I worried I had been slacking off over the holidays, but after reviewing my training diary, I can see that I’ve actually been hitting it rather hard. Good news, since my first road race is just 4 weeks away.
66m: Saturday, Dec 27th
I rode hard with the Descenders. I use this weekly ride to simulate racing conditions as much as possible. I forever attack and try to go off the front. They are a super strong group however and I’m often chased down and vanquished. I felt really strong this day after a 3-day rest around Christmas.
The Descenders on a chilly morning
10m: Sunday, Dec 28th
It was supposed to be a fun, recovery day with buddies and turned into something quite else. I actually worked my legs harder than I thought and was sore the next day. I guess it really was 10,000 single leg squats in a row.
You can see the ocean from atop the Elfin Forest ride
51m: Tuesday, Dec 30th
Hill day – Mark and I decide to ride from my house to Mount Soledad and back. We rode Via Capri to the peak and also added the “Aquarium Road” on the return trip. These are wickedly steep roads. Via Capri has an AVERAGE gradient of 11% and must be close to 20% in some places. You can tell because the road surface changes to concrete when the pitch exceeds some maximum for asphalt, according to city code.
Mark and I had a great day together and I really hammered every hill. I got assed-out close to home, but Mark encouraged me to keep going, keep pushing. It worked and I kept pushing on hills even when I thought I was empty.
Mount Soledad is one of my favorite steep climbs
As always, I enjoyed the post-ride racing strategy discussions. I guess next time it might not be over beers though.
19m: Thursday, Jan 1st
I was a little hung over from our New Year’s Eve festivities, but still managed to get 5 laps in on my local interval course for a total of 15 intervals at 90%+ max HR.
68m: Sunday, Jan 4th
After two days rest I was surprised that my legs did not feel 100% for the weekly Descenders ride. I was caught every time I tried to go away and several times was left in the dust, watching a group go off the front without me. It was a frustrating ride, but cumulated in my decision to stop drinking at least until the Boulevard Race.
30m: Tuesday, Jan 6th
My legs were still sore after a day of rest. I decided to ride my “Tour de Scripps Ranch” course where I link together all the interesting hills in my neighborhood. There are a lot of them and it makes for a short, fun climbing day.
Look at all those lumps. That’s a lot of climbing for one day.
Tomorrow is interval day and then on Saturday, Mark, Andy and I are going to preview the Boulevard race course for the first time.
I Got My "Yippee!" Card
2010 Leadville Trail 100
2010 Julian Death March
I Do Not Ride Alone
My Secret Leadville Plan
Previewing the Leadville 100 MTB Course
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a big fan of miles 3-11 on the profile (above).
@Mark: you and me both! Sheesh! Look at miles 24- 26!
I am in for miles 26-28!! BTW, how is the cool turkey going (You do not cold turkey status beacuse of the “caveat”)?
Come on guys, that’s just a little hill. 2 miles of 7% is easy-peasy! Check out Horseshoe Meadow Road – now that’s a mountain!
http://www.adventuresonabike.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/elevation-2-horseshoe-and-mt-whitney1.jpg
@Barry: Cool turkey is going fine. Haven’t had a drink since Saturday. Lost 2 lbs already. It’s been more difficult than I thought it would be. I’ll probably write an update post soon.
Keep up with the “cool turkey.” In my experience, a big part of quitting drinking was the realization of how much a part of my lifestyle it was and that I didn’t need a beer in hand to enjoy a sunset. Once I got over the psychology, the rest was “easy-peasy.”
Looking forward to your update!
Thanks Scott, I appreciate the words.