Jan 1, 2006 ! 5:15 / 93 miles

Ah yes, easy yesterday so I could torture myself today. Had a great solo ride over Doggett mtn, out to hotsprings and back through Marshall. Practicing what I preach I killed it with the zone 2 HR and PLENTY of steady time @ AeT (which for me is 145bpm). I finally got a HRM going today. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to take some screen shots of SRM files. I always forget how tough a climb Doggett is….man it is steep and unrelenting…about 25 minutes going falt out, it probably took me 30 or so today keeping the effort in check. All I could think about going up was how incredibly cool it would be to run a TT up this thing….THAT would be some pain. Unfortunately it is kind of in the middle of nowhere and not a single place to park a car near the base. I am guessing the owners of the farmhouse at the bottom would not have much interest. Anyway…what a great day for the first of the year! Sunny and almost 60. I was pretty hurtin the last 40 minutes or so. I found that I was talking to myself out loud toward the end. I must be a little deranged as I really like to do these long endurance rides alone. Sure, I like to ride with others too…but there is something about the long solo ride. I find I can really focus…and I think I generally ride harder (more zone 2) when alone.

This was a great first week of training for the 2006 season. Base 1 week 1 and I got over 22 hours of riding for about 386 miles plus two solid weight sessions. Not bad, unfortunately the weather does not look quite as amenable for the upcoming week.