My poor thumb!

Day before yesterday, I took the bike out for a ride. It was chilly brisk cold. I wanted to get it out before the rain arrived. I've been lax over the holidays about exercise. With my foot still not 100% and family coming in an out, it's ready made for excuses...

(this is me sighing and eye rolling at myself while I try to justify my laxity laziness.)

if i could have, i would have thrown my truck.
 i was that angry. never throw my bike,tho.
btw, if you don't read comics, you really should.
the Hulk is AWESOME!

After a few minutes on the bike path, I noticed the tires were low. (who didn't check them before the ride? who didn't bring spares? i may have left my helmet at home, but i will neither confirm nor deny this.) I went back to the truck to pump them up. Except my bike pump, and my spare bike pump, let the air out of both my tires and wouldn't pump them up! I fought and fought with the pumps. I couldn't get the presta valves to seal. I ended up covered in grease and sliced my finger open. I'm not even sure how I sliced my finger open, but I bled all over everything. The fit I threw then was both loud and embarrassing. The only saving grace was it was too cold for any sane person to be riding a bike so no one was around to hear my Hulk-like fit of rage.

Ride over. I went home to put the bike on the trainer (it's too cold outside anyway-- grump grump). I got new tires for the bike this year and kept the old ones for the trainer. I want to get a set of wheels just for the trainer, but it'll have to wait until next season (I am not made of money). Changing the tires would give me much needed practice. Much. Needed. Practice.

If I'd gotten a flat during a race...

It doesn't bear thinking about. I'll have nightmares of being choked by tubes while dancing tire levers poke my eyes out.

The valves on the new tubes sealed up nicely. I got both tires changed, the bike on the trainer and the DVD player hooked up to the TV. Of course, I haven't ridden on it yet...

I'm still recovering from the trauma of a tire change.

No Injuries 2013

My new mantra for the fall/winter is "No Injuries 2013." I want to have an awesome race season with PR's all across the board. I want to be fast, for me anyway.  And I am tired of being injured. I'm tired of the bone spurs, the tendonitis, the fasciitis. All caused by improper training.

The ball

I tend to push until I hurt and then I sit. I'm terribly inconsistent in all my habits and it shows in my past training. The new training plan demands consistency. It's based on max aerobic heart rate training. No intervals, fartleks, hills, sprinting, fun stuff... That's what inspired my first Garmin purchase. It's the 405. I know it gets mixed reviews, but I'm willing to give it a try. Training with it is eye opening. I didn't think I was working hard on the bike, but the heart rate monitor said otherwise. A weight workout also pushed me out of that zone. This week I got to walk twice and my average speed was like 17 min miles. What!

The one thing the doctor told me I had to do if I wanted to succeed was, "Follow the plan. No cheating!" It's so frustrating to hear the beep and have to slow down. Of course, I can't wear it in the pool, so I have to manually check my heart rate at the end of each set. No annoying beeping there! Another eye opening and humiliating experience. I'm used to swimming about 1000 yards in 30 minutes. Now, it's closer to 600.

Everything about this is humbling. Is my fitness really rubbish? What have I been doing for the past 4 years? Does this thing even work!

Though I do have to admit, I get a kick out of uploading my data and reviewing it.

So, for now, the next few months anyway, my workouts will be short and boring and no cheating! (except maybe one Gran Fondo, but just the piccolo) The doctor promised I would start seeing improvements sooner rather than later, if I stuck to my plan. Thirty minutes, 5 times a week, 10 minute warm-up, 10 minute workout, 10 minute cool-down. I can do that for 2 more weeks. Right? Right!

Have you tried max aerobic heart rate training or zone training? Did you see improvements?

Part 3 Nation's ~ Up Hill Both Ways

I've never been so hungry as when I came out of the water! I ate a honey stinger before I put my bike shoes on. I even sat in the grass to eat, drink and put on my shoes. I needed a moment to gather myself before hitting the bike course.

THERE IS NO DOWNHILL

I admit it. I like to complain. I'm good at it. Of course, Coach Richie says I only complain with a smile on my face so it's hard to take me seriously...

But there was NO DOWNHILL! None, none at all. I was still a bit energy depleted at the start of this ride, but I kept up a good cadence, kept eating and drinking. About mile 6, I started to feel like I had some more to give and cranked up the speed. The course itself was well marked and rolling to flat. There was one section that was a long, gradual incline and on the other side of the road were cyclists going down and I was really excited to get to that part for some free wheeling. Except, there was no free wheeling! What the heck happened to the DOWNHILL! 

I've described routes I've ridden around home as having "no hills." But there were times I was still able to get low and go fast and free wheel. This course I didn't find any of that! It felt like a really long spin class- I hate spin class. My ride wasn't consistent. I would have loved to have a bike computer to give me my stats on this course. I'm still learning when to eat and what gear is most efficient. But as a race, it was my best to date.

Socialcizing!

Before the race, I told Richie I was setting my watch to run 40 seconds and walk 1:25. I was fudging what the doctor said would be acceptable- as long as my tendon didn't hurt. I pre-cut some kinesio tape to apply for the run and tried to get it on like the PT showed me. That didn't workout so well... but anyway, I was feeling all HTFU! I wanted to be done and I was 6.2 miles from a doughnut.

I met this awesome lady, Theresa from Baltimore who decided to hang with me on my intervals. We talked the entire way. I forgot I was "racing" and just ran or walked when the watch beeped. I also remembered to eat my last few chews, sugar really makes a difference! The course was fun, even though I didn't notice any of the monuments. ADHD or exhaustion?

Because I had someone to share the miles with, it didn't feel hard at all. Theresa, if you read this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! The only time my tendon hurt was the last little bit when I decided to run to the finish line for over 3 minutes... My tendon hated that and let me know just before the finish line. Ice and compression socks helped :D I felt great after this race, mentally and physically. Well, after the ice bath and a nap. GO TEAM!

Part 4 ~ Final Thoughts