13 Days -- Log

Ride ride ride...got no time to type. ;)

It's been a busy couple weeks since my last report! Seems like all my log reports start like this...so why change a winning formula? ha ha..

I ended up riding a record-breaking 13 days in a row...i was feeling quite drained by the end of it, and i might still be recovering from it. Glad i did it tho, strength and endurance are still gaining, yip!!

Last night was race night as usual, the GVCL night, where the local roadies come by to join us. Gina Grain, a top Canadian women's cyclist (mainly Crit rider) was also out with us, very cool!

I decided to try a bigger gear tonite, and went with a 47x14, which is about a 90.6. Wow...what a difference. Not as much spin potential, but accelerating is so much easier....

First up were some keirins, for fun. I got a good position, second after the bike, and just sat on Jeremy's wheel, who pulled through the whole race, and came in first. I got an easy 3rd. I should have probably tried attacking, might have done better..!

The Points race wasn't so generous, and i ended up getting lapped for the first time in a while...but it was a FAST race, barely dipping below 45kph. Hit a new top speed of 60kph...wow!

There was one moment of excitement for me; there were about 10 laps left, and i saw Matt from OrganicAthlete Victoria was making a break...so i sprinted ahead of the pack, but as i caught him, he pulled up and dropped off...and no one else came with me. Bummer....that was the end of that, and i just sat in with the pack to the end. Not sure what i placed, but i'm guessing it was below 10th. Nothing to celebrate, but i'm glad to have sat in with such a fast race.

Here's my breakdown from the last couple weeks:

Thu (June 16th) - Day 8, ended up an easy day, rode to the track, rain appeared, rode home.

Fri - Day 9, Observatory Repeats w/Andy, did five, plus one easy one with Andy. All were under 8min, 7:22 was my fastest time, and hit that on the 1st and 5th repeats. Now doing it in a 53x21/23. Evening went to the track, noodled around.

Sat - Day 10, long, intense EM ride w/Sarah. Basically, for the first 3hrs i pulled, that way i could stay in the HR zone i wanted, as could she. Completely ran outta juice at the 3hr mark (need to bring two Clif bars for these rides), i stuck to Sarah's wheel for the last half hour. Logged 109km, great day!

Sun - Day 11, basically a RR, rode out to Elk Lake to watch the 1/2 Ironman. These guys are pretty impressive. Chatted with Brendan Brazier for a bit as well.

Mon - Day 12, didn't have much pep, but still got all new PB's! 200m - 13.40, 500m - 40.28 (previous from last year was over 42), and for fun the 666 (two laps) - 53.64. (Never did that distance previously.)

Tue - Day 13, 2.5hr EM ride w/Andy, starting to feel lack of recovery.... Nice upper-body workout in the evening, perhaps i'll write about this in more detail soon. Basically i've come up with a routine to hit all major upper-body muscle-groups, for maintenance and slight growth.

Wed - REST DAY! WOOT!!

Thu (June 23rd) - race nite, described above.

Fri - Ob repeats w/Andy, still getting faster, new PB of 7:11 on the first one. Moved down to a 53x19/21 in order to keep my cadence under 60rpm. Did 6 repeats, all under 7:35. Last was around 7:25. (Note, the record for the Observatory is 5:11, done by Laurie Munn in '95. Wow.)

My upcoming schedule will prolly match the above... I might take it easy on Sunday, some more recovery might be a good idea.

For my general fitness, i'm finding my legs are almost always feeling strong, but my lungs seem to be my 'bottleneck', and my limiting factor. I believe this the preferred balance as far as fitness goes. (ie, legs giving out before lungs, or vice-versa.)

Time to get some sleep!