Method To The Madness

I found a great way to work out down here in the Valley of the Sun. I hate to wake up early, but I hate the summer heat even more. After hearing that the temperature was going to rise above 111 degrees I knew I would have to wake up very early to get in my scheduled workout. I have been working riding and running at night, but even at midnight it is not uncommon for temperature to be greater than 100 degrees.

I have discovered that my body does not do well in the heat. We all remember the Rocky Point Triathlon nightmare in Mexico last may. My heart rate is about 12-15 beats lower per minute if I am out of the heat.

With this being said I woke up at 3am and was riding by 3:30am. It felt great and I was able to cycle better in the cooler weather. I was able to keep my RPM’s at 95, go faster than my typical workout, and go further without totally exhausting myself.

I really enjoyed the ride, and afterwards I headed down to Tempe to meet up with a couple guys from the marathon group and ran a few miles with them. I was back home by 8:30am with two great workouts under my belt. All I had to worry about for the entire rest of the day was what games to watch on the TV.

I can see many more very early workouts in the near future.

It's Official

It is now official that the 95 RPM thing sucks, and I mean realy sucks! It is hard and I don't like it or appreciate it at all. I know that it will make me a better cyclist but it just isn't any fun. I gave it a chance.

Feel The Heat

It is a little warm down here in Phoenix, and when I say a little warm I mean it is scorching, boiling, baking, roasting, sweltering, sizzling, blazing, burning, and blistering hot!

Instead of melting in the unforgivable sun, I decided to run on the treadmill. It felt as through I was cheating with the cool air-conditioning, and I loved it. I was able to complete my planned four mile run with ease. My heart rate was lower than it usually is, and I did not feel as beat up as I usually do from running on the pavement. It felt great!

If I knew the change in the environment would have made such a large difference I would have bought myself a treadmill years ago. Now I am looking forward to another great run this afternoon at the gym on the same treadmill.

Am I giving myself some sort of false hope? Is there any reasons why I should not start running on the treadmills more often?