Tuesday, February 1, 2011

You don't frighten me english pig dog!

Decided to make my first substitution today. The workout recommended by the primary book I'm using called for 20 minutes @ LT but I decided I would get just as much bang for my buck, it not more, by doing 4x5min with 2 min RI's. While not a sustained 20 minutes, what I liked about this was the information I could gleen from repeatedly starting below 80% and finishing around 93%. I could find the right gearing that allow me to do this (53-17 it appears) and pay attention to how I was feeling each time I started getting toward the top end of the range.

But, another/real reason I wanted to do the 4x5's is because I suck at pedaling out of the saddle. Back in the summer I would get out of the saddle for what seemed like a minute, but was actually 15-20 seconds, at a time before it felt like my legs were going to drop off and my lungs explode. I started to do something about that late last year in anticipation of the hell that was to be MOB Wednesday night workouts. I was right about the hell that is MOB and the earlier work did help. I was able to stand for longer but it still hurt like hell. I knew I needed more work. The MOB nights are getting more difficult and I do not want to be left behind.

The 4x5's had me sitting for 4 minutes then shift to one gear harder and stand for 1 minute. It went really well. I actually felt ok standing. The first two times I was able to have very little weight on the handlebars. The next two were not as good but I certainly was not leaning on them for absolute and utter support like I was two weeks ago. Sure it was just 1 minute at a time but I can easily use this to build on. Standing and climbing is not as frightening as it used to be. Bring on the 'morrow MOB! You don't frighten me english pig dog! Go and boil your ...... you know the rest.

Distance: 17.05 km

Speed:  21.77 kmh

Cadence:  77 rpm

AVG HR:  159 bpm

Weight:  205.6 lbs

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