % of max) 80% (this includes stops at lights and my break at Gasworks).

Over all, I'm very happy with my ride and most of all I had a great time. I enjoyed the ride!

Friday November 24, 2006 (day after Thanksgiving)

I was tired last night so I crawled into bed at 8:30pm (yes that is right). Slept till 9:00am this morning. For sleeping a solid 12 hours I still felt a bit tired...maybe it was too much sleep. So as I was laying in bed trying to convince the dog to go make me some coffee (he wasn't stirring), I decided that if it was raining I'd ride around Lake Sammamish (29 miles when ridden from home) and if it wasn't raining I'd ride 50 miles. So I crawled out from under the covers and made my way to the bathroom where I looked up at the skylight and saw no rain....so it was a 50 miler type of day.

After some peanut butter and jelly toast washed down with 2 cups of coffee I drove to Marymoore. I decided the 50 miles wouldn't include any major hills. Last week 17 miles from my car my quads began to complain and they were screaming by 7 miles from my car. So this week I wanted to make sure I didn't over do it. I left Marymoore with a tail wind and began hoping that it didn't rain before I got to Seattle. I figured I could handle 25 miles of rain (the whole ride was dry). I was a bit cold when I started my ride (it was 44 degrees). Once I warmed up a bit, I began enjoying the ride. I made good time till I entered North Seattle, my speed dropped considerably as I began the gradual climb into the U district and the winds picked up a bit. I made it to Gasworks still feeling good with a time of 1:55. Stopped long enough for a bathroom break and started back towards Redmond. I got nice speed on the trip back until I hit 40 miles (Bothell). The head winds began to pick up and at mile 43 my legs began to burn. I decided that I wasn't limping back to the car...I wanted to finish strong. So I didn't let my heartrate drop below 80% and it was up around 85% quite a bit. The last 4 miles seemed pretty long but I finished well and didn't coast till I could see my car. I was trying for a negative split but it didn't happen. One thing I worked on today was trying to get my cadence up to 90 rpm on the downhills and some on the flats.

Total distance 50.4 miles. Ave mph 13.2. Max speed 24 mph. Cadence 78rpm. ride time 3:55 (includes stop lights). Ave Heart Rate (as % of max) 80% (this includes stops at lights and my break at Gasworks).

Over all, I'm very happy with my ride and most of all I had a great time. I enjoyed the ride!

November 21, 2006

Today I gave up my tempo ride for a fitness test. Since I've started biking, I've not had a formal fitness test...and I figured since I'm just getting started, after my broken ankle, the time is right.

I filled out miles of paper work with goals, history, etc. Showed up today and did VO2 Max test, flexibility, and strength tests. I was fairly surprised all around. I almost waited till February for all this because I figured my results would be low. They were not low at all. My VO2max was 31.5 ml/kg/minute. The test actually ended at my "calculated max Heart Rate" so the tester felt my results were low. My calculated MHR is 177 and my real MHR is 193. He guestimated I'd be higher than my test showed. Either way I'll take it. The test puts me between good and excellent...of course I was worried that with several months off this summer and several starts and stops in my exercise regime (due to my ankle injury) I'd be in the "poor" category. It is great to just have a baseline to compare to for this spring and summer. Plus it is fascinating doing the test...Yes fascinating isn't a strong enough word ;-)

http://www.worldar.com/endurance/vo2max.htm

I was also happy with my strength tests. Having lifted weights off and on all my adult life, it was nice to see I still have some strength to build upon.

November 20, 2006

Showed up for Cheryl's spinning class. I stayed seated and just did some easy spinning for the hour.

I also spent a couple of hours outside doing yard cleanup

November 19, 2006
Day off.

November 18, 2006

I was headed to the log boom this morning for a group 25-35 mile ride at a steady pace when the phone rang. It was Seujan asking if I wanted to go riding...well, I was dressed, and had my bike...so we met at Marymoore for a ride around the Lake Sammamish. I had a great ride and felt strong. This was my first ride with new wheels on my bike (homemade Dura-ace hubs with DT Swiss rims and double butted DT Swiss spokes). The wheels felt very smooth. It was also the first ride since Down Hill zone did an adjust on my derailer system (front and back) and shortened my derailer cables. My bike shifted really well...no dropped chain!

I spent most of my time in my big ring. I tried to climb the last hill before the turn about on West Lake Sammamish in my big ring...and had to drop to my small ring towards the top. I have a lot more power for some reason in my large ring. My quads complained off and on (mostly when I was climbing). Time with stop lights etc. was 1:37:55 (my best time for that particular loop). distance 22.95 miles. Pace 14.5 MPH which isn't bad considering I haven't been riding much since I broke my ankle in June. Cadence average 77 RPM. Average HR 160 BPM which is 83% of Max HR.

after a 13 minute rest:

I decided to ride out to Bothelll on the Sammamish River trail and Seujan decided to ride with me. So we started out at an easy pace. About 2 miles out from Marymoore, I was drafting behind Seujan. She asked how the pace was and I said perfect. I was at about 86-88% of MHR. Pretty soon I was between 90-92%. We rode for about 7 miles at that pace. It was a total blast and of course I was drafting...Good friends lets you draft! As we approached Bothell (10 miles) I dropped off the back and started some easy recover pedaling. We were now at 33 miles. I felt great. So I decided to ride with Seujan towards Seattle till we met up with Ruth. We met Ruth after another 6 miles (39 miles total so far). I'm still feeling great. We turned back towards Marymoore and Ruth (who just finished a long run before her ride) was taking it easy (which was 85% for me). My quads were starting to complain a bit, but I was still feeling good. As we approached Bothell (mile 44) my body said it was getting tired and my quads were really complaining. I was drafting and having a bit of trouble staying on Ruth's wheel. At mile 47 I told Ruth I'd see them later and dropped down in pace from 85% to 70-75% and crawled back to Marymoore with my quads screaming. This was the most fun I've had on a ride and longest road ride since I broke my ankle! Final distance 55 miles (according to my Heart Rate Monitor)

November 7, 2006

I've been looking for riding partners for winter riding. I think I've found them. I rode with 5 guys in Kent for an evening road ride (with lights). We rode for 1.13 hours; 12.5 ave MPH; max speed was 17 mph; ave of 78% of MHR; Max heartrate was 91% MHR; rode 13.9 miles. It was fun. There were lots of lights and rail road tracks that brought down my heartrate and speed...but, I had a blast. My cadence felt slow but my average was 78 rpm which isn't bad at all. The ride was the perfect speed for me (at this time). I didn't have to work too hard to stay with the group. My Heart Rate Monitor seemed to read 85% a lot of the time. The last few miles was into a headwind...so my Heart Rate was closer to 90% of MHR. Nice tempo ride. I'm planning on riding with them twice a week. They ride rain or shine (only ice cancels the ride).

I've decided to leave flat pedals on my mountain bikes and put SPD pedals on the road bike. The SPD's only have 4-6 degrees of float which is what my PT wants. Time pedals have much more...so I'm going to stay away from them. I loaned out my SPD pedals...so I hope to have them back and on the road bike for this weekend. I also am looking forward to wearing my Lake all weather Mountain bike boots (which is why I'm going to SPD's and not my Dura Ace road pedals...road pedals wont fit on my boots).

October 24-November 3, 2006

I've been struggling with a lot of leg pain. The good news is that it is soft tissue rather than bone. I went to see the surgeon just to make sure. I've been on heavy doses of Aleve and have been icing my leg twice a day. The pain is finally gone (at least for the time being). I've dealt with this twice now.