Ho-Hum

Reality is finaly starting to set in--the school year has begun again.

Despite having quite a class load today, I slipped in a chilly, cloudy road bike ride in. With the PT, I can easily see why I was so prone to overtraining last year--I can't ride a hill "easily" at all! On the flats, I was able to keep my wattage down around 210, but as soon as I starting climbing a hill--spike!--the wattage goes straight through the roof. The moral of the story is that recovery days need to include as few hills as possilbe, and to spin SLOWLY up those hills that you can't avoid. It wasn't uncommon for me to see 360 watts on the hills without even thinking about it...

Enough about the PT mumbo-jumbo, since I'm the science freak and you guys could care less.

You're probably more interested in how cold I was (it was 25 degrees outside, 19 with windchill). I always go through a quick check after a cold ride to make sure everything is in working order:

1. Wiggle toes. Any feeling? --------------If yes, then ride longer. If no, be prepared for a world of pain after the ride is done...
2. Can the fingers still operate the shift levers? -------------If yes, I've got the right gloves. If no, then my toes are probably already ice cubes.
3. Is there still liquid in the bottles? -------------If yes, drink more! If no, mix in more HEED for enhanced freezing point depression and more liquid later in the ride.

Everything was in check today. Even the toes (gotta get yerself a pair o' these babies:)

Mmmm...pair these Pearl Izumi Wind covers up with Neoprene socks, Neoprene booties, and Neoprene toe covers and you've got 4 layers of wind and water protection. Too bad it still doesn't work for my toesies on rides over 2 hours. Then I just accept that pain that is to come!

Back on track--I got 2 hours of spinning in today, the normal Paoli route. Although Madison has some amazing riding, you really have to get out a ways to ride the best roads. And recovery rides...let's just say that Paoli is one of the best recovery type rides, but still has a fair number of short, steep climbs.

Tommorow, since the legs are feeling good, I'll get in 2-3 hours outdoors with the UW team at a good ol' base pace of 210-240 watts. This is all in preparation for Friday, when I'm scheduled for a fresh new FT power test--can you say 30 min TT? Bring it on.