Tonight was a great night. I was planning on doing an easy recovery spin on the bike but on my way home I was feeling a little lethargic. As I was driving back I got an email from Jim @ Jade/Whisper Cycles letting me know that a group ride was on tonight (the first one of the year). Yes, today was officially "opening day" for the Jade/Whisper group ride. Granted, there wasn't a lot of fanfare... no beers and hotdogs (for another week) but I think that there was plenty of excitement. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it in time but I raced home and grabbed my bike and gear and headed out for the shop.
I started changing clothes on the way because I knew I was going to be cutting it close. Fortunately I showed up just in time for the ride. We left the shop around quarter after 6 and headed south out of Zeeland.
According to my bike computer we rode for 01:40:02. Total distance was 31.7 miles during which time my average speed was 18.8 MPH with a top speed of 30.1. My average cadence was a pretty solid 95. I felt great when we got back and my legs are feeling awesome right now. I feel like that was about the best recovery ride that I could have had. The best part is that had I gone out by myself I wouldn't have pushed it at all and I would have just had another mediocre training ride. Riding with Jim and the rest of the guys (tonight it was Joel and Dean) is really great for me because I am picking up a lot of things that I don't know about because I haven't done group rides in the past. They showed me how to ride a pace line, we talked about finding the "sweet spot" in a draft, and the constant encouragement keeps you going! The great thing about all this is that they are all willing to take the time to teach me how to do this stuff.
So...here I am 3 days out from a marathon and I feel really good. The one "ache and pain" that has been lingering is the soreness in the arch of my foot. The ride seems to have loosened my foot up a little and it's not hurting at all now. We'll see how it feels tomorrow when my legs tighten back up a little. At any rate, I am really happy with how the recovery is going for now. I am still going to hold off on running since Gwen and I will be doing a 10K this Sat. So, for the next couple days I'll stick to the walking, swimming, and ride routine. Weight lifting will be on a hiatus for now as well... don't want to strain the muscles too much as they are trying to recoup.
One last thing... I mentioned yesterday that I had something in the works regarding a neat opportunity for some people to try out a Whisper Eclipse. I am still in the process of getting the plan together but check in over the weekend for details. Between now and then if anyone IS interested please leave a comment with an email address... or some way to get in touch with you. Basically I'm trying to work a "try before you buy" program for the Eclipse. The biggest limiter though is that the only bike I'll be able to use is my 54 cm. so folks would have to be pretty close to this size frame... anyway check back for the full plan over the weekend and like I said; if you are interested let me know!
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