Its been a very long time coming, but from my health improvements through January and the fact that is was the first weekend in February, as planned, I went out for a ride on the road.
The great news is that it went well and my breathing was fine. Its a huge relief! The ride wasn't that long or intense (due to the fact that the aims were detailed by my coach, independantly of my breathing concerns). Also I was very lucky, 8 degrees and bone dry. Quite a nice re-introduction if I'm honest!!
So having got through that, the detail of the ride is as follows. The goal was a ten mile tempo time trial, after a warm up (into the range of low zone 4). The TTT had to be done in a 7 heart beat range, 8-15 beats below my threshold. I worked this out to be 154-161 and selotaped it to my Garmin so I didn't forget.
I knew riding to such a specific range would be hard, and it really was. Obviously I blew it quite a few times, either getting stuck in traffic (despite being in Richmond Park) or getting too carried away early on. At times I was crawling up the hills and was still slightly above the range. Oh well, maybe it'll get better the more I get outdoors again. The time for the ten miles was 35:12. Obviously it was never going to be quick but that wasn't the goal, and obviously I have something I can compare against in the future.
Next weekend I will be doing the Evans Ride-It sportive from the TCR show and Sandown Park, where the aim is to stay within zone 4 as a maximum. It will be hard, but I am really looking forward to it. 71 miles used to be a breeze, but now its a very long time since I rode that far. Still looking forward to it though :-)
Well done for getting out there. I thought about if but after my swimming lesson and a warm shower, I couldn't face it.
ReplyDeleteAfter 77 next weekend, you will be so far ahead of me on the bike. I might have to bring my ipod to the Lake District
Getting out having been 'cooped up' for so long feels brilliant.
ReplyDeleteCouple of points Simon! My longest (and only) outdoor ride this year is 23 miles. And I may well skip the ride on the weekend if its as cold as forecast, I can't imagine my breathing will love me for that.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the Fred, if I'm told to ride it at a max of zone 4 then it will take so long I will probably need a B&B half way through the ride.
So I wouldn't plan the playlist just yet.
And Red Bike I agree, but just as I read your comment I looked up to see more bloody snow!!! Unbelievable.
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