Training Log - 2006
I`ve decided to start using the news section of my site to post a training log for my sponsors and any anybody else who cares to read. The large majority of my rides are at Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, and I feel lucky to have such a great set of trails only 15 minutes from my house. I like to do 12-15 mile rides on the Turkey race course, usually twice a week, with the occasional 8 mile sprint or 20 miler thrown in. The highpoints of this year have definately been competing in the Tour de Dirt series for the first time and my Memorial Day weekend trip to the Womble trail in Arkansas.
Most recent ride of 2006:
November 26 - 5 hours. Felt strong all the way through. The Oklahoma weather hasn't turned too nasty yet. I'm surprised how quickly my body has adapted to these long rides. I can still push hard during the 4th hour without feeling out of control or sloppy and then take it easy to cool down the last 15 minute loop. The toughest thing is finding the right foods to eat in the morning to have the right fuel for the ride.
November 12 - ?miles. Who knows. Computer is still dead. I'm riding now just to ride instead of doing mileage. Did a personal best 4 - 4.5 hrs at Turkey. Not fast, but steady. Stayed pretty chilly all day because of 20 mile winds, so I kept the long-sleeve Fox jersey and 661 2x4 pads on the whole time and just changed my gloves and socks after 2 hrs. Felt great except I only had 2 packets of GU and didn't eat enough breakfast. Couldn't find the Hammer Gel flask. I was chugging Gatorade Endurance but hunger pangs are still better than nausea and puking. Just got a new sponsorship from SDG. Looks like its time to retire the old WTB seat and Thomson post.
October 28 - 15? 20? 25? miles. Not sure. I was at Turkey for a good 3.5 hrs. The old Sigma computer gave up the ghost a few rides ago after getting the wire caught on one too many branches. I'd already spliced together the wires once. Anyway, back to the ride. Definately the most amazing combination of perfect weather and perfect trail conditions I've ever seen out there. It had rained lightly for several days the week before. Temps were mid-60s in the am and warmed up to mid-70s by the afternoon. Perfect to start out wearing full arm pads and change after a few hours into a new jersey and peel off the pads for a little more ventilation. New tires are rolling lightning fast.
August 31 - 10.5 miles. Obviously haven`t been posting all my rides recently, but with the alternating heat and mud there hasn`t been much to report. Yesterday was much better and I`m looking forward to the cooler temps this weekend.
August 6 - 16+ miles. Oppressively hot and dusty. Didn`t get started until 9am so I had the trails to myself when I finished around noon. The new fork felt great but it was so hot I didn`t feel the desire to go hard. I just survived. I`m going through two bladders of powerbar drink or gatorade endurance and 3-4 squirts of PowerGel or Hammer Gel during the average long ride in this weather. Plus a quart of cold water to dump over my head after the first long loop and another quart for the ride home. Roid like Floyd!!
July 27 - 10 miles. First ride after learning how to rebuild the rear hub. It still works! Had a great 7:30-9pm ride after work. Heard the news about Floyd the Roid this afternoon and just had to go ride and sweat out that feeling like you just found out Santa Claus is a drunk. I really hope it works out for him. Anyway, I went double hard tonight and felt freakin great despite upper 80 temps. Felt like ripping off the legs of anybody who tried to stay with me. Talk about roids! Endorphins rock. Maybe it was the Clif Shot Blocks I was trying. Caffeine is tasty! Wished I had 3 more hours of daylight and two more full Camelback bladders. I just wanted to attack every jump and drop, despite the slipperiest and sandiest trails we`ve had in the 8 years I`ve been here. This is getting ridiculous. Six inch deep sand with the consistency of powdered Teflon covering large areas of trail. Hopefully we`ll get a downpour tonight. Yep, it`s pouring. Yippee! May get in a ride Sunday night when we get back from Kansas.
July 22 - 15+ miles. Got to trail at 9. We got a break in the 104 degree summer heat today - temp was about 85 when I finished at 12:30. Awesome. I rode with friends and then refilled the pack and went out for another solo training loop. Turkey has again dried out completely after the downpours of 10 days ago. It`s again sandy and crazy loose in spots.
July 19 - 5 miles. First attempt at early morning weekday ride to avoid the heat. Got there at 6:30 but could have been a half-hour earlier and still had good light. This will be an ongoing experiment.
July 15 - 7 miles. Short late-night one hour ride. Got really dark around 9. Temps are still 95 at 8pm so early AM is the only good time from now until late August. May have to get a headlamp.
July 9 - 15 miles. Felt good getting back on the trail after a week off. Took me 2 hours, so the pace was pretty leisurely. I started before 9 so it was only 83 degrees by the time I finished. My nephrology fellowship is taking up a lot of time, as I knew it would, but I`ll try to cram in as many evening and weekend rides as I can.
Mileage total since last season: 1423 (closer to 2000 because of a faulty computer)