Time To Get In Gear!

Well, I was hoping Monday was going to be a better day than it turned out to be, but I failed to live up to what I had set out to do as far as training goes. I got my bike back last night from the bike shop and of course I didn't test it out before I left the store and when I got back home the derailleur noise that has been bugging me was still there! I almost went back but there was no way I was giving up my bike again for another 3 days. I decided to check it out on my own and after doing some extensive listening and dismantling I found that the chain was not lining up correctly when I would shift in to the 11 or 12 tooth cogs and the teeth were hitting the chain as it wrapped around the cogs. I did buy this cassette used for a pretty low price on e-bay so it's possible that the spacers that the guy sent with it aren't correct. This only happens with the 11 and 12 tooth cogs so most likely that is the issue. Unfortunately the 11 tooth cog sold on it's own is $56.00 and the spacers aren't sold separately on any of the major mail-order sites. It is a used/old cassette so I may just buy a new one but probably not for a couple of weeks. Anyway, back to the training regimen.....I was supposed to have a rest day but had to make up for missed time while on vacation so I did an hour ride with 20 minutes of Tempo work. Basically Tempo is when you keep your HR at 88% + 2-4 beats for the high range for a set duration, in this case 20 minutes. I felt great during the whole ride and had no issues keeping at the high heart rate. Tonight I have a ride scheduled of 2 hours which will just be an Endurance Mile ride and then I have some Tempo work scheduled again tomorrow. My first race is only 26 days away and I'll be doing alot more Tempo work in the next two weeks along with some long rides next week while I'm on vacation. That's it for now, check back again tomorrow for more updates!