"The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.... It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin." -Benjamin Elijah

Yesterday I decided to do my long ride on the indoor trainer. I had some good reasons, the first being namely that the weather outside promised to be miserable. The second was that my legs were sore and tired, and I hadn't slept much the past few days, so I wanted to make sure I was able to work out on my own terms (riding with a group does not always afford you this luxury). And third, I had Easter plans that I needed to ensure I could get to... Again, being able to control my ride a little was made more possible by the trainer. So, I stuck in Lord of the Rings Pt. 2 (The Two Towers) and just got on and rode....

Riding on a trainer can be very boring, but one of the things I am trying to do is train myself to bike with a higher cadence. So, being indoors allows me to focus on making sure I bike with higher average cadence for longer, training my neurological system to be used to pedaling faster. I feel that by pedaling faster I will develop more efficiency and power... At least, this is what I read.

Pedaling around 110-115 for a few minutes is not easy, but that's where Lance is. What I am also doing is mixing some single legged pedaling in there as well. All of this work makes me want to go out and get some Power Cranks. This cranks basically take the "training wheels" off the pedaling since you cannot use one leg to support the other. It looks like "fun"... Okay, not fun, but worthwhile to try.

It's Easter weekend and I also managed to get my run in this morning. 1 hr 40 minutes! Tomorrow (Monday) the weather is supposed to get a little better, so I think I'll take my riding outdoors for a couple of hours. This next week is going to be challenging as I have to go to Atlanta on Friday and won't be able to do anything other than run all weekend... So, I am going to discuss the possibility of focusing more on riding during the week so that I can run this weekend.

The Vancouver Marathon is also fast approaching and I have not yet completed a run longer than two hours... I was able to complete the Philadelphia Marathon with this level of training, but I did have higher hopes for Vancouver. Still, the Ironman remains my #1 priority and the other races are going to have to be used for experience. The Boston Marathon being tomorrow, though, I can't help wanting to see if I can put in a qualifying time...