Category Archives: training
So I tried an ice bath
It will probably be my first, and my last. The theory is that if you immerse your legs in ice water for 15 minutes or so, it will cause your blood vessels to contract (duh – something fierce!). Well, the benefit comes when you get out and the blood vessels relax causing a flushing of the toxins and lactic acid that has built up over several days of hard training. Nice theory.
I have to say, it did feel REALLY good after it was over, but I didn’t notice much difference on the bike. Oh, well.
Finally! The record falls…
I rode Lookout in 24:15 last September during a race. Although that was the fastest I’d ever done it, I wasn’t satisfied. Over the latter part of the year and the first part of this year, I tried 8 times to lower my time. All to no avail. I could consistently get in the mid 24’s, but just could not go any lower. Despite having a newer/lighter bike and pretty much turning myself inside out I pushed so hard.
Today was different. I felt lousy. My legs were tired and sore. I started at Morrison and rode an hour with 2,000′ of climbing just to get to the start. I went with the intention of riding hard, but ended up backing off somewhat and resigning myself to another missed attempt because I was feeling so bad. When I was getting close to the top, I clicked over to the stopwatch display on my bike computer. It had just turned over 21 minutes. Holy Cow!! I couldn’t believe it. I started sprinting for all I was worth and made it to the line in 23:09 for my new record. Finally!
Kind of a wierd way to go about it, but I’ll take it :-). Makes me feel like I can crack 22:00 with fresher legs and an easier warmup. I’m a slave to the stopwatch.
Monthly Stats – February
Miles – 469
Hours – 32:45
Zone 1 – 71%
Zone 2 – 11%
Zone 3 – 5%
Zone 4 – 11%
Zone 5 – 2%
YTD:
Miles – 920
Hours – 65:31
The Scene Begins 