So my workout on Sunday I had planned on bonking. Maybe there is some evidence to this being a good thing. This article, a fairly new discovery, might explain the benefits. Glycogen supercompensation of cells that feed neurons in the brain can be depleted and then restocked with higher levels of glucose. Previously, it was thought that only, the transfer of glucose from the blood vessels, is what supplied the brain with energy.
Power Phase
Lunch: Did 32 flights of stairs ascending/ descending 2 steps at a time.
WU: 15 min bball and 15 min lifecycle
Leg ext 5x10x85
Seated rows 5x10x110
sit ups w/twist 4x100x7 lb medicine ball
prone hamstring curl 5x10x80
pec press 5x10x65
seated leg press 10x10x225
Knee is holding up a lot better on stair workout. Lot more stable instead of feeling like it’s going to collapse. Getting a lot more muscle definition back into the left leg. Increase 5 lbs on leg extension. Left knee on leg extension getting more stable and quad is getting stronger. Felt really good on leg ext pushing to almost failure on the last set. Time to increase weight. All leg work done fast concentric and slow eccentric.
Then there is this, Spanish guitar. Really passionate, intense and talented. I can easily listen to flamenco or Spanish guitar while riding, especially on the trainer. Today’s ride was done outside. Really nice out. In the low 30′s with some fresh snow on the ground. Gorgeous.
My Bike workout on Mon, 02/13/2012 at 5:36 PM. I did 16.17 Miles in 1:03:49 at 15.2mph. MY COMMENTS: CycleOps Joule
Done after weight workout. Got home. Changed hit the trails. Little tender and sore from weights.
Power Phase
A.M Workout
WU: rode to gym
leg ext 4x10x80
seated rows 4x10x110
sit ups w/ twist 3x100w/3kg med ball
single leg curls 4x10x80
single leg press 5x10x225
tricep ext 3x10x70
NOON hour workout
24 flights of stairs bounding 2 steps at a time ascending and descending
P.M. Workout
WU: 20 min lifecycle
leg ext 4x10x80
seated rows 4x10x110
sit ups w/ twist 3x100w/3kg med ball
single leg curls 4x10x80
single leg press 7x10x225
pec press 4x10x60
Good, tough day at the gym doing 2 a days with some stair climbing during lunch. After that A.M workout I was really sore. First few flights of stairs, at noon, still a bit sore but loosened up. Rest of stairs came easier. P.M. workout not sore and the lifting came fairly easy.
My Bike workout on Thu, 02/09/2012 at 3:59 PM. I did 37.65 Miles in 2:12:51 at 17.0mph. MY COMMENTS: Garmin EDGE705
Feel 7
Little sore at start of ride. Really sore this morning. Graduallly dimished through the day. Easy peasy ride SW12 to Sprague. Beautiful night but a little bit chilly with temps around 30.
All the endurance riding that I’ve done, this past fall and winter, is really showing in the vascular definition of my legs. I’ve always had very vascular calves but my thighs have really been showing the vascular definition. I’ve also noticed that my abdomen is showing some vascular definition since I’ve been doing 600 situps, with a 7lb ball, since last August. This is a sure sign of aerobic capacity has increased.
That means tired. Not over trained. Just bushed. Here’s why.
Woke up at 5:30am to get to the gym by 6:30am.
Power Phase
WU: rode to gym
Leg ext 5x10x80
Seated rows 4x10x110
Sit ups w/ twist 2x100x3kg medicine ball
Leg curl 3x10x80
Single legged Seated leg press 5x10x225
pec press 4x10x60
tricep ext 4x10x60
Quicke at the gym. Needed to get work done. Felt really good, though. Getting close to increasing weights. Fast concentric and slow on eccentric part of lifts for legs.
My Bike workout on Wed, 02/08/2012 at 4:14 PM. I did 38.15 Miles in 2:08:56 at 17.8mph. MY COMMENTS: Garmin EDGE705
Feel 8
Little sore but not bad from morning weights. Threw in a few 30 sec efforts and 1 min power for just a “test”. Felt good. A lot better than the last few years.
Like I said, I’m tired from a long day. Working in the lab isn’t all that stressful physically. There is a lot of moving around and standing. Late fall through late spring samples are kind of rushed. The results need to be read so as to know what lines of wheat to plant the coming fall. Now that we’ve taken on an organic wheat study and whole wheat flour study there’s not much free time like previous years. It used to be May through end of July was preparing for the coming samples. Oh, and then there’s August. A bunch load of sample need to get done by labor day. See, I’m tired and I’m rambling on.
What do I mean by that title? Over the top. David Lee Roth style. You’re pushing it hard, lovin’ it, and having a rockstar moment. Fun. Oops! The last post I said I wasn’t going to reaffirm you all that I’m ” lovin’ and havin’ fun” cycling. When I put David Lee Roth in a blog I’ve got to.
Power Intervals
WU: bball 20 min
Leg ext 10x10x80
Leg curl 7x10x80
Seated rows 5x10x110
Sit ups w/twist 3×100 w/ 3kg med ball
Single Legged press 10x10x225
Seated bench press 5x10x60
During lunch 20 flights of stairs bounding 2 stairs at a time. Last flight 3 steps at a time. Then 1 mile walk.
Yeah that was pushing some limits. At times I felt like I needed a nurse to help me walk. The point of no return workout. WOW! luckily I saved a little for the ride home. More like pedal, coast, pedal home.
Slowly working in plyometric type workouts for later this month when I’ll start full blown plyo’s.
My Bike workout on Sat, 02/04/2012 at 7:16 PM. I did 48.83 Miles in 3:22:38 at 14.5mph. MY COMMENTS: Computrainer
2% 100 MI
Feel 8
Lost .5 hour because of power surge. Lots of heavy snow knocking limbs down. Urban living. Legs were really feeling it towards the end mostly because I’m not accustomed to spinning. To much gravel, <80 rpm, has taken it’s toll.
I love doing these long rides on the trainer. It’s a fun aspect of, not so much physical, but mental training. A lot of people miss out on the mental aspect of training. Ultimately, bike racing comes down to you. Can you affirm to yourself that you can do it. This is what I like to use long rides on the trainer.
Another benefit of the indoor trainer is working on higher rpm efforts. Unless your really used to spinning at 105+ rpm’s you’re going to feel it. Afterwards, the feeling in the legs feels like running downhill. What is called eccentric movements. It’s the eccentric phase that really tears up muscle but also makes you stronger.
Try standing at higher rpm’s on the trainer it’s a great upper body workout also. Supporting, the weight of your body when your bike is locked into a rigid position, it’s like doing and isometric workout.
Since the beginning of January I’ve dropped the hours down to 10-15. I kind of find it interesting when people talk about ” being a Christmas star”. What they are talking about is being super fit. I was a Christmas star this past training block. My endurance was super high. I wasn’t ready to race and still I”m not. Now, it’s time to ramp up the hours, a bit, and put some intensity in it. I hope I’m a “March” star. There are a lot of stars to shoot for.
One more thing. I’ll quit reaffirming that I’m having fun or that I love cycling. I think these words, especially fun, get way over used. When you’ve been doing this for as long as I have, putting in 16,000 miles on a bicycle, pushing your limits you better be having fun and loving it.
My Bike workout on Thu, 02/02/2012 at 3:59 PM. I did 49.88 Miles in 3:08:45 at 15.9mph. MY COMMENTS: Another good workout in which I WON! I’ve been winning a lot of workouts this fall/winter. When you’re fitness is this deep workouts are super fun. I look forward to them everyday knowing what the pay off is.
Today I did a route that I’ve been doing really consistently all fall/winter. There’s a couple routes that I do over and over to get a gauge of where I’m at relating to fitness. I mostly gauge by feel. Not very accurate but I can get a good idea especially using the powermeter. Training peaks WKO has a feature where I could compare each of those rides side by side. It’s good to use as a coach because you’re not there with the athlete.
I could feel yesterday’s workout in the legs. The intensity of the 3×20′s were a little different than what I’m usually use to doing the day before riding this route. Things were fine till about the 27 mile mark. Before this, it was really typical as far as power goes. The hills were a little higher and easier power than typical, though.
Since the beginning of January I’ve naturally dropped in the total hours per week. A natural recourse for putting in 20-30 hour weeks August through December. I’ve also been increasing in some intensity since the beginning of January. I’m kind of an interesting subject. My body tends to tell my mind when to back off without even thinking about it or looking at volume, intensity, duration on paper. I’m the same way with my diet. When I take a day off or do less hours I’m just not that hungry. I’m kind of lucky in this respect.
My Bike workout on Wed, 02/01/2012 at 3:54 PM. I did 42.64 Miles in 2:24:13 at 17.7mph. MY COMMENTS: Did some 3×20′s. at subthreshold, .93 intensity factor, also known as sweet spot training. The rest of the workout was held around .75 IF.
Feeling really fit. I’m thinking that no more than 5 more, of these 3×20′s, and I’ll either be ready for longer efforts or bump up the intensity to threshold. These efforts are harder in the winter around here. It seems like the cold takes just a little more out of a person. I do these after work so it gets to be around dusk and the temps start to drop. I notice I end up coughing a lot more afterwards when doing these harder efforts.
I’ll leave you with some Spanish guitar. This and Flemenco I think are some of the most passionate music around. I’m a little biased, though, growing up listening to this. If my mom would of had her way, and me not wanting to go outside and play so much, I would of been a guitarist. She was a good pianist.
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity.[1] As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism. Characteristics include domineering, fierceness, bravado, etc., in ways that are showily and histrionically tough.
This fall was the one. The one, for someone from a unpredictable weather state such as Nebraska, to put in the base miles. The weather, from August through December, has been unpredicatably warm and dry. For Nebraska anything consistent is unusual. Living here all my life, I can see the patterns fairly well. Being a cyclist I’m always attune to this. With a wet spring and previous wet winter, there was going to have to be some balance. This past fall was that balance.
I started base miles in August. Lot’s of just riding around at endurance and tempo. Averaging around 20 hours per week of ” just riding around” isn’t for the weak of mind, especially for a working man with a full time job. At 6000 miles, from Aug- Dec, that’s what is called building.
Just from riding around and all these base miles my threshold has increased 10 watts. That’s significant for me considering how long I’ve been training, on a bike, and my age. I haven’t done a formal test for threshold. Based on my performance manager chart, training stress scores, how fast I’m recovering and rides at upper tempo I’ll push that threshold up 10 watts. When I start doing more efforts at threshold then I’ll make sure to do a test.
The next phase, I’m starting to build in more intensity, began the beginning of January. I’ve started to reduce some of the volume and adding in some subthreshold to threshold work. This can be one of the hardest phases to balance out. I’m still trying to keep in some longer days, at endurance/tempo, and working in 20 minute efforts once to twice per week. Starting out with 1 hour at sub to threshold efforts the first week and building up to 2-2.5 hours by week 5-6.
In this time frame, since August, I’ve been hitting the gym. I haven’t lifted in over 6 years. In certain coaching circles, there is a belief that you shouldn’t lift weights. So I listened and experimented with myself. I don’t think not lifting helps. Since I started lifting I feel more balanced and a stronger total body. Iweighed myself regularly, 158lbs, up 7lbs from last August of 2011 when I started lifting. I do the pinch test, regularly also, and it isn’t any fat. Last I had a body fat test was 7%. With ~ 6000 miles of endurance work on the bike from Aug- Dec this experiment of n=1 is confirmed.
My ultimate goal is Masters Road Nationals Bend, Or. Sept 5-9. The plan is to get in close to 50 races by that time. That’s going to be really difficult for someone who works full time and lives in Nebraska. Living in Nebraska, you have to travel, and that consumes a lot of time. It’s all about time for someone with a career and other obligations. One thing about me, when I set a goal, it’s all or nothing. One other thing, I’m not shooting for a top 10, top 5, or top 3. It’s that top step. I don’t doubt myself, hope or wish for things. I’ve got the tools and the know how. Now to find some time trials to race.
