Training is on Track -- Blogging is a Bit Behind

Darn! I've been trying to write my Land Park race report from Saturday (soon, I promise) and have gotten a bit behind in my blogging.

Anyways, life is good. I'm feeling strong and healthy. Here's a quick recap since Saturday.

Saturday, March 6th -- Land Park Criterium -- I'll do a full race report soon, but I felt great, had a blast, and can tell that I'm going to be a kick-ass racer. This was a big success for me and a great little motivational tool to keep me going.

Sunday, March 7th -- Busy day. Knew it would be challenging to fit in my training because I was committed as promoter at the track and then had plans to see Cathy Wong for her birthday. Luckily, I run around a lot at the track so I fell like I got some good recovery activity in. Surprisingly, not fatigued from Saturday's race.

Monday, March 8th -- Off. Did about 30 minutes of core and stretching. Did half a dozen variations on abs/obliques/back and threw in some push-ups and biceps curls and triceps kicks. Am already regaining some core strength and my flexibility has improved significantly.

Tuesday, March 9th -- I did an AT test on the CompuTrainer. Joy Pinsky came over to "moderate" the test for me (it's hard to do the test on yourself and record all the data). Started with a pretty good warm-up. My legs felt very fresh and I had a lot of energy. I've been through this protocal a number of times with various coaches, and this is the first time I really felt the drive to push it and continue to complete failure. I think the events of the past couple of years have made me mentally tougher and less likely to give up when it gets tough. Hopefully this will serve me well in racing.

Anyways, I got to a point where I was above threshold and told Joy this was when she needed to start cheerleading. At that point, she said "you're doing great, Lorri, you're at 160." Doh! Don't tell me numbers, Joy! At that point, I thought "gee, this is hard" and only lasted another three minutes.

Anyways, the test data comfirmed what I'd suspected. My AT has changed significantly since my last test (a blood lactate test by Max Testa) in February 2003. My total WATTS at my new AT is lower than my WATTS at my old AT, so I've obviously lost strength. But this will be a good benchmark and will allow me to track my progress during the season.

After the test, Joy and I did an "errand" ride. Actually, I needed to go to Fast Signs in San Mateo to proof the art for my car wrap. Took the back streets over to avoid El Camino (didn't think Joy would do well on El Camino) and then tooled around the hills of Hillside for a while before heading back to Burlingame for lunch. The weather was beautiful and I wore a shimmel and shorts (no warmers) and unfortunately got a bit sunburned sitting on the patio at lunch. Stupid me. Total ride time (warm-up, AT test & ride) -- 2:04

Wednesday, March 10th -- Today I was scheduled for 2.5 hours in zone 2 with one 10-minute climb no higher than zone 3. 8 women showed up for the Wednesday ride. 5 of us were significantly faster than the other three so we split up and did separate rides. My HR was high from the very beginning. I think a number of factors contributed to this (DOMS from my strength work on Monday, sunburn from yesterday, the fact that I had to wear a long sleeve jersey to protect my arms even though it was 80 degrees out). But besides that, my effort also felt harder than normal for the HRs I was achieving.

We probably rode a bit too hard (sorry Giana) but it was a fun ride. When we finally stopped after the first 90 minutes, I noticed we'd averaged 17.2mph and realized I should back off a bit (no wonder it felt hard). Ride Stats: Time -- 2:32:11 -- 40.29 miles -- 15.9 average -- 34.8 max -- average HR = 138 (although this may be off a bit since it includes an easy warm-up and cool-down -- for most of the ride I was in the 140-150 range) -- Max HR = 162.