A Test of Mental Toughness

I was debating how long I wanted to ride on Saturday knowing that I would be teaching two computrainer classes and didn't know how long I could sustain riding in one place.  I thought that I would be happy with 3 hours, and to do so I rode into the shop a little early to get a head start.  Have I mentioned that I love my cross bike!  That bike is awesome, and so much fun to ride!!!!!

Anyway, I was able to ride for a bit before anyone got to the shop which was nice.  The set for Saturday was as follows:

Warm Up: 15 minutes

Main Set:
Set #1 - 30 minutes
• 10’ @ 75%
• 5’ @ 60%
• 10’ @ 80%
• 2’ @ 70
• 3’ @ 90%
Drill Set #1 – 12 minutes
• 2 x through the following
o 1’ right leg (big chain ring)
o 1’ left leg (big chain ring)
o 1’ both legs
o 1’ right leg (big chain ring)
o 1’ left leg (big chain ring)
o 1’ both legs
** 3 minutes easy **
Set #2 – 30 minutes
• 10’ @ 70%
• 8’ @ 80%
• 6’ @ 90%
• 6’ @ 80%
Cool Down

So I rode the first class as the workout was written with the exception that during the "rest" periods less than 70% I stayed between 70% and 80%, I did the same during the single leg drills as well.  I was sitting between 230-240 watts for the first 3 hours of my ride.  Some time during class I decided that I wanted to ride for 5 hours.  Don't ask me why, because I don't have a good answer for that!  So the fourth hour I figured it was going to be tough to hold that wattage for much longer, so I backed things down to between 220-230.  Things still felt alright.  The last hour I put on the Ironman Hawaii course on the CT and that was painful.  I'm guessing that my time above 90% during the set earlier was getting to me...that and drinking only water, and not really sticking to a nutrition plan as well as I should have.  This was a great day for mental toughness though.  I ended up riding 110 miles in 5 hours on the computrainer, which let's be serious is freakin brutal!  So with my bike commute to the shop and home it made for 118 miles.  That's the farthest I have ever gone, and have no doubt that had I been on the roads for the whole time and stuck with a proper nutrition plan I would have been good to run off of the bike.  Let's hope that's the case in 27 days!