Monday, July 24, 2006

Heat Training........SUCKS

After climbing for probably 20+ of the 65 mile ride on Saturday, I had a real hard time getting motivated to go for a long ride on Sunday. Ryoji was leaving that day, though, and we figured we should share one more brutal day in the saddle. We rolled out at 7:20 am and it was already 83 degrees and getting hotter by the minute. No cloud cover today just bright blue skies and nowhere to hide.

After all the climbing the day before, we decided to skip our usual Bald Peak climb to ride around the rolling farmlands before heading to Hagg Lake. We did try our hand at exploring some of the back roads before we hit Hagg but ran right into a STEEP climb and after getting to the top of that mother, we decided to lick our wounds and turn around for Hagg. By this point it was pretty darn hot. Not sure if we were going loopy from the heat but we decided to do two loops around Hagg Lake and the heat literally baked us on the climbs.

Highlights from Hagg Lake:

- Stopping at one of the restrooms to douse our jerseys with water only to have them baked dry within 10 minutes.
- Getting passed by a cyclist wearing baggy basketball shorts. This was on a climb and he obviously wasn't out for a long ride but just funny having him stick it to us on a climb. We were taking it easy and he was working to pass us so we let him have his victory. He then had to stand and hammer each subsequent climb to stay ahead of us....while we really weren't working at all. All this in 100 degree temps...we finally pulled over for a bathroom break because we didn't want to see him keel over.....why do people do that!?!

Once we left Hagg, it just got hotter and hotter...... Chris had described cycling during a hot day as "riding into a blow dryer" and we were definitely feeling it today. Still was able to push the last hour into the heat / wind so feel like the fitness is coming around. Of course, didn't do much for the rest of the day except for replenishing fluids and veggin out. Nothing like the heat to suck all of the motivation out of you.....glad that it looks like it is turning around here soon...temps are dropping FINALLY!!

Sunday *friggen hot* Bike Stats
101.3 Miles
5:45 Total Time
17.7 MPH Ave
127 HR Ave

Monday
Today was another hot one and it felt really good to get in a recovery swim INDOORS and avoid the heat. The legs were feeling it a bit after all that bike volume on the weekend.

Swim Stats
3000 Yards Total
54 Minutes
1 x 2000 Free
1 x 250 TI Drills
1 x 500 Free
1 x 250 TI Drills

Post-work, had plans of running but after doing a bunch of errands and still seeing the temp stuck at 94degrees, I decided to skip it.

I seriously hope you all aren't melting out there....and to the peeps on the left coast who are dealing with heat AND humidity....I must bow down....I don't know how you do it....seriously.

*peace*

7 Comments:

Blogger Lora said...

And we wonder why "regular" people think we're nuts??!!
I'm sure the wife of that show-off biker would thank you if she could.
Great job out there!!

1:22 AM  
Blogger Steven said...

Nice job getting it done on Sunday, Mike!

I thought after our Saturday outing you'd take it a bit easy on Sunday. I thought wrong.

Keep it going...

8:49 AM  
Blogger Habeela said...

I think you deserve a medal for biking that far in that kind of heat!

3:51 PM  
Blogger Tammy said...

Yeah buddy! Good thing 'global warming' is a myth or we'd really be in trouble, eh? hehe.

Let's hear it for 70 degree temps... Yeah! Yeah!

9:25 PM  
Blogger Rachel said...

It IS hot. I hate when you drench yourself and the water just sits there b/c of the humidity.

7:32 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Back to back long bike days. I guess this is the way to train for an IM. I'll remember that for future reference.

I run into guys like that at the Y who are lifting weights and come out to run a mile on the track and don't like people passing them. I usually test them to see how many laps it takes to brake them.

9:51 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

Solid ride and nice time in the saddle! Yeah whole hair dryer thing really isn't fun. But if it's like that come race day, you'll be ready for it!

6:04 PM  

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