Training Days

Back in the routine of training again...  After a week off the bike I jumped right back into things this past week and went to work getting my base built up again.  Went 3 days in a row with 3 hour rides after work.  A 3 hour ride at endurance pace is normally not that significant of an effort for me, but doing it after work, after some time off the bike, made for a pretty good training block.  My legs felt great but I definitely needed to eat more than I normally would on that kind of effort.  The energy stores have already come around back to normal since the start of the week though.

For me there seems to be a few keys to riding well in the afternoon after a long day at work:  Getting enough sleep the night before is pretty obvious. 
The next is getting some sort of actual rest at lunch so the after lunch sleepiness doesn't linger all the way into the 5pm ride time.  This is the one I don't do a very good job of even though I know from experience that even laying down for only 10min with my eyes closed makes me feel a lot better through the afternoon. 
The last key is getting the afternoon snack right.  For a couple hour ride it needs to be a few hundred calories, including fat, protein & a majority of carbs.  I actually do best with 2 snacks - one a couple hours after lunch and another about 45min before I ride.  The second snack leaves my blood sugar in a better place starting the ride compared to going through the entire afternoon with only one snack.  Finally a little caffeine also helps a lot.

After making it through the work week pretty well I was lucky enough to have a really chill weekend.  Even after a couple tough rides I'm feeling pretty rested.  Even though the Tour of CA was right in my backyard, I decided to stay home, get in a better quality ride, get some things done around the house, and finish the day less worn out.  Sometimes it's best to say no, even to some good things. 

Sat: 7 Sisters I don't have a GPS file but saw this one for the same route on Strava - by Manny Prado

Sun: Cooks - Harding - Santiago Peak - Holy Jim - back to Cooks
pedaled the road section too (no shuttle)