Yesterday's RPM ride was the kind that makes me glad to be alive.
It was a decent warmup followed by a 13 mile course that looked U-shaped. A steady descent followed by a flat stretch followed by a really vicious steep finale. It took 52 minutes to finish, so you know it was not an easy climb. At some points I was moving at 6 mph.
It was the end that made it exciting. I went all out in a way I haven't done in years. My power levels were holding at about 280 to 300 watts. It's not a high level of power, but my threshold is only about 220 watts. I was purely anaerobic for about the last 12 minutes of the ride. By the time I hit the finish , my heart rate was at 182 BPM. I was sure that I was about to puke all over my bike.
I know, I know, it's the foundation time of year and I'm supposed to be going easier than that. Tough shit. Most people are coming off a long season of training and racing. I'm coming off 2 years of being a fat slob and the mental boost from knowing that I still have that kind of fight in me is well worth it.
Today on the trainer, I can't say that I felt it at all. I was able to spend about 90 minutes on a rolling CompuTrainer course and felt great.
This week, I'm going to try and get back into the gym. No, I'm not going for any new records (though that 1200 pound goal is seriously taunting me!), it's not the time of year for that. By the end of the year, I want to get back under 165 pounds and I'll need to be doing the kind of weight work that I was back in the summer.
This morning, I was at 173.6 pounds and 19.8% body fat.
