The slow crawl back...
This weekend began what I would like to call the slow crawl back to fitness. Whereas back just a month or so ago, I was training and riding like a madman, and was fit as all get out, I took some time "off" shall we say, and let myself go downhill faster than 1988 Ford Grand Marquis with no brakes ( http://www.schapansky.com/phoney-sale/April%2012%20036.jpg ). Anyway, lots of overeating later, I'm setting out on this mission to regain the fitness that I've lost over the last 3-4 weeks. Yes, it's horrible out there, but the main objective that I have for right now is to get in good enough shape again, so that I can ride in the Carolina Cup which is the race that my team presents every year, so yeah, I said no more racing for this year, but this is the exception of course. Have to go and show out for the team. Aside from that, it's just a good race to be at year in and year out.
The ride on Saturday (first ride back) was unbelievably horrible. Of course it was hot as shit outside, I mean, literally, it was like 98 degrees, and nice and humid. Luckily during the ride it rained on me, about 3 times as I rode in and out of the rain band that had formed around the outskirts of Chapel Hill. I say luckily because if you've ever been in the South, in the summer, and it rains, and it was already hot and humid before it rained, it only gets worse as it rains because the rain hits the already steaming pavement, and then you get a nice cloud of steam coming from the rain hitting the pavement. This sucks. The legs felt like lead balloons, and I felt weighed down (no doubt from the pounds I've put on over the last few weeks), and well, overall, I could manage about 2 hours out there before I was completely wiped out. Please bear in mind that 4 weeks ago I was regularly riding between 3-4 hours per day. Anyway, it sucked. I couldn't climb, I couldn't ride the flats, and the heartrate was astronomically high. But then again, it was the first ride back in a few weeks, so what the hell did I expect? Not much more than that of course.
Sunday, was actually a lot better. I rode, and felt decent. I managed to get in a couple of hours on the bike without too much effort. The heartrate was still high, but my average speed was up almost 2 MPH from the ride on Saturday. Still not moving very fast, but I felt like things were starting to operate again after just a couple of days on the bike, which bodes well, and makes me think that it's possible that my fitness and work from a month ago might just come back a lot faster than I first imagined. Which, I hope does happen. We'll see.
The general plan is to complete a series of 2 hour rides over the next week or so. Starting a week from this Monday, intervals will start that week, at least one day of intervals, and I might head out on some group rides, but I'm NOT doing that before I start to feel better. I don't want to ride with others until I know my fitness is starting to rear its head again. But yeah, some intervals will be in order just to try and build up. I figure since my "road racing" season is over, I don't need to ride for much longer than 3 hours at the most, since the races I'll be doing for the rest of this season are going to be shorter than 2 hours in most cases. No need to ride excessive amounts if you don't need to. And I don't, so I won't. Another goal is to race some cyclocross this season. Not a whole lot, but just enough to have some fun with it, and if there are races that I don't really care about, and just want to finish, and get a good workout, cross does that for me. I'll start incorporating some running into my workouts, and get that polished up, and will build the bike up, and start working on cross skills once again, so I can mount and dismout. Should be a fun season I think, I hope. And once again, it'll give me a good workout for an hour or so. Cross is more of a "touchy feely" sport, where even if you just finish, people clap for me. It's not the same as road racing at all.
Expect more riding updates later. For now, time to shower, and eat.
The ride on Saturday (first ride back) was unbelievably horrible. Of course it was hot as shit outside, I mean, literally, it was like 98 degrees, and nice and humid. Luckily during the ride it rained on me, about 3 times as I rode in and out of the rain band that had formed around the outskirts of Chapel Hill. I say luckily because if you've ever been in the South, in the summer, and it rains, and it was already hot and humid before it rained, it only gets worse as it rains because the rain hits the already steaming pavement, and then you get a nice cloud of steam coming from the rain hitting the pavement. This sucks. The legs felt like lead balloons, and I felt weighed down (no doubt from the pounds I've put on over the last few weeks), and well, overall, I could manage about 2 hours out there before I was completely wiped out. Please bear in mind that 4 weeks ago I was regularly riding between 3-4 hours per day. Anyway, it sucked. I couldn't climb, I couldn't ride the flats, and the heartrate was astronomically high. But then again, it was the first ride back in a few weeks, so what the hell did I expect? Not much more than that of course.
Sunday, was actually a lot better. I rode, and felt decent. I managed to get in a couple of hours on the bike without too much effort. The heartrate was still high, but my average speed was up almost 2 MPH from the ride on Saturday. Still not moving very fast, but I felt like things were starting to operate again after just a couple of days on the bike, which bodes well, and makes me think that it's possible that my fitness and work from a month ago might just come back a lot faster than I first imagined. Which, I hope does happen. We'll see.
The general plan is to complete a series of 2 hour rides over the next week or so. Starting a week from this Monday, intervals will start that week, at least one day of intervals, and I might head out on some group rides, but I'm NOT doing that before I start to feel better. I don't want to ride with others until I know my fitness is starting to rear its head again. But yeah, some intervals will be in order just to try and build up. I figure since my "road racing" season is over, I don't need to ride for much longer than 3 hours at the most, since the races I'll be doing for the rest of this season are going to be shorter than 2 hours in most cases. No need to ride excessive amounts if you don't need to. And I don't, so I won't. Another goal is to race some cyclocross this season. Not a whole lot, but just enough to have some fun with it, and if there are races that I don't really care about, and just want to finish, and get a good workout, cross does that for me. I'll start incorporating some running into my workouts, and get that polished up, and will build the bike up, and start working on cross skills once again, so I can mount and dismout. Should be a fun season I think, I hope. And once again, it'll give me a good workout for an hour or so. Cross is more of a "touchy feely" sport, where even if you just finish, people clap for me. It's not the same as road racing at all.
Expect more riding updates later. For now, time to shower, and eat.
posted by giantcu92 @ 3:20 PM
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