Spent the day on my hands and knees (shut UP, Parke!) laying the subfloor in my basement room for wayward southern cyclists. Yes, southern means you, Massachusetts and below…
I was doing the cutting in the garage so a lot of up and down the stairs. Got it all done minus 4 2×2 panels that I was short. Will get those today.
My legs felt decent in the AM, oddly, but progressively worse as the day went along. At 5:30 when I was done, I went out for a spin. I wore my new/old HR monitor strap with the fresh battery. Was actually helpful to slow myself down. I kept it in what I am guessing you training types call “Zone 1″ but who the hell really knows. Ok, I think I know, anyway I kept it under 120BPM except for the hill back up to the house, where I went into the low 130s cause it was just graded and is so loose I was spinning all the way up it. Was hard.
Zones…I should calculate them, eh? So my resting is about 50BPM. My max should be around 178BPM, though have not checked it this year, specifically. So there are two methods, right? working range vs. total range? Lets go with working range. Does anyone even use zones anymore or just buy power meters?
Zone 1: 101-116
Zone 2: 116-131
Zone 3: 131-147
Zone 4: 147- 162
Zone 5: 162-178
Well, look at that. That intuitively makes sense with where I feel I am during various ride efforts, and where I have always intuitively known my threshold is (or was…), etc. So that is neat. Man its been forever since I though about this stuff.
Ok, today I need to finish the flooring, sand it, get a first coat of paint on it, and ride. Tuesday group ride again tonight, but I am going to skip it or go with the older slower group, if there is one. The wheelchair ride. The Walmart scooter ride. The Magic Chair ride. Cause I am still tired.
Hah, last night I got back at like 630, we made dinner and I ate and had a glass of beer from my current 750ml “vessel” . Then, I fell asleep. I went down like a bag of rocks. By 9 I had slept enough to have enough energy to go upstairs to bed. I did forget my allergy pills yesterday, that never helps. But I am clearly tired. No afternoon coffee yesterday either, as I was working on the floor and it always just gets cold if I am not sitting at a desk drinking.
The big question on the horizon is Sunapee. Hilly road race. Really need to do some of those to get better at those, but need to be able to have a prayer of being able to do one before I waste the time/money on one. But how to do that without doing them? Maybe hilly RR are more gradually difficult. Several people have said Turtle Pond, for example, was difficult even though the course was easy because, being so flat, people went harder. Or maybe Wayne Elliot. I can say W.E. was FAST we were never coasting. Or maybe I just need to rest and get a decent warm up. I dunno. On the fence for sure.
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