Performance increase....
 

Well.....today was tempo ride day, so I figured I'd do my "standard" 35 mile loop with just under 1,500 feet of climbing. Wind was typical around here.....breezy. Both pairs of Assos bibs were in the wash, so I reluctantly had to use my piece of **** PI Ultrasensor shorts (with plenty of chamois cream). All my jerseys were in the wash as well, so I had to poseur it today and broke out the old school USPS jersey.

On top of it, my allergies have been kicking my ass the last few days....so bad, I thought I was getting sick again, so I started taking Airborne last night, and have taken Claritin once a day for the past 3 days.

I bested my previous "record" by over 6 minutes today....1:47:45, average speed of 19.6 mph (yeah, yeah...I know...doesn't mean anything....but it's over 1 mph faster than my previous "fastest" ride of that same loop...around 1.5 mph or so over average "harder rides" of that loop).....and I wasn't killing myself and going anaerobic. I knew I was going to blow my old time out of the water, but I still didn't "time trial" it for the last 5 miles, but metered my effort and kept it steady.

My hip was really starting to bother me about 50 minutes in, from when I hurt my back the other week - I'm sure I probably could've knocked off another 1-2 minutes had that not been an issue. Also started having a bit of an issue breathing (due to allergies) around then as well, but it didn't really seem to have much of an impact....other than drinking water wanted to make me gag.

Oh....and I didn't wear gloves today. Woohoo. See that P-Cad? I just saved $2,000.

Today was the proverbial "no chain" day. Just felt like I could fly, even into headwinds....it's like I could see the flags around blowing against my direction of travel, but the wind just really didn't seem to affect me too badly. Is Claritin and Airborne on the "banned" list of substances? :D

I'm telling ya, its the old school USPS jersey doing it for you. :)

Sounds like they should be, doper.:)

If you would have bought Zipp404 then you would have gone twice as fast.

Because of the lighter wallet...

My wallet already has nothing in it :)

On a side note, I bought a racing-fit jersey while I was in NYC this past weekend....a plain white Nike Dri-Fit cycling jersey. Thing fits like a glove....will be nice to have a jersey that doesn't flap around in the wind. At my first race, it was a bit cool so I was wearing my Castelli jacket, and that thing was catching wind like a parachute; combine that with the 15-25 mph headwinds on most of the course, and that sucked a lot.

Recovery ride day today. Legs were full of crap this morning when I just got up to walk the dog at 5 a.m.

Claritin...does it have ephedrine?


Doper...


:roflmao:

"Claritin tablets contain 10 mg micronized loratadine, an antihistamine, to be administered orally. They also contain the following inactive ingredients: Corn starch, lactose, and magnesium stearate."

Good work. It's always nice to put an old PR to bed.

imagine how much faster you would have gone in your Assos.

btw - wtf were they doing in the wash? Hand wash 'em baby, hand wash!

Thanks....but it was a bit more than "putting it to bed". Was more like throwing water on it, dragging it OUT of bed, and then proceeding to beat it to a pulp with a baseball bat. And then giving it a swift kick for good measure.

Got a 46 mile road race coming up this weekend. Kind of looking forward to that, but I need to get my hip/back sorted out. Hopefully it just requires a lot of stretching.

I don't have any of that neato Assos wash soap - need to get me that stuff.

They were already washed, but weren't dry, and I didn't want to put them in the dryer before the ride. This could be a very good excuse to get another 1-2 pairs of bibs for my birthday :D

:lol: I've gone through a month or so w/out breaking any PRs. I'm nailing all of them, but not beating them -- gotta get off this plateau. Can I borrow your water bucket?

Good luck with the hip and the race.

From:

http://www.defenselink.mil/armedforc...opingsep05.pdf



If anyone is truly interested in the 2007 WADA List, it's here, in PDF format:

http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/d...07_List_En.pdf

Right on.

Airborne uses herbal supplements. These are always risky due to the lack of regulation.

Airborne Ingredients:

Airborne Orange Formula
Supplement Facts: Serv size 1 tablet. Servings, 10. Amount per serving: Calories 4, Total Fat 0g, Sodium 230mg (10% DV*), Total Carb 0g, Sugars 0g, Protein 0g. Vitamin A (100% Acetate) 5,000 I.U. (100% DV*), Vitamin C 1,000mg (1,633% DV*), Vitamin E 30 I.U. (100% DV*), Magnesium (Sulfate) 40mg (10% DV*), Zinc (Sulfate) 8mg (55% DV*), Selenium (Sodium Selinite) 15mcg (21% DV*), Manganese (Gluconate) 3mg (86% DV*), Potassium (Bicarbonate) 75mg (2.5% DV*), Organic Herbal Extracts (Lonicera, Forsythia, Schizonepeta, Ginger, Chinese Vitex, Isatis Root, Echinacea) 350mg (DV**), Amino Acids (Glutamine, Lysine) 50mg (DV**). *Daily Value.

Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sorbitol, Potassium Bicarbonate, Orange Flavor, Mineral Oil, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium.

Airborne Lemon-Lime Formula
Supplement Facts: Serv size 1 tablet. Servings, 10. Amount per serving: Calories 4, Total Fat 0g, Sodium 230mg (10% DV*), Total Carb 0g, Sugars 0g, Protein 0g. Vitamin A (100% Acetate) 5,000 I.U. (100% DV*), Vitamin C 1,000mg (1,633% DV*), Vitamin E 30 I.U. (100% DV*), Magnesium (Sulfate) 40mg (10% DV*), Zinc (Sulfate) 8mg (55% DV*), Selenium (Sodium Selinite) 15mcg (21% DV*), Manganese (Gluconate) 3mg (86% DV*), Potassium (Bicarbonate) 75mg (2.5% DV*), Herbal Extracts (Lonicera, Forsythia, Schizonepeta, Ginger, Chinese Vitex, Isatis Root, Echinacea) 350mg (DV**), Amino Acids (Glutamine, Lysine) 50mg (DV**). *Daily Value.

Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Sorbitol, Sodium Bicarbonate, Natural Lemon-Lime Flavor, Polyethylene Glycol, Sucralose, Mineral Oil.

I was actually using the orange stuff....

Wait a minute....forsythia? Does that mean I can go outside and eat the bushes in my front yard?

Shades of Euell Gibbons.