3.30.10

PM

* (Another) Killer fun group ride - this ride was fast but totally fun. Kopp, Karel, & Curtis were all there and they definitely showed up with some speed.

Total ride time = 1:54 / ~ 39miles

3.29.10

* Off * Recovery day - Chilled out and then hit up Campeche Bay for some mexican food and beers with Steph.

3.28.10

Mid-day - mtb ride

Rode at Hannah park. Got in a little over two hrs. Did 3 south loops and 2 north loops. Never really went hard - just kept it mellow. Was still feeling it a little bit from the day before. Fun ride - felt good to be in the woods.

Total ride time 2hr 20min / ~22 miles

Side note: Open Road was out there doing a demo - I rode the DI2 electronic shifters - really cool!!!

3.27.10

AM - Saturday
Left the house around 7:30 am - rode ez down to Nocatee area - Radd and I just took it ez for first 45 minutes. Then we caught on to the Saturday Lodge group ride. Sat in for about 10 minutes and then ramped up the pace at the front. Radd and I got a gap and we were able to hold it for a while. Eventually ended up with S. Burke, J. Kopp. Kept the pace high and stayed away all the way back. Then Radd and I turned around and went to the Gate station. Had a tailwind all the way down and then a stiff headwind on the way home. Great ride overall.

Total time = 4hrs 7min / ~79 miles

3.26.10

PM - After work EZ spin
Rode down to Guana River State Park - North Entrance - super mellow pace. Just spinning the legs. My right hamstring was tight, so it felt good to loosen up.
Ran into Tony J. on the way back. He was commuting from work and on his way home. Solid.

Total ride time was about 1:35 minutes / ~25miles

3.25.10

PM - Group ride
County Line Thursday edition
* Big group; really fast - stayed togethter pretty much the whole ride until PVB, where attacks started. Was able to jump on Curtis' wheel and stayed off front to the Lodge. Hit about 36 mph with 196bpm HR! Fun ride - legs are feeling it today for sure.

Here is ride file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28037462

~ 2hrs / 39 miles

3.24.10

PM
EZ spin with Steph - just rode down through Atlantic Beach and back home. Just spinning out my legs for recovery.

~1hr

3.23.10

* PM Group ride - CLR
Did about 45 min up front ez spin with Steph and then joined on to the County Line group ride. Radd showed up so the pace was high. I had wanted to do 5x2min 'all-out' intervals but only managed to do 3x2min. I was never able to fully recover between intervals. I pushed really hard on the bridge on the way back but felt 'flat' at the top. Need to work on my high-end power -- it just took too long to recover. Good ride with a lot of intensity.

Total ride time ~ 2h:15m / 41 miles

3.20.10

Saturday A.M. - did about 45 min up front and then caught on to the Lodge group ride. Had fun and put a bunch of super hard efforts. Radd was there and riding really strong. Got away at the bridge and held it all the way back to Ponte Vedra. Good strong efforts.

3.19.10

* Off Day *
Had to go to Tampa to a golf tournament for work. No riding at all.

3.18.10

* Thursday night Group Ride *

Did the county line group ride - I tried to not work quite as hard as I did on Tuesday. Just had fun and put in a few good efforts.
Total ride time was around 1:30.

3.17.10

* Recovery ride
Super ez mellow spin. Kept HR low (zone 1 with a little zone 2 into the wind) - total time ~50minutes due to starting to rain.

3.16.10

* County Line Group Ride -
Stoked to finally be able to actually do a fast group ride AFTER work! It was a great ride last night - a little chilly starting off, but the speed picked up quick so I was working hard within a few minutes. We only got to do the 1st spoke and the third spoke in Nocatee. Speeds stayed constant around 25-27 mph with a few spikes toward 30 along the way. A couple of guys from Indiana University were in town on spring break and were killing it!

Total ride time was right around 1:25 for about 30 miles.

3.15.10

* OFF * Recovery day! No training.

3.14.10

Race - Southeast Regional Championship Series #1 - Gainesville (Haille's Trails) -
* Ended up with 3rd place Master Expert (30-39). I'll post the full race report HERE, but total ride time was just over 2hrs with some super intense efforts at the beginning. Andy Johnston (former semi-pro) and Allison Anjos (badass cat 1 roadie) got 1st & 2nd. I was just glad to push through the pain and hold on to 3rd - rode about 4-1/2 laps solo (chasing and being chased).

3.13.10

Road ride - did about an hour up front ez with Saswata and Brett Snyder, then hooked on to the Lodge group ride. Did some work on the front (probably more than I intended to). Super windy in just about every part of Nocatee. Then headed down A1A to the Gate Station to refuel and head back. Still had some gusty cross/head winds. Then spun down to Atlantic Beach and back home to round out at 4hrs 15minutes - 83 miles.

Good ride!

3.12.10

* Rollers *
Did 20 min WU ez; then did 20 min increasing to zone 4; then did 20 min CD = 1hr total

3.11.10

* off *

Took the night from riding - worked late and then went to the Ritespot for dinner with Steph.

3.10.10

Urban Assault - group ride
* Rode mtb on the group ride.
Total ride time 2:53 / 40 miles
Fairly ez ride with a few pickups in the pace for not more than 3-4 minutes
Fun ride - probably last one like this for the year --> time change is this coming weekend. The weekly 'hammerfests' will begin shortly!

3.9.10

1 hr ez on the rollers - just spun the legs / recovery ride. Kept hr under 120.

3.8.10

* Off *
Took Monday off from any training.

Getting Focused....

Been neglecting the training log - but the miles have been getting done. I'm going to start working on keeping this and the RecoverBetter blog more up to date. The training and random stuff on here and team / business stuff over there. Did the 12 Hours of Santos a few weeks ago and it was killer! Competition-wise, I got worked over. But I think it was good and it has got me stoked to ride/train again. Over the past few years, I've learned that for me, the desire to train comes and goes throughout the year. I used to stress over it and worry that I would get so lost and lose my fitness, but I know now that its normal for some down time and it actually helps me to focus hard when its time to buckle down.

Next race is SERC #1 this coming weekend in G-ville at Haille's Trails. Just looking forward to pushing it hard and having some fun on the trails. I love bike racing - any kind!! Sometimes I wish I could race every weekend - mountain bikes, road bikes, triathlons, and even some BMX.

Since Santos, I've had two solid weekends of good rides. Last weekend the weather was crap on Saturday. I was pretty bummed at first because my goal that weekend was to get in some good long miles and continue with building some fitness. I hit the rollers for an hour on Saturday and had a decent workout, but rollers are still not as good as real riding. Sunday was a different story - killer weather, blue skies, slight wind.... but it was all good. Got in a little over 5 hrs on the road.

On this past Saturday, I skipped out on the group ride to hit 3 hrs solo. I cruised out through Nocatee and decided to push it through all the spokes and back to the bridge. I stayed in high z4/5 for a good 30-40 minutes and then recovered as I spun down A1A to the Gate Station. Quick refuel and then another 30 minute hard effort into the wind going north. Rolled into the driveway with 3hrs. Yesterday (Sunday) I wanted to hit the trails so I had to fix up the Spark, as she was feeling a little 'under the weather' -I guess 12 hard hours will tear up any bike. After completely rebuilding the rear end linkages and some bearing maintenance - I cruised up to Hannah and knocked out a few laps (did one fast south loop = 20:45) -- total ride time about 2hrs.

Heading into the week with some fatigue in the legs -- loving it! Its funny how I feel 'better' when I'm tired and sore! I plan on training through this week and the race on Sunday. No tapering for low-priority races......

- sbc -