Thursday: Rest, Friday: ILT

Thursday after work I was pretty much cooked, so I napped on the couch after eating some home made pizza.. went to bed at 11:00 and had an extremely restless night of sleep, sprinkled with 3 or 4 instances of becoming awake. Woke up tired.. Today (Friday) was an especially challenging day at work. For the first time in perhaps years, I had to skip lunch and surprisingly, I did not turn into a four headed dragon. After work though.. I went to Chipotle with a vengeance and helped myself to a burrito bowl, which is basically the contents of a burrito minus the pasty tortilla- mainly rice and steak with some chili sauce, peppers, onions, sour cream, and grated cheese. There are worse things a person can eat. So I'm looking at my 42 day TSS constant and trying to increase it very gradually week over week. From the latest four weeks of data, I see that the past four Fridays go like this: 45.0 49.3 52.7 54.8
I'm thinking that a monthly increase of between 12 and 15 is going to be both manageable and fruitful for now through March, though I can change course pretty swiftly if it's necessary. Having all this data at my fingertips feels like cheating.. Of course there are times when I need to say screw the charts and the TSS- you're tired- take a day off.. Like some of you very self-aware train-by-feel au-naturel under-trained types, I don't need a Powertap or a HRM to tell me that I'm tired either, BSPVD.. Anywho, here's the chart telling you the story of tonight's workout: 20:00 warm-up, then 2:30 individual leg training in the 39x17, 1:00 breaks in between, 3 total sets, followed by 20:00 of tempo with some high cadence (105-120, depending on what's playing on 95.5 WBRU) followed by some slower work. I'm starting to really like The Killers.

S.tart P.edaling I.ndoors N.ow

Spin class after work was a hoot. Some of the things they make you do are just nuts- I skip what I don't like.. such as when the instructor has 100 pound women turning 5-6 watts/kilo at 45 RPM.. I'm not letting the watts go higher than I can comfortably do for 5 minutes at 70 rpm. Foolishness if you ask me. So yeah- S.P.I.N. could stand for a lot of things.. but some instructors want to rename it G.R.I.N.D. I think.. My vitals for last night, not as impressive as Monday: 87 RPM, 184 watts, 162 bpm, in 60 minutes of duration. I was on a different bike, who knows how accurate these things are, but I felt tired, no doubt about that. After the SPIN class, I hopped onto a treadmill for 15 minutes. 3 minutes walking 4 mph, 9 minutes jogging at 6 mph, then another 3 minutes walking at 4 mph. Trying to ease myself into better running form, which is extremely easy to do when you're starting from a baseline that equals "untrained". All I want to do in 2009 [for running] is to get used to how it feels, so that I'm not so blown away during cross season.
I'm taking it easy tonight. There's a "YOGA Flow" class at 6:30 which I may try to do.. Thanks for reading.

Tuesday Recap +

Don't worry, I will tire of this eventually. Slept a little better last night, and got to the Y after work in time for the Pilates class- man was it full tonight. And two other guys in there this time. This did not make it any less embarrassing when your hero, during a more strenuous maneuver involving his very weak trunk/abdominal muscles, let one rip in all it's audible glory. Fortunately, it had a bark but no bite. I've been in there other times and witnessed some silent yet deadly emissions from some of the women. Made my nose hairs curl.. After getting home I was not content to got o bed without a proper turn of the pedals so I did a light spin for one hour while opening mail, reading stuff, even wrote an e-mail.. After uploading some data from the PT I decided to take a look at the past 40 or so days of training and compare to the year before period. Below, we have Dec 1 to the present. Farther down below, we have the same period one year ago.
Looking at one year ago, it's very easy to see why my knees were shot after Jan 13- I did two epic rides that weekend- 4+ hours on Sat and 3+ hours on Sunday. You can see the huge spike there in the pink ATL. I have avoided such Tom Foolery this winter, and I'm increasing training load in much more metered doses, as you can see in the above chart showing you how my CTL (42 day constant in Blue) is moving up a lot more gradually this year. Year before, CTL jumped 11-12 points in two days, from an already low TSS of 45/day. It's little wonder I needed to get the Active Release therapy to my knees. No such problems in 2009.

Monday Recap

40 minute spin in the morning, after an extremely restless 6 hours of sleep. After work, I bolted over to the Y for spin class with my wife. A challenging 61:41 at 200w average, 94 rpm and 159 bpm. The new shoes feel weird but gave me no discomfort.- my old DMTs have the DIY heat molded insoles and I didn't realize how well they conform to me, til tonight.

SSSsss... Rosssssaaa..

From the land where child laborers skillfully wrap round gear shift knobs and motorcycle gas tanks with brittle burl veneers.. somehow.. I give you this work of art: a DeRosa clad completely with the skin of a python, which the artisan/former Turkish National Team member claims he trapped himself. I believe him about the laminating.. There are a few more pictures, but my time is limited at the moment.

Saturday: short and tough, Sunday: Nautilus

Having slept in a little late and missed the 8:00 am ArcenCiel ride on Saturday (it was 15 degrees out- my limit is 20 degrees) I ended up leaving on a punishing solo excursion at 3:00, making sure to take my headlight because I knew it would be dark when I returned, and it was. This ride was challenging- it covered more than 2/3 of my usual 57 mile loop- meaning I basically hit all of the hills and skipped the easy part. I'm encouraged by this data! Today I slept late again, missing spin class and Yoga.. Roads were incompatible with bike riding so I ended up going to the Y and doing a challenging set of Nautilus- hitting most of the upper body machines twice. I keep a chart to monitor progress and on most machines I've increased the weight considerably since my first session. Tomorrow night I'm doing spin class and using my new shoes, picked up from the clearance rack at Providence Bike: These things have about as much class as a pair of Crocs, but they're cheap, brand new, all mesh and extremely light. I plan to break them in over the next 6-8 weeks in spin class and then decide (ugly or not) whether they are worthy of replacing my tired and nearly four year old DMTs. My other purchase from this weekend is a little more unusual for me: I haven't the slightest idea what to look for in a running shoe, but These ASICS Gel Cumulus are double wide and they fit like a glove. Tried them out for 15 minutes on the treadmill at the Y- blissfully comfy. I think I did all-right getting these for $29 at Marshalls.
The week ahead is going to include a lot of variation, including spin classes Mon, Wed, Thurs AM, Pilates on Tuesday, Yoga on Thursday PM, some easy spinning and FT work on the windtrainer, and of course, some long fat burning rides on the weekend. I could see myself sticking to this pattern for the next 4-6 weeks with no problem.. and I should be thanking my wife for discovering that we could do many of these activities together at the YMCA, all while our little one is in the free child care and having a great time in the supervised gym activities. It's a win-win no-brainer and we're both getting stronger and losing weight. Thanks for reading.

Individual Leg Training Continues..

Thursday night- 30:00 easy spin warmup, 2:00 intervals with one leg, one min between legs, two min between sets, three sets in the 39x17, 10:00 cool down. Next week, 2:30 ILTs. Yay!

Pilates+

After Pilates Tuesday night, I did a circuit of Nautilus. If you think that Pilates is for girls, I encourage you to try it. True, there's only myself and one other guy in there.. and it's true, we spend a lot of time lying on our backs with our legs up in the air doing various acrobatics. But man does it blast your entire core, and quite intensely. By the end of the session, I can barely lift a leg or do a crunch. Wed morning I did a 30 minute spin, then around 5:00 dear wife calls and says a spot opened up in the 5:45 spin class at the YMCA. This was my first time there and I was impressed with the bikes (shown above). Wearing my heart rate monitor, I found that the HR shown on the Keiser M3 was redundant. Then I noticed that the HR on the display matched my Polar watch, spot-on. Then I realized that the spin bike's computer did not have sensors in the handlebars, it's designed to pick up my Polar signal. How cool is that? These things also had a very fluid magnetic resistance (in lieu of friction) and they displayed power and joules. At the end of the workout, it displayed average HR, Power and Cadence, which for me was 156, 180 and 95 respectively. Niiiiiice.. I can take that data and enter it manually into my Peaks software. Like it a lot. One thing I did not like was the saddle- too squishy, too large.. and the room we are in is too small, the bikes too close together. Spinning is something which women do more than the men, and I can't complain if some of the participants are, you know.. easy on the eyes..

Here's a link to the Keiser M3 spin bike website: http://www.keiser.com/m3/index.html

The first thing which struck me was the simplicity- look at the four bolts which secure the bike to the pedestal. I like the clean lines and the simplicity. Yoga tonight.

2006 Cyclonauts Criterium

This set of pictures in my Flickr account has a few good shots. Here we have Kyle Gates with the after-burners on in the 30+ Masters Race. Lots of familiar names in the results! I was jammed up behind a crash with only one lap to go. Lucky I didn't get taken down.

On the Treadmill, literally and figuratively

yesterday no riding- but we went to the Y after work and I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and did one circuit of Nautilus (no leg machines)
This morning on the windtrainer:
20:00 warmup
10:00 FT+10%
10:00 R
10:00 FT+10%
10:00 Cool down
Tonight: Pilates!
In spite of a careful diet with careful portions, I'm adding some muscle mass, but what better thing to replace fat with, than lean muscle? Keeping the Nautilus reps at 20-25 is probably a good idea. I don't understand how there is any health benefit (besides getting ripped) to lifting the whole stack of weights for 6-8 reps, yet I see a lot of older, taller, yet pear shaped guys doing this. I guess it's possible to be strong as an ox AND out of shape.

Sunday's 4 hour grind

This chart tells a story indeed! Don't let the speed fool you, this was H-A-R-D. It was also the first time I've been in a multi-rider up hill locomotive. I'm humbled by the way that older, more mature bike racers (translation: masters) take care of their fellow brothers. Many thanks to Todd B., who showed us how it's done, by doing it. I salute you and I salute Bill D who gritted his teeth and grinded it all the way home through the pain, without cracking. It was a great day if you ask me.

2009 Resolutions:

Pilates, Yoga, Nautilus, Repeat.

No 587: Last post of 2008

It appears that I'll be heading out of work early today. Need to make it to Providence bike to pick up some items before they close for the holiday/snow. I'll probably head straight home after that..
Bisikletci Murat wishes you and your family a safe and happy New Year.

2008 Season Recap

Data

The data for today's ride, compared next to the 3 hour ride I did two weeks ago:

1% of 8000

Your Hero did 1% of 2008's total mileage today, in a duration of 4:35. I'm a little worn out of course, but I'm very happy about my knees. Usually, at about the 2:15 to 2:30 point, the knees begin to protest, and by the 3rd hour, they're doing more of an LA riot than a protest. I can attribute today's pain free ride to a few things. See if you'll agree:
1. On Friday I did a one hour Level 1 YOGA session at the Y (awesome- I loved it and I'm going back for more.. Nega Coach will be proud- always preaching the importance of stretching)
2. The yoga was followed by two completions of the Nautilus circuit (Very light weights, 20 reps, focused on establishing settings and proper form) a light soreness today is accompanied by the positive sense of progress in the "structural fitness" department.
3. It's warm today! (56 right now) My worst knee pain occurs primarily on the very cold rides- when it's under 30 degrees.
4. Lately I noticed that my seat's a touch too low, primarily from observing my reflection in the window when I'm on the windtrainer. I hoisted it up about 4-5 mm and it feels so much better.
One other revelation of today's 80 mile ride- very cool that I did not cramp up even once during the ride.. But after I got home and leaned over to remove my booties, THEN I felt a nasty and breath-taking pinch in my hamstring. Data galore and possibly some other trivialities coming up later. Thanks for reading.

What if..

..every bike race team in New England were to contribute one gently used kit into a collection which is sent overseas and given to a less fortunate person to use? My team has already sent four full sets of Millwork One uniforms to Turkey this past season, two of which are being used by a racer who we fully support. Recently, I also sent five complete Union Velo Racing uniforms which were given to a few of the local upstart racers in Bursa Turkey. I think it's pretty cool that the roads and trails of Bursa, Turkey are populated with Millwork One and Union Velo uniforms.
If this idea turns your crank, please show interest with a comment, or write to me privately at reiscotools@yahoo.com. If a large number of New England teams participate, I'd like to start a new blog which covers this topic more appropriately. The idea is for every New England team to add one or more international riders to their team roster. Bike racing is extremely cost prohibitive for most poeple in Turkey. This idea will make our sport more accessible to more people. Think about it.
FYI, the next care package departs for Turkey on Jan 2nd (it's a Specialized Tarmac Expert complete bike), There will be plenty of dead air space inside of the bike box. Can we fill it up?

New Britain Criterium 2008 Redux

A new friend I made at the race this summer sent me these pictures from the 30+ race. I attacked with one lap to go and then fell apart completely with 1/2 lap to go, finishing nearly dead last. Whatever.. Cool pictures.

Adaptation: one leg intervals

Nothing does as good job of proving adaptation to stress, than a power meter. To wit, a week ago I did a set of one leg intervals. They were pitiful- 119 watts average, per leg. (Call this my untrained benchmark) Four days later, I was able to do two sets, same gear (39x19), separated by a 5 minute recovery (1 minute between each leg) Average watts were high 130s in the 1st set, low 130s for the 2nd set. Speeds and distance also way up compared to the workout. My next session of one leg intervals will be in the 39x17, and go 2 full minutes. The data of the 1st 90 seconds will be fun to watch. These intervals will increase in duration by 30 seconds every couple of weeks, until I reach 3:00 minutes. They are indeed evil as Brendan correctly pointed out. Those last 10 seconds really turn you inside out. Another interesting observation: leg is stronger than the right.

It's not too late..

..to buy a Likeabike Jumper in any of six colors and have it delivered to you in time for Christmas, as long as your location is within a 60 mile radius of Providence RI, or you are willing to make a trip to our location to pick it up. Go to www.weebike.com, there's a link in the sidebar where you can choose a color and make a secure payment via Paypal. If the recent blizzard has made it difficult to get out and find the perfect gift for the 2-5 year old in your life, please consider a LikeaBike Jumper. All colors are in stock locally in RI. Let's face it, if you're reading this, you probably spent more money on your road shoes, or pedals, or carbon handlebars than you will for this, the most top-shelf toddler bike on the market- the LikeaBike Jumper. All aluminum, rear suspension, Schwalbe tires, made in Germany. What's not to love?
This video is excellent!