So the original plan was to get up first thing this morning. But, instead, given that we are only allowed lawn watering Wednesday and Saturday, I watered the lawn first thing this morning and played some GTA IV on the Xbox. That ate up a couple hours and we then went out to lunch and ran errands. Luckily, I kept the motivation to ride this afternoon once we returned home, as I wanted to record a course on my Garmin Edge 305 GPS to use to race against in future training (including tomorrow morning’s bright and early training)

Man, it’s hot out there, with the sun beating down! I have a standard course from the house out to the local lake and back that clocks in just under 20 miles – an hour out and back, which is perfect for squeezing in some training after work, or pretty much any time. I started out fast, with a high cadence on the way out, dully aware of some wind at my back.

Over time, the midday sun and temperature in general was really draining. So much of the road course I picked was very exposed, with little shade and tree cover to help. On the way back, it was a bit of a struggle – a strong wind pushing against me was like climbing the whole way back. I kind of expected the heat to be an adversary in today’s training, but the wind was a total surprise. Regardless, I finished the ride in almost exactly an hour, and have an initial course to try out tomorrow morning to race against myself (virtual partner). I’m really looking forward to using the virtual partner to up my training efforts – including my bike commutes to and from work.

Falls Lake Training Course