Saturday, November 28, 2009

3 Hours on the Computrainer

Right now the hardest part about riding my bike indoors is my butt:). So, every hour, I got off the bike for 1-2 minutes to just stretch out, and actually it worked out ok.

Yesterday was exciting, I got in the pool for 10 minutes and swam with one arm for all of 200 yards. It felt wonderful to be in the water, it really is relaxing. Also, my form had to be good with one arm. I couldn't fake it. In fact, it's interesting how I did one arm swimming better and with better form than ever before.

I also spent 10 minutes on an elliptical trainer. This was tough, but I kind of got my bearings as I went along. I'll keep working on this.

So, how about my bike ride today. In terms of my endurance, I'm doing quite well. Three hours on the computrainer is solid and my legs felt absolutely fine. I went pretty easy for the first two hours, keeping my HR mostly in zone 2; then, at my coach's request, did 5x5minutes hard (pushing just into my lactate threshold HR range); and then spun easily for 5 minutes in between each one. My ave wattage for each of these was 180, which is probably about 30 watts less than where I normally am when my bike fitness is good. Not bad for the dead of winter and over 5 months to go before St. George. If I keep putting in the time and effort, I'll be in great bike shape come May 1st.

I'm just taking it easy this afternoon. My shoulder was a little sore this morning, but didn't hurt on the bike ride, that is, didn't hurt any worse on the bike ride. So, it was aching a bit, but it was aching before I started riding. I think I may have jarred it slightly last night by accident, but doubt I did anything bad. The hip seems to be doing ok. The more time I spend on the couch the better right now.

I'm now back to work for two weeks and really getting back in my groove. We're nearing the end of the year and it will get a little crazy in about two weeks. But things are going well, which always helps. When things are tough it's easier to get anxious or stressed. I have to remind myself sometimes that when things are going well nothing should really get to me.

I'm expecting some more bike time tomorrow, this will be one of my biggest bike weeks ever!

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