We've been back in 'Bama for a week now. Al Gore hasn't got a clue, and the cooling trend we've enjoyed this year continues unabated. The weather has been stunning: cool, sunny, and dry with occasional rain showers. (Perfectly consistent with the sun spot theory, by the way. Look it up. Dismay a global-warming alarmist.)
The perfect weather has been great for cycling, which is terrific, because I have been devoting most of my attention to the bikes this year. My next target race is this event, called the "Aggieman," a kayak triathlon, which I am racing as a relay with my two brothers. Little brother and fellow 18:59 blogger AlittlemoreflashGordon will run the last leg up the mountain. I've got the 25-mile bike ride in the middle. Our other brother, a muscle-bound behemoth, will paddle the kayak around the course for the first leg. Should be great fun. Our goal is somewhat ambitious. We plan to win the team relay classification. Then we'll find an agent and a sponsor and make our fortunes.
I've put in the miles this year--more than 1,000 since January 1--and my stamina is pretty decent. And I have done much more hill work this year than I did the last two years, since we moved from Colorado, so I feel strong. But I need to get the speed back up. I have raced in two time trials so far this Spring. My speed has been around 23.5 mph at 5.6 miles. Last year at this time I was consistently riding 24. So, I need to start cranking out intervals.
Meanwhile, the running has taken a back seat... for now. I managed some trail running while in Colorado, and I have felt quite strong during my runs this last week back at sea level. But I'm no faster than I was two months ago. The cycling is great for conditioning, but I won't get any faster on the runs until I actually... well, run. So the 10k challenge is temporarily delayed. But only temporarily. I'll be back for more 6.2-mile agony in a few weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment