countdown to Temecula.

The last four days have been going really well. except for Monday which seemed like the longest hardest day off in a while. I've been switching gear(s) lately and trying to really prepare myself mentally and physically for Xterra. Everything from figuring out how to best get my calories on the bike to figuring out what shoes to take out on the run. I have also been trying to eat a little more lately. I was pretty focused on leaning out for Wildflower. I raced at 160 pounds. I was at that weight a week before and held it until race day. In retrospect this may have been a mistake. I am currently 164 and feeling stronger and more powerful. The proof is in the numbers especially on the bike.

Tuesday.

This is what I'm talking about. I had an aerobic swim and another 6 minute time trial on the trainer. In the morning I got on the table and had a 60 min massage. This was key as my left shoulder was really tight. The infra-spinaetus and rhomboids were the culprits. This can develop into an overuse injury if not careful. I was supposed to do a 60 minute aerobic swim but kept it to 30 minutes just to give the shoulder a break. My swimming has been pretty strong lately and I figure better to keep it healthy. Later I hit the trainer for my 45 minute session. Five minutes into the warm-up I knew it was on. At 25 minutes I hit it and boosted to 320 Watts. No time to ease into this interval and I just held on trying to stay steady at 100 rpm. Here's the data:

Avg Watts: 312
Avg HR: 158

Avg HR last 3 minutes: 168

Max:174

This is a huge improvement and a PR for Peak average power. Here is a comparison of workout graphs from a week ago.

This Week:

A far more steady effort and average power 24 watts higher. Sweet. Granted I was still a little beat last week but its nice to see those kind of numbers and feeling that good.

Monday.

Was the worlds longest day off. I was tired. Not exhausted but the kind of feeling that usually overcome with a solid workout. No workout so I had to suffer through the day feeling sluggish. It was hard to focus on work as I kept wondering how I would feel this week and race day.

Sunday.

Mothers Day. I snuck out with James for a 7:30am ocean swim at the shores. The conditions were ideal and we swam to the 1/4 mile buoy. I wanted to work on my drafting and James complied taking it a little easy not to drop me. We stopped a couple of times trying to navigate but on the way back I gave it a solid effort coming back 4 minutes faster. I hit my target (kayak launch buoy) perfectly and enjoyed a little body surf in. Total time around 40 mins. High tide made it a little further by 200m+/-.

Later that day we went to the mountains to spend some time and I snuck out for a little 45 minute cross country run. Mixed terrain including road, rocky jeep trail and single track cow trails. This was a nicely rolling course and I did some mellow surges on the hills working on cresting through and allowing the HR to fall on the backside. At 4000 feet and 76 degrees and dry, there was some acclimation benefit as well.

Saturday.

We pre-rode the course in Temecula. A lot of driving and only spent 1:30 on the bike, riding one loop stopping to ride a couple sections more than once, especially the first climb and dead man's corner. I took it easy on most of the climbs but hammered the downhills. This is a really fun course and the Epic was handling awesome through some burmed turns and rocky holes where I missed a couple lines. Really forgiving ride. I felt good on this ride and wanted to ride it again but everyone was itching to get on the road????. I rode with 28-30lbs and that pressure felt good. After the ride, Ryan was helping James dial in his suspension. I resisted temptation and left well enough alone.

Today I have a 60 minute aerobic swim and some 3 minute run intervals. Should be fun to check the legs out.