1st MTN Bike of the year

The last workout of the week was by far the most fun. Jaime and I went up to Marshall Mesa this afternoon. I mountain biked for an hour and while I was out Jaime hiked around for an hour. It was great to get out and enjoy the beautiful day. A lot of other people had the same idea, so it was a bit crowded, but in all a great first ride. Here are some pics.





Next week I'm back to hard training again. 3 weeks of increasing volume plus the 4th week as recovery, with some higher intensities than the previous 4 week block are on tap. This is Joe Friel's Base 3 if you follow his periodization plan. This week will be 13.5 hours with 3 swims, 4 bike rides, 4 runs, and 2 strength training sessions. This is where the training starts to get fun to me. I'll be getting hill work in to develop my strength biking and running. I'll also start to put in some more work at threshold intensities on the bike and run, and extend the durations of the threshold work in swimming. Swimming will have more strength work as well, with paddles and drag sets added. This part is hard, but fun. I find it fun because some of the workouts each week will challenge my ability to hold some hard paces, which hopefully will lead to better speed. That is what it is all about isn't it?

I'll try to keep up with the posts a little better than in the previous block. Hopefully more of the training will happen outdoors and some pics will be loaded as well.

*The first few steps are always the hardest ones*

Mellow days ahead

Formal training is pretty much wrapped up for the year now that Xterra Nationals has come and gone. Seems a little early to be calling it a year, but I think I'm ready for the break. The past two weeks have just been a little bit of "do what I feel like" exercise. It's pretty nice to be back in the gym and lifting some weights, but wow, have I lost so much strength from a pure weight lifting standpoint.

Jaime just got a mountain bike (Specialized Safire Comp), so we are going to be doing as much weekend riding as possible before the winter gets here. Super stoked that the conversion from roadie to dirt lover has begun!