coach, would you agree that its a little warm in here for a mock turtleneck?
yesterday was a pretty eventful afternoon and today was somewhat of a milestone as well.
after ordering team uniforms yesterday over at fred's house on saturday, i went out on a ride in the cold and rain with marshal (junior phenom) and kris (190 lbs of diesel engine). both were dressed accordingly for a 40degree weather ride in the wet (full finger gloves, booties, tights, jerseys, arm warmers, rain jackets, and wind jackets) and i, of course, was dressed like a euro-trash cat 6 straight from the hills of toscana. smartwool socks, knee warmers, sleeveless base layer, ss jersey, arm warmers, and cap (helmet was unintentionally forgotten, i swear). surprisingly, i warmed up just fine after about 10 minutes. in the end, we braved the elements for about 2 hours. marshal was like a gd cricket and could accelerate like nobody's business up the climbs (it didnt hurt that he weighs 130 lbs). kris was a little sore from his 45 mins tempo that morning. i was rather sore from my 3 mile run on friday. after about 45 mins, i started to feel pretty good and got to work on the front. it was an awesome rush, one of those feelings like you have a v12 engine in your legs. it was super easy to find the perfect cadence to match a brisk speed. by the end of the ride we were all toast.
last night i had decided to ride from my apartment in shadyside to north park (approx 1.5-2 hrs) to meet with kris, andy g, and mark for a 2-3 hr ride then ride home. it was taking longer than expected to make it to north park this morning at 150 bmp, and when andy g called my phone to ask where the hell i was, i said "im 20 mins away, ill book it there to meet you guys". for the next 20 mins i was cookin it at a steady 175-180 bpm. all told it took me a couple hours to get out there. we headed out on an epic loop of about 2 hours, at the end of which i was feeling quite knackered. i ate a pb&j sandwich, two gels, and an energy bar to prepare for my trek back to shadyside. andy showed me a dainty little loop back to etna so i could avoid heavy traffic and a couple gnarly climbs. but of course, there was nothing i could do to avoid brown's hill - think avg gradient of about 15-20% for a solid 8 minutes - with my 11-23, i was not a happy camper. but the cassette is putting some proverbial hair on the stones. after getting over that beast, it was a quick descent down squaw run rd into fox chappel, over the highland park bridge, through the zoo, and i was home. all told i did 5.5 hrs averaging somewhere between 145 and 155 bpm (i wasn't very good with stopping and starting my hrm). my best estimate is that i did somewhere between 90 and 100 miles. about 50 or 60 of which was on my own. the longest i have ridden in a single outing, EVER! i think i am just the most stoked about my general determination to get a ride like that under my own devices. if you know me, you will understand how big of a deal that is. typically it usually takes somebody else sticking to their guns and instigating a ride like that for me to participate. for me to ride like that, and ride as consistently as i have been for the past few months, is awesome and a staunch reminder of my goals for the upcoming season.
this is looking to be a recovery week. especially since i doubled my weekly mileage in one day today. lots of easy and spinning and stretching/pilates in the next couple days. let the leg repair begin.
remember kids...
after ordering team uniforms yesterday over at fred's house on saturday, i went out on a ride in the cold and rain with marshal (junior phenom) and kris (190 lbs of diesel engine). both were dressed accordingly for a 40degree weather ride in the wet (full finger gloves, booties, tights, jerseys, arm warmers, rain jackets, and wind jackets) and i, of course, was dressed like a euro-trash cat 6 straight from the hills of toscana. smartwool socks, knee warmers, sleeveless base layer, ss jersey, arm warmers, and cap (helmet was unintentionally forgotten, i swear). surprisingly, i warmed up just fine after about 10 minutes. in the end, we braved the elements for about 2 hours. marshal was like a gd cricket and could accelerate like nobody's business up the climbs (it didnt hurt that he weighs 130 lbs). kris was a little sore from his 45 mins tempo that morning. i was rather sore from my 3 mile run on friday. after about 45 mins, i started to feel pretty good and got to work on the front. it was an awesome rush, one of those feelings like you have a v12 engine in your legs. it was super easy to find the perfect cadence to match a brisk speed. by the end of the ride we were all toast.
last night i had decided to ride from my apartment in shadyside to north park (approx 1.5-2 hrs) to meet with kris, andy g, and mark for a 2-3 hr ride then ride home. it was taking longer than expected to make it to north park this morning at 150 bmp, and when andy g called my phone to ask where the hell i was, i said "im 20 mins away, ill book it there to meet you guys". for the next 20 mins i was cookin it at a steady 175-180 bpm. all told it took me a couple hours to get out there. we headed out on an epic loop of about 2 hours, at the end of which i was feeling quite knackered. i ate a pb&j sandwich, two gels, and an energy bar to prepare for my trek back to shadyside. andy showed me a dainty little loop back to etna so i could avoid heavy traffic and a couple gnarly climbs. but of course, there was nothing i could do to avoid brown's hill - think avg gradient of about 15-20% for a solid 8 minutes - with my 11-23, i was not a happy camper. but the cassette is putting some proverbial hair on the stones. after getting over that beast, it was a quick descent down squaw run rd into fox chappel, over the highland park bridge, through the zoo, and i was home. all told i did 5.5 hrs averaging somewhere between 145 and 155 bpm (i wasn't very good with stopping and starting my hrm). my best estimate is that i did somewhere between 90 and 100 miles. about 50 or 60 of which was on my own. the longest i have ridden in a single outing, EVER! i think i am just the most stoked about my general determination to get a ride like that under my own devices. if you know me, you will understand how big of a deal that is. typically it usually takes somebody else sticking to their guns and instigating a ride like that for me to participate. for me to ride like that, and ride as consistently as i have been for the past few months, is awesome and a staunch reminder of my goals for the upcoming season.
this is looking to be a recovery week. especially since i doubled my weekly mileage in one day today. lots of easy and spinning and stretching/pilates in the next couple days. let the leg repair begin.
remember kids...
posted by Stava @ 4:52 PM
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