Baby Steps

Even  though the rest week is part of the phase, in my mind Base 2 is over.  Time to think about the next phase of training. 

I put in a solid week of training last week.   I had my Tempo ride on Tuesday, a long ride Wednesday, and a Hill ride on Friday.  I would consider those rides my "Breakthrough" rides.  I could not work another long ride on Saturday.  Too many things to do.  Instead I worked in a 1:30hr trainer ride early and another 1:15hr trainer ride later in the day.   Since I was about 2hrs short of time Saturday, I was determined to get in all my time on Sunday. 

Sunday I did a 1:00hr spin class then sat on the trainer for 3:00hrs.  I spent the first 1:45hrs doing a Spinnerval workout - Endurance Booster.  The workout consisted of a sets of 15 minute Tempo intervals.  Then I put in my ear buds to finish out the 3:00hrs listening to my music.  Of note, I felt great for the trainer ride.  I was comfortable spinning at 110+rpm.  My heart rate was in Zone 2 and Zone 3 for the tempo intervals.  When 3:00hrs came around, I wanted to do more.  I can't explain where the extra energy came from.  Maybe it was knowing that it was the last workout before the rest week.  I don't know.

Now it is rest week.  I can use the mental/physical break but I feel good and ready to take on more.   I am looking forward to riding outside more as the weather gets warmer.  I think the trainer will always be an option for workouts under 2:00hrs.  This time of year it just saves a bunch of time to climb on the trainer.

For the Record

My ride yesterday was just under five hours.  It was a beautiful days with temps in the upper 40s to low 50s, Sunny and a North wind ~10mph. 

I did make it to Blair in good time.  Too good of time.  Blair was my mental half way point.  I was thinking that I could turn around there and that would ge me 5hrs.  Into the wind I made it there in under 2:30hrs.   So, instead of heading straight back home I had to do a few extra miles.  Which ment turning around and re-riding the airport road to get in my time. 

My avg Speed for the ride was 15mph.  Not bad for keeping the effort in the bottom half of Zone 1.  Total Mileage was 72 miles.

Toast

Yeah, I had some for breakfast but that is not the toast that I am talking about.  My body, it's toast, I'm tired, and have little energy. 

My body is toast because of lifting weights last night.  I up'ed the weights on my squats and pushed hard on the concentric (lifting portion) of the squat.  When I had to do the leg presses, my legs were done and I stopped short of all my reps.  Some good news... I cranked out 3 sets of 2 full chinups. 

Tired because I woke up early this morning.  I could have slept in this morning.  I woke up at 4:30 because I was hungry.

No energy because I have been trying to scrub off all my Christmas fat and turn myself into a climber.  Hah, that is not happenin.

Nothing that a recovery day won't fix.  Will I take a recovery day... sorta.  I am doing a mellow LSD ride.  As recommended for weight lose in this training tip I am going to keep my HR below 70% HR Max.  That is 134bpm for me.  My normal cruising HR is about 150bpm. 

Also, I am picking a tame route.  From Midtown>Ft. Calhoun>Blair and beyond.  Not very many hills.  I have done several 4- 5hr ride so the duration shouldn't be too bad.  The weather will be cooperating.  It looks like the winds will be shifting from the South to the North while I am on the ride.  So If I head straight North, I should have a tail wind both ways.

Happy Birthday Christine !!!

Today is my wife's birthday.  Woo Hoo, she is so good to me...  we celebrated last night so I can workout tonight.  I woke up last night at 12:30 to her humming in her sleep.  I think the song was happy birthday to me?  I don't know what that is all about.

Tuesday is the day I do my Muscle Endurance work in my Zone 3( ~ 158 - 162bpm).  Today I was to stay in my Zone 3 60 minutes.   I had a hard time getting it there.  In fact I spent almost half the time just below my zone at 156/157.  Eventually at the top of the hour I was holding a solid 160bpm.   I ended up with 90 minutes in the saddle and burning 1100 calories.  Tonight it is off to the gym for lifting and Spin class.

Tomorrow I have half the day off work to do my long ride.  I usually do my longest ride on the weekend but it will be warmer tomorrow than Saturday.  I hope I have enough sunlight to do a long ride.

Weekend review

Saturday, I took off for a long ride.  I road down to Bellevue to pick up Rich and we headed over the river to Glenwood, IA. 

On the way to Glenwood there were miles of open road with the wind blowing straight at us.   So, we started our two man rotation.   Rich and I have been riding together for years.  We just work good together.   We seem to be in synch with a lot of aspects of pace lining.   The distance we keep from each other, the length of pulls, and cruising speed.  It is nice riding with someone where you don't have to worry about holding them back or going too fast. 

Even though Rich and I were evenly matched on the flat roads he had a little edge on the hills.  On the long climb up the Loess Hill Highway to Glennwood, Rich rode away.  That was ok, I just kept up a constant speed.

Both in the pace line and climbing my, my lower back started hurting.  I had to stand up a few times to stretch it out.  I don't think my back is conditioned to do longer efforts of sustained work.  I have done my Tempo workout but they were on the trainer.  Not the same.

So, Saturday I did my long ride.  Sunday I did Spinning class and then road at the Bike Rack for another 2 hrs.   I hit all my training hours and racked up 256miles.  Not bad but next week is going to be harder due to the weather and I also have more hours scheduled.

Sometimes...

I like to not set my alarm before I go to bed.  I know I will be up in time for work at eight.  I am just use to waking up way before seven.  I do have a hill workout scheduled for the day.  It is nice to have the option to do it in the morning or in the evening.   If I wake up early, I can get it done or I can get much needed sleep and to it after work.  This morning I chose sleep.  I did get up at 6:00am just a bit too late.

I did ride last night for just over 1:30hr.  For the most part it was a mellow ride but I felt the urge to pick up the pace a couple times.  Tonight will be hills on the trainer.  I can officially get my HR up to Zone 4 on hills up to 3 minutes long.  Of course they will be similated trainer hills.

Outside again

Yesterday I took some time off work to ride in the afternoon.  Rob also played hooky from his new job.  We headed down the road... destination unknown.  We wanted to go south into the wind but ended with a due West Track from NW Omaha to LaShara.  We kept the pace nice an mellow and I worked on keeping my cadence over 100rpms.  I logged 2:15hrs and 30mi.

We headed back to Rob's and I pick up his son Cole for another 2hr ride.  This time we did had south to Q street and then headed west on Q which eventually turns North.  Again I worked on keeping my cadence over 100rpms.  I logged another 2:00hrs and 30mi.

Weight Work out

Last night I finally went to the gym for a weight work out.  It had been two weeks since my last session.   This is about the time last year that I stopped lifting all together.  I am in the last four weeks the routine that I have been doing and want to finish.  After the 4 weeks, I want to continue lifting at least once a week but I fear that it will be replaced with riding and hill training. 

I think lifting has been good.  I am not sure how much force/power I am gaining but it seems to be helping my on bike workouts.   I don't seem to be as sore after a hard bike workout.  My knees are not as cranky after riding in the hills.  Also, my back seems to be able to handle the longer rides better.

On the first few sets of squats, I started with the weight I did the last time I lifted 155lbs.  That was pretty easy.  Then I moved up to 165lbs.  Harder but doable.  All the other excersizes went as expected.  I am still pretty wimpy on the pull ups.  I stuck around and did a stretch class and then a 45min spin class.

Today I will get outside for my long ride it should be nice.  Feburary temps in the 50s is always good in Nebraska.

Knocked it out

This morning I knocked out a Tempo workout.  As usual it was a struggle to get up to my zone 3 but eventualy I settled into a comfortably hard pace.  For the most part my cadence was in the lower to mid 70s.   My tempo zone is such a narrow range, from 158 - 162bpms, I had a hard time keeping it in there.  I dipped below the range from time to time.  That's ok, it wasn't because I was tired.  Anyway I think I "Stuck" the workout with energy to spare.

I didn't do weights last night so I will try again tonight.  If I don't make it to the gym then it is another 90minutes on the trainer.  Tomorrow, it is back on the road for a long ride.

Spring Fever?

I have a touch of it but I don't think we are out of the woods yet.  What that means to me is that I will still be on the trainer most of the time.  Spring really starts for me when the time changes.

With that said it does feel like spring.   I was able to get out both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday I met a bunch of guys at Rick's Boatyard for a early morning ride.  It was still below freezing so there was a bunch of icy spots.  It looked like a couple guys were just itching to test their legs so Dan went off the front with them.  I stayed back with the second group.  I was amazed at how easy it was to keep in my zone 2 on the road.  When I am on the trainer it takes a little effort to stay in zone 2.   After a quick stop in Ft. Calhoun we headed back down Hiway 75.  Since I had skipped my Force workout Friday, I decided it was ok to do a modest attack on the rolling hills.  It felt good to jump up to zone 4 a few times.   I rode approximatly 3hrs with the guys and then headed out on my own for an hour.  Overall, it was just over a 4hr ride and 59 miles. 

Sunday was another great Feburary day.  After an hour in spin class I rushed over to Elkhorn to meet a group for a ride.  It was amazing to see all the peeps that showed up.  I kept it pretty mellow staying in zone 2 most of the time.  There were a couple points where I decided to do slow acceleration off the group.  I knew Craig and a couple others would get on my wheel.  I was happy with my sustained speed from this hard effort.  I tried to ride the guys off my wheel but couldn't.  When I was at my limit Craig and Cole went off to contest the sprint.  Another good ride approximatly 35miles.  With spin class I had a total of 3:15hrs for the day.

For the week, I logged 14:30hrs a little less than what was scheduled.  I think it was a good week I did three 3+hrs rides and a tempo ride.  I mixed in my Force ride with my endurance ride on Sat.  The only thing missing was weight lifting.  I skipped that altogether.

Next week will be a bit more.  I am scheduled to do 2 4:30hr rides.  I think I will be taking 1/2 off work on Wednesday to do my mid week long ride.  I am doing my weight routine tonight and hopefully I can work in one more this week.

No Junk Miles

Yesterday the schedule called for a 3:30hr of endurance riding (LSD).  The plan was to do 1:00hr in the morning before work and then 2:30hrs after work.   That plan didn't work out... I was rudely called about midnight for a problem at work.  Not good when you have your alarm set from 4:30am.  No problem.  I will just leave work early and do a trainer ride.

I spent the day thinking about how the trainer ride would go down.  I would say to myself.  Just do 2hrs that would be good enough.  Ok 3hrs... I can do 3hrs no problem.  3:30hrs, that would be great!!  or Just get on the damn bike, see what you got!

Thats what I did.  When I got home I didn't stop to think or watch TV.  I put on my workout clothes, got my water bottles and hit it.  The first 30min flew and the next 1:30hrs went well.  It was a chore into hour 3.  I still held on to doing 3:30hrs.  After riding through the 3hr mark, I was relieved and told myself just to cruise for another 30min.  I was drained... mentally definatly, physically maybe.  I relized that I wasn't doing much so I envoked the "No Junk Miles" rule and pulled the plug.

Today, I will be doing some speed work.  High cadence stuff with moderate intensity.

So it begins

Officially Base 2 week 1 began yesterday but it was a planned rest day.  So, in my mind I started Base 2 this morning with a 90minute trainer ride.

According to Joe Friel's bible, you get to work harder into your tempo zones.   This is a nice change from the monotonous Aerobic endurance rides.  So this morning I did a Muscle endurance ride.  Total time was 90minutes.  In that was 30mins of lower cadence, tempo riding.   Since I don't have a HR monitor, I don't know if I got the zone right.  My main focus was to keep tension on my legs.

While I was riding this morning, I was thinking about the races that I picked for this year.  Both the Joe Martin and Cascade classic have a lot of climbing.  How am I going to similate race conditions here in Nebraska?  For Joe Martin there are rolling hills.  Longer in comparison to hills around here.  There are some hills in Iowa that are close. 

The Cascade classic has mountains.  I am thinking that I will have to seek out windy days to similate the effort of climbing.  That or take a weekend trip up to Colorado.  Hmmmm.

Rest Week Wrapup

I finished my rest week with a 3hr trainer ride Saturday and a 1hr spin class on Sunday.   The week went down as it was suppose to.  I feel energized and ready to take on some more training.

Today, I got a call from polar.  $69 for a new mounting plate, transmitter strap, and batteries.   It will be shipped tomorrow and I should have it in my hot little hands by the weekend.  Yay!  I do not like riding without it.  It is tough to guage my intensity on RPE.  Endurance rides are no problem, I just get my level of effort to the point where I am breaking a little sweat the entire time.   This week I have to do a Tempo and a Force ride.  It will be tough to guage my effort for those workouts.

Rest Week Update

Last night, I got on the bike for 90 minutes.  I was dragging my feet big time.  I have been doing epic 2hr and sometimes 3+ hour sessions.  I don't know, 90 minutes seemed like more of annoyance.  I always get this feeling with rest weeks.    The shorted workouts are not much of a challenge but I was determine to follow through with the scheduled training time.

Another downer is that I am riding blind.  I sent my HR/Cyclo computer into Polar for repair.  The bike mounting tabs broke off the unit.  So, no HR, cadence, speed, miles... etc.   ugh, it makes for a long ride.

Tuesday I went to the gym for some weights.  I am now in week 8 of 12.  The only change is more squats.  Now I am doing 3 sets of 5 sqats and then 5 sets of 3 squats.  The sqats are followed by 3 sets of 5 Leg presses.

My Schedule

Although it is snowy, windy, and cold outside... it is another day closer to spring. 

I am jumping on Algomaha's coat tails and posting my  schedule too.  My "A" races are the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race and probabaly UNL Cycling weekend in September.  Although not listed I will probably go down to Kansas for a early Crit or RR.

April

10 — Twin Bing Classic
16-17 — UNL Cycling Weekend

May
5 - 8 -- Joe Martin Stage Race
20-21 — Flatwater Cycling Weekend

June
4-5 — Norfolk Classic/State criterium
17-19 - Elkhorn Classic Stage Race
25 — State time trial

July
16-17 — Omaha Cycling Weekend

August
Minnehaha County Stage Race?

September
10-11 — UNL Cycling Weekend