Playing Catch-up

On Thursday, I did an hour of the 90-minute class, then did core exercises.  I'd done them in January-February, then fell of the wagon in March, then broke my ankle, blah, blah.  I did the class at prescribed foot speed, but at reduced resistance, firmly ensconced in zone 1 for the entire hour.  Gym people tell us that 60-minute classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are essentially the same as 90-minute classes, just more compressed.  After frequenting both over the last few weeks, I'm not so sure.  In fact, I'm pretty sure they're not.  What I'm seeing in 60-minute classes is a heck of a lot more intensity.  On Monday, we were in high zone 4; the Tuesday class's intensity was lower.  On Wednesday, we were in zone 5 a lot; on Thursday, the 90-minute class only went into low-mid zone 4.  This is a significant difference due, at least in part I suspect, to 60-minute class's instructor's status as an elite track sprinter.  It seems Alex modifies workouts to add short and very intense efforts, which he rides intensely.  Most of the other classes, led by triathletes, seem to focus on longer efforts and endurance, which suits my riding more.  Perhaps it makes sense for me to do one of each classes a week to work on speed AND endurance.

Then on Friday, I rode two and a half hours with Brian and Howie.  I rode outside for a change and it was nice to have changing outdoor scenery rather than static indoor one.  We rode Grizzly and Skyline.  Brian and Howie turned around at Skyline Gate of Redwood Regional Park, while I continued on Skyline, to Redwood and Pinehurst.  I probably rode harder than I should have, but what the heck, it was fun.

On Saturday, I rode for an hour with Hillcrest dads.  They did Redwood-Pinehurst, I cut it short and returned down Joaquin Miller.  Hillcrest rides are faster than they used to be.  With a long ride the next day, I needed an easy ride and managed to ride at a close to appropriate effort.

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