Right now my hip flexors, aductors, hamstrings and glutes are all revolting against me.
It began yesterday morning with an "if-I-feel-up-to-it" BRICK workout. BRICK stands for Bike, Run, ick… It’s a nice solid cycle followed by a run. For those of you who have never tried one of these, they are remarkably tough - on their own, not so bad, but once you’ve been cranking away for an hour your body is very hestitant to activate the muscles necessary to run; and it’s a very different set.
The BRICK went great, even the treadmill run (this was an indoor session) followed a challenging, hilly course. After the BRICK, a nice long stretching series, and out the door back to homebase.
There was supposed to be a late-morning ride with Meridith, but that was cancelled.
I went to work, bought groceries, ran some errands, then made it back home. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to check out the running club at Fleet Feet. Find some nice looking girls and take a nice evening jog.
There are three loops, 3 mi/5 mi/6 mi. I chose 6mi. The girls there were not too interested in running with me, but I don’t blame them, my tank top was a little stinky from earlier (note to self). We all left the store as a group and the pack shifted. At the top was the Fleet Feet Running Team, pushing 6 min/mile paces - they immediately dropped the group.
I fell into two gentlemen, both in their early forties. One was a synthetic chemist, the other was the rep. for Asics, who was sponsoring the run. Asics is a shoe company, they make running shoes for runners, rather than the consumer base that buys Nike, New Balance, etc… (to paraphrase his shpiel).
We turned up the juice and lost the main pack and the stragglers, running by my estimation a 7:45 min/mile pace, maybe faster. This went on past the turnaround until we lost the chemist. Then I asked to back it off to an 8:00 min/mile and we brought it in at about 47:00 minutes. 6 miles in 47:00 minutes, that’s less than an 8:00 min/mile pace. For me, that’s fast. My heart rate averaged in the high 170s, low 180s, topping off at 194 beats/min.
I stretched like I have never stretched before, but everything hurt. It wasn’t even the next day, or a two day waiting period for my muscles to seize. It was right then. And I had a 50 mile bike trip 10 hours later.
I made a huge omelette, with onion, tomato, sliced turkey and washed it down with a Clif Bar for dessert. I could feel my calves and hip flexors and quads starting to tighten up. This was not good. I put my feet up and relaxed, even did a little work. And I was in bed by 11:15 p.m.
The next morning, I felt pretty good, not as bad as I thought. But then again, not great. My body was sore, walking felt uncomforable. None of that really mattered too much because I was planning on cycling anyway.
The set-up was as per Tuesdays and Thursdays. Go to spin class, warm-up legs and hit the road with Cassandra, the instructor. Today Meridith joined as well and we were planning on tripping up Sheridan into Highland Park. For those of you who know the area, this is up the Lake Path, past Northwestern, past Wilmette, past Ravinia, and so on. We had picked approximately a 40 mi. route.
After spin, my legs felt loose, my aductors felt tight. It could have been worse - my calves could have seized. A quick change, a new shammy and a jersey loaded with gels, Powerbars and a spare inner tube and we were off. This is an example of a cyclist packing "heavy," although it’s better to get caught in the rain with an umbrella.
Cassandra and I cycled up to the totem pole at Addison and met Meridith. We headed north to the end of the path, then through the neighborhood. After some fine navigating on Cassandra’s part we made it to Sheridan and started trekking upwards. Traffic was light enough, and the sun was out - leg warmers got stuffed into the jersey.
From there it was on. In our pack of three
A brief aside: Cassandra is training for an Ironman race. She’s tough. However, even in a group situation, she won’t draft - drafting is riding in the slipstream of the cyclist in front of you. When a body is traveling faster than about 10 miles per hour, they create a pocket of low density air in their wake. This effectively reduces the wind resistance for the rider behind. Less wind resistance = less drag = less effort.
She won’t draft, and I wish she would - she clips between 17-19 mph, if we ran a paceline, would could average closer to 21. That would be sweet.
The roads in Evanston, Wilmette, Ravinia and HIghland Park alternate beautiful and crappy. So smooth you can feel the chain wrestling with the rear cassette and so pocked that your legs hurt from the jar of the road.
Near Ravinia there were some nice rollers - which Meridith enjoys. Meridith grew up in Colorado and spent her formative years cycling on some mountainous terrain. She’s a climber. Reaching our fartherst point out, we paused for some mid-morning urination and headed back.
The highlights and lowlights included:
* One 25+ mph ascent (yes, ascent) - and being blown away by Meridith who overtook me at 26.7 mph. Unbelieveable.
* Cassandra almost got hit by a funeral procession car that turned across traffic right in front of her. I leaned on my brakes and my back wheel went up. It was fucked.
* No one getting a flat tire
* Me not dying after my big running session the day before.
Things are looking good on the bike, keep your fingers crossed for me.
