I leave for NC in 7 days and yep - the weather here still sucks something terrible so my departure can't arrive soon enough. It's a downright balmy 15 degrees at post time and the wind chill has got to be in the single digits. So it's another day for the rollers - could it be the last day of dedicated indoor training for the winter of 2007-08? I sure hope so - based on some of the long term weather forecasts (abc7chicago.com) it appears that things might be turning the corner and I daresay that spring may actually arrive sometime before June. Then again, this is Chicago....
Today's indoor session ended up to be in the 2-2.5 hour range and involved a fair amount of time spent at threshold. "What's threshold?" you ask...well, it's that place where the work is hard enough that you feel somewhat nauseous (so very pleasant) and you suffer a great deal but not so horribly that you'd rather be dead. I like to think of it as "uncomfortably difficult, but not un-doably so." Pre and post ride doppio - a given. Fortunately I had some fierce melon Gatorade on hand today so at least that critical part was covered. I needed some good, hard, angst-driven tunes broken up with more mellow stuff....here's a random sample - I was in an odd mood this morning so if it seems like a weird combination well, it is.
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Paint It, Black - Rolling Stones
Walk All Over You - AC/DC
Once - PJ
Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
Welcome to Paradise - Green Day
You Could Be Mine - Guns 'n Roses
Stop - Jane's Addiction
Pain - Jimmy Eat World
Little Things - Bush
Watch the Tapes - LCD Soundsystem
WMA - PJ
Wrong Way - Sublime
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
What Matters - Matthew Sweet
All I Want is You - U2
Fade - Staind
Natural One - Folk Implosion
All Day and All of the Night (Live version) - The Kinks
Breakerfall - PJ
Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver
Best of Both Worlds - Van Halen
MIA - Foo Fighters
Wherever I May Roam - Metallica
PDA - Interpol
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant
Time Bomb - Rancid
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Better Man - PJ
Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin
Stay (Far Away So Close) - U2
Truly a weird assortment but it did the job for me this morning. I was feeling mellow so the low key stuff was perfect. What? Me - mellow? Yep. Probably more often than you might think. So begins the mental preparation for tomorrow's training criterium in Kenosha, WI...it's gonna be COLD.
