May 22, 2021

THERE'S NEVER TOO MUCH TWO

IT'S WEIRD HOW SOMETHING SO WRITTEN ABOUT, TALKED ABOUT AND THOUGHT ABOUT is so easily overlooked, discarded and forgotten. But, it's also good. Good if you're doing it...

... because few do.

It's exactly what I did today. After a hard block Tues-Thurs, I spun yesterday and went out for a long day of Zone 2.

Which meant I passed on the various invitations to go pound it with the posse.

I find it nearly impossible to do a proper zone 2 ride with others. Inevitably, someone - probably me - will squirt ahead and then it all goes to bell on a handlebar.

There are a few things I like to focus on when doing these rides.

make them event specific, like your next race or ride
make them long
make them count

For example, my next big event is a mountain bike race. Obviously, I rode the MTB. Less obvious, I worked on climbing with as low of a heart rate as possible. This forces me to be very efficient on the pedals and keep my upper body as quiet as possible. Inefficiency is readily apparent by a rising h.r..

I probably over did the time today, shoulda kept it under 4 hours. But, perfect weather.

Making them count, means not screwing them up by hitting it hard for even a tiny bit of time. It also means, not coasting it in with a bunch of zone 1.

All the downhill sections should be as smooth and fast as possible.

That's it.

Zone 2.

Eventhough Starva ways Tough Relative Effort, I should feel really good next week...

... and I should also have some new capillaries from the Zone 2 work...

... which is why there's never too much two.

https://pedalindustries.com/collections/lotions-for-speed-comfort-and-recovery/products/lactigo

Sometimes after a big day like this I'll apply this special menthol mixture.