February 22nd...Saturday...1000 calories/hour

15 min warm-up:
Calories:186
Distance: 4.89 mils
HR at end: 110 at 200 watts
Est. Avg. wattage: 175

Calories?
I'm not a calorie counter or even that conscious about what I eat as, over the past twenty years, I've made some life style changes that  reflect decent nutrition and increased activity. I realized I don't have to be a perfect eater, which is rather boring, but rather to watch what I eat 'most of the time' day in and day out and to be aware of portion size.

History:
Back in '89, with too long a story for these pages, I took advantage of a temporary job opportunity and moved myself from Portland to beautiful San Diego. I  found myself living with my cousin Barbara who was definitely a calorie counter. Over the span of six months, I went from a pudgy out-of-shape 194lbs to a lean cycling machine of 159!  It was shortly there after that I saw and built my first recumbent and the rest is history. This morning, after last nights tough workout, I weighed 161# and am probably as strong on the bike, at least on the trainer, as I've been in many a year.

So calories? I use this measurement simply as an indicator of my overall workload per session. Nothing more. Along those lines, I'm a strong believer that every training session should have a purpose. That it's really not worth my time and energy to get on the trainer for anything less than a 750 calorie burn unless it's for recovery or to get the kinks out of the legs. I try to stick to that.




SPEED WORK:
Time: 1:00:00
Calories: 1127
Distance: 23.85 miles
HR at end: 140-100-75...over three minutes
Estimated average watts for 1000 calories: 265W

I changed my focus tonight from speed work to strictly workload though I did manage to mix up
my rpms throughout this hour which was the original goal. After resetting my display and turning the fan up to max, I started my challenge to reach 1000 calories within exactly one hour a goal I had
never achieved.  I knew it was going to be uncomfortable, ok...hurt...but also knew riding with select
body systems stressed would be good stuff. Being able to ride with my legs under high tension for the hour was something I needed to prove to myself I could do. I also knew dealing with all this generated heat could drag down my performance tonight.
For the most part, my HR hovered around 140 and only went up to 150 around 50:00 into the ride at wattages of 280 or more. My breathing was controlled throughout and I stayed away from going anaerobic.
Time and Calories:
20:00.      382
30:00.      574
52:56.     1000!
At this time, I soft pedaled for 30s and recorded my data on paper.
My HR was 150.
I then proceeded to close down the hour run.
1:00:00.  1127 Calories for the hour...a PB!
Note:It would appear I was consistent in maintaining the same workload throughout the hour
with only slight variations.

Cool down:
15 min. at 155W
Calories: 169

Total Workload(calories).:1472
This morning, resting pulse after my morning jo
and sitting in my LazyBoy was 46. Seems like I'm none the
worse for wear.