Beautiful cooler day (PM ride added)

The temperature for this morning's ride was a little on the cool side with very little humidity. This was a VERY welcome break from the oppressive weather we have had for the past week or so.

Mike did his 200k for June yesterday so my ride in this morning was another solo effort. I decided that I would try to incorporate some interval training into the daily commute. I have been hearing a lot about intervals and that they not only make you faster, but they are the best way to lose weight while cycling (that is according to Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's personal coach. I figure he may be a little bit smarter than me on this subject.)

For those who are unsure, intervals are a form of training in which you ride at a higher intensity than you are able to sustain for the entire ride, forcing your body to operate under stress. Your body handles stress by adapting so it can better handle the same demands in the future. It is recommended that you start with 2 minute intervals. 2 minutes of higher intensity and 2 minutes of recovery.

Well, riding in the morning (dark or dawn light) it is difficult to see the Garmin to know exactly what your heart rate is, or what your cadence is, so I just sprinted for as long as I could and then recovered the best I could and did it again. No where near 2 minutes of high intensity, and much longer than 2 minutes recovery, but it is a start. If you look at the Garmin data really close, and squint your eyes just a bit, when the light hits it just right you can see where the heart rate and speed went up for a short burst... that was my interval. Places where the speed goes up and the heart rate goes down... those are downhills.

The idea is to ride faster and to lose weight. Doing the intervals did make the ride in this morning faster. I made it to the train station in under an hour and twenty minutes. Maybe that Carmichael guy is pretty smart.

Garmin stats below:



PM RIDE:

If you thought intervals could make you faster, you should see what a nice tail wind will do. On the way home, pedaling at what I considered a normal pace... looked down at the Garmin, 20+ mph. Today makes up for those days that I fight a headwind home.