Building Durability

If the objective of the past 2 months of base-building was to toughen up my legs and to build durability, then I think I can be satisfied with the results. Reflecting on the last portion of my third "on" week of this training cycle pretty much sums things up. The fact that I got through it, and did so feeling relatively strong are good indicators. First I'll shed some light into what I mean by "building durability" by giving a breakdown of my last 72 hours, and then I'll follow up with some thoughts about it:

Thursday AM: Power lifting in the gym, purpose being both to build mass and to tire the legs a bit for the upcoming weekend's work
Thursday PM: 2:00 Z1 ride, purpose to increase my comfort riding on tired legs
Friday AM: 1:20 Z1 run, up and down a road [Geddes for you Ann Arborites] between 3-5% grade, purpose to build good leg strength and acclimate to running on hilly terrain
Saturday AM: 3:05 Z1 ride, 25 minute run. This longer workout was a good chance to practice fueling. I can now take down 250 calories/hour with ease on the bike*. And since I am pretty tired at this point of the training stretch, this long ride forced me to push through muscular discomfort (legs) to support the engine (cardiovascular system) that could have gone at a much higher exertion. Riding in low-end Z1 is actually quite hard [muscularly] after the prior accumulated work.
Sunday AM: Tabata-style Power intervals on the bike. If you don't know, you can look them up, but basically this 1:20 ride is 1:16 of very easy riding, with 4 minutes of absolute hell [max effort reps] in the middle. It's the later part that leads to big-time physiological adaptations.
Sunday PM: 1:31 Z1 run, for 12 miles at a reasonable pace. Nice way to the end the week. Splits that I wouldn't be thrilled about fresh, but a strong run given the work leading up to it.

As for the quick math, that is about 6.5 hours of biking, 3.25 hours of running, and 1 hour of weight training in a 72 hour stretch. Although there were only 4 minutes of intensity mixed in, that is still a lot of work on the legs [for me anyways]. Factor in sub-zero temperatures and pretty gusty winds on most of my runs, and I am happy with my performance. *I think a lot of this has to do with my fueling, especially during and after workouts, since what you eat during and immediately following a workout is often the most important thing dictating how you will recover from that workout and subsequently perform in the next. It becomes really critical to knock this area out of the park, especially against the backdrop of multiple workouts in a short time period. Chocolate milk is the key here for recovery, along with Lucky Charms for on the bike.

I am excited to let this hard work begin to soak in, and especially looking forward to the upcoming recovery week, which should jump-start the process nicely. I'm heading to Florida to visit family next weekend, which means I will be able to do my "fitness test" outside in warm weather!! Not expecting anything too fast given that I haven't done any speed work yet, but still, it's always fun and exciting to rev things into full gear.

My next block of training shifts focus from "base" training to "build" training, which means more intensity in the form of sport-specific strength training (e.g., hill running and big gear riding). I am confident that the aerobic base and some of the grit that I have built will provide a solid foundation for this work. I'm as healthy as I've been in the past two years, and looking forward to the focus involved with more prescribed workouts.


Until next time, train hard, and rest harder!