Training...
Last week, I did the Tuesday Reston Bike club ride(averaged about 20mph), but missed the thursday ride. Instead, I did climbing intervals while Scooter (the moviemaker/filmmaker/videographer) shot me. Friday we went into DC and shot some stuff around the tidal basin and the Washington monument. The cherry blossoms had lost about half of their blooms, but it still looked pretty good.
I also missed the saturday ride to shoot stuff with Scooter before he flew home. I slept through the alarm and missed Sundays ride. I took it easy early this week, turning it into a recovery week, but I did go out for the Thursday RBC ride(averaged around 18 mph). The "B" group seems a bit slow for me, I like it when I'm suffering so bad I can't hang on. That's when I feel I get the most benefit. So this coming week, I'll try the A/B ride.
Today was Climbing intervals on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The Front Royal entrance is at 600' and the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center is at roughly 2000' about 4.5 miles south. I covered 56 miles and around 8400' in 5 hours. I did 2 low cadence efforts up the hill, just grinding away at 20 rpm. That's very much like what the last climb feels like at the Mountains of Misery. The other laps were high cadence 60 - 90 rpm and my legs felt great, my lungs were even ok, but something would trip my circuit breaker every couple of minutes. I'm thinking that it is because most of my climbing intervals have been around that length of time. Of course it could be mental, my mind telling my legs to back off. I think more work at Skyline should increase the amount of time I can keep those high cadence efforts going. I'm definitely climbing faster than I've ever climbed before...I'm optimistic for RAAM.
The link above is to the NCVC newsletter which had a tip about taking a Epsom Salt bath after a massage. So, after cleaning up a bit, I Compex'ed my quads and glutes (endurance and active recovery) and then sat in a Epsom Salt Bath for about a half hour. I'll let you know if it works.
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