Still Not Running

Downtown Colorado Springs from Palmer Park

Well it’s been five weeks since I could run, and the IT Band is still not there. The good thing is I’m getting a lot stronger on the bike, and  riding a lot - 22.5 hours this week!  Had some great rides this week and was able to “mix it up” on the group rides vice hanging on for dear life. It looks like a lot of my running goals may be out the window this year, but I should be stronger at the bike races. So the plan now is to do various mountain bike races in June, then the Bicycle Tour of Colorado for a good hard training week. My next big race will be the Breckenridge 100.  So lots of big climbs at altitude over the next 1 ½ months!

This week’s training log looks something like this:

Mon: Took it easy, the race Saturday & long ride Sunday took a lot out of me. Did some stretching and used that foam roller thing…OUCH!

Tues: AM – Strength Training.  PM - ProCycling Road Ride – 1.8 hrs. What a difference not running 10 -15 miles in the morning makes! I felt really strong the entire ride. Normally, I’m hanging on for dear life. Was up front mixing it up and right up there on the climbs. I was supercharged this evening!

Wed: AM – Technical MTB ride in Ute Park, then rode to work – 1.5 hrs. PM – Easy ride home. Got caught in a hard rain/hail storm, cleared up by the time I got home so continued riding on the Air Force Academy – 2.2 hrs

Ride to Work

Thurs: AM – Hill repeats! 6 * Rossmere hill. Rossmere is a very steep climb that takes me between 5 & 6 minutes. Each climb was faster than the previous. Felt strong! Rode to work afterward – 2.2 hrs. PM: Rode from work to Manitou Springs and met Roswitha for Yoga class – Ride 1 hr, Yoga 1.5 hrs.

Fri: AM – Easy Mountain Bike ride in Ute Park with Max. Was going to do an easy ride to & from work, but Max has been so disappointed that I haven’t been running with him, I took him with me on an MTB ride. He was a very happy dog. Rode easy, focused on technical stuff – 0.8 hrs

4 Hours of this makes for great overall body workout!

Sat: AM – Technical Mountain Bike ride. Rode with Kevin Cahn, a very good technical rider. Technical riding is where I need a lot of work and if your gonna improve you gotta ride with people that are better. Did most of our riding in Palmer Park. So four hours of rocky technical riding. That kind of riding really gives you a full body workout! – 4.5 hours

Kevin

Sunday: AM  - Epic Mountain Bike ride. First real epic ride this year. Great back country ride up to a little over 9,000 ft (anything higher still has snow). Long Steep climbs, fun descents, amazing single track! 5,600 ft of climbing. - 8.4 hrs