Wednesday morning didn't get off to a great start, when I needed to get moving quickly, and then overslept by ten or twenty minutes. I managed to get out of the house only about five minutes late, and rushed to the meet-up for the group ride.
I rode a little faster than I wanted, pushing my heart rate to 130-ish several times, but I did make it in time (sort of; I was a couple minutes late, but people hadn't left).
Really, though, I don't have a whole lot to say about the ride. It was a little more strenuous than I'd really wanted, but not horribly so. And really, after the fact, I don't think it was a bad thing, even. I'm just glad that I took it pretty easy for quite a while, and was very warmed up by the time we started pushing a bit.
I say that not because I know that avoided problems, but just in appreciation that there weren't any problems. It is relative, of course. When I'm pushing really hard, I'll get my heart rate (at least briefly) up to 180-190, and I never got close to that on Wednesday. That day, I maxed at 154bpm, and was probably only within ten of that for a few minutes.
Still, it was a good, sociable ride, especially on the return. Power was pretty low, only 128W. Heart rate was almost identical, at 127bpm. I did 38 miles, with 1600' elevation, in 145 minutes, an average of 15.8mph. Not bad.
Nothing special, but it was good to get the miles in.
Yesterday and today were pretty similar to each other. Yesterday, I got up at 0500, and got on the bike pretty quickly. I did almost 23 miles, and almost 900', finishing in 91 minutes (so I was a few minutes early, for once, getting home). That was 15.0mph, averaging 122bpm and 118W.
Those are all good numbers, and while my max heart rate hit 137bpm, I think it only cleared 128 twice for a total of 15-30 seconds. And only one of those was due to exertion; the one that was came from hurrying to make a light, since I was worried about being late. And the second time was passing some joggers who wanted to take the whole path (group of 15-20 guys); had to keep saying, "On your left" and wait for a couple bikers from the other direction. Very annoying all the way around.
Today might have been even better. I woke up fifteen minutes earlier, although I think I only got out the door about five minutes earlier. Still, it was enough to do a slightly longer course; 25 miles and a hair over 1100' elevation. I got 120W with the same average and max heart rates, although this time the raising of heart rate came from a van that didn't want to slow down. And it was only the one time; looks like it got up there for about twenty seconds, judging by Strava's analysis tools.
I felt pretty good about it, especially the 120W avg power. It looks like I can push 130-140W at 125bpm, which is a pretty significant improvement over the last few months. Makes me happy.
I am curious about the speed, though; Strava says 14.7mph, but Cyclemeter had me close to 17mph over the first hour. That's one hell of a drop-off, if it is merely a drop-off. One thing for sure, I had a lot more trouble with heart rate after that point than I did before.
In any event, the ride went well, and I think I'm finally ready for a hard ride tomorrow. I don't think the group I usually ride with will be around, though; I think most of them are doing the Air Force Classic later in the day or Sunday. I wanted to do that, but never got around to signing up. Have to remember it for next year, though; I love the idea of being able to go like hell on blocked-off streets.
But since I'm staying home, we'll have to see how that affects things.
Showing posts with label recovery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recovery. Show all posts
20150612
20150514
Trainspotting
I tried to do that group ride this morning, but things fell apart a bit. I got up within a few minutes of on-time (I forget, exactly), then had to spend ten minutes looking for my heart rate monitor (I normally leave it in one of two places, and, in my hurry to get my daughter out the door, did not, yesterday morning). I ended up getting out of the house only five minutes later than I'd planned on leaving, but that was enough to leave me about ten to twelve minutes late (the meet-up point turns out to be 8.2 miles from my house, and I'd estimated it at closer to six).
As I expected, the group had already left the Vienna caboose, so I took off to try to catch up; always a dicey proposition for an easy ride.
On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous, although the pollen was ridiculous. I'm used to sinus issues related to that, but there was actually enough to get in my eyes, and physically irritate my eyes. Despite that, it was a very pleasant ride.
Getting back to catching up to the group, my hope was that they were moving 13-14mph, and that I'd be moving 15-16. If they were closer to the bottom end, and I were closer to the top, I figured I'd have an outside shot at catching them. As it turns out, though, I did not, although I might have sighted them just before they turned off to do a loop in Herndon (I was catching up on a bike a few hundred yards ahead when I was getting to the spot where (I now know) they turned. If they turned there, that'd explain my losing the bike(s) I was chasing. All that said, I'm only guessing; Strava does not show us close enough to have appeared in fly-by's for each other's rides, so I could be wrong).
In any event, I turned around in Herndon, at the caboose by the side of the trail.
Also, I should note that my phone stopped recording for most of the last couple miles before turning around; I knew the battery was a little low, and had brought the charger. But I had forgotten by the time I got out that way, and took a while to notice that my time and distance weren't changing (the light still being less than good didn't help). But a quarter mile or so before turning around, I turned on the charger and re-started the recording.
From there, I needed to hurry home to make sure I got there before it was time to get the kids up.
One thing worked in my favor, by that time, I was able to sustain quite a bit more power at 120-125bpm. Most of the way home, I was pushing 110-130W, and mostly doing a good job of keeping my heart rate down (though hurrying across a couple streets as lights were about to change made for some short-term disruption).
That made me quite happy, as I haven't really noticed being able to do that for the last month or two. I wonder if it's just a case of taking a while warming up, and being able to do that reliably after a while (this was a long ride, after all). Something to monitor, anyway.
Overall, ended up with a bit over 34 miles (Strava says 34.1, but it's definitely missing some distance due to the recording failure) with 1400' of elevation (some correction was made for the distance; I wonder if a similar correction was made for elevation), and took 2:24:00 (or so; it claims no stopped time, but this ride had more stopped time than most of my rides. I would guess at least three or four minutes. Regardless, the recording failure probably hosed this as well). That's an average of a 14.2 mph, which is pretty good for a recovery ride.
All in all, despite missing the group, it was a really nice ride. The weather was perfect, and I felt really good pedaling along. I hope the next few days go as well.
As I expected, the group had already left the Vienna caboose, so I took off to try to catch up; always a dicey proposition for an easy ride.
On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous, although the pollen was ridiculous. I'm used to sinus issues related to that, but there was actually enough to get in my eyes, and physically irritate my eyes. Despite that, it was a very pleasant ride.
Getting back to catching up to the group, my hope was that they were moving 13-14mph, and that I'd be moving 15-16. If they were closer to the bottom end, and I were closer to the top, I figured I'd have an outside shot at catching them. As it turns out, though, I did not, although I might have sighted them just before they turned off to do a loop in Herndon (I was catching up on a bike a few hundred yards ahead when I was getting to the spot where (I now know) they turned. If they turned there, that'd explain my losing the bike(s) I was chasing. All that said, I'm only guessing; Strava does not show us close enough to have appeared in fly-by's for each other's rides, so I could be wrong).
In any event, I turned around in Herndon, at the caboose by the side of the trail.
Also, I should note that my phone stopped recording for most of the last couple miles before turning around; I knew the battery was a little low, and had brought the charger. But I had forgotten by the time I got out that way, and took a while to notice that my time and distance weren't changing (the light still being less than good didn't help). But a quarter mile or so before turning around, I turned on the charger and re-started the recording.
From there, I needed to hurry home to make sure I got there before it was time to get the kids up.
One thing worked in my favor, by that time, I was able to sustain quite a bit more power at 120-125bpm. Most of the way home, I was pushing 110-130W, and mostly doing a good job of keeping my heart rate down (though hurrying across a couple streets as lights were about to change made for some short-term disruption).
That made me quite happy, as I haven't really noticed being able to do that for the last month or two. I wonder if it's just a case of taking a while warming up, and being able to do that reliably after a while (this was a long ride, after all). Something to monitor, anyway.
Overall, ended up with a bit over 34 miles (Strava says 34.1, but it's definitely missing some distance due to the recording failure) with 1400' of elevation (some correction was made for the distance; I wonder if a similar correction was made for elevation), and took 2:24:00 (or so; it claims no stopped time, but this ride had more stopped time than most of my rides. I would guess at least three or four minutes. Regardless, the recording failure probably hosed this as well). That's an average of a 14.2 mph, which is pretty good for a recovery ride.
All in all, despite missing the group, it was a really nice ride. The weather was perfect, and I felt really good pedaling along. I hope the next few days go as well.
20150410
Keeping it cool
I got up when my alarm went off, this morning. The first thing I did was order the Apple Watch for my wife. Two hours and a few minutes after opening for orders, they were already up to June delivery. Well, hopefully that's the first half of June, and I can make it a birthday present for her, which wouldn't be a disaster.
Apparently, they sold out of the initial availability within minutes.
In any event, from there I got dressed and on the road. I wasn't feeling as bad as I anticipated, but definitely wasn't feeling great, either. I did a slightly shorter version of my normal loop that worked out to twelve miles. And it took me a few minutes more than an hour, so I was definitely not hurrying. My heart rate still wasn't great, despite that, though.
I maxed at 131, which wasn't bad, but it just seemed to keep getting to (and staying) higher than I wanted it to be. And higher than I thought it should be, given the relatively little exertion.
There was some rain, but it wasn't bad. The temperature was about five degrees cooler than expected (40F vice 45F), but still not too bad.
Anyway, tomorrow should be clear, dry, and medium temperature (50F). The people in the group ride aren't going to be around, which is probably just as well, given how I'm feeling; they're going to be doing a 13-hour off-road race. Ouch. Glad I won't be involved in that.
I'm going to try to do a slow thirty miles or so. I still haven't figured out the route, though I'm leaning towards a variant of my loop that goes down through Old Town Alexandria.
Fortunately, the bike shop that did the work that led to the problems yesterday was very fair about handling the problems. They fixed the front derailleur in a way that shouldn't replicate the problem, gave me a cheap tire (unexpected bonus, actually. We had talked, and I had said that leaving it without a tire was fine), and gave me store credit for the tire that was slashed (wouldn't have that tire available for a month or so, plus the credit will go towards that wheel re-spoking). Works for me. Definitely won't be afraid to go back to Papillon.
Oh, and I should mention the National Bike Challenge. As near as I can tell, it's a sponsored event to encourage people to bike more, especially as a substitute for driving. Feel free to sign up, and get riding. If you're using Strava, it can automatically import data from there. It won't really start until May first, but you can still build up points before then. I was shocked to find out that I'm number fifty-one overall; that seems way too high. I guess I was helped by riding every day this year; you get points for miles and points for days riding.
Apparently, they sold out of the initial availability within minutes.
In any event, from there I got dressed and on the road. I wasn't feeling as bad as I anticipated, but definitely wasn't feeling great, either. I did a slightly shorter version of my normal loop that worked out to twelve miles. And it took me a few minutes more than an hour, so I was definitely not hurrying. My heart rate still wasn't great, despite that, though.
I maxed at 131, which wasn't bad, but it just seemed to keep getting to (and staying) higher than I wanted it to be. And higher than I thought it should be, given the relatively little exertion.
There was some rain, but it wasn't bad. The temperature was about five degrees cooler than expected (40F vice 45F), but still not too bad.
Anyway, tomorrow should be clear, dry, and medium temperature (50F). The people in the group ride aren't going to be around, which is probably just as well, given how I'm feeling; they're going to be doing a 13-hour off-road race. Ouch. Glad I won't be involved in that.
I'm going to try to do a slow thirty miles or so. I still haven't figured out the route, though I'm leaning towards a variant of my loop that goes down through Old Town Alexandria.
Fortunately, the bike shop that did the work that led to the problems yesterday was very fair about handling the problems. They fixed the front derailleur in a way that shouldn't replicate the problem, gave me a cheap tire (unexpected bonus, actually. We had talked, and I had said that leaving it without a tire was fine), and gave me store credit for the tire that was slashed (wouldn't have that tire available for a month or so, plus the credit will go towards that wheel re-spoking). Works for me. Definitely won't be afraid to go back to Papillon.
Oh, and I should mention the National Bike Challenge. As near as I can tell, it's a sponsored event to encourage people to bike more, especially as a substitute for driving. Feel free to sign up, and get riding. If you're using Strava, it can automatically import data from there. It won't really start until May first, but you can still build up points before then. I was shocked to find out that I'm number fifty-one overall; that seems way too high. I guess I was helped by riding every day this year; you get points for miles and points for days riding.
20141219
Riding chill
This morning was pretty chilly, right around the freezing point. For a recovery ride, that was pretty tough. My torso actually got a little bit cold, towards the end, which was a first (light base layer and rain jacket, only. Not quite enough). Fortunately, my fingers and toes only got a little cold in the process.
The hard part was to keep my heart rate down low enough. I ended up doing a lot of back-and-forth across the road in a couple places where there were unavoidable hills. Outside of those hills, I did a great job of keeping things relaxed.
I'm hoping this will help me to be able to improve my "base", so that I can get my recovery speeds up to 14-15mph. That's a ways off, alas, but I hope this is the right path to get there as soon as possible.
The hard part was to keep my heart rate down low enough. I ended up doing a lot of back-and-forth across the road in a couple places where there were unavoidable hills. Outside of those hills, I did a great job of keeping things relaxed.
I'm hoping this will help me to be able to improve my "base", so that I can get my recovery speeds up to 14-15mph. That's a ways off, alas, but I hope this is the right path to get there as soon as possible.
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