interval insanity

i headed out around 7:30 this morning and decided to take argonia road (main street in town) south since the wind was from the direction and every once in awhile you just have to face the enemy. i pedaled over railroad hill and shortly thereafter, began intervals. i did one set of three (1 min on/2 min off) and then flatted at the base of tracy hill. that was the only thing that dampened my enthusiasm on this ride at all. (on the bright side, this was my first ever on-the-road patch job that held. i'm thanking wil r of argonia again this morning for his expert training a few months back. before his lesson on fixing flats i had never got it right.)

repaired tire back on the bike i turned and headed back toward town with plans to check the pressure and top off the tube. plans changed as i tested the tire with another set of three intervals. accelleration felt right. rolling was smooth. so i just kept going to the west.

if you're keeping track, you know that at this point i had complete two sets of three intervals. what i did next almost did me in. i decided to do a single set of 2 min on/2min off. by the third interval, my legs were screaming for mercy. i gave in a few seconds early. i just couldn't push any more.

after a brief rest, i hit it hard again with another set of 1 min on/2 min off. another rest and i decided to do another stupid thing: see how fast i could do the mile i have picked out for next week's 'flying flatlanders' challenge. i don't think i was fully recovered from the 2 on/2 off interval set. i started fading fast at the half way point of this mile. i pushed on though and ended with a time of 2'47. same time as my mile on dirt yesterday. i'm going to have to improve on that next week.

with 3 sets of 3 times 1 on/2 off and a set of 3 times 2 on/2 off and a hard pushed mile under my elastic waistband, i decided a set of four times 1 on/2 off was in order. i polished off the last of these intervals less than a mile from home, so i just spun on in.

my legs feel a bit weary, but they'll recover. glad i had a chance between storms to get these miles in. hopefully tomorrow there will be a break long enough for another 20 or more. until then...see ya! (19.93 miles @ 16.7mph)