Cycling intervals

The group was not at Jackson Station on Tuesday morning. Oh well, I decided to get a few miles anyway. I took it slow and easy for about 20 minutes because it was still dark and foggy – no scratch that – it was misty. It has been 100 percent humidity here lately. No I don’t think you understand – when I say 100 percent humidity that is what I mean. Here in South Mississippi 100 percent humidity means that the air is thick – so thick that it is like static rain dispersed with drizzle. You can look out the window and see the sun shining with rain hanging in the air. You cannot walk, much less ride or run, 10 feet without being totally saturated. Put a little bit of eucalyptus in the air and you have a wet sauna. Anyway, it is even worse in the mornings. I cannot wear my glasses and regardless of effort I soon weigh several pounds more due to water weight.

Once the light came out I decided to play with a little bit of speed work on the bike. Not much but I was going to do 1 minute all out efforts followed my 2 minutes of light peddling. It is harder than it sounds. 2 minutes of recovery is plenty of time in the beginning but past about 6 intervals it comes around quick. I completed 9 sets but the last one was not a solid effort – a minute was too long. But, it felt good. The legs were tired but not overwhelmed. I want to get organized and create a real cycling training plan this year. I want to get to the next tier if you will. I was in the 23 MPH range at a couple of races last year (23.9 at the Heart of Dixie – 27.5 miles) and want to pick it up a notch. I want to make my time on the bike more meaningful this year and not just more volume. I enjoy the group rides and the camaraderie but I want the solo stuff to be valuable and come out of the off season bigger and badder.

I just did some simple weight training at lunch – worked on my bench press and called it a day.