I haven't done much in the way of exercise in the past few days. After Tuesdays hard run, I occasionally felt a little something in my shin that just wasn't quite right. So I skipped Thursdays interval day. With the endless pool being refreshed (the water was becoming opaque - so it was drained and refilled), which requires some time for the chemical treatment to calm down, I basically took Wed-Fri off.
Since this weekends run is relatively short at 5 miles, I decided to go on a decent length bike ride. I rode the same Wachusett reservoir trip I did a few weeks ago, where the hills really did a number on me and kicked my ass.
Not so, this time around. There were a couple minor differences between this time and last:
- a little cooler today
- not being the first long ride of the season
- raising the saddle up about 1/2 inches, which is still about 2 inches too low for optimum power. However, I've been willing to sacrifice some power for ability to put my feet on the ground while sitting on the saddle. At least until I get more used to the clipless pedals
- having had a good fast tempo run earlier in the week, sustaining a high heartrate.
While I'm sure all those factors had an effect in my improved speed this time, I'm actually thinking that it not being the first long ride of the season and doing the hard tempo run earlier in the week were the most beneficial. Today, I had much more power on each stroke while ascending the hills, whereas before it was just enough power to keep moving. I was actually able to accelerate in some instances while going uphill, and I was much more easily able to keep momentum.
It being cooler today also had the effect that I was able to do the whole trip with 2 x 24 oz bottles of gatorade. Although I brought mix with me in the event I needed to stop and get more water, as it turned out I didn't need to.
Total Distance: 47 miles
Total Time: 3:00:47
Avg HR: 152
Todays time was a good 20 minutes faster than the last time. My average speed last time was about 14.2 mph, and today it was about 15.6 - a 10% increase. Thats a fairly significant jump, so I'm pleased with the results.
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