T61 - A Fine Line Between Pacing Yourself and Dogging It - Bike (Trainer)

Gainesville

B: 90 minutes at RPE 4 on trainer or road. Try to maintain aero posture
during middle 40 minutes.

2 Lipodrene
I figured the idea behind this workout was to get you comfortable in aero for long periods of time. And what better place to do it than the human sweatbox that is the bike trainer? Since it is move-in weekend here at Jefferson 2nd, I though it might be fun to be sweating my balls off on the trainer on the balcony as all the little 19-year-olds and their parents unloaded their U-Hauls into their respective "first Apartments." Sadly, only about 6 came by the whole hour and a half.

my bike computer was fixed, so I took my iPod and some Gatorades out on the deck and went for what would be the longest I'd ever spent on a bike trainer. In terms of mental exhaustion, it's about a 2:1 ratio to being on the road. Just tedious as fuck. And today was no exception. I started out going about 19-20, but within the first ten minutes I had slowed to about 18. And my speed kept dropping. I'm not sure if that was because I knew I had soooo long to go (you don't stop pedaling on the trainer, so you can't take those nice freewheling breaks like you can on the road) and I was pacing it, or if I was just being lazy. My speed slipped to about 16, and I kept shifting down to make it easier. Took a gel at the halfway mark, which seemed to help my energy. The long aero session was really not a problem. I took a few mini-breaks (like 5 seconds or so) to get water and wipe off sweat and whatnot, but no more than I would in a race. So definitely getting pretty comfortable in that position.

But as I got to the end of the ride, I was able to go over 18 pretty consistently. This is a lot slower than I go on the road, which is weird given the limited resistance. Someone could probably explain the physics of this to me, but I really don't get it. The point is this was tough, and really sweaty, and while I wasn't sad about my performance, I wasn't thrilled either. The music helped a lot (Swoon, seriously, is becoming the best non-trance workout CD I've ever owned for whatever reason)and when I got to the better music my speed went up.

But I was a little concerned. Do I need to be pushing harder the whole way through? I don't want to get comfortable at a slow pave like today (averaged 17.5) but at the same time keeping a higher pace up on the trainer for that long can start to fuck with your head early. It's a fine line, much like I wonder if my not being tired at the halfway point of runs is because I don't run very hard.

Oh, and my fucking iPod headphones broke because I kept them pinned under the aero bars for so long. That's 4 pairs, if you're keeping score at home.