Two Killer Workouts

I've been trying to average 200+ watts for a 100 mile ride for more than a year now, and haven't really come close yet. Low 190s is the closest I've come...until Saturday.

The plan was 2 loops on the ironman course (112 miles) and average more than 200 watts.

I went out somewhat conservative, averaging 201 watts for the first 50 miles. I was feeling pretty strong still, so I decided to go for it and push hard for the remainder of the ride. My average for the last half of the ride was 211 watts, giving me a 207 average for the whole ride. My best ever, and more than 10 minutes faster than my ironman bike time which I'm really happy with because Saturday's ride included stops for water and stop lights.



Finally averaging 200+ watts for that long gives me confidence that my cycling endurance is coming along and I might be able to put together a good bike split in Florida.

This morning was my long run for the week. I wasn't sure what to expect because my legs were stiff and sore from yesterday's ride. I decided to play it conservative in the first half and push the pace if I felt good, and the result was my best 18 mile run ever. I owe this partially to my new run nutrition plan (I'm eating more on my long runs than I used to). I also owe these two great workouts to the Paleo Diet - although I'm not following it 100%. The increase in protein in vegetables is helping so I'm going to stick with the diet for a while and see what happens.



I've still got 5 weeks of solid training (not including rest weeks or my taper) so if I can get in a few more great workouts like this I think I may have a good race in Florida.

Then my focus will be Ironman WI 2010.