Rest Weeks Blow

Yesterday I wrote about 2,000 words on the necessity of rest and recovery. Why it's important and why most people get it wrong. It included a few charts that I found so that I could express visually what the goal of a rest week is. Once I was at that arbitrary number of words I realized I was literally only about half way through and that nobody, save maybe 2 people on the planet, and they certainly don't read my blog, would be interested in such a detailed explanation. So, I deleted it and posted that little card instead. Probably a good call.

None the less, this week I am "recovering." And while I know how important it is to recover it does not make it any more fun or less annoying to go out and ride my bike for 2 hours keeping my HR at aerobic levels. My HR spiked to 164 yesterday when I was riding no hands putting my gloves back on and the road started to tilt up hill. Since I didn't have my hands on the bars to change to an easier gear I just grinded (spell check is informing me that is not an actual word. who knew?) up it until my hands were covered in $2, fashion forward, purchased from Walgreens, specific for cycling, gloves.

One thing recovery rides are good for is thinking and yesterday was no exception. I thought a lot about the race on Sunday and how I have lost all confidence in my own ability to ride solo in windy conditions. I used to be ok at it, so what happened? This made me think back to the times when sheer ignorance would put me on the front of a group ride in whatever conditions and because I wanted to earn the respect of my fellow lycra clad homeys, I'd drag their asses for miles at a time. I honestly can't think of the last time I intentionally put myself on the front of a group ride. If I wasn't on a group ride I was riding solo (obviously) and almost always doing the only bike workout I knew, ride as hard as you can until you get home. It was then that it dawned on me. As I've gotten wiser in my methods of training I have simply forgot the most basic workout.

I sit in front of my laptop for a few hours a week trying to come up with great new interval sessions that go for defined periods of time in very defined ranges of heart rate and the workouts have a very specific goal that in theory should translate to something race specific. These are important. They need to be done. But what about the good old fashioned solo hammer fest that starts out way too fast and ends way too slow because you bonked a half hour away from the end? I think that one is important too and I need to get back to it at least once per week. I can't do it this week, because you know, recovery, blah! But, I'm already looking forward to the extended pain that this type of ride always brings on. What would the notation for that workout look like on a training plan? Something like this:

1 x fast @ duration. (HR 0-200)

Have a great day peeps!