A Life of Training...: Back to the basics...HR based training

[Photos: are all from a storm that was brewing a bit West of here.]

I've seen clouds like this a few months back when I didn't have my camera. Thankfully my oldest Son called me out to check out the clouds. It's nice that he notices things like this too.

On the subject of my Son - after he came home from going MTB riding this evening, I noticed he had some writing on his chest. I asked about it and had him come so I could see it...he wrote his contact info on his chest. I immediately knew what he did, as I too carry a slip of paper in my bag on my bike with my name and contact information. You know what it's for right? (If something should happen - who ever finds us will be able to know who we are.) It's kind of a serious thing - and I thought it neat that he was being responsible like that.

Yesterday was my first time back on my bike since the 'great ride' - 10 days ago. I meet someone at church on Sunday as I was talking to people about the recent 6 day ride and just being available. He was visiting family and had his bike and was riding while he was here. We talked about riding together the following morning and sure enough we did. It was Great. I hadn't been on my bike for a while so it was nice to ride with Jon. To bad he doesn't live around here as he'd likely be a good riding buddy. Cycling is kind of neat how people can enjoy the same activity together - people who don't know each other. But, buy the end of 30 miles have the starts of a friendship. Very cool. (Thanks for the nice ride Jon. Maybe next year I can join you for the 3 State 3 Mountain ride!)

The numbers: 32 miles @ 17.5 avg / Max 39.3. Avg hr 133 / Max HR 176.

Today was a run morning. It's a lot easier to get out and run ~6 miles and be back by 7 to be available and see the kids off than to go for a ride and be back at 7. As I started last week, I'm going to go back to a HR based training plan. I've gotten comfortable with pace and it's not pushing me like I'd like. After reviewing the HR chart using a resting HR of 50 and a Max HR of 185, 145 is 70%. So, I've decided that I'm going to just aim for making sure I am over the 70% mark when I run and ride. The numbers for today were 6 miles @ 8:07 avg/mi. Avg HR 149 / Max HR 175. Far from a Boston Qualifying Event pace (BQE) - but I'm only just starting ... :-)

I'm not sure how I'm going to get in many bike rides in the morning for the next 2 weeks while the kids are still in school. I expect the next week and a half to mostly be runs in the mornings due to time constraints. Once school is out the need to be home by 7 will be gone and I can aim for a 40 mile route before work. I haven't had a full ride yet where I was on the HR plan - so I'm looking forward to seeing what that turns out like.