Biking, running, biking and unplanned eating

On Friday I went to Adult Swim. There were not a whole lot of us and Coach Steve took it easy on us. The volume was down and the intensity was down. However, there was a whole lot of drilling. Overall it was an easy session. At lunch I played a little bit of racquet ball with the ‘Pros’. I got schooled. They were impressed in my ability to run down some of their shots but – I got schooled. When I play racquet ball I am strictly a defensive player. I do not make shots I just keep the ball in play and wait for the other guy to miss a shot. This works pretty well against lesser players. However, when playing someone that can make the shots – well – I got schooled. The easy day on Friday set me up for a good bike ride on Saturday.


A smaller group met up on the south end of town and we ventured forth. This ride was not spirited. There were no big breakaways. No big gaps to bridge. But it was a good solid ride with good solid pulls. I got in one or two really good pulls – really good pulls for me. I have made it a priority to pull for at least a mile at intensity. The good part is that the faster you ride the shorter the duration. Mind you, this is all out for me. I usually have to dig deep and limp back on the pace line. I’m going to have to start pulling my time instead of distance to increase my endurance.

Sunday morning I met up with Dan and Chad for a longish run. They were getting 12 miles and I would have to run to met them. I do these runs on an empty stomach (just 2 cups of coffee). I left the house at 6AM with two gels on me. We (I) talked the whole time and really enjoyed the run. It was not overly taxing and I ended up with 14 miles averaging in the mid-to-high 8’s. I went home to recover. I was still planning on doing the Wednesday afternoon ride. I had a post workout shake and a bowl of oatmeal. At lunch I had a half pound of carrots and some humus.

I got ready for the afternoon ride and looked outside and it was pouring down raining. Not complaints here – we have not had any rain all month. The grass is brown and the plants are suffering. The rain let up a little bit (all in all we did not get very much rain but some is better than nothing) and I headed out the door. Due to the rain the Sunday group was light. I met up with four and then Raland joined us. No one wanted a spirited ride - including me. My legs were dead. Many times they will wake up after a few miles. But with the rainy road spray and the wind blowing hard we were not on our game. I think I got one good pull in and jumped back into the draft. We turned around at Sumrall. Butch, Matt and Raland put together some really strong pulls and sprints on the way back. All of these efforts were in the high 20’s (like 27 and 28 and 29) with one of the sprints at 31. I was just holding on. I rotated quickly out of the pulls.

I made my way home a little early – only 25 miles. I was in a calorie deficit when I started the ride and now I was ready to devour the house. I had set myself up for failure. I ate for about the next 4 hours. There was nothing bad in the house but the volume was impressive. I started with grilled chicken and stream vegetables. A little bit later I had some cottage cheese with fiber one cereal. A little bit later I decided to make some pancakes (high fiber pancakes – a small batch with powdered sugar). And then to finish off the night I consumed two Greek yogurts with honey. After the first meal I really was not hungry I just wanted to consume. I must take care of my nutritional needs better. I should have had a much larger meal between exercise sessions and then ate sensibly after the bike ride. Oh well, live and learn.