Outside

Today was my first ride outside in a very long while. Before I got my indoor trainer I had not been on the bike since early March. It was my first ride after switching to road bicycle pedals (I had Mountain bike pedals on my road bike -long story-), and since every little new piece of technology/gadget/bike part has a learning curve attached to it, I fell. Not when I was trying to unclip. No, I have that one kind of "mastered" (keep repeating unclip in my head until I reach a stopping point), but when I was trying to clip on. With my old Mtn Bike shoes I was able to clip on either side of the pedals, the road pedals are a different story.. They only clip on one side... I fell on my butt, got a monster bruise... One so big that when my daughter saw it she said: "Wow Mommy, that's the biggest boo-boo I have ever seen!" I felt like an idiot and did not ride outside for a while.

Fast forward to today. Coach prescribed a 1:30 ride, outside on a flat course; with some sets at a faster speed and different HR zones. Well my friends... Charlotte is NOT a flat city. I tried to find the flattest course I could. Turns out it was not as flat as I thought it was. You know those inclines that look like flats and then when you charge at them you realize that you legs are kind of burning? And why would your legs burn if you are on your small chain ring riding a flat? Because the stupid road is not flat!!!!!! Anyway, I tried to make the best out of the ride, and decided to stick to the plan that Coach had given me. Intervals on the big ring and all. 

I think I did pretty well, got through the ride and was not as tired as I anticipated I was going to be. I guess the only thing that truly concerns me is that sometimes (well, on every workout really) my HR creeps up over the limit that I am allowed. And I am worried that by not truly staying in the zones that I need to stay I am not making as much progress as I should be making. Do you know what I mean? And since I am still not very good at "knowing" what zone my HR is just by realizing how I feel/breathe; I have this need to be glancing at my watch every 30 seconds to make sure I am staying in the range I am supposed to stay. It is confusing, I know :)

I have signed up for my first little race of the season. May 9th will see me getting to the start line of a local 5k that begins at 7 pm. I have never done a race in the PM, it should be cool. One thing I know, I am itching to go fast and this should definitely do the trick.