119 days until IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga
Commentary
Yesterday I told you about my bike shoes and how I consider them a couple of old friends. Today I want you to meet another old friend.
My bike may have a name, but my saddle does not. The bike’s name is Xena, by the way (as in Xena, Warrior Princess). It’s OK to anthropomorphize a bike as long as you don’t take it too seriously. Xena doesn’t mind that I talk about her like this.
Anyway… the saddle came with Xena when I took her home in 2008. I think I retired it in 2016, because Charlie, my bike mechanic, was tired of looking at it so he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: a replacement saddle at a very good price.
This old red saddle supported me through IRONMAN Arizona, IRONMAN Wisconsin, three New York City Triathlons, the Chicago Triathlon Tripple Challenge, and countless other sprints, olympics, halves and fulls. It has been very good to me. I, on the other hand, have not been very good to it. I left it out in sun. I neglected it, I even urinated on it in the middle of races when I thought stopping at a port-a-john would hurt my finish time.
Yeah. That last one was kinda gross, but I washed the saddle afterward. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden on it, but with that history, how can I get rid of it?
Workout
VO2max week! … on the bike.
This is the first week of the season I’m focusing on raising my aerobic capacity. This morning wasn’t exactly a killer workout, but it did have its intensities. I felt strong going into the trainer ride, so I knew I wouldn’t have problems holding the prescribed wattages. The burning in my legs is what I felt the most. Breathing and heart rate felt fine, but the legs are what hurt. Joe Friel talks about the different abilities in training. My limiter here is definitely muscular power and muscular endurance.
The pink line (watts) has several deep valleys that I can’t explain. I think either the hub or the Garmin 735 is dropping watts. It’s probably the hub, because results from the PowerTap head unit show a similar pattern.
I think tomorrow is another day off. Until then…