Winter training

Earlier today I kicked off my winter training in earnest, spending three hours riding my trainer this morning, and, for the first time since last spring, I subjected myself to intervals: muscle tension intervals, sprint intervals, and hill repeats. Following two hours of intervals, I completed an hour of endurance riding in the fat-burning zone, or about 70-percent of my maximum heart rate.

Mostly, I ride my bike because it's fun. Racing is even more fun. Intervals and three-hour trainer sessions are about as much fun as enduring open heart surgery performed by a caveman wielding an ice pick. And yet, riding competitively in bike races is infinitely more fun than getting dropped, so I endure trainer sessions such as today's during these long winter months.

This morning, my session started after I'd consumed two bowls of cereal with skim milk, and one banana. I nearly lost breakfast 20 minutes into my workout while doing 4 second on, 4 seconds off sprints. Some deep-guttural belching relieved the pressure in my stomach, and I managed to keep breakfast down. I'd forgotten one of the most basic tenets of training: don't eat right before you do a hard work out. Right.

But it's easy to forget something like that when you've become accustomed to eating right before rolling out the door. Food seems to stay within much better on outside rides. Oh well, lesson re-learned.

Anyway, I spun. It hurt. I'm way out of shape. Of course, being out of shape is OK for Jan. 6. Afterall, I haven't raced since the beginning of November. I'm hoping that my early start will put me back in shape well ahead of my first goal of the season, the Tour of the Battenkill.

After the first two hours of today's session I very nearly collapsed on the floor of my apartment. The first day of hard training is always a real shock to the system, and today was much more so than I remember from previous years. Fortunately, I always keep Gatorade powder on hand, so I was able to revive myself and finish the work out. In all, I consumed two bottles of water during my workout, and two bottles of Gatorade.

Since completing my workout -- and even mustering the strength to stretch afterward, I've spent the rest of the day in a fog. Pretty much all I'm good for today has been doing what I can to avoid standing, and eating more-or-less continuously. It least I've got a nice recovery ride on my rollers to look forward to in the morning...

Ah, winter training -- I only hope it's worth it.