Not a Banner Training Week

First, let me say I'm sorry for being a bad blogger. Writing takes emotional energy and I haven't felt I had much energy to spare this past week. Returning from Spain has been challenging -- I haven't felt well, I feel pressure in my own business and at Summit to get caught up, and my schedule has been very, very hectic.

Anyways, April......

Thursday, April 1st -- Again, very busy day. I work at Summit on Thursdays, the I was teaching a bike maintenance clinic at Sports Basement in the evening, and after that, had an appointment in SF to do a bike fit! Whew! So, I fit in my ride in SF before the clinic. Tooled around the Presidio and Ft. Point. Very easy intensity, felt pretty good, and did some climbing at an easy pace.

Ride Stats: 56 minutes -- 13.2 miles -- 13.9mph avg -- 29.0mph max

Friday, April 2nd -- Another busy day. Two bike fits, my first Pilates session, and my first private coaching session with ten year old Canaan. Also fit in some time at Summit. My only bike time was 55 minutes on the bike coaching Canaan (plus 60 minutes car time each way -- need to ride there in the future). Got my new carbon wheels and tested them out during the coaching session. So, so tired that I didn't get ready for Saturday's race -- decided to go to bed early and prep for the race in the morning.

Saturday, April 3rd -- Corporate Center Crit in Santa Rosa. In retrospect, I wasn't mentally ready for this race. Didn't prep, wasn't nervous, probably shouldn't have done it. But I did. Didn't hear the start and found myself near the back of the pack going into turn one. Couldn't seem to move up and felt super-uncomfortable at the back (probably questioning my own skills). Off the back, which gave me a great opportunity to ride the course, examine each corner, try each corner from multiple lines, and work some pacelining and echelons with other riders. Bummed that I lost contact with the pack (and wasn't fresh enough mentally to get back in either time I got lapped), but it was a good, hard workout and definitely a learning experience.

Ride Stats: total ride time was just over 2 hours (including warm-up and cool-down). Average mph during the actual crit was 19.6 (included 5 minutes cool-down). Forgot to write down my HR data, but if I recall, my average HR was in the 150s.

Sunday, April 4th -- Velo Girls Birthday Ride. This is a big day and I was working the pit stop. Lots of physical work -- lifting tents, food, water, etc. Played a lot with Julie. Didn't get my own ride in, but felt my recovery activities were okay.

Monday, April 5th -- Feel like I'm coming down with a cold. Argh! Didn't want to go to Pilates but since they have a 48-hour cancellation policy, I went. Felt okay during the session but fatigued afterwards. Also worked at Summit and had one bike fit in SF.

Tuesday, April 6th -- Yep. Definitely feel like I've got a cold. Bombing my system with zinc & vitamin C. Busy day. Cleaned the patio, laundry, lots of catching up on work, three coaching meetings. No ride. If I'm catching a cold, I don't want to make it worse by training.

Wednesday, April 7th -- Woke up feeling miraculously better (love that zicam). Giana wanted me to do the Wed. Night Ride, but I had to make a short appearance on the morning ride as well (two potential coaching clients were planning to ride). Felt really good to be on the bike and I kept my intensity low but felt super-strong. Isn't it amazing what a difference one day will make?

Morning Ride Stats: 1:22:35 -- 20.62 miles -- 15.2mph avg -- 29.7mph max -- AVG HR = 128 -- MAX HR = 153.

Ran some errands and rushed home to meet the carpet cleaners. Moved furniture, lifted, planted the garden, etc.

Wednesday night was the first night ride of the summer (yippee!). This is traditionally a fast-paced ride with both team and club members and lots of fun. Small group tonight (only 10 women) and almost all of them were from the team. Shaun was leading out and she doesn't know how to start at a warm-up pace (we know this from many past experiences), and since it was cold, my muscles weren't very happy. But, I rode hard and was able to hang with the team. Did some incredible rotations into the super-hard headwind on the way back. My back started feeling a bit tweaked. Was it the cold, the pace, the pilates, the lifting I'd been doing? Different pain than the hamstring tightness I had in Spain. Argh!

Evening Ride Stats: 1:10:47 -- 20.3 miles -- 17.3mph avg (19.2mph avg at the halfway point) -- 31.2mph max -- AVG HR = 144, MAX HR = 166.

Thursday, April 8th -- Another busy day. Back is definitely tweaked but feels okay on the bike (just hurts when I'm sitting in a chair). Felt better after Pilates (we addressed it). Worked at Summit, needed to drop my car at FastSigns to get the car wrap re-done, Velo Girls yoga clinic in Los Gatos. The only riding I could fit in was from FastSigns to Summit and return (took the Alameda so I could at least do some climbing).

Ride Stats: 43 minutes -- 10.1 miles -- 14.1mph avg -- 37.4mph max

Friday, April 9th -- Took Julie to the vet to get spayed, new client testing and initial consultation (ran long), short ride, massage, picked up Julie.

Have been excited all week to climb Page Mill. I know, sounds crazy since I'm not climbing well, but I've been very excited to climb. Unfortunately, didn't have a big window of time and I definitely needed a massage. Only had time to climb the first 3 miles of Page Mill (returned via Moody, Tepa, Arastradero, etc). Climbing very well. Pain in back is gone, but my left side has gone numb. Definitely proprioception issues and feeling very wobbly on the bike (can't hold my line). But my legs feel good!

I think I've tweaked my left piraformis, which is causing the back pain and sciatic issues (including the numbness). Suzanne worked wonders, but I'm feeling some discomfort today (Saturday). Will have to see how I feel later. This totally bums me out because I've definitely lost precious training hours this past week or so. I also need to work on my time management issues. Lots of new clients and lots of appointments, which is great, but it's definitely cutting into my training time.

Friday Ride Stats: 1:17:43 -- 14.7 miles -- 11.3mph avg -- 31.4mph max -- AVG HR (only recorded during first three miles of climbing) = 144, MAX HR = 166.