Weekend Update

Saturday - Went out to Tom Watson Park to meet some of the FastForward folks. I'll be working with a marathon group for them starting this Saturday. I'm looking forward to getting to know the athletes and helping them reach their goals.

Then I sat at Amante for a little and enjoyed a latte and read. It was a nice hour. Met up with the BTC at 10 and we headed to Jamestown. We stuck together as a group most of the way out to Left Hand and most of the way up the hill. Then the jump started, it's always after we pass the turn off for Ward. I was a bad Maf'er and went with the leaders. Pretty soon my HR was way above LT. It felt good to hurt though and I went with it. :) Got to the top, circled back around and road back down the hill to pick up the last few riders from the group. We finished up the ride by going down to Neva and around on the sprint tri course. Nice ride. 36 miles or so.

Sunday - Met Cathy M. and Tony P. for a 4 hour ride and 30 minute run. Headed up to Jamestown again and then up to Carter Lake. 70 miles total, ~4:20 of riding. It was frickin' windy! Good practice I suppose, but it got to me. I was in a bad mood after about 2 hours of getting buffeted and blown around. On the way home from Carter I did some longer efforts at IM pace. Focused on smooth light pedal strokes, staying aero and relaxed in the wind. Kept the cadance around 90 and HR in the low to mid 140s. Saw some nice speeds, but with the wind I really can't make any predictions. Time for a powetap I guess. It seems about time to start adding longer and longer efforts at IM race pace during my long rides. I think I've got enough base to absorb the work and recover well enough to go again the next day.

The run went fine. Legs felt good after the riding and I was able to keep my turn over going. One thing I did notice was my heart rate kept climbing into the 160s. That's too high for me to maintain at IM. So, the next brick, the mission will be to start the run easier, keep the HR down and ease into the run. The 25 minutes went by quickly, but in Canada I can't let myself get into a hurry. Patience is the key. Patient, calm, relaxed.

Over all it was a good solid. Got in my long run (16 miles), a stroke and Stride, and my long bike. Good stuff.

Kia Kaha