Well, I’m one week into my training program and I’ve managed to stick it out this long. Only 27 or so more weeks left to go. 
Matt, Jens, Lenny and Nate decided to ride around in the snow. Those guys are nuts, but they had a blast!! Check out Matt’s blog for some great ride pics. They say I’m nuts for staying inside and riding the trainer for 3 hours. Okay, that is pretty crazy, but I wasn’t really wanting to ride in snow. 3 hours is the longest I’ve ever ridden on the trainer. I think the longest before this was 1.5 hours, and that was torture. This time though, I was using our new Tacx Trainer. I’m able to set my power and hill climbs on this thing, so I was able to do some very difficult intervals, which really helped pass the time, even though they were difficult. Here’s a profile from the Garmin…you can click on the image to read it more clearly.
Basically, I did a 15 minute warm up, then rode for 1.5 hours between HR zones 2 and 3. This translates to keeping my heart rate between 135 – 155. I did pretty well, 1 dip, I’m not sure why I dropped to zone 1, but the wnd dip at 1 hr 3o min, I stopped for a quick bathroom break. After the 1.5 hours, I started into a series of intervals for 1 hour. During this time period, I had to keep my heart rate between zones 4 and 5, 155 – 175. That last hour was tough! As you can see from the graph, I was able to get my heart rate above 170 at the peak of each interval. I was completely pooped at the end, but finished off with a 15 minute cool down.
I’m finally breaking down to buy some really cold weather tights. Those things are expensive, but they allow you to ride in snow, rain, cold, whatever without piling on too many layers. I admit it, I’m a cheapskate. I hate spending big bucks on things unless I’m sure I really need them. I’m way over the issue of spending a lot of money on bikes, I’m all for getting the best there. But the Garmin, there’s an example…it took me forever to part with the cash for that. Matt’s working on convincing me that I should get a sweet set of American Classic Magnesium Clincher race wheels with Sapim spokes for the road bike now. I can get the weight of the wheelset down to 1145 grams. We’ll see what kind of deal Stevie at Fat Tire Cycles can make for us.
Some interesting news…Floyd is recovering well from his hip resurfacing. Granted his procedure has a faster recovery time than my procedure did, but holy cow! He’s going to be riding the Leadville 100 mountain bike race too, probably. Matt sent in his application too. Me? I’m sitting this one out. I’ll be the bottle girl for Matt instead.
You’re awesome, I admire you for training so hard. You’re going to be a force to be reckoned with come time for those races. Heck, I couldn’t even keep up with you last year.
those are some interesting intervals at the end. wow.
I don’t think you’re crazy to spend 3 hours on the trainer instead of riding outdoors. I did the 3 hour “Tough Love” Spinervals DVD last weekend. =)
3 hours of “Tough Love”…hmmmmm….guess I’m not the only crazy.
As for the intervals, I was surprised that my HR max didn’t fall toward the end. I wish the Garmin tracked watts now, because I know I felt completely weak at the end, so while my heart rate didn’t fall, I have a feeling my power really did.
Tough workout. Nice job!