NICE DAY, NICE RIDE Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Druid Hill Park on a late Winter afternoon. The temperature is in the upper 40s and the sun is shining. The first ride of each training week is designed to be below the pace you intend to ride in the Century. Your muscles are supposed to "recover" from the workout you gave them in the long ride on Sunday. Something about not tearing the muscle you've built up. (I'm seriously amassing muscle. It's a genetic tendency to bulk up with exercise, runs in the Miller family. Nobody has ever seen it, though.)

At this point in the training schedule, the first ride of the week is only 10 miles long. Next week the first ride of the week increases to 15 miles. But today, a 10-mile ride, below pace, is the perfect formula to noodle over to Druid Hill Park and ride some laps. I'm taking full advantage of the "below the pace" concept. Even so, I rode faster today than I've ridden in the five weeks since the training started. Later in the week, I'll ride another 10 miles and I'll ratchet it up a notch. Then on Sunday, another 30-mile loop is on the schedule and I'll be in the battle once again. But today -- nice day, nice ride.