Week II... In reality Week I...

Last weeks medical procedures really killed the second half of my week. Friday and Saturday I was under orders to let my stomach settle while starting treatment so my hours took a pretty substantial hit. I think my month long goal of 40 hours is still feasible so I will keep that as my top monthly goal.

Week II Goals:

Train over ten hours:

Ride six days:

Run Seven days:

Swim:

Monday: Up early for an easy ride on The Vulture. Not 100% sure of my fit right now so I will be breaking out the video equipment to make some checks before dropping The Vulture off at Norms to get my aero bars cut. Very ho-hum fifty minute ride. I do think that I need to remember that I am not going to feel great on the TT bike the first two days. I have a lot of hours on the road bike the past few months so my lower back muscles have obviously lost some strength. Brutal seven plus mile run on the treadmill. I felt good initially but I just could not get into a good groove. I struggled through the run and got the time and distance in that I wanted. (1 hr. 40 min.)

Tuesday: Second Tuesday of the month which is my long meeting day. I forgot this day in my pre-planning for the week. Up early but really tired and feeling crappy. I ended up riding thirty minutes on The Vulture but I did not feel good about it at all. My position is all messed up right now so I need to make a bunch of changes. Following my meeting and a walk with Eko I forced myself to run three miles on the treadmill. Not an exciting run and very short but I just could not stand the thought of another running zero this early in the year. My stomach is improving rapidly but there is still a long way to go and running seems to exacerbate the situation. (50 min)

Wednesday: Last night while preparing for work I was staring at The Vulture and noticed that my aero bars appeared to be pointing down. I got out my level and sure enough they were way off. I made the adjustment and this morning and I felt significantly less pressure in my forearms and shoulders. I Rode for an hour feeling pretty good. I still need to work out a seat height / fore aft position situation but overall I was feeling better. The last twenty minutes of the ride I did five all out accelerations bringing my HR up to 175-185. I would then spin and bring HR back to sub 140 and repeat. Good ride. I was in a rush when I left for work this morning and in my haste I left my morning and afternoon doses of medication on the counter. My afternoon really suffered and I am so glad that I ran on the treadmill. I had to stop twice for emergency bathroom breaks during an easy five mile run. I really can't afford to forget my medication until everything is ok. (1 hr. 35 min.)

Thursday: I woke up early for the closing listings on WMUR.com and could not get back to sleep. It's nice to have a very long day filled with nothing pressing except exercise and shoveling. I did some video work this morning with The Vulture and feel like I got my position much more dialed in. I dropped the TT rig of with JC at Norm's to do the final cut on my aero bars. Race wheels is the only thing holding The Vulture back from being 100% ready for race season. Around 1:30 I loaded onto The Soloist a moderate hour. I was a little off switching back to the road position after four and a half days riding TT. I listened to Badmotorfinger and the first half of Temple of the Dog. I immediately followed that up by shoveling the driveway for close to an hour. I had a quick snack and then excitedly put on my snowshoes for their Marlborough debut. I had an incredible snowshoe run and fulfilled one of my goals of navigating my way to the rail bed on the other side of the mountain. Once I turned around I was cold, very wet, and running out of daylight. I was fearing an epic bonk heading back over the mountain and was more than a little nervous. Fortunately I made it home with a few minutes of light left and immediately went in the hot tub. I was red all over my backside and now see the purpose of the gore-tex lined tights. I can't wait to get back out on the trails! (2 hr.)

Friday: Wow was I tired when I woke up this morning! My quads were so sore from snowshoe running over the mountain and back! I am so excited about how strong my legs are going to get with my new hobby. I talked with Boj last night and my theory was correct that we crossed paths on the tracks just before I turned around yesterday. I put in an easy hour on The Soloist this morning with exception of a ten minute pickup in the last fifteen minutes. I listed to The Crooked Vultures for the first half of the run and got lost in Pink Floyd Echos. What a freaking trippy song. Walked Eko and the roads were slick as hell and it turns out that I have a delay. I am going to fit in a run before heading to Maine for the weekend. Th e training gods were smiling on me this morning with this two hour delay. I need to drive to Maine after school today so it was doubtful that I was going to be able to get in a run. I ran an easy five miles on the treadmill at 6:59 pace. I was totally out of fuel by the end of the run having ridden early and walked Eko all on only two cups of coffee. What a nice surprise heading into the weekend! Psyched to get in a run! (1 hr. 35 min.)

Saturday:

Sunday:

Total: Seven hours and forty minutes.

Summary and Thoughts: