Endurance Path – April 2014
I can’t believe it has been a month already since our trip to Moab. We have had some very mixed weather, but I have been able to get out on a few road rides. I’m running out of time to get ready for the Lutsen 99er and I would say that I am far from ready.
Lessons Learned
1) When the knee starts tightening up, don’t push it or you’ll end up walking.
2) Don’t bank on electronics working all the time.
Training
Cycling
I broke down and picked up a Garmin Edge 510 bundle with the heart rate monitor and cadence/speed sensor. Aside from some software glitches, I do love the capability of it and it has made my rides more interesting. It mostly has made the indoor trainer much more interesting which means, I have actually started to use it. I went ahead and paid for the premium membership for Strava and used the Sufferfest videos a few times that come with the Strava premium membership. The 2 workout videos I used so far were great and I will probably purchase a few of the other Sufferfest videos as well from Sufferfest.
All said and done, I logged just over 170 miles on my road bike in April. I intended to get more miles in but the weather was just not cooperating and I was traveling 2 weeks out of the month for work. About 40 of those miles were on the trainer.
Running
I didn’t do much running this month. I’ve been having some knee pains and attempted a run while traveling for work. I ended up walking about 2 miles of it back to my hotel. I should have turned around sooner as I felt the knee tightening up, but I can be a little stubborn sometimes and figured I could run through it. That being said, I only ran about 11 miles in April. I probably will not do much running until after the Lutsen 99er as I need to get my cycling legs back in shape.
Nutrition
I’m getting my nutrition back into shape for sure. The more I am working out or exercising, the better I tend to manage my nutrition. I try to eat smaller meals and more frequently throughout the day. I’ve been eating a lot of tuna fish, eggs, salad and frozen vegetables. My wife has been slowly transitioning our household over to mostly organic foods. Costco has actually been a great place to buy bulk frozen organic vegetables.
Events
No new events this month. I am contemplating heading up to Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula in June for the Chain Drive Festival, but we’ll see if I can make it up there. It’s a 32 mile race and would be about 2 weeks before the Lutsen 99er. I am thinking it might be a good race to check the status of my legs and help me figure out where my pace should be at for the longer Lutsen 99er race.
Photography
I started a gallery on my SmugMug account just for cycling related pictures. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
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How was your training and nutrition in April? Did you make any progress?