Reaching that point...

One of the graphs in the Cyclist's Training Bible suggests that riders will begin to feel significant amounts of fatigue by the time they hit the second build phase of their training regimen. I think I'm starting to get to that point. It's not necessarily that I'm crawling around in a perpetual state of fatigue... more along the lines of walking up a flight of stairs and realizing that my legs do feel like they've been working more than they're used to.

The odd thing about this "fatigue" is that once I get on the bike and start riding a little bit, it won't really bother me much. In fact, doing my intervals this week, I'm continuing to improve (in terms of distance, pace, and heart rate) so that is encouraging. Hopefully the progression continues for the next month and I'll be able to lug my sad ass over those climbs next month.

I've found that compression tights/socks actually help quite a bit. I use a set of 2XU tights which seem to work fairly well (review forthcoming).

I'm also starting to be hungry all the time... though for the next few weeks until , I'm trying to watch what I eat. I'm not necessarily trying to become waif-thin but do want to be careful about the amount of salt and fat that I'm putting into my system. So no burgers, no fast Chinese food, and no more bacon/egg/cheese on a toasted bagel (one of my favorites). Speaking of breakfasts, I think I found a rather tasty and not-too-unhealthy breakfast to eat before rides. Toasted English muffin with nutella and sliced fresh strawberries (or bananas). Okay, maybe the Nutella isn't the healthiest of choices... but it's a damned good breakfast and only takes 3 minutes to make. Of course, I managed to burn my hand on my toaster oven in that span of 3 minutes. Not that it hurts... just irritating that I'm such a klutz.