Tag: training

Pause

Last week was pretty busy so I was only able to bike commute once. Fortunately it was the evening of the Ride of Silence, honoring cyclists who have died on the roads in the past year. A very somber and sobering event. Then I spent the weekend camping in the rain with my Girl Scout troop. My girls are rock stars!

 

Unfortunately, I also noticed my pinky on my right hand was freaking out. It didn’t want to straighten. I thought back to the SCU Quad County and how my pinky felt zonked after that ride too. It’s also happened a few times this year, each time a little longer to get full functionality back into my finger (because I’m stupid and keep riding). As in, I can’t put all my fingers together and straighten out my right hand. It’s  frightening to think about permanent damage from something you love to do.

 

I did some Googling (check out this blog about someone else experiencing the same thing!) and discovered this is most likely due to excessive compression on my ulnar nerve even though I have padded gloves and padded bartape. The only cure is rest, stretching exercises, and making sure your bike fit is as good as possible (seat low, handlebars high). With this knowledge, I’m thinking all this bike commuting has been screwing me up (since Lady Rainicorn‘s frame is slightly too big for me). Or perhaps I messed up the geometry when I swapped out the saddle. Or maybe it’s my new bike gloves – they are a touch too big (I thought the Mediums felt a touch too small so I opted for Large).

 

Sadness – I know!

 

So I’m going to do a couple of things:

1. put the original saddle back on the bike and see if that helps (I didn’t notice problems before I started messing with the seat)

2. get a bike fit even though I don’t want to (it can be hard to justify spending almost half the cost of your bike on a fit – remember, she’s a Craiglist find under $300)

3. dial back my riding until full functionality returns to my finger (I dislike this the most)

 

* * * * *

Next week I am heading out to Colorado for a week of fun and happiness! I’m flying with my bike again on Frontier Airlines – they are THE BEST when it comes to traveling with your bike. I don’t have status with them this year so I’m going to do my best to get my bike box under 50 pounds (it was 51 pounds last summer). I already have an appointment to get my bike reassembled when I arrive and will work out the return trip when I get there. Super psyched to be cycling with my friends and family again!

* * * * *

 

See you on the road!

 

 

Disappointment

This morning I was supposed to run my first five-mile event/race but I didn’t go.

 

My reasons:

* I feel terrible today. Some combination of intense seasonal allergies and camping Friday night and most of the day Saturday has rendered me exhausted. I ended up sleeping over 12 hours last night.

* It was 35* when I got up and while my cycling wardrobe extends into cold weather gear – my running gear does not.

(I’m not even talking about technical clothing – I do not own sweatpants or long underwear to layer under my fitness gear.  This will need to be remedied.)

 

While I do not regret my decision, I am disappointed in my apparent inability to keep up with everything I want to do. When I was ten years younger, I would have easily been able to plow through the allergies and exhaustion. But I’m not 25 any more and the reality is I need more down time than I did back then.

 

This brings me back to the yogic philosophy of honoring your body wherever it is. Some days you will be able to go further than you ever thought possible, others you won’t. And you need to accept where you are in this moment. So today will be a day of rest and being present with my family.

 

A five-mile run will still be there when I am ready.

 

See you on the road.

Forecast

6am

Clear

Temperature: 30*F

Feels Like: 19*F

51% Humidity

Winds out of the West/SouthWest at 14mph

Sorry Wednesday, I’m going to pass on bike commuting. You’d be a great test of my new cold weather gear but I have a thing against getting out from under my mid-weight down comforter to get up in the dark and cold to ride my bike to work. We had this conversation in October.

The following Tuesday’s current expected high of 50*F and a low that is above freezing is much more promising for Lady Rainicorn and I.

xoxo,

Laura

* * * * *

On week two of Not Being Able To Ride Because Real Life Calls.  We’ve celebrated a birthday, we’ve taken the Girl Scouts to learn about our nation’s government, and also took a little time to catch up on sleep and reading (one of my long-time favorite things to do). We’ve also started roller hockey season – which is also one of my favorite times of year.

It’s tough … but not as tough when it’s cold and rainy. Or cold and frozen rainy. Ah, springtime in Pennsylvania!

I’m thinking about how I want to structure my athletic-type endeavors – cycling, running, and yoga. I’m currently planning on cycling (for sport/fun) two days per week, running one day, and yoga one day. This of course does not take into account my bike commuting, which I want to do two or three times per week. This type of schedule will be tough until summer, when the kids don’t have any real commitments and I can maximize my personal time. Until then, I need to get running onto the calendar first. My friends all run sub-10min miles. I feel like a schlub – but you can’t get better if you don’t even get out the door.

See you on the road!

Dropped

This weekend I was dropped for the first time on a group ride.

Blame my overly-cautious sandbagging (not on purpose), but I’m usually one of the stronger riders on a given ride. I feel most comfortable riding sweep only because I like to keep the group in front of me so I know where to go. I’m about fifty-fifty on hills – sometimes I gear down low enough to stay behind the person in front of me, other times I attack. Depends on my mood that day or how slow I need to go to stay at the back of the group. The goal being to not be the person everyone groans about because they picked a ride too far outside their abilities.

Bouyed by my successful first time of bike commuting on Heavy Bike, I got up super early on Sunday to ride to the start of a training ride for the team I’m riding with for the Bike MS: City to Shore event in late September. It’s only 15 miles and riding on Electric Dream Machine, it only took an hour to get to the ride start. Simulating the ride profile, the training ride was on the Schuylkil Trail from Center City to Valley Forge and back – a false flat with a few hills in Manayunk.

The training ride split into two groups – Fast (15+ mph) and Slower (12-15mph). I decided to stick with the Slower group – more people to chat with and didn’t want to obliterate myself before heading to brunch with some girl friends. Ultimately I’m glad I did – definitely ended up on the higher end of the average spectrum without killing myself.

About 5mi from Valley Forge, we saw the Fast group coming back and decided to take a communal break. Most of the Slower group planned to continue on, one of the Fast group decided to ride to VF again with his wife, and two of us from Slower group decided to head back (we were running about 20min behind schedule). So I’m now in a group of four: Three fast guys and me.

Even though I was maintaining a rolling speed of 19-21mph, which is fast for me, I was slowing getting dropped. I watched the three guys become much smaller on the trail ahead. In this moment, you have a choice: give chase or solider on where your abilities are. I chose the latter. I wasn’t upset or angry or even frustrated – this is the reality of life. Someone will always be better and faster than you. It’s OK.

My bike commuter friend happened to also be out riding (different route). He rode up behind me and we chatted for a few minutes before he turned around to continue his ride. It boosted my flagging spirit.

At some point the guys realized I wasn’t with them and stopped at an underpass. One rode back to find me and I wasn’t TOO far behind so he encouraged me to just keep going. As I rode by the resting guys, I yelled “Drop me like a bad habit, eh?” with a big smile and the chase was on! They finally caught up to me and we rode together as a group. After a short rest break, we hit the trail again. We were doing fine until the same Super Fast guy took his turn at the front. The guy behind me said “Time to pick up the tempo” and once again, I was left behind.

I didn’t mind, really. It’s my own issue if I can’t keep up, not theirs! And on this ride, we were on the path – there really wasn’t a way for me to get lost. It was just this one guy – his turn at the front meant rolling 21+ and I’m just not there yet even in the Big Ring. To his credit, when he came off the front this time he noticed I wasn’t in the pack, slowed a bit, and let me draft him for a few miles while the other two Fast Guys rolled slightly ahead of us.

The rest of the ride was good – I was able to keep up with the group as we rolled back into the city … until the Super Fast Guy caught someone’s tail and zoomed off. I tried to chase this time, but after 50mi of riding near the top of my abilities my legs were gstarting to feel hosed. The two other guys were behind me and eventually caught up and the three of us rolled back to the start together. Great ride.

Post-ride Brunch was fantastic. My legs were definitely less enthused on hills going home, which is all uphill. Ended up riding 72mi and averaging 14.7mph over just shy of 2000′ of elevation gain. Pretty respectable.

Spinning

Tonight’s ride was my usual low-key ride from the local library. I like this ride for a few reasons:

1. It’s low-key. We average 10-12mph over 20+/- miles. Great for recovery riding.

2. There’s new people every ride. Only a few of us are “regulars” – and sometimes even we don’t show up at the same time.

3. It’s near my house so I can ride to the start.

On tonight’s ride, I realized something. I spend a lot of time in the little ring, working my way up and down the cassette but never getting really fast. I feel pretty good about my spinning abilities in the little ring gears.

Of course when I throw it into the big ring, speed happens. It’s like an instant 1-2mph boost. Once we get out of the ‘burbs and into the city, the roads flatten out considerably – so consistent Big Ring Riding is more of a possibility.

Since I’m working on “training” for the century ride this fall and I can usually only get out twice a week, I’m going to take advantage of this ride to throw it in the big ring and see how long I can stay in it. We generally have some hills so it will be a challenge to stay in the big ring on the way up. Understanding this will be more work – but that’s OK.

You can’t go faster without an effort.

(I say “training” because while I’m making an effort to be smart about it, I don’t actually have a plan other than to ride a variety of routes, elevations, speeds and distances up to 75 miles. There’s five rest stops on the century route – so I’m mentally preparing for five consecutive 20-milers. I’m not sure what the actual distance between aid stations is – but a century sounds so much more manageable when I break it down into parts. Three 30s and a 10. Four 25s. A 50, a 25 and a 15.)

* * * * *

Other stuff spinning in my head:

* I’m also looking at some other cycling events – the Lemon Ride (July 22) and the Bicycling Fall Classic (Oct 7). The only thing holding me back is that riding in events is WAY more fun with a friend. Riding in general is more fun with a friend – that’s why I go to group rides!

* I’m also looking at updating my cyclometer to a GPS-based model. Currently considering a Garmin 800 but balking at the sticker price. However, I think it may be worth it since I’m new to the area and would not have to worry about how to get back home if I did get dropped or lost on a ride because it’s a straight-up touch screen GPS. My current GPS-based app on my phone is great but drains my battery – and should the worst happen, I want to be able to use it to get help not curse myself for trying to get ride data.

* The bike shop down the street has a Sunday morning ride with a speed I can at least shoot to attain (14-15 mph average). May try it out this weekend!

* * * * *

See you on the road!

Accountability

Every week I get an email from MapMyRide with my weekly training summary. It’s almost never totally devoid of some form of activity – I walk for part of my commute every day so at the very least I’ve put 5 miles under my belt each week. The only times it’s completely blank is if I have been on vacation, like the time my husband and I vacationed in Seattle with two of our very good friends. I did a LOT of walking that week – but didn’t bother to track it because I’m ON VACATION.

But it definitely serves as a reminder that I’m not out riding (or hiking or walking) as much as I want to be.

Desire is good. Obsession is not.

You can’t forsake all else for the pursuit of a selfish desire. As much as you need time to do your own thing, you have others who need you to be there with them. My kids, my dogs, my husband, my family, my friends, my boss, my subordinates, my peers, the local music scene (I love going to shows) – all need my attention at some level or another. As I’ve said before, it’s all about balance.

I say this because I read other cyclists’ blogs and sometimes get wistful at the time they have devoted to their passion. I have to remind myself that not only am I not them, but I’m also (generally) not in the same generational bracket. Most of my group ride partners are around my parent’s ages – and rightfully so. They have raised their kids, they did their time of juggling work and play, and now have more time to just play. They paid their dues and reap the reward. I want to be fit enough to go on long bike rides when I’m in my 50s and 60s and decent clips.

The other thing is I am not a morning person and no matter how much I love riding, I loath getting up early to hit the road before it gets too hot and sticky out. There isn’t enough coffee in the world to make me happy about getting up before 9 or 10 am.

All that being said – I’m excited to be riding with my son tomorrow morning – a brisk 25 miles together through Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This afternoon will be all about prepping the bikes, getting the hitch loaded on the truck, deciding if I want to ride this on my hybrid (which will match his speed better and be a “better” “workout” ha ha) or my road bike (which will make the ride easier). Laying out our gear, pre-loading the coffee maker, and picking up snacks and drop-ins for our water bottles (it will be cooler but still mid-80s by the end of the ride). Guiding him through his first supported cycling event.

Bucks County is home to only 12 covered bridges still standing.
Bucks County is home to only 12 covered bridges still standing.
(photo credit: http://fmyphotos.com/history-bucks-county-covered-bridges)

 

See you on the road!