I was pretty pumped about doing today's training. I don't know why, but I was. I got up early, ate and was on the road shortly after 8 am. Normally I'm not up for work by 8 am.I had a really strong ride, right up until the 2.5 hour point. Then for some reason, and this has happened once or twice before, my heart rate went from 128 to 158. It was just after eating a Lara Bar.
I don't think it was the Lara bar, but for the next 15 minutes I was mostly coasting on the bike and still had difficultly getting it under 148 bpm. Then, as quickly as it went up, it went back down to the 120's to 130's.
Even though it got better, I still felt a little fatigued. The last time I felt this way was on a ride I did with Carlo's earlier this year. I just didn't have any core power. Doing a long ride a week before the Muskoka Half Ironman is a bit of a gamble on my part. In the past, I would have started my taper on Monday of this week and today's ride would have ended at the 2.5 hour point. I didn't start my taper yet because I feel that I race better when I taper less, as strange as that sounds.
As I was finishing the ride I ran into Alan Adcock. He's a South African transplant. I met him riding last year and he did the House of Payne Beer Run last year. This year he got injured at work, he's a firefighter. Now he can't run, only bike. It was beautiful outside, we had a great talk and I was admiring his new Trek Madone. Unfortunately he won't be able to do the House of Payne Beer Run this year.
When I got home, I did my brick run. Keeping my heart rate down was TOUGH. I walked a lot. I felt okay when I got home, no bonk, legs felt fine. I ate, showered and was shopping at Costco within the hour. After today, I debating if I should start my taper. I have a 2 hour run planned tomorrow and I don't know if I should do it or shorten it?
Long Bike - 3:35:39 / 113.47 km / 31.5 kph / 131 avg hr / 2866 ft climbing
Brick Run - 33:28 / 3.78 miles / 8:50 pace / 143 avg hr
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3 comments:
I'm interested in finding out about your normal tapering routine. Do you vary this for A, B and C races?
Hey Rob, I follow the Mark Allen training Online system. Normally it is only an a or b race. An A race is tied in after an entire training program, which included base building, then speedwork and then a two week taper before the big day. Although the taper has day's off, it's not easy. For a B race, I'm currently in base building for Clearwater in November and I'm doing lots of slow mileage. I really should do a two week taper, like A, but I'm experimenting and doing only a 6 day taper. You can check out my training log on the sidebar of my blog to see the exact tapering schedule for a A race. Go back to the month of June and it was on the 14th.
Hope this helps.
Good to see you yesterday Bryan. I took your advice and went that different route off Leslie. Great to ride somewhere not been before.
I went for 3 hrs 10 min and felt a little tired at the end of the ride as I ran out of fluid.
I tried to reply to your e-mail from your work address but it always seems to bounce back undeliverable.
Cheers
Al.
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