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March 28, 2005
1:17:34/157
Today is a day off in France, Easter Monday. It was supposed to rain. It did rain in the early morning. But the sky started clearing at 9:30, so I got out for a late morning ride.
The roads were messy. My legs felt sore from the run Saturday. My average speed to Chambéry and back was 30.5 kph (not quite 19 mph). I did it as a tempo ride, working the hardest down the stretch of bike path after crossing the tracks outside Chambéry out to Myans and along the road through Les Marches to Chapareillan.
I actually rode the 39.13 km in less than 1:17:34. But I wore winter gear including gloves and had to start and stop the heart monitor before and after the actual ride. It turned out I'd worn too much clothing. By the end felt like an overweight guy riding in a rubber suit, pretending the weight lost was fat.
Rereading Hal Higdon's chapter in Marathon entitled "The Magic Taper," I realized that this third-to-last week is more a step back from a hard week than a serious drop off in training. So today included speedwork, a couple of sprints and a lengthy push in the middle. Thursday might be a good day for a last dose of what Matt calls "potent medecine," the longest 14:40 you'll ever do, with an 8-10 minute warm up and warm down on either end.
Posted by Mark at March 28, 2005 11:28 AM