Heat Takes a Toll - Grindstone 100 Miler Prep (Week 6)

Week 6 was strictly cycling. After my run last Saturday where I stopped at mile 7 due to feeling pain, I decided to give my foot another week. So, we were on the bike all week. I took Friday off due to lots of house chores needing to be done but we got plenty of activity in.

I cleaned and sealed my deck, cleaned up a pile of old lumber by my garage, mowed my yard, sprayed weeds, and a bunch of other small things so we were very active. Saturday, I did 50 miles (4hrs) on the bike. This was my furthest distance to date.

But the real kicker from Friday and Saturday was the heat. We hit triple digits both days and it was miserable. Saturday was particularly rough on the bike. It’s hard to carry enough water to sustain 4hrs of effort in that kind of heat so we were rationing which wasn’t a good thing as you can imagine.

After mile 25 every long steep hill I hit, I had to walk the top ½ of it to keep my heart rate from spiking and to prevent overheating. Not great! Once I got back to the house, I immediately soaked myself with the water hose and it was so refreshing!

Sunday, I did not feel great and felt like I could not get rested my sleep was normal that night, but I was so drowsy all day. ended up laying down at 3:30 to take a nap and I completely knocked out. My wife had to wake me up at 6:30 to eat diner. Monday came and I still felt really tired that morning but I increased my calorie intake and felt better by Tuesday.

All that to say that heat can really take a toll on your body. Your effort at slower paces is going to be higher than normal and your body is working harder to try and cool itself.

Here is a breakdown of my training for Week 6.

Monday - 22.39 miles cycling.

Tuesday - 25.21 miles cycling

Wednesday - 13.42 miles cycling

Thursday - 21.39 miles cycling

Friday - yard work and house chores

Saturday - 50.07 miles cycling

Sunday - Rest day

Total - 132.48 miles.