We did the Scripps Poway Parkway/HW67/Highland Valley/Palmorado loop again. This is the same ride as two weeks ago, so it was a good measure to see if my performance is improving. Good news is that I completed the 40 miles in just under 3 hr, which is 15 minutes faster than before, but the bad news is that I feel like I have been run over by a truck. Everywhere hurts. Everywhere.
This was one of those ride days where it felt sluggish. The bike felt heavy, like my wheels were in glue or my brakes were dragging. But mechanically, everything was fine. The problem was me. This past week I struggled to get enough sleep and it took a toll on all my workouts. Last night I made sure to go to bed early at 9pm but I woke up at 4:45am instead of 6am. So Even when I try to get the sleep, it doesn’t seem to happen for me.
I really love to use my Garmin Forerunner 305 on my workouts as it really shows my performance. Today it validates the heaviness that I felt. By the end of the ride my heart rate was much higher than it should have been which is very clear when looking at HR vs Elevation. Even with the smaller climbs at the end, my heart rate was really getting up there. The big climbs at the start are for the 2 mile Scripps-Poway hill and then the climb up into Ramona along HW67.
Along Highland Valley there is a 9% grade section that makes for a pretty wild (and dangerous!) down hill. I remembered to bring my camera along this time and took some pictures.
Climbing up Scripps Poway
Almost to Ramona
9% Grade!
I am wiped out now…
