Last week was awesome, and this is why!
1) Lake Pueblo! Dry trails, sunny skies, and 60 degree temperatures beckoned us south to Pueblo, CO to ride the trail system at Lake Pueblo State Park. We ended up with quite the group consisting of people from Laramie, Cheyenne, Fort Collins, and the Denver/Boulder area. Though the map and signage were sketchy at best, I had an awesome time and it was great to hammer on the trails in just a normal kit and soak up that sunshine! Elizabeth, Jim, and I cranked out about 28.5 miles, which was a great test of winter fitness. I felt strong and was shocked to realize that I felt good after all those miles! We celebrated with some Mexican food at the Cactus Flower before the long drive home. Elizabeth and I are already talking about going down for a whole weekend for two days of mountain biking!
2) The new “eating plan” (note – I don’t call it a diet… I’m not dieting. I’m merely changing my eating habits!) has stayed on track! No cheesecake, no candy! I discovered that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich has a lot of calories in it… but it’s all about moderation and I enjoyed several throughout the week (and during my ride… nothing like a PB&J on the trail!).
3) Along with eating… I’m down to 150.0 pounds as of this morning! Woohoo! I’m feeling lighter already 🙂 Amazing what happens when you critically look at food choices and portions.
4) Training is going alright. I did a good job with my first billat workout last week, though I must admit the 30 on/30 off isn’t the hardest for me… the hardest ones are the 1 minute ones (which is this week’s). I did a FitStar workout for my core workout, and it included some exercises that made my quads and hamstrings incredibly sore all week. I fought through it for the billat workout, but the next day for my threshold workout my legs just felt spent. I hate finding new muscles I forgot I had 😦 Luckily I’m over the soreness hump and the same FitStar workout on Friday didn’t cause any more soreness. The past three weeks I’ve averaged a smidge over 8 hours a week, which is definitely a step up from last year!
5) My new Sidi Spider mountain bike shoes are awesome now that I’ve gotten out on a proper trail with them… but I’m struggling with keeping them snug enough on my feet. Apparently my feet get skinnier, way skinnier, over the course of a ride… something to ponder.
6) Thanks to my Lake Pueblo ride, I have a new Camelbak L.U.X.E. NV hydration pack coming. My Camelbak Aurora has been quite faithful… but it’s small. It’s great for those loops at Gowdy where my car is close by and I can loop back. But trying to stuff 4 hours worth of nutrition + arm warmers/jacket/gloves + a full bladder + my car keys leads to a pack ready to explode at the seams! So I decided to get a bit larger of a bike-specific pack for my longer rides (and races coming up) to fill in the spot between my Aurora and my Camelbak Adventura (which is a huge backpacking/hiking hydration pack that I use for… hiking, and the fat bike).
Not going so well… my bunionette on my left foot is angry again after a few weeks of relief from the pain I struggled with throughout December. I’ve named “him” Benny the Bunionette. And he needs to knock it off! Back on the ibuprofen regimen…
Heidi Rides Bikes 