Resting Heart Rate

I've decided....Drawn a line in the sand, set the date.  Gonna take the bull by the horns, nose to the wheel, axe to the grind stone....blah blah blah.  I'm doing my Aerobic Threshold (AT) test on January 17th.  It's be the test detailed in the link to the Heart Rate Training article I posted earlier.  

"5 min. warm up slowly to a pace at the end where you are beginning to breathe a little hard
5 min. maintain the pace, increasing a bit at the end
5 min. increase pace again to labored breathing.
5 min. on a gradual incline increase the pace from just breathing hard to
breathing very hard. Transition directly into…
2 min. all out sprint on a steep hill to maximum speed!
1 min. push this max speed while still going up and hold for a minute or
as long as possible!! Record MHR.
10 min. cool down at a very easy pace and stretch.
------------------
33 min. total ( 18 minutes hard, 15 minutes warm up/down)"

So to get ready, I slept with my HRM last night to get a glimpse of my true resting heart rate (RHR).  Kind of funny results but I've established 65 BPM as a base line which I seemed to achieve a couple of hours before I woke up.  However, I appear to be somewhat of a restless sleeper as there were some spikes thru the night.  I'll have to read up more on that.

Anyway, I went ahead made some theoretical calculations for training zones just to see what they may look like.  Above are the results for my ideal training zones if my Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) turns out to be 185 like I suspect.  So actually, my concern of training too fast maybe a little unfounded.  Regardless, I'm gonna stick with the original plan and try to maintain a lower heart rate and run for time rather than distance up until the date of the AT test.

On another front....I go back to work on Friday.  (whoo hoo, one day of work before the weekend).  So today I'll get my road bike out,  clean it up, check the tubes, and tune up as necessary.  Probably going to attempt a test ride to the office tomorrow (New Year's Day activity) and then attempt a cycle into the office.  Should be fun!

So as I get my trusty old Nasbar home built steed out, I've got to keep in mind one thing about myself.  Bicycles are to me....... what pornography, crack, booze, and gambling are to other addicts.  I love it, and can't go past a bike shop without going in, chatting with the mechanics, and walking out with $30 worth of tubes, levers, tools, jerseys, shorts, cleats, or anything else their nasty point of purchase displays have to offer!  If not kept in balance, I could easily throw my family into bankruptcy $30 - $100 at a time!  So wish me luck!

-Dave