Put away the pasta

I am officially starting my diet. I know I am not suppose to say "Diet" and it is all about slowly changing your eating habit. Ya Ya Ya. This has worked for me in the past. I jump right into eating healthy... that means lean meat, and lot 'O fruits and veggies.

I just need 3 days. I am not a junk food junkie but there are areas where I can "clean up" my diet. So, bye to the mt dew, the ice cream, and the pasta. Hello to broccoli, spinach, and fruit smoothies.

So, it was a smoothie this morning. I have hard boiled eggs & almonds for snack and its off to HyVee salad bar for lunch.

Oh yes, we started a weightloss smackdown on the EVCC site. I will again bask in the glory of competition.

No riding today ... :( sniff!

Technical Difficulties

Got on the bike this morning for about 1:30hrs. My HRM was acting crazy and my headlight was stuck. Very frustrating! More to come on that. Otherwise, it was a nice morning... I should be glad. I want to rant about my difficulties but not enough time now.

Ok, I have time. First of all, my nice headlamp wasn't operating properly. The button that turns the light on was stuck in the on but dim position. I had just enough light to see down the trail. If it was just $20 - $30, I would just get a new one. I spent good money on this light, I expected it to last for years if not for life. I think I can survive the weekend but right now I will have to forgo the morning rides outside for the trainer.

Also, my HR monitor went totally kaput. I almost turned around and canceled the ride.

Hit the gym in the evening. I was totally tired so I quit after 1 of 3 circuits. I think I just needed some food.

Anyway not a banner day for me. This will make 4 weeks so maybe I needed to back off a little.

Wednesday Report - Continued

I am taking the night off. That means I will miss my Spin up workout. Oh well, I will do some ultra high cadence work tomorrow morning. Also, I am going to hit the weights again. So tonight recovery sleep is in order.

Wednesday Report

Did spinning class this morning. I was a bit slow to get up... maybe because of lifting the last night. I increased the weight on all my exercises by about 10 lbs. I am still staying conservative with the weight amount and trying to keep the reps up near 30.

Spin class was fun. We did a lot of heavy resistance work. Hills, 30 sec power intervals.

Ride Stats -
Spinning - duration 0:57, Avg HR 145

Back in the Saddle

It was a bit chilly this morning. The weather channel reported 27deg when I left at 5:30. I could have waited 'till after work but I wanted to get a taste of what is in store for me. I was pretty warm in my boots and amfib pants. I had my balacava on but should of wore my neoprene face mask. My core temp was Ok but I did have some issues with extremeties. In particular toes and my right thumb.

Zero people on the Keystone trail. I must be the only crazy one.

Weight Training-
duration 1:15

Ride Stats -
duration 1:26, distance 19.1, avg spd 13.7, avg HR 136, avg cad 93

Day Off

Yep, another week down. On my rest day now. The past week was a tough one working around the rainy. Reading Bryan's post it sound like he is doing longer rides than I am. It also sounds like he is just motivated as I am. It is going to be fun next year!

One question that often comes to mind is, "Did I start to early?". I would hate to do all this work and have to start all over again. Even if I did start too early, would a period of say... a month off, hurt me? I am getting into a groove with my training schedule now but, winter is coming. Can I keep up with 14, 16, or even 18hour weeks.

I have accomplished some things in the past weeks. I have kept up with my training hours. I know it sometimes seems like I am being compulsive about my hours but I am looking at these hours in a different way this year. This year I am treating my schedule hours as the minimum.

Previously, I have set the hours a bit high if I didn't reach the set hours, no big deal, I was close. This year, the hours are right on target for where I want to be. So If I don't reach the minimums I probably needed relax a little. My goal is to see through the target and to get in more hours.

Another week in the books

Craig Dan and I did a brutal ride yesterday. It was chilly with wind gust up to 45mph. 51mi, 3:30 hrs... I was glad to be done with that one.

Ride Stats-
duration 3:30hrs, distance 51mi, avg spd 15.1, avg HR 140, avg cad 82

Weekly Stats -
duration 13:27hrs, distance 154.8, avg spd 15.1, avg HR 136, avg Cad 78

Bright Sun Shinny Day

The day started off with Spinning class. I don't even try to stay in my zones. There were several times that I was into zone 4+. With 1:00hr of spinning I only needed 1:00hr on the bike. It was such a nice day, I was out for 2:00hrs. My ride took me north up the trail to the highway, then over to Florence. Then down the trail by Abbott Drive and back behind the Airport.

I had to stop a few times to get my cadence meter to work properly. I finally figured it out the magnet must pass across the bottom of the transmitter.

Ride stats -
1)Spin duration 1:01hr, avg HR 139
2) duration 2:01, distance 31, avg spd 15.4, avg HR 140, avg Cad 94

Trail Patrol-
Keystone North is good.
Abbott St trail just South of 680... lots of leaves on trail wet and very slippery

TGIF

Today I have planned is a 1:00hr recovery ride. I don't think I would gain or loose any fitness with this ride so it would be easy to skip. It was nice sleeping in this morning though.

Did my hour ride in the evening out behind the Airport. I kept my heart rate below 137 for most of the ride. Also, I kept the cadence comfortable.


Ride Stats -
duration 1:03hr, distance 14.8, avg spd 14.8, avg HR 123, avg Cad 63

Trail Patrol

I completed a 1:48 minutes chunk of my planned 2:30 workout. Can I get a "Woo Hoo!!" It seems like a small victory now but I knew today would be a big hurdle for me. It is not over yet. I still have 42 minutes to do. I think I will do an hour which I can bust that out on the trainer tonight.

When I ventured out the streets were damp but no rain. I was thinking I could get in a quick hour ride. I made it down the trail to Twin Creek. By then it was lightly raining but I was still dry and comfortable. I pushed on to Highway 75 to the start of the "Bellevue Loop". That was good! So I turned around. It was still raining... I was comfortable though. The fender I got from Cranksgiving last year, thanks Bryan, worked great and my boots kept my feet dry.

Second ride, opted for riding outside around the back of the airport.

Trail Conditions - College of St. Mary - Bellevue Loop
Slick Bridges, Slight Mud washout under Harrison St bridge, Runners 2, Rabbit Index - Low, Goose Poo Index - Low

Ride Stats -
1) duration 1:48hr, distance 27, avg spd 15.3, avg HR 136, avg Cad 69
2) duration 1:02, distance 15

Wednesday is Done !

The training plan called for 1:30hrs of zone2 work. I am going to call it good with 1:00hr spin class which my heart rate was at or above zone2. And 1:00hr weight workout. Since this was my first session lifting, I was conservative with the weight.

PS... I made up the 30minutes that I was short yesterday. I feel better now :)

Ride Stats -
Coming soon

We're even

I wasn't ready last week for mother nature but this week I am. Rain is moving in today and is suppose to keep raining for a couple days. I am not ready to spend long hours grinding away on the trainer. Save that for the snowy cold days.

So, the plan for today was to get up early and ride for 2:00hrs. It wasn't suppose to start raining 'til later but I check the radar just in case.

The radar showed light rain over Omaha???? The streets were dry so I headed out to the Keystone trail. I felt good. I was able to comfortably stay in my 137 - 148 zone2. I made it to the bridge by Twin Creek theater then turned up the trail towards Papillion for bonus miles.

I worked most of the ride to keep my HR in the zone. My monitor beeps slow if I am below 137 - 148 bpm and fast if above that range. I was able to keep it quiet for 55min. I was happy with that but my avg speed was lower than I thought. Ride duration was about 30minutes short so I may start my weight training tonight.



Ride Stats-
Duration 1:32hr, Distance 22.6, avg spd 14.8, avg HR 139, avg cad 96

Another Prep Week in the books

Finished out the week with a 2:45hr ride. Joining me was Craig & Dan. This was a relaxing ride although I was above my prescribed zone2 for a good chunk of the time. I didn't mind... tomorrow is a rest day.

I thought it was interesting. Dan is trying to build power by keeping his cadence low and I am trying to train with high cadence. Dan was the spin meister this past summer. He kept his cadence at 100+ rpm's. I on the other hand was comfortable with a cadence around 85.

Weeks Stats -
Training hrs 12:06, 128.6mi, avgHR 137, avgCad 86, avgSpeed 15.81

The Zorinski Hammer lives

I needed to get a 1hr ride in tonight. From work it is just a couple miles from Lake Zorinsky. Instead of riding the hills out west on "F" street I stayed on the trail around the lake. Along the way I saw Mark B. of Team Kaos. He probably thought I was a Z-Hammer until I yelled his name. I don't think he recognized me.

It was a good ride, kept the cadence up around 100rpm.


Ride Stats-
duration 0:55, distance 14.5, avg speed 15.9, avg HR 137, avg Cad 82

What happened?

I was just looking at my avg Speed for the two rides that I did yesterday.

What happened to my speed? I could cruise comfortably at 20mph towards the end of summer. I figure wearing heavy riding boots and a windbreaker are going to slow me down but the main culprit could be my training plan. This plan has me doing base miles for - Hills up to 4%, HR mainly in zone 1 & 2, and "comfortably high cadence".

I am a bit skeptical about two things. Where my zone 2 is and the benefits of "high cadence". We will see, I am keeping track of all my vital stats including Avg speed. If I stick with the plan, my avg speed should go up right? Only time will tell.

Tale of Two Rides

Today's schedule had me riding for 2:30hrs. I broke it up into two rides.

The morning ride started early at 5:00am. There was frost on the ground but It didn't feel so cold. Last year I was pretty good at putting on just the right amount of clothing for the different temps but that seem so long ago. So I bundled up more than I thought I needed. I tried my new bib winter tights... nice, I think I can go no problem into the 20s/teens temperature range.

This ride took me through Dundee, Elmwood park, and down the trail to the bridge by the Twin Creek Movie theater. Round trip about 17 miles. I felt really good for this ride. I suppose the cold has a tendency to wake a person. I did get a bit nervous when my headlight went dead... I forgot to tell my personal assistant, me, to recharge the battery the night before.

The second ride took me from my house down Cumming Street and back around the Airport. I wanted to ride while it was still light so I changed into my clothes quickly after work. I hit the road at 6:00pm. It was much warmer, in the 50s, and virtually no wind. I really need to bring a camera. The view of Omaha at sunset was awesome.

Ride Stats -
1:27hr riding time, 21 mi, avg HR 134, avg spd 14.9, avg Cad 88
1:05hr riding time, 17 mi, avg HR 136, avg spd 15.9, avg Cad 86

So it Begins -

My training as a Cat 3 roadie began last week. Was able to ride 12hrs last week and on my way to 12hrs again this week

I have done my annual Training plan. Well, I have my weekly hours computed but I have not written down my goals. If you ask me right now my goal would be "to survive" my first race as a Cat 3. Not surviving in this case would be falling behind the pack.


Things to work on in the off season - My Base endurance, raise my cadence to 95-105rpm and my 1 minute sprinting power... among other things.