My Week By Bike

Greetings!

Training is going great. Last week I biked a total of 250 miles! I love cycling more every day that I go for a long ride. Nothing compares to the feeling of finishing a 60-mile ride and being able to get off the bike, shower, and then eat some of the several thousand calories that were just burned!

My first 60-mile ride was last Sunday, and I took a loop around Wolf Creek Rd.--a very tough route that had more hills that I expected. A gracious bystander named Don, however, saved the day when he refilled my water bottle for me at his house! Monday was a rest day and I went for a short run. Tuesday was the best day of biking of the week: I biked back to Corvallis, my hometown, with my friend Elle to surprise my Mom as an early Mother's Day gift! That trip totaled about 55 miles. Wednesday and Friday I did my favorite 18-mile loop up Lorane Highway and Bailey Hill in Eugene. Then came Saturday, when I traveled back to Corvallis for a family event that evening and spent the afternoon biking 60 miles through Kings Valley with my awesome friend Signe! I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures of the gorgeous Mid-Willamette Valley scenery in 85-degree weather, but take my word for it when I say that the exhaustion was worth it! Another piece of good news is that I feel like I'm improving my performance on hills. I still don't feel comfortable on extremely steep inclines, but my endurance on sustained climbs is better every week. Irritated at me for not taking pictures on my rides this week? Don't worry, so am I. In lieu of providing you with photographs, I have created another visual for you:

My Week By Bike:

Yesterday I went to a free "Yoga for Cyclists" class and it helped my muscles recover from the week's exertion. My training plan for this week is very scary and is as follows (my friend Kurt, a professional trainer, made it for me):


Monday 20 recovery day
Tues 35-50. Moderate pace
Weds 35-50 use intensity
Thur 35-50 fri use intensity
Fri day off or make up miles at recovery pace, use fri if rain or life has kept you off the bike during the week
Saturday 50 +++
Sunday 50+++. Try to get as many miles as possible.


Note that I have been told to redefine "rest days" as including what are called "recovery rides"--basically, more biking. The schedule above, which I'm supposed to also repeat for next week, scared me when I first looked at it this morning. And then I looked again at the route and schedule for this summer. And then I decided that I'll just need some really, really good workout music this week! I feel ready to power through the miles.  


Thank you for your support!


Cheers,


Nina