Century Training Series: Day 2
Today would see me actually doing my first ride as part of the Century Training Series. It was nothing serious, just an hour at endurance pace. I consulted with @331miles regarding how to work in my warm up and we agreed that I ride my warm up of six miles then do an hour at my projected century pace which is 15 mph.
The weather was pretty nice actually with it not being as hot or humid as it has been the last couple of weeks. It made for a pretty pleasant ride. There was a large number of cyclists around White Rock Lake today too. This was the first day I’ve ridden there since the Tour De France started so I’m thinking some folks have been watching on TV and deciding to hit the road. Call it the TDF effect.
Overall I think this ride went pretty well. Near the hour point I was starting to feel it a little but I think that’s because of my bibs. Here are the numbers for today’s ride:
Total Time: 1:36:11 (1 hour at endurance; 36 minutes warmup/cooldown)
Avg: 14.6 mph
Distance: 23.49 miles
Crunches: 20
Push Ups: 20
I was going to make a copy of the training plan found in Bicycling to post here but won’t be able to. I emailed Bicycling for permission and was told I could request a PDF of the article but prices start at $1900. I like my readers but that won’t be happening.
Read MoreHad a good hard ride last night
I’ve still been riding just about everyday as I near the twelve weeks to go point until my first century (July 4th is the 12-week point). Once I hit that twelve week point I’ll be following a training plan but until them I’m just trying to build base mileage, work on the hills and get acclimatized to the heat here in Texas. Tuesday was a day off the bike so I had planned on riding hard yesterday. That I did.
The heat this week has been pretty bad with temps at or near 100F with heat indexes over 100F. Yesterday was no different. Knowing this, I’ve been very conscious to drink water throughout the day and have a bottle of G2 in the afternoon. I’ve also delayed my evening ride by about a half-hour so I’m starting around 6:30 PM and religiously doing a slow six mile warm up. This combination seems to be working for me right now as I’ve had no episodes like last week when I was obliterated after 15 miles. One good thing was that some later afternoon clouds moved in which helped with the heat some yesterday.
Read MoreMuch better ride last night
After the horrible ride I had on Monday evening I decided to make some changes to what I was doing and with the help and ideas of some of the commenters on that post I made several changes and had a great ride. Here’s what I did:
- I drank more during the day. I said that I have a bad habit of not drinking enough during the day so I took that to heart and ramped it up. I still don’t think I drank enough but what I did drink helped.
- I ate a cliff bar as I left work to get some food in my stomach and give it time to digest before getting in the saddle. This means I ate it about an hour and twenty minutes before riding.
- I delayed my ride a half hour. I did this to try and eliminate some of the heat problem and it seemed to help. A lot. Sure, it was hot for the first 45 minutes or so but it started to get much better as the sun started dropping. I think that was a huge improvement.
- I didn’t wear a cap under my helmet. I sweat really bad and have big problems with it getting in my eyes. I’ve been wearing a cycling cap under my helmet to solve this problem and that solution works great. With the heat though I don’t think that’s a viable option anymore. I noticed a big difference in air flow in my helmet (I need a new one with more vents) but I did deal with sweat in my eyes. I need to pick up one of those head bands that solves that issue.
- I did an actual warm up. I road the first six miles at a sloth like 12.3 mph avg because, like Doug said, I believe I was starting out too fast. I believe this helped.
Those are the changes I made for last nights ride and I had a great 23 mile ride. Was the greatness of the ride a result of all of the above? I don’t know. I think they at least contributed to a better ride. Like I said I road the first six miles in warm up at a 12.3 mph avg speed. My overall avg speed for the 23 miles was 14.5 mph. That means I road the final 18 miles at a 16.7 mph avg speed. All in the small ring. I felt it last night and a little this morning. This is the first time in a while that I can actually feel like I had put in a hard workout on the bike and felt it after. Awesome.
Thanks to everyone who provided support and ideas from yesterday’s post. I sincerely appreciate it.
Read MoreObliterated after 15 miles
Yesterday, instead of going to the group handling training I normally do, I opted for a longer ride because I need the mileage. In hindsight I probably should have just did the handling training because my ride sucked.
I started off OK and wanted to ride something a little bit faster than my planned century pace of 15 mph. I targeted an average of 16 mph for the ride. Once I got down off the trail and on the loop around White Rock Lake the wind was blowing pretty good with gusts to 20 mph. I was still able to maintain a good speed but was frequently below 15 mph.
About half-way through this first loop I really started to labor. I want to think it was the heat but it could be several issues.
- I wonder if I wasn’t hydrated enough. I’m bad about not drinking enough water throughout the day and I think this, combined with the heat yesterday, caused part of the problem. I carried a bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade with me but it didn’t seem to help.
- I may not have gotten enough food. I had a small romaine salad with a can of tuna and a few mushrooms for lunch. That was it. No dressing or anything. I also had some wheat pretzels in the afternoon but I basically didn’t have anything to eat several hours before my ride. That, combined with the heat, was probably a recipe for disaster.
- Carrying eight 10 pound bags of potatos while riding isn’t helping. Think about that statement. The next time you’re in the grocery store find a 10 pound bag of potatos and feel how heavy it is. I’m carrying eight of those in extra body weight/fat around while I’m riding. That hasn’t got to help me at all except on the downhill sections where I can really build up some momentum. I’m very surprised that I don’t have knee problems due to me carrying all that extra weight around for years.
Looking for a cycling partner at White Rock Lake
Ok, I’m officially tired of riding down at White Rock Lake by myself. I need somebody who wants to ride around the lake on a regular basis on weekdays and weekends. I ride there mainly because it’s convenient for me and it’s a nice ride.
I’m trying to train for my first century ride in September so I’m putting in the mileage but still learning the whole nutrition side of the sport. I’m not a hammerhead so I’m not looking for the 20+ mph group rides that I see out there sometimes. I’m trying to average 15 mph for my century so that’s what I try to average when out riding. I’m very bad about trying to go all out on all rides so I need a partner who can help keep me under reign on rides we should take it easy. I need hill work so once a week I try to put in about a 15 mile ride plus 5-8 hill repeats.
On weekdays I usually arrive at the tennis center off Fair Oaks at about 5:50 and then hit the road by 6 PM. From there I ride down to the lake and do one or two laps usually depending on how I feel. I’m hoping a riding partner will help keep me honest and instead of only doing one lap to always do two or three.
For weekend rides I’m open for other areas to ride as long as they aren’t a long way away to get to. I’ve been riding 25-30 miles on Saturdays and recently did my longest ride ever which was 35 miles over hilly roads.
I open to either a male or female riding partner and would prefer someone that’s equal to my riding capabilities or stronger.
After reading this it seriously sounds like a personal ad! I don’t know if I have anyone who reads my blog that rides at White Rock Lake so I may have no luck. I’ll be posting this on twitter so maybe that’ll help too.
Read MoreCONNECT WITH BTL
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