Tuesday, May 15, 2007

5/15/2007 Cycling Intervals

I had a good cycling workout today with no soreness at all! I think I pushed it a bit in the days after the marathon, so it actually took a little longer to fully recover than I would have liked. I'm back in action now, and getting pumped up for duathlon season to start! I'm going to use Buckeye Outdoors Training Log to set up my schedule and keep track of workouts. I like using the blog to write about the workouts, but I'm missing a calendar type view to just look at the details of the workouts.

I did an interval workout today on the bike. I didn't have any specific plan in mind, so I just kind of winged it. Over the course of the 30 miles I picked areas that I know would be similar to the course I'm riding on Sunday and picked up the pace to over 20 mph for a mile or so. The distance varied based on a random end point that I'd choose for each interval. Overall I did 4 intervals on flats. There was also two descent climbs that should count for something.

Dist: 30.02 miles
Time: 1:50:46
Avg: 16.2 mph
Max: 36.9 mph

In terms of weather it was perfect. I got out about 9 am when it was still relatively cool in the mid 60's and amazingly sunny. There was quite a bit of head wind over the course of the ride. I have no love for a strong head wind, but I figure it would be helpful. I know there is a couple of spots on Sunday's course where I can count on head winds.

It's also worth mentioning that I tried some electrolyte replacement capsules for the first time today. I can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but that's not really important. The important question is how did they work? I can't say for sure. I only took one. Within the first 5-10 minutes of taking the pill my mouth started to water and I had a salty taste in my mouth. I also gagged a bit, but I don't know if it was from the pill or the fact that it was so dusty out today. Other than the caps I only took 2 bottles of water with me to drink and one Gu packet. I can't say that they worked for sure, but I felt pretty fresh at the end of the ride. Usually after a ride of that length or longer I need a little rest afterwards, but in this case I felt pretty good. The real test will come on Sunday. I'll try them again on a run this week to be sure they don't make me sick, but I'll probably be testing them on Sunday.

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