Forty-Nine
Saturday Morning (today)
I used my new HR monitor to measure my "OwnIndex", a value Polar says is comparable to VO2max. I did the test two times in a row at around 5:45 AM, lying on the floor. My OwnIndex value was 66 the first time and 68 the second time. The Polar manual says values greater than 62 are excellent for men age 20-24; greater than 55 is excellent for a 35-year-old male; top athletes typically score values above 70 (men) and 60 (women); and values as high as 95 can be reached by Olympic level athletes.
Today my resting heart rate seems to hover around 47 bpm when I'm perfectly still and relaxed. Earlier I had been trying to take my morning pulse using a finger on the wrist while watching a clock. I was getting values around 54 bpm. Now I think those numbers were a little higher just because of the movement and stress induced by trying to take my pulse manually while I was in bed, straining my neck to see the clock.
Friday (yesterday)
Toys galore: S725 heart rate monitor; Thule stuff: cross bars and rack mounts for the van, V2 bike carrier, wheel carrier, 8 lock cores, wrap-around brackets (from Yakima - to mount the speaker); chain lube and a tube of greese; Castelli shorts (Wow! I've gota start watching my waist line); Craft long sleeve wool base layer.
Workout: Riding a few miles to REI to get the Yakima wrap-arounds.
More gardening.
Called Honda and then Car Toys about installing the amp.
Thursday
Workout: Riding to REI to pick up another bottle of wash-in waterproofing solution.
More work in the garden.
The TOA CA-160 car amplifier/mixer arrived.
Completed my entry for The 508. (Finally!)
Wednesday
Started weeding and turning the soil in the garden.
The Atlas SM82-B speaker arrived.
Tuesday
Measured the Hippie Chick 1/2 marathon course at Champoeg. Rode the course three times. That and the pre- and post-calibrations added up to about 45 miles for the day.
Monday
Had my first phone conversation with Michelle Grainger. So far, it seems like I'm providing her with more information about myself than she's giving me, but hopefully that will change soon. She encouraged me to use a HR monitor. To be fair, she said a cheap one would do, but I (a.k.a. "Spendy") decided to get the S725 (I needed the altimeter). Michelle confirmed that power is somthing I need to work on given the riding I do (fixed gear, lots of hills). She said it's a waste to do strength training during the off-season and then stop going to the gym all together during the summer; you've got to keep doing the strength workouts - at least in some sort of maintenance mode. We also talked about weight and body fat. She said that for ultra-long distances, a little extra body fat isn't a bad thing. (Still, I'm going to be pissed if I can't fit into my Castelli's before they're worn out.)
Around 8 PM I had to take Xiang to school. After I dropped her off I went to the gym at work and did the off-season cycling worout (developed by John Howard) described in "Getting Stronger" by Bill Pearl. I tried to be conservative with the weights I used, since I was still a little tired from Saturday's 300K.
Afterword
Story Number Three: The Icky Story
More info. than you need to know, butt hay (pardon the pun), this is my diary; no one said ewe have to read it. The rhoids were really bad early in the week. I'm guessing that all the chili pepper I was eating in those Indian curry dishes irritated the hell out me. As much as I like spicy food, that was a big wake up call to really start watching what I eat. This is NOT a problem I want to be dealing with during a multi-day race. After a week of eating a bland (by my standards), high-fiber diet, I'm feeling much better. Now I've just got to stick with it.
I used my new HR monitor to measure my "OwnIndex", a value Polar says is comparable to VO2max. I did the test two times in a row at around 5:45 AM, lying on the floor. My OwnIndex value was 66 the first time and 68 the second time. The Polar manual says values greater than 62 are excellent for men age 20-24; greater than 55 is excellent for a 35-year-old male; top athletes typically score values above 70 (men) and 60 (women); and values as high as 95 can be reached by Olympic level athletes.
Today my resting heart rate seems to hover around 47 bpm when I'm perfectly still and relaxed. Earlier I had been trying to take my morning pulse using a finger on the wrist while watching a clock. I was getting values around 54 bpm. Now I think those numbers were a little higher just because of the movement and stress induced by trying to take my pulse manually while I was in bed, straining my neck to see the clock.
Friday (yesterday)
Toys galore: S725 heart rate monitor; Thule stuff: cross bars and rack mounts for the van, V2 bike carrier, wheel carrier, 8 lock cores, wrap-around brackets (from Yakima - to mount the speaker); chain lube and a tube of greese; Castelli shorts (Wow! I've gota start watching my waist line); Craft long sleeve wool base layer.
Workout: Riding a few miles to REI to get the Yakima wrap-arounds.
More gardening.
Called Honda and then Car Toys about installing the amp.
Thursday
Workout: Riding to REI to pick up another bottle of wash-in waterproofing solution.
More work in the garden.
The TOA CA-160 car amplifier/mixer arrived.
Completed my entry for The 508. (Finally!)
Wednesday
Started weeding and turning the soil in the garden.
The Atlas SM82-B speaker arrived.
Tuesday
Measured the Hippie Chick 1/2 marathon course at Champoeg. Rode the course three times. That and the pre- and post-calibrations added up to about 45 miles for the day.
Monday
Had my first phone conversation with Michelle Grainger. So far, it seems like I'm providing her with more information about myself than she's giving me, but hopefully that will change soon. She encouraged me to use a HR monitor. To be fair, she said a cheap one would do, but I (a.k.a. "Spendy") decided to get the S725 (I needed the altimeter). Michelle confirmed that power is somthing I need to work on given the riding I do (fixed gear, lots of hills). She said it's a waste to do strength training during the off-season and then stop going to the gym all together during the summer; you've got to keep doing the strength workouts - at least in some sort of maintenance mode. We also talked about weight and body fat. She said that for ultra-long distances, a little extra body fat isn't a bad thing. (Still, I'm going to be pissed if I can't fit into my Castelli's before they're worn out.)
Around 8 PM I had to take Xiang to school. After I dropped her off I went to the gym at work and did the off-season cycling worout (developed by John Howard) described in "Getting Stronger" by Bill Pearl. I tried to be conservative with the weights I used, since I was still a little tired from Saturday's 300K.
Afterword
Story Number Three: The Icky Story
More info. than you need to know, butt hay (pardon the pun), this is my diary; no one said ewe have to read it. The rhoids were really bad early in the week. I'm guessing that all the chili pepper I was eating in those Indian curry dishes irritated the hell out me. As much as I like spicy food, that was a big wake up call to really start watching what I eat. This is NOT a problem I want to be dealing with during a multi-day race. After a week of eating a bland (by my standards), high-fiber diet, I'm feeling much better. Now I've just got to stick with it.
posted by Sabertooth Salmon at 5:53 AM
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