Valentine's Day Cycling Date

I hope everyone had a memorable Valentine's Day.  My favorite memory was 5 years ago.  We had Jazz tickets to see the Cleveland match-up and it would be the first time to see Lebron James in action.  We planned on having a nice dinner and then going to the game, which was more planning than we had ever done for Valentine's. You probably already guessed, but we didn't make it to the game.  In January we made the decision to buy our current house and as the closing date neared, Valentine's evening was the only time that worked out.  Owning our dream home and sitting in an empty living room rather than seeing Lebron was fine by me and we've since seen him play when the Heat are in town.
Valentine's 2007 - Dream House is finally ours!
Yesterday will also be a good Valentine's memory, but it was a little more intense and sweaty than a house closing.  Last night was our first of many computrainer classes in order to prepare for the upcoming cycling season.  We both hope to do some racing this year and I especially needed more motivation than watching DVDs in the basement.  We've been trying to get into a Max Testa Training session since December, but they are very popular and with only a couple classes and 9 slots in each, we had to be patient.  We've worked with Max over the last few years on bike fitting, injuries, and training schedules and he definitely has the skills.  We are very fortunate that he moved to Park City to set up shop!  His staff and cycling instructors are top-notch and as soon as we heard about the new program, we saw it as a way to take it to the next level and stay fit.
Basement Trainer Setup
Last week, we secured a couple spots in Block 3 that started this week and arranged a lactate threshold test for Sunday.  We survived our first lactate threshold test with Max 3yrs ago, so at least we knew what we were in for.  If you've never done one, this video link helps explain the process.  We didn't do our test outside, but inside on the computrainers since we don't have power meters on our bikes.  It was interesting to compare our results with the ones 3yrs prior.  Terry's results were very similar plus he was able to reach a higher top end watt level.  I ran the same watts, but had a slightly lower heart rate and the big difference was my lactate.  I was much lower, meaning my body is getting better at re-utilizing the lactate that is produced.  I'm curious if my vegan diet has something to do with the shift, could be yet another benefit!

We arrived last night as the newbies and hopefully didn't take anyone's favorite spot.  We have been riding consistently, but jumping into Block 3 was intense.  We did some great interval work based on our new power zones and I immediately could feel my muscles reacting and learning how to adjust.  We were only 15minutes into the 90minute workout and Terry looked down to see his tire exploding with tumors.  He handled it well and with the help of another classmate, swapped his tires and only missed a couple intervals.  Poor guy, not the best way to start out the class but it will definitely add to the memory.  We both feel great this morning and look forward to our next class on Thursday.

Run For Sherry
In other athletic news, we went to the Jazz vs Thunder game on Friday and got to see Kevin Durant in action.  He and teammate Russell Westbrook are very athletic and smooth, and easily beat the Jazz.  Saturday morning, I joined several others for the Park City Run for Sherry. What a horrible situation, but it was good to see so many communities and individuals join together Saturday to support running, freedom, and life in honor of Sherry.  Saturday afternoon, I caught yet another University of Utah women's basketball game while Terry went for a road ride. The ladies wore their pink cancer uniforms and got a win against Arizona.

In addition to my possible racing, I made 2 more athletic plans for the summer.

- I registered and got into the Little Red Riding Hood ride in June.  Last year, the ride sold out in 24hrs, so   we knew this year it would go even faster.  Most of the "Princess Peloton" got in and even my Mom and   her friend, so the tradition continues.  The ride officially sold out in less than 2hrs!

- Corrie asked me to join her in running the Park City Mid Mountain Marathon in September.  I've had the  race on my bucket list for a couple years, so in a moment of craziness, I agreed, and we both registered yesterday.  I've never run further than 13miles, which I did last year (without training) and ended up with knee injuries (duh).  We have 7 months to come up with a plan and the training sessions will be fun, so I'm encouraged and hope to successfully mix cycling and trail running with no injuries.

Terry is hoping to get into the Park City Point To Point mountain bike race.  I hope he and Christian both land spots and can train all summer for the challenge.  At least he'll be able to conquer the 78miles and 14000ft on his newly ordered 29er.

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