Sweat, Sweat, And More Sweat...

Sweating was the order of the day on my ride as the high humidity combined with some intervals made me look like I had a water hook-up attached to my head. The weather finally broke this evening and as soon as I got home from work I jumped on the bike and headed out to Muskego Park. I did two intervals on the way to Muskego Park, 9 minutes each at 92% and then I did one interval at the park. I was already down one water bottle by the time I got to the park as I was completely soaked after about 30 minutes of riding and was not only slamming the water but pouring it over my head, Landis style. It was a bit chilly though and after the 2nd dumping I was starting to feel chilled as I started the ride with just the short sleeve jersey and shorts. The interval at Muskego Park warmed me up pretty quickly though and as I was finishing up my last 2 minutes or so I saw a familiar face going the other way in the park but I had to complete my interval so I kept on going. After I finished my lap I cooled down a bit in the parking lot and around the corner came the other rider and it turns out it was Brandon Krawcyzk. For those that don't know Brandon he is a rider that very shortly will be a rider that everyone in this area at least and maybe even on a regional or national level will be talking about as he has some great natural talent. He kicked butt in the 3's last year and from what I've heard talking to some teammates and other riders that trained with him earlier this year, he's got a lot of potential beyond what he's already accomplished. So anyways, I've heard a lot about Brandon but never met him until tonight and it was a pleasure meeting him, we even got a chance to ride together for about 4 to 5 miles and talk for a little bit......well, he talked, I did a lot of deep breathing trying to keep up. After we separated I did another short loop around the New Berlin area and ended up with 2 hours on the night. I feel really good right now and during my intervals I was really able to ramp up the speed without some of the discomfort that I had even just last week. I think last week my legs were shocked at being put back on the bike and told to go fast but I've acclimatized pretty quickly and the legs at least are nearly back to full power, now if my lungs would just cooperate as my breathing is a little heavier than it used to be. I need to get some more endurance rides in to help build up my aerobic ability again. I could tell that even though I was feeling decent today during my intervals, that 9 minutes was about my max, if I had to go 10 to 11 minutes, my power would have decreased dramatically as I was feeling the acid build up right about the time I was finishing each interval and the lungs were really starting to burn. Soooo, having said that, I think that I'm going to be o.k. on Saturday for my first 1/2/3 Masters race this year and I should be able to hang in the pack. Anything else is out of the question, but I think staying with the pack is definitely doable. Well, tomorrow will be a fairly normal endurance pace ride, Thursday I'll be off work so I'm heading to Burlington to do a group ride with my dad and his friends and I'll make it difficult without dropping them hopefully, and then Friday will be a short ride with a couple of sprints to open the legs for Saturday. Well, that's it for now....until next time........

Visit Brandon here: www.poppedofftheback.blogspot.com