Monday, June 4, 2007

New Training Theory

Finished up the weekend with a 55 mile road ride just to loosen things up from yesterday's climbing festival. Tomorrow morning I will goof around on the bike in the morning and then head out to the Columbia Plateau Trail for another quickie overnighter. The forecast for tomorrow night is 100% chance of rain with 21 mph gusts. I couldn't miss the chance to play around in those conditions.
I am beginning to formulate a new training concept that may be just what I need for GDR preparations. I like how my body has been responded to the recent combination of long rides in quick succession. I also like the benefits of shorter, high effort rides in the 2-3 hour range. I am starting to think the perfect combination would be 3 weeks of fast and furious riding followed by a week where I try and pack as much saddle time in as possible. Three weeks of 13-15 hours followed by a 30-35 hour week. I am on track to do about 28 hours this week if things go right. So far so good. During today's ride I learned that I should avoid pushing my heart rate too much amidst multiple days of long rides. One short hill sprint let me know how empty my legs are. I can keep turning the pedals over but they are operating like a hybrid car. Great for efficiency not performance. Makes me look forward to next week when I can get zippy again.

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