Monday, February 22, 2010

Testing 123

I managed to get in my preseason AT testing this past weekend. I totally dig doing things like this because it helps me accurately gauge "where I'm at", and provides a great reference when reviewing at a later time. NOTE I enjoy pulling out training logs from years gone by - makes for some good reading :)
Anyway, Here's the results as of 2/20/2010
10 minute warmup in the pain cave on the road bike riding a Kinetic fluid trainer.
Power         Heart Rate     RPE
100 watts      114               1 
120 watts      122               2
140 watts      131               3
160 watts      140               3.5/4
180 watts      148               4
200 watts      154               5
220 watts      162               6
240 watts      168               6
260 watts      173               7/8   Anaerobic Threshold
280 watts      177                8
300 watts      182               8.5/9
320 watts      186               9
340 watts      187              9/10 BOOM!


* Worth noting I did do a 1 1/2 hour hill workout the previous
day and they reccomend a rest day the day before but I don't think it mattered much. I also ran out of gears at 300 watts, but again that didn't matter much when all was said and done. So away we go.




Allez!
Ray

retrospective riding 101

Maybe posting will get me back to sleep LOL (kind of)
I was fortunate enough to get some outdoor miles last week because of a nice (read early) training class schedule. So Friday I found myself out mid afternoon on the roads I have frequented all these years. It struck me as odd that I started to reminisce how 87th street was one lane each direction with a barrier shoulder as opposed to the 4 lane road it is now. Then there's the entire community that exists now complete with village hall and block after block after block of multilevel townhomes in what was once open area in Willow Springs. I never see anybody in that whole expanse of a "new village" though. All this while making sure I could get back home in time to pick up my younger little person, who it seemed like yesterday would hold my hand while walking down the street, and now (unfortunate for me anyway) would think I was crazy if I suggested it. All this while wrapping up the final mile of the days route and passing the expanse of a highshool I've wrapped up my ride a thousand times past. A highschool that my older little person was sitting in for the tail end of his school day. CRAZY... Yes, time moves on, and people places and things, change. All except the memories....

Allez
Ray

Thursday, February 18, 2010

wise or old? I'm goin with wise

I'm looking at this as a sign of wisdom as opposed to the wisdom that comes with age. I rode a hard workout on Tuesday. Wednesday I was going to do an 8 mile run on a trail system that was on the way home. I found myself running the 2 mile section that links in a 4 mile loop. It was snow covered and wet snow at that. I decided at the 2 mile mark to not include the loop. My legs felt like wood going out, and the snow was hard to get thru. MAYBE when I was younger I would have pushed on, but yesterday I turned back and made it a 4 mile run. I told myself I am focusing on cycling more so than running this year, and there is no NEED to do an 8 mile tough run on a February Wednesday late afternoon. For the record I was beat when I got back, and am taking today off. I slept poorly, and have had a headache today thats kickin my a$$.  I guess if I'm completely honest with myself, (which doesn't ALWAYS happen) it may indeed be my slightly older bodies way of telling me it needs more recovery time. so be it. Wiser not older...
allez
Ray

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

mixed feelings and the JAVA mainline...

In one respect, I'm a bit excited that I'm moving into a new phase of my winter training, but the downside is new (harder) workouts have begun and with the increase in intensity comes the burn, breathlessness, and focus necessary to complete certain workouts as planned. It's funny, I always feel out of shape when upping the intensity, but I guess realistically, EVERYBODY HURTS (yeah that was an obvious reference to REM) when riding/running hard... The other interesing thing to note is I was on the fence as to what to give up for lent. It was down to
Meat, Coffee, Fried foods, and maybe even facebook.
 Wasn't sure until earlier today when I made the mistake of having a second cup of coffee (this time from SBUX) on my way into an 8 hour class. I may as well swallowed a handful of amphetamines,or did a line of finely ground coffee I was literally jumping out of my skin! SOOO, it's funny how the answers come to me. Looks like the unbelievable task of giving up Java is about to begin. I'm sure (for a wide variety of reasons) that this is probably the best thing I can do right now...
Allez
Ray

Monday, February 15, 2010

I guess it's kinda like riding a bike...

As most of you, I have been in "official" training mode in one form or another since January rolled around. Being on a team this year has brought me to the point of really trying to organize and document my weekly/monthly plans (like I did when I raced back in the 90's), but I've had a problem getting it all down on paper as I did so well my first time around. So (GASP) I've been riding and cross training as I mentally seen fit for this time of year without having it all mapped out ahead of time. This hasn't sat well with me, so I've decided to take advantage of being in a class for work and using the down time (lunch/breaks etc) to get it all ironed out and put down on paper. The thing that I appreciated after I began this process is what I was doing for these first 6 weeks of the year has closely mirrored what my training bible suggests. So I guess (to a point) training is like riding a bicycle, and you never really forget. I think it helped that origonally (read 1990s)I was so methodically organized in my planning. A lot of it in this part of the training year is second nature. SO some of the pressure is off. :) Not that I'm not going to follow thru and write it all out, because I enjoy going back to my old journals to see how things progressed each year.

Allez
Ray

Friday, February 12, 2010

song of the day...

It's quiet now and what it brings is everything
Comes calling back a brilliant night I'm still awake

I looked ahead I'm sure I saw you there
You don't need me To tell you now
That nothing can compare

You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden A frown
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around

It's easier to leave than to be left behind
Leaving was never my proud
Leaving New York, never easy
I saw the light fading out

Now life is sweet And what it brings I tried to take
But loneliness It wears me out It lies in way

And all not lost Still in my eyes
The shadow of necklace Across your thigh
I might've lived my life in a dream, but I swear
This is real

Memory fuses and shatters like glass
Mercurial future, forget the past
It's you, it's what I feel.



You might have laughed if I told you (it's pulling me apart)
You might have hidden a frown (change)
You might have succeeded in changing me (it's pulling me apart)
I might have been turned around (change)



It's easier to leave than to be left behind (it's pulling me apart)
Leaving was never my proud (change)
Leaving New York, never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the light fading out

You find it in your heart, it's pulling me apart
You find it in your heart, change...

I told you, forever
I love you, forever
I told you, I love you
I love you, forever
I told you, forever
You never, you never
You told me forever


You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden the frown
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around

It's easier to leave than to be left behind (it's pulling me apart)
Leaving was never my proud (change)
Leaving New York never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the life fading out (change)

Leaving New York, never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the light fading out (change)
Leaving New York never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the life fading out (change)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

love the snow

I was out running with my gal a couple nights ago. Most of the roads and sidewalks were shoveled, but when we got to a stretch of snow covered sidewalks I remarked how much I enjoy a good long run thru snow covered trail or road. Theres something about the crunch of snow under your feet that make an ordinary run a pretty cool and sometime challenging experience. I've grown especially fond of the runs in the forest. The silence of a snow covered forest is really serene on a weekend winter morning. So we've been hit with a foot of it (snow) in one day, so right now I'm in shovel mode. lol, but maybe some cross country skiiing is in my future? If I'm not too sore from all this shovelin LOL
allez!
Ray

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Mitchell is cool

As many of you readers know LOL, I had thought my car was going to be in the junkyard, and I would be RELUCTANTLY forced to have a new car payment . What happened is nothing short of a blessing. My neighbor Mike rebuilds hotrods, and he said he would look at it. Not only did he look at it, but comparison shopped for the best price on parts, and did the work. Last night I drove out of his garage with the Saturn running better than it probably has in YEARS. I'm amazed and grateful for his kindness. Yes I'm sure he enjoyed working on it (because it's one of his hobbies) but I can't think of any other person that would have done what he did for me. I'm grateful to have him as a friend. So 2 grand is much better than a car payment, I'm mobile again, and I don't have a new car payment which = money for cycling gear etc.
Thanks Mike, you ROCK!
Ray

Monday, February 1, 2010

how you doin?

I've been literally amazed at my recent string of reaquainting with highschool and more recently (and more exciting) grammar school friends thru Facebook. It's actually real cool, until I start doing the math as to how long it's been since those days. Age is relative right? Maybe it's an illusion? YEAH that's it.... I'd be lying if I didn't say I had mixed feelings about time, and how much has passed.
Time for some lyrics!
Better take care

Think I better go, better get a room
Better take care of me
Again and again
I think about this and I think about personal history

Better take care
I breathe so deep when the movie gets real
When the star turns round
Again and again
He looks me in the eye says he's got his mind on a countdown 3-2-1

Forever
I'm screaming that I'm gonna be living on till the end of time
Forever
The sky splits open to a dull red skull
My head hangs low 'cause it's all over now
And there's never gonna be enough money
And there's never gonna be enough drugs
And I'm never ever gonna get old

There's never gonna be enough bullets
There's never gonna be enough sex
And I'm never ever gonna get old
So I'm never ever gonna get high
And I'm never ever gonna get low
And I'm never ever gonna get old

Better take care
The moon flows on to the edges of the world because of you
Again and again
And I'm awake in an age of light living it because of you
Better take care
I'm looking at the future solid as a rock because of you
Again and again
Wanna be here and I wanna be there
Living just like you, living just like me
Forever
Putting on my gloves and bury my bones in the marshland
Forever
Think about my soul but I don't need a thing just the ring of the bell in the pure clean air

And I'm running down the street of life
And I'm never gonna let you die
And I'm never ever gonna get old
And I'm never ever gonna get
I'm never ever gonna get
I'm never ever gonna get old
And I'm never ever gonna get
And I'm never ever gonna get
Never ever gonna get old