Cassandra: I have a few rides to catch up on here. Last Sunday I was supposed to ride but by the time I finished cooking for the week it was late and I didn't feel like jumping on the bike. So, I woke up in the morning and rode for 50 minutes at a pretty steady state. Because I was riding for a shorter amount of time, I upped my intensity and rode at about 160 bpm (versus my normal 140 bpm for a longer ride). Although I didn't feel that much like getting up at 5:50 in the morning, once my workout was done I felt good.

On Wednesday I came home from work and rode for an hour and a half. I listened to podcasts the entire time ... I recommend Fat2Fit Radio. It has a ton of workout and nutrition information and helps the time pass quickly. My legs were a bit tired for this workout because I had ridden the bike on Monday and had also run Tuesday and earlier in the day on Wednesday. I really enjoy my cross-training runs. They are a great source of stress relief. Although I am always looking at the clock when I am running, I actually really look forward to putting my running shoes on and hitting the road.

On Thursday I worked in some hill and strength training. Because I have been concentrating on steady state riding, I eased into things with three-minute intervals. Of course, I started with a 5-minute warmup, but then I immediately went into the first of five interval sets. Minute one had me riding as hard as I could, with my heart rate up around 170-175. Minutes two and three were for recovery, albeit at a 60-70% pace. During that time, my heart rate stayed up but was able to relax some. After five sets of those intervals I rode at a high intensity until my 50 minutes on the bike were up. I finished with a five-minute cool down. In the next week my plan is to up my intervals to what I was used to riding: 10 sets of intervals, 2 minutes each with the first minute all-out hard and the second minute riding at a recovery pace around 70%. After the intervals I ride at a high intensity until my time-quota is met.

I am having some nutritional issues as of late. My sweat within the last week has started to smell like ammonia, which is very unusual for me. Dennis looked it up on the internet and found that an ammonia-like smell is common when you are breaking down proteins, either from your diet for fuel or from your own muscles for fuel. I have been struggling with getting enough calories in, as I am riding the bike three times a week and running three or so times a week. I also walk to work and back and am very active during the day. I track my calories in and out using the Loseit App (which I love), but on those days when I am burning 1200+ calories it is hard to meet my metabolic needs and cover everything I burn through exercise. I want to make sure I am not breaking down muscle for fuel, so my plan is to eat more carbs before I workout and re-introduce strength training twice a week. I was doing this faithfully before our cruise to the Caribbean but decided to be a little more lax with working out upon our return. Well, I suppose I have to hit the weights again. Sometimes it's hard to juggle all of this exercise with work and life!