Two Days in a Row

I cannot put together two good training days in a row, and it is very frustrating. Yesterday was great; this morning felt like a complete bust. The fact that Will said, "recover, stimulate your quads and hamstrings by visualizing," contributed to my initial angst at the workout, and then my attempt at doing so made it nearly pointless to even try. I can't recover if I'm trying to stimulate, and I can't stimulate if I'm trying to visualize, and I can't visualize if I'm trying to recover. His, "It's going to be awesome," didn't help at all. Basically I ended up setting my timer for 30 seconds, waiting, then continuing the altitude drop legs. For the altitude drop bench, I took 3 deep breaths and continued. The other three went OK because I tried to make myself have a better attitude about them since they were not as mentally taxing.

• Altitude drop legs, 10 sets of 4, visualizing recovery and stimulating the muscles between each set
• GHR, overspeed, 5 sets of 5
• Russian twist, 5 sets of 3 each side
  
• Alt drop bench, 10 sets of 4, visualizing recovery and stimulating the muscles between each set
• Crate crunch, 5 sets of 40 with 5-lb weight in crate, 30 seconds rest between sets

For the afternoon, half of which I did outside:

• Lunge, 45 sec, R leg forward
• Phasic leg curl, 75, L leg
• Repeat the previous two 5 times
• GHR, 5 sets of 10
• 1-arm-elevated push up, 45 sec, L arm on ground (lasted through all 5 R, then 1 L, before I couldn't hold myself up any more)
  
• Phasic row, 50, L arm
• Repeat the previous two 5 times

My goal for the afternoon was to finish with enough time to maybe run home for supper for definitely get to Healthways for the Harpeth Bike Club ride. Nothing better than a hard ride with sore hamstrings! I managed to finish in time to run to Publix for some sample food and a Snickers bar, arrive at Healthways with just enough time to pump up my tires, and then hit the road with a surprisingly huge crowd (it was nearly 100—the regulars thought that would have kept the others home).

A large crowd also means a fast pace, and tonight did not disappoint. Well, it seemed super fast until I looked at the stats and realized that it was 30 seconds slower than last time. I'm not sure how we lost time, because it felt like we were flying the entire ride!

Usually I can stay with the lead group until I turn off, but tonight I got dropped and was already a minute down on the pack when I turned off. Thankfully, three guys turned with me, so I had a little company and was less worried that the group might beat me. One guy was strong and took some good pulls, but he let me lead a lot, knowing that I am a triathlete. Of the other two, one was super strong downhill and on the flats but not so on the hills, and though he dropped us a few times on the downhills, we always caught back up and eventually left him behind; the other was strong but I think stayed back with the downhill rider so that neither of them was alone. I had been hoping that Downhill Man would get back on at least for a little so that I could help him understand that if he'd pull us downhill or on the flats rather than trying to drop us, we'd pull him up the hills and it would benefit all of us; no such luck. Maybe he'll be out again next week.

The guy who stayed with me (or did I stay with him?) would pull me some, and as soon as he let me lead I'd ride him off my wheel. I couldn't figure out if he was letting me go or if he just couldn't jump on and stay on. It confused me the entire time, but I kept going regardless, and we ended up coming in together and beating the fast, long group by 2:12.

8-04-10, 7-6-10, 6-29-10, 6-22-10, 6-15-10.

• 1:05:16, 20.92 miles, 19.2 avg (35.6 max), 1266 cal, 171 HR (192 max);
  1:04:46, 20.86 miles, 19.3 avg (34.4 max), 1318 cal, 166 HR (192 max);
  1:35:50, 28.26 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 1763 cal, 150 HR (189 max) (rode from home);
  1:02:01, 20.01 miles, 19.4 avg (34.9 max), 1249 cal, 172 HR (191 max);
  1:05:37, 20.69 miles, 18.9 avg (34.4 max), 1291 cal, 164 HR (190 max)
• 25:49, 9 mi, 21.2 avg, 162 HR;
  25:04, 8.87 mi, 21.2 avg, 161 HR;
  24:06, 8.91 mi, 22.2 avg, 145 HR;
  21:45, 8.01 mi, 22.1 avg, 171 HR;
  27:43, 8.81 mi, 19.1 avg, 160 HR
  
• 39:26, 12.02 mi, 18.2 avg, 180 HR;
  39:41, 12.0 mi, 18.1 avg, 170 HR;
  39:34, 12.0 mi, 18.2 avg, 172 HR;
  40:16, 12.0 mi, 17.9 avg, 174 HR;
  37:54, 11.88 mi, 18.8 avg, 168 HR