It's Official Now, I Have a USCF Racing License!

I went ahead and got my USCF Racing license this evening. $60. Had to have the license to sign up for the Boulevard Road Race. This race has been in my sights for months and it's only a couple weeks away now.

My work schedule has been hectic lately. I've worked something like 20 days in a row. Very unusual for me. It's all good though. I've backed my mileage down from the 180-200 range, down to 120 per week. I've raised the intensity as well.

I've started into the high intensity intervals that have been avoided for many months now. In order to get these done with all of the rain that was expected this week, I went and got a trainer. I got the Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll. I had heard good things about it and I like the idea of it being flexible from a comfort standpoint. The only trainer I had ever been on up to this point was during the fitting of my bike back in August. I have found it to be great for intervals and for shorter workouts in general. Nothing replaces the bike for 50+ mile rides, but when I have an hour and a half to get a ride in prior to work, the trainer let's me waste no time at all. Additionally, the intervals are right on. No traffic, stop lights, signs, etc. I have really been able to get the most out of the intervals. My heart rate is off a little bit. Not sure if this is normal for trainer riding or not, but I'm having a hard time getting my heart rate up into the 180 range, with my max being the upper 180s or I've seen 192 a couple times. Getting my hr up on the bike is not a problem, especially in a group environment. Although the hr is low, the legs are burning something fierce. Maybe this is just an illusion that the workout seems harder on the legs. Maybe I'm just focusing on the pain since there isn't much else to focus on in my garage.

Anyway, I will be on the trainer in the am tomorrow for a good 2 hour workout. We are expecting heavy rain overnight, so this should workout great. I don't think I could spend a winter riding a trainer, as the other parts of the county do. I put my computer in front of me with some music or something on to pass the time. Passing time with the intervals going isn't too hard, but droning along at a steady pace could drive a guy up a wall.

One other thing I've been dealing with lately is de-hydration. I have been doing quite a bit of flying in our Citation. The envirnomental system in jet aircraft really dry out the air. As an example, I could fly across the country for 5-6 hours, drink 5 bottles of water and never have to use the restroom. Flying for 4-5 hours per day, drinking as much as I reasonably can, still leaves me de-hydrated. This definitely comes to light the following couple days if I'm riding. It's hard to pinpoint exactly the effect on performance, but it's noticable as far as endurance is concerned. Last Saturday, towards the end of my solo 70 mile ride, I was having a cramp develop in my left upper leg (vmo muscle???). I have never had this before and believe it to be because of the de-hydration. The flying is back down and I'm doing more simulator time this week. This should be the case for the next two weeks leading up to the race.