Friday, July 3, 2026

hot bike climb

Went out in the heat today for a bike climb, 92º and exceptionally humid, dewpoint 78º, heat index 107º.  Hottest part of the day.   I got Dr. Scott an endurance runner a few yrs younger than me to motivate me.  We finished together.  

This was the hardest I've ever pushed my HR.  The overall time was not exceptional, but the effort was due to the conditions.   Faster than last time.  I did very little sprinting off the seat.  Scott did more than I did.  

Roark's Cove bike climb

Total time - 23:11

Avg speed - 6.1 mph

Max HR - 190

HR over 170 - 14:59

HR over 180 - 4:15

Avg HR - 166




Had a nice swim afterward.  Scott lives right at the top of the hill and on a lake.  Got to hang with friends for a few hrs.  Roya joined us.

It was supposed to rain today, even possible severe storms, but nothing came.  Nice lightning and thunder in the distance. 

Roya's day off tomorrow so we'll go swimming.  I want to hit the track during the heat and do some weight pulls.  Could be hotter tomorrow, and certainly will on the reflective turf field in full sun.  


Wednesday, July 1, 2026

bike sprint, weights, water running, swim

Not keeping track of all my workouts but spent Sunday doing weights all day, several sets of upper body and core.  Finished with a brief swim.  

Tuesday did a bike sprint.  2nd fastest.

2.5 mile mountain bike sprint - Laurel Branch Trl

Time - 9:31

Avg speed - 14.3 mph

Max HR - 184

HR over 156 - 8:10

HR over 170 - 1:10

HR over 180 -  0:26 

Avg HR - 160 (inc 1 min recovery at end)

Today, water running, lake swim, weights, backward walking uphill.  I really felt the fatigue in my quads at first.  Any new activity gets new areas.  

water running:

6 x 60 strides w/ 1 min rest

Max HR - 160

Avg HR - 124

Lake swim:

345 yds

Max HR - 139

Avg HR - 124



Lake water temperature 90º according to my watch.
 

Interestingly, more confirmation there is no activity like sprinting... with just a few short sprints on Sat, my hamstrings were a little sore for 3 days.  Don't get that from slow running, drill, stairs, etc...  

Even though I haven't lost much weight, hanging around 142 -144, my body fat % is down 1% from when I first started measuring it, from 13.5% to 12.5%, according to the Hume pod.  Have added some hard fought muscle mass I think.

Hottest day of the year today, low 90's and super humid, dewpoint hit 80º today and heat index over 100ºF.  Early evening before we went to the gym, we walked up the Roark's cove rd. steep and that lush micro climate on the north side of the mountain was noticeably cooler (84ºF) than the area around my house, a south facing bluff which was over 90ºF.  I walked up the steeps backward.  Really felt it in my quads.  

Roya likes to walk with ankle weights while pumping light dumbells.  Looks kinda funny. 


Medical:

My MRI results showed very little.  Very scant detail, nothing concerning, pancreas cyst no change, perhaps even a mm smaller (7mm).  The radiologist has good creds (Harvard, J. Hopkins, BU) but is relatively young.  

Monday, I'm going for an MRI of my knee to assess the issues.  

Roya just had an Ezra full body scan.  No results yet.  

Tomorrow, we'll have heat indexes close to 100º.  I'm going to revel in it.  Going to the track and taking my weight harness, going to pull the 90 lbs weights across the field in the hottest part of the day.  Will be fun.  


Drinking tea again.  Flowers are loving this weather.