Training - This Time With Feeling!

Our Christmas this year got a bit tough on Junior. He was running a fever, up to a high 103 degrees or so. I saw a 104.5 but couldn't replicate it so that was probably user error. A slew of 103.8s and such though. With some Tylenol it'd get down to the 100-101 range.

He was like this for about 6 hours today, except when we picked him up or cradled him.

We figure it's either teething or a virus. His last fever, hitting and holding 105 degrees, went away pretty much on its own although by then we'd visited the ER and spent a long night worrying about him.

Now 103 seems pedestrian.

We'd planned to do some family and friends stuff but called off the plans. The Missus spent a bunch of time doing stuff around the house. I ended up going for a ride.

Before the ride bit I just want to say that my pretty aggressive diet, going on for a solid 30+ days, has been possible only because of her. I've outlined my basic diet-oriented needs to her and she's managed to find things to make that fit those guidelines. I was pleasantly surprised at the spread on the table Christmas Day. I've realized that it's not just the diet - there are a lot of other things in my life that simply would not be possible without her support.

Anyway, after we realized that it'd be best to stay at home with Junior, the Missus waved me on to go ride.

I'd gotten a cheeky comment from a friend, asking me if I had boiled over on yesterday's ride. He'd ridden in similar conditions wearing shorts, and he questioned my sanity for wearing three layers up top and knickers to boot.

Today, with the car thermometer reading an even 50 degrees, versus the 54 or 55 I saw yesterday, I decided that I needed to redo my ride. I had two things to do. First, I wanted to see how it went if I wore a bit less clothing. Second, due to time limitations, I wanted to ride a bit harder. I figured I had an hour to ride so that'd be my goal, to do the hour sort of hard.

Contrary to yesterday I went out today with a thermal long sleeve + shorts skinsuit, so really a Roubaix pair of shorts and a Roubaix LS jersey. I wore a wicking LS base layer and a wind vest, so I got ride of one LS layer up top.

With the Roubaix shorts I didn't wear anything else so just shorts, versus the knickers yesterday. I did slather on some Atomic Balm (Medium) for heat.

Same gloves, same shoes/booties, same head cover, same helmet.

I'd totally NOT expected to ride today (family/friend stuff planned) so I had no helmet cam charged. I tried one that I normally leave plugged in but it stopped about 30 or 40 meters into the ride.

So much for any cam stills.

I headed out, my legs feeling completely fresh. No soreness or anything from yesterday, but then again, to be fair, I really didn't push hard. I did enjoy the bare leg feeling outside. It's more fun climbing out of the saddle, it's much easier to move around.

My bare knees and shins were definitely chilly compared to yesterday, especially with the opening 30-ish mph descent. However once I got going they were fine.

On the other hand my torso was still warm, even my arms. I think that I could have gotten rid of the LS base layer and done a SS base layer instead. The vest might have been much but I prefer my torso warm, retain some core heat.

Hands and feet were pleasantly warm, head also.

I pushed a bit - my favorite get up is a long sleeve + vest up top and shorts and booties down below. It screams "flahute" and although I haven't been a very hard core rider in forever, it's still fun to head out feeling like a Belgian Classics rider.

A "Belgian Classic" kind of shot from 2010, a chilly day at the Rent.

Note LS jersey, vest, shorts, and oversocks.

Photo by RTC

I checked the SRM on the slight hill that I like to use as a reference point. I noted that I hit it 11 minutes into the ride, so it's pretty close to the start of a ride (and now I can check my rides to see the numbers/power/speed/etc).

I also noted that I went up the thing at about 17 mph today, a far cry from the 24-25 mph I could sustain during that magical 2010 year.

With my body a bit confused ("Cold legs, hot arms, what the heck?") I never felt really good. I wasn't bonky or anything but definitely lacked some edge. The diet has to be part of it.

On the other hand I've ridden 20-odd hours in December, the biggest month this year after January. So I'm actually training a bit.

I made no real efforts on the ride, and in fact I plodded a bit even when I thought I should be rolling better.

Incredibly, comparing Christmas Day to The Day After Christmas Day, I went slower today on a shorter ride on a day with much less wind.

The only highlight of the day was my right turn from 10/202 to 315 - it's very much like a race turn, there's a slight downhill after, then a slight uphill, so it's great for a "dive into a turn and sprint" kind of scenario. The downhill acts like a leadout and the uphill lets me sprint hard.

Yesterday I did a half-hearted jump, maxing out at 1000w and hitting about 33.5 mph. Today I played the lights, almost stopping 100 meters away from the lights, then accelerating to the corner once the light turned green. I wasn't up to speed but I did an okay sprint, peaking at 1100w but, more importantly, holding 800+w for a good 15 seconds.

I think the mile of sun protected road just before really affected my jump - my legs went from feeling great to feeling like blocks of wood in that chilly, shaded bit of road. The 15 or 20 seconds of coasting and soft pedaling probably didn't help either. My heart rate, normally pretty high after a big sprint, only peaked at 147 bpm. I even waited for a minute or so, to see if it would go up (it usually peaks in the 30-40 seconds after a sprint) but no, it started heading down from 147 bpm.

Whatever. My sprint was a bit lower than a best-race type finish, where I might peak at 1250w and hold 1100w for 18 or 19 seconds, but it's good for a diet-penalized, second-ride-outside-in-months kind of jump.

The bike felt great during the sprint. I had good control, no front end bouncing around like it did with the higher stem. Instead the front end felt solid, planted, and totally predictable.

I don't plan on riding outside anytime soon so the bike may be back on the trainer for a bit.

And tonight I've been up a bit with Junior again.

Oh and he's up.

2 AM.

101.6 now, much better but still feeling hot.

And he's chatting.