Getting back on track

Summer is over and this is what we like to euphemistically call "Welcome week" at Michigan State University. I guess "freaking out week" has too much truthiness.

Anyway, with the return of my normal insane work schedule and march of deadlines (not to mention the mouldering past-due deadlines of summer that still linger and are beginning to stink up the calendar) comes a reminder: this is why I need to ride and run!

Oh yeah. All that work of the mind requires an hour or so of suffering on a regular basis...or I never get out of my own head.

So...there were workouts this week! A run and a ride...and we aren't done with the week yet, so I am hoping one more ride later today. I'll post the details soon.

Welcome back, motivation.

Sloth in August and one old workout report

Well, it's been a pretty lame month of August as far as workouts go. Perhaps this is my official off season? I've really not been doing much more than one workout a week since mid-July. Now it's mid-August.

I do have one workout to report from a couple of weeks ago now:



Saturday, 8/9
Tempo Ride 18.8 miles (hilly loop) at 18.4 mph AVS (from memory, a conservative guess)

This was an evening trip around my typical loop course. It was humid and cool, a curious but common Michigan evening combination. I saw two deer on the route and had a brief chat with some pygmy goats as I rode by a field where they were grazing.

The effort was steady but unheroic. I hadn't done much in a long time (over a week) and so I was just trying to get something in without collapsing. Mission accomplished.

It's tough to call such a slow ride a tempo ride, but fitness-wise...this is probably where I'm at right now.

Workout: Bike Commute

Monday 8/4: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

The Monday ride to work is becoming a nice routine. I like starting the week this way. Since I ended last week with a ride on Saturday, I did a little better fitting workouts in. But it's time to set a new goal of some sort to get motivated and back into a more regular schedule...

Workout: Tempo Ride

Saturday 8/2: 30.4 miles, 20 miles @ tempo AVS 18.4 mph

Rode with Jeff on Saturday for the first time, even though we've been meaning to do it since the summer started. We managed to fit one in before the summer is over, but just barely.

It was about 5 miles to and from the rendezvous point for me, with a good 20 mile hilly course for the tempo section. Our pace was good considering we had a big headwind on the way in to contend with. Jeff has good TT power, he can push a big gear. I was working hard towards the end to stay on his wheel on the flat sections.

I rode the warmup and cooldown at about 18 mph AVS, spinning a high cadence. Great workout.