Off the road and on the trail

Saturday morning I hit the trails instead of the road.  I rode in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, just north of Fountain Hills here in AZ.  It has been awhile since I rode my mountain bike.  I had it set up with slicks using it on my rollers for indoor workouts at home.  I put some new rubber on the rims and set out on the 10.1 mile outer loop.  In early November, I have been asked to be the fourth member of a team which will ride the course for 24 hours, always having one of our riders on the trail.  The loop was a great workout I did with two other guys that morning.  It really opened my eyes to what mountain bike riding is again.  Always changing gears and using the brakes.  Having to stay totally focused on the terrain and trying to be predictive of whats around the next turn.  The trail is very nice. Cacti, trees, and jagged rocks are all part of the sometimes narrow trail.  I have a lot  to learn on the trail before race day.  It will be a lot of fun.  So with my mountain bike training on the one weekend day, it still leaves the other for road riding by myself or with a group.

Great ride with a new group

Last weekend I rode with a new cycling shop group of about 35 riders.  The riders were of all ages and levels, and I was just looking to get some quality miles in riding along with a group.  It was a great workout and met some nice folks.  The ride started out a little slow, but that was perfect. I rode to the shop as they left from there.  Cooler weather has moved into Arizona making the ride more fun. The rain we have been having has moved a lot of debris and sand into the bike lanes around town, so I expected to get a flat.  I rode with no issues.  I had ridden the roads on the course before so I knew the inclines we would come across.  The group stopped a few times to regroup.  I am looking to ride with this group again.  After doing their course and adding some of my own miles on, I ended up just shy of 45.5 miles on the day.  I felt great in the saddle and the rehab I have been doing on my IT Band has helped. 

On the road to recovery with my IT Band

On the road to recovery. My hip and IT band have not felt this good since last December. I attended a clinic at a local bike shop to learn how to treat my issue. A small clinic in which I was the only one in attendance. They had me get on a massage table and had me move my leg in different positions to help figure out where exactly the pain was and what was causing it. While I moved my leg, a physical therapist applied pressure to an area causing some high intense pain. After a few minutes of the therapists work, I stood up , walked around and was quickly feeling better already. They want to treat me in there office a few more times.  I have been doing some intense painful stretching before and after my workouts and icing my hip afterwords.  I might need to follow up on the appointments to make sure the pain goes away for good. 

Hot workouts in the heat.

Last week I pretty much moved my workouts indoors on the rollers.  With night time low temperatures not really dipping below 90 degrees, any kind of outdoor activity has been rough.  Set of the rollers and a small fan in front of them to keep some kind of airflow going around me.  I was able to beat the sun rising and start a morning ride Saturday at 5:30 am.  I only got in about 40 miles before running low on fluids.  I felt very strong on the bike and before heading out made a small comfort adjustment on my saddle height.  My training has me keeping my heart rate right near 80% of my maximum heart rate, using the Miowatch Quest, the readout and alarm on the watch keep me in check.
I started doing some rehab work on my IT band on my right leg, and look to attend a free clinic at a local bike shop to help me speed up the rehab and get my right hip feeling better after long rides and runs.  Just the exercises I have started doing are starting to help and I am looking forward to what will learn at the clinic.  

First outdoor run in a long time

 The weather here in Arizona has been hot so it has kept me indoors on the treadmill.  I was able to get a short run in last night outdoors along a canal route I have ran numerous times while training.  Perfect way to end the day.  It was a little warm but well worth it. 
I have started to look ahead at upcoming marathons and half-marathons this winter along with some longer bike races too. 

Bouncing back from a brief vacation

I took a few weeks off for the yearly summer family vacation, but now back to training.  Before the break I was having a great time on my weekend longer rides.  Even with getting a flat as few weeks back, I was able to get rid of the tire pump and speed my repair up faster with the use of using a Co2 cartridge.  Incredible speed, I can't believe I never upgraded until this past spring.  My hip still is bothering me from a spill on the trainer (rollers) in January. I can really feel the pain two days after a long ride and seems to be bothered by my running.  With the summer heat here, and forcing me indoors at times to ride the rollers, I have placed a industrial type blower to help cool me off.  Works pretty well.  I am looking forward to this weekends longer ride and will start to incorporate a short run (1 to 3 miles) in afterword.

Support growing on Kickstarter.com for the Alpha

It's been amazing to see the amount of support and interest being shown over the past week for Liz Dickinson's Alpha, chest strapless heart rate monitor watch. As of this blog post, 652 supporters can't wait to get their hands on it, but really not "on it", as you will see why.  You see, Dickinson's company, MIO,  created the first heart rate watch to provide heart rate without a chest strap.  Heart rate readout was achieved by using fingers touching sensors on the face of the watch to get a reading. The Alpha is a watch that displays continuous heart rate without finger sensors and without a chest strap that is accurate even at performance running speeds. 

The watch features an LED light, lighting up blue, green or red, letting the user know if their heart rate while working out is too low, too high or right in their zone, all without wearing a chest strap I might add again.  
Dickinson is using Kickstarter.com to launch the product.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alphaheartrate/alpha-the-holy-grail-of-heart-rate-look-ma-no-hand

Want to know more or back the project?  Follow the link above. The project is fully funded and has another 33 days on the Kickstarter.com site to gain more support.