Early Morning Cactus

Last night the book "The Performance Zone" finally came in the mail. I ordered it on Troy's recommendation and it is supposed to have information on how to eat and drink during heavy physical activity. This is perfect for me because I've been trying to get all the information I can about preventing cramping (muscle damage) and how to improve overall performance.

I read the first couple chapters last night and took away a few key concepts.

1. Drink 15-20 ounces before a ride.

I never do this. I mean never. I usually wake up, get dressed and start riding. Apparently this is a big mistake.

2. Drink 15 minutes _after_ a ride.

Again I never do this. I've been trying to drink and eat more after a ride, but it's always much later than 15 minutes after a ride is over.

3. Drink sports drinks because they are better than water.

I'm ok on this, but I usually do prefer water. Water doesn't ruin my camelback, so I usually carry mostly water. Apparently I also need to get a sports drink that has a lot of carbs and protein. My current drink (Cytomax) lacks the protein, so I need to change that somehow.


So armed with all this new information I decided to give it a try this morning on Cactus. Oh also, I bought some new Fox shorts and wanted to give them a try as well. I've had one pair of riding shorts for over a year and they are in pretty poor shape now.

I woke up at 6AM to start drinking. I tried to get through an entire water bottle of Cytomax while watching ESPN, but I couldn't do it. I drank maybe two thirds before stopping. I then filled the rest up with water and Cytomax and took off to meet Troy.

We rode and I felt great at the start. I noticed a decent difference between where I expected my body to be and where it was. A good difference by the way.

On the climb up Mustard I noticed my heart rate was consistently below 180, at at the most 185. That is great news for me. It means I'm doing something right, because I would have expected it to be over 190 at some point.

The rest of the ride went well. I have new tires and they seemed to do fine. I'm still not sure if I like them or not. They seem just different. Not better and not worse. They are thinner and I don't think I like that. I prefer a wider tire for more traction. We'll see how things go for the next few rides. Have to give them a fair shake.

Thanks to Troy for riding with me this morning as well. It sure beats riding alone.