Yesterday training, Today's Leg Day and Spin

Yesterday, I did get up and get my back workout done but I had a little trouble getting the intensity level to come up.  I was only able to get 4 exercises in as well, but I did get my core training in for the lower back and abs.  I roll with the punches though, so I don't expect it to always be maximum intensity.  I also got a ride in yesterday at lunch time, which was mostly solo, but still a good trainer.

For today, I got my leg workout in, and I was able to get some sweat going.  I did some drop sets as well during my leg extensions and presses, so it was pretty good.  I could have done one more set of leg presses, but I opted to just do some abs instead.  My legs were cooked!

For lunch today, I do plan on joining the spin class again.  I hope my legs hold up, but it should be good.

Friday through Today

On Friday, my exercise for the day was my ride back home from San Diego.  63 miles, with a headwind.  My legs still hadn't recovered enough from the previous days of training, but I really wanted to get the miles in.  I did okay for a solo ride, but definitely felt it after.  I think I lapsed in and out of consciousness for the rest of that day. 

For Saturday, it was a rest day and I was hoping my legs would fully recover.  However, I was still experiencing some stiffness and some mild pain, so I opted to pick up some recovery compression pants since I heard a lot of good things about it.   I bought the 2XU recovery pants, vs. just their regular compression pants, and wore them for the rest of the afternoon/evening.   I'm a believer.

For Sunday, we had our big ride for the weekend and we did an 88 miler.  I managed to get by with 3 bottles of Ultima, 1 waffle, and 3 gels for the ride plus 1 package of shot blocks.  It even got warm toward the end, and I never felt any cramping despite.  I did jump in my compression pants right after the ride, albeit with some difficulty getting into them (ha ha), but I was still functional for my family after and got to lunch with them, pick up a tree and put up some lights on the house.  Not too shabby.

For today, I woke up and made it to the gym for a chest workout and still keeping the pace up with minimal rest in between sets.   Got 6 exercises in and also my core.  When I got home, it was nice being back on Met-Rx again.  Hopefully, I'll be able to resume the Stagecoach training in full starting today.  Reset.

For lunch, I hope to jump on the spin bike for an hour but I don't think there will be a class given.  I'll just bring in my own music and do my thing.  I'll back it down just a bit since I do feel a little fatigue from the weekend.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thanksgiving

Wow...I guess I hadn't blogged in a few days...I guess I've been busy.

On Tuesday, I got in and got my back workout in.  For whatever reason, I just couldn't get the intensity up as high as I'd like, but I kept trying.  I got about as good a workout as I could given the circumstances, and squeezed out 6 different exercises plus my core training.  For my lunch training, we had a good group ride and got in a 21+ mph pace even with some decent climbs thrown in. 

For yesterday's training, I rode with who I would qualify as Broadcom's best (minus Noah) in the morning for a 45+ mile loop just before work.  My legs felt good despite the ride from Tuesday, so I pushed the pace as much as I could.  It was good to get out there and see where everyone was at, mostly to see how team B looked like, so working in on the rotations as much as possible was ideal. Although I felt a little twinge on my calves on the bike trail headed to California, it was brief and gone by the time I climbed up.  My legs still felt good after the ride, so I jumped in Madison's spin class at lunch time.  I think doing so may have been a little much as by the end of the day, I was feeling it.  My glutes were tired and my legs felt worked, but nothing some compression (by wearing my leg warmers) and some ibuprofen couldn't cure.

For today, I rode down to my in-laws house as planned, but I was a little worried since I could still feel yesterday's training.  My legs were not 100%, but I went through with the ride nonetheless.  My mode was just to maintain a steady pace and not ride all the way through without stopping.  I would have a few people jump in on my draft on the way down, so I took those opportunities to bring up my pace enough to eventually drop every one of them.  Even on the climb up Mira Mesa Blvd, there was one guy who tried to jump on and he stayed probably through a quarter of the hill.  I had a really good pace and rhythm, so I got a 5th place on Strava as a result.   Now if only I didn't get stopped at the light under the 805.  Now it's time to rest and feast. 

Weekend, Chest and Spin Class

For my weekend ride, I opted to ride Saturday since we had company coming in from out of town Sunday.  I wasn't sure how I would fair given I was on a bike (either road or spin) M-F without giving myself even much time to recover from last week's century.  Nevertheless, my cardio was still there and my legs still felt pretty good where I was able to bang out a solid ride.  I only had 2.5 bottles to drink, 1 waffle and 2 gels to get me through the ride, but eating like crap Friday night (purposely just to get enough calories in) helped. 

I got up and did my chest this morning and had a great workout.  With company yesterday, we ate out for lunch and dinner so I was charged and ready to work.  I got 6-7 exercises in for chest (more than normal) and my core training done as well.

I plan on jumping in on Madison's spin class at lunch time and I'm going to let her just work my ass as she has been.  I'll probably even warm up before she gets there to get some extra spinning in and burn that many more calories.  It's almost Thanksgiving, so the bigger deficit I can create the more turkey I hope to eat. 

Arm Day and Spin

I did manage to get into the gym this morning and get my arms worked out with 3 exercises for biceps and 2 for triceps.  It was actually "fun" trying to match the rep speed to the music, but it was a great workout and probably pushed me beyond what I would have done without it.  I also managed to get my core training in (abs and lower back). 

For lunch, I did the spin class again but about 40 minutes in, I decided not to follow the program too much since I'm planning on riding down to San Diego and back tomorrow.  I hope the guys don't push too hard, but if they do, I'll give it my best despite having ridden every day this week.  I guess we'll have to see if the saying "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" is true.  

New Music, Delts and Lunch Ride

I downloaded some new songs to my iPod last night and couldn't wait to get in the gym this morning to listen to them.  It's funny how I get excited about working out based on new music, but whatever works, right?

I got a really good shoulder workout based on the new music, and managed to complete 6 different exercises including one for my traps.  The weights were low as normal and the reps were high, and the speed of the rep was mostly matched with the rhythm of the song I was listening to at the time.  What helped was how I could focus more on the song than the pain or the lack of oxygen after doing so many reps.  I did also get a core workout in as well.

Looking forward to a slightly hilly route today, and I am contemplating bringing in my Cervelo now that I have my front wheel back.  It would be nice to spin up the hills vs. pounding with my standard crank.  I already have my BMC at work though, so I'm not sure whether I want to have both at work. 

Leg Day and Spinderama

I like my current training program...especially that Wednesdays are for leg weight training.  It's nice to actually get some resistance training in and be able to spin at lunch time vs. getting murdered by the guys on a bike ride.  To boot, Shannon didn't feel like he got a good ride in given his flat yesterday, so I get to use this as an excuse not to go out.  It's my program, after all.  HA HA.

I hit my calves pretty hard but only did two different exercises with 4 sets each and a drop set on the first exercise.  I then moved to my quads and glutes and did some extensions, leg presses and kick backs where I really worked up a sweat.  I think people must think I'm weird doing so many reps and sweating out a ton.   I finished with some standing leg curls for my hamstrings, but I didn't have too much time to do this since I did so many reps in the prior 3 exercises.

Spin class at 1 PM today should be killer.  I think Madison loves to kill it when I'm in there just to see me suffer.  Okay, so maybe she just likes to kill it period.  In any case, I'm ready to flood the floor around my spin bike again and keep working on bringing up my cardio base. 

Back and Lunch Ride

While yesterday's workout was just okay considering I didn't get sleep the night before, today's was a whole lot better.  I had downloaded some new songs from iTunes and was able to get pretty fired up during my workout while listening to them.  It's funny how I can find motivation just from certain songs I hear.  I worked my back today and got 5 exercises in (normally 4) and had a real good sweat going by the end of my workout.  I hit my back from varying angles and actually used some of the songs I listened to to for rhythm in my reps.  I also got my core workout in as well.

For lunch, we'll be cycling again today and I think my legs feel pretty good despite yesterday's spin class and Saturday's ride.  I'm actually looking forward to getting on my bike again, so it should be a good run.  Now if only my Garmin worked properly. 

Saturday's Ride Analysis, Yesterday's Rest Day and Today

On Saturday, we did the Tour de Foothills century as a trainer for the Stagecoach Century coming up in January.  With the rain and cold weather, I was surprised to have been able to do the whole ride with just the two bottles of Ultima.  I even had a little left in one of the bottles, so it was interesting to know I could do such a big ride with so little given I didn't sweat as much as usual.  I did drink water at two of the SAGs to add to my fluids.  I also only had 1 package of Shot Blocks and 4 Honey Gels, but this was supplemented with 2 fig newtons, a quarter PB&J, a Honey Stinger waffle and one Honey Stinger PB bar.  I did eat a lot the night before, but I don't think my KFC foodfest was ideal.  I've had better beginnings with my sushi meals the night before, but the difference may have also been weather related.  Overall, I'm hoping it will be comparable at the SC weather-wise, where I just have to keep training.

I did get a lot of rest yesterday and went back to Met-Rx for my last 2 meals of the day.  For some reason though, my stomach was bothering me and I wasn't able to get much sleep.  Despite this, I still managed to get up this morning and get in the gym.

For today's workout, I got 6 chest workouts in and while strength wasn't too high, the intensity was still there due to the fast pace, high reps and little rest in between.  I also got my core training in but after my ab workout, I went to pick up my water bottle and one of my upper abs locked up pretty good.  I was able to massage it out to let it unlock as I made my way to the locker.

For today's cardio, I contemplated riding my bike but I will probably just jump on the spin bike again since there is a class today.  I still have about half an hour to decide, but l don't know if I'm ready to ride my bike again yet after Saturday.

Shoulder and Spin

I woke up around 2:30 a.m. last night and really couldn't get back to sleep.  I figured it would be hard to get a good workout in as a result, but ironically, I still had a great shoulder workout.  In fact, the intensity level was probably a 9 or 10 out of 10.  I actually got 7 exercises (not including core) in albeit the last one was just a long set that worked on my traps, but that's up from the normal 4-5.  I did get my core in on top of all that to boot!

For today's cardio, I'll probably hit the spin bike one more time.  I will go during the spin class time, but I may not follow the program depending on how intense Madison makes it.  Yesterday, it was actually more of a workout than I anticipated since I think she likes to work the cyclist when we show up, so if she has the same plans today, I'll have to back it down some.  I wish I could ride my bike, by the way, but I'll have to wait until this weekend.

Yesterday's training, Today's Leg day and Lunch time cardio

Yesterday, I got caught up downloading some songs for my Ipod that I didn't get a chance to blog.  I did get a back workout in and the pace was elevated similar to how my chest day was on Monday...i.e. little rest between sets and exercises.  I was even able to squeeze in one additional exercise, plus I got my core training in as well.

My lunch ride yesterday was a good training ride with a pretty decent amount of elevation.  Shannon smoked all of us after one of the hills, but I can definitely live with that.  I did get a couple PRs, so there were instances I was pushing pretty hard.  I was surprised though that my left calf cramped on Bison since I hadn't ridden since Saturday and only did spin class on Monday.  I may be a little dehydrated, so I'll have to fix that. 

I normally don't do leg days with an event coming up on the weekend, but I decided to do so anyway today.  I did pull back some and only did one exercise for calves (albeit with 1 additional set) and 2 quad exercises (again with additional sets), but I skipped hamstrings since that's one of the prone areas for cramping where I wanted to give it rest.  I really hit a lot of reps on my quad exercises though, so let's see how that works for me.

For lunch, I'm going to try and hit a spin class at 1 PM but my schedule is jacked full of meetings today.  I may not get in a full hour, but I'll take what I can get. 

Chest and Spin Bike

It seems the time change brought out more people to the gym this morning.  Even the cold weather (43 degrees) didn't keep me from going, but I did double up on sweaters so my warm-up won't take as long.  I did feel a bit more energy given that it was slightly later according to my bio clock. 

For today's chest workout, I mentioned yesterday how I was going to try and add a little more intensity, so what I did was limit my rest time in between each set.  This allowed me to actually perform 6 different exercises today for pecs whereas I typically only get in 5.  The last exercise was just 3 sets of push ups to failure.  Pecs are worked.  I also got my core training in, so I got it all done and within the same time frame.

For today's cardio, it'll be back to the spin bike.  I don't recall if Madison is having a spin class today or not, but if she does I'm in for sure.  Otherwise, I'll do my own thing and try to get a good sweat going. 

Training/Diet reset

After yesterday's big ride, which is unusual since I typically ride Sundays, I opted to rest today and prepare for another training/diet reset.  Thus, I relaxed my diet today as well and hope to dial it up a notch on both starting tomorrow.  Training-wise, it'll be tough so I'll have to see how but diet-wise,  have some ideas I want to try.

I still plan on hitting Met-Rx 4x a day, but I do plan on adding Fridays for a full 4 serving.  Typically, I have a normal dinner on Friday night, but I'll see how going to a 4x on Friday helps.  I also may revert to Met-Rx for dinner on Sundays as well.  If I start to feel weak as a result, I may opt to purchase some good quality whey protein to add to my Met-Rx to prevent any muscle loss.  I will also probably try to drink more water to purify my system more like I used to, which should also help keep me hydrated for my rides. 

As for training, I'm sold on spin bikes, so this will be a regular aspect of my cycling training.  MWF will be spin bike/class with T/Th actual cycling days.  I may swap on some weeks depending on how I feel, but the spin bike is really helping a lot as far as being able to establish different rhythms for climbing and for sprinting.  Awesome core workout as well.  I may do a super light cardio Saturday morning as well, but I'll have to play it by ear depending on how the change to my diet affects me. 

As far as the weight training goes, I don't really see too much changing here.  It's pretty intense as it is and the light weight, high tempo training has still allowed me to hold onto a lot of muscle.  In some cases, I think I actually still stimulate growth based on some of the intensity levels I reach, but I'm not sure if that helps my cycling goal.  I'll keep adjusting as necessary depending on how things go.

Intensity for Arms and Today's Cardio

I had a good workout in the gym this morning on my arms, and had a really good pump both with my biceps and triceps.  I would rate the intensity level today as 10/10 since I pushed through even times when I thought I had no more.  Both muscle groups were almost locking up after each set, so they were pretty worked.  I think I was motivated today with thoughts of cycling and how important it is to push through pain. 

For lunch training, I plan on doing an easy spin on the spin bike.  I will have to take it easy if I end up going out tomorrow with the guys, but nothing is set in stone yet.  Better be safe than sorry. 

Shoulder day and Today's Cycling Route

It was a 9/10 day as far as shoulder workouts are concerned where there seemed to be a little room to have had it more intense.  Every morning when I get to the gym, I focus on things that fire me up where this morning was no different.  The problem, however, is that trying to light them up is hindered by how friggin' cold it is in the morning.  I still got a good sweat going, but nothing like the previous weeks.  5 exercises completed for shoulders, and some core training performed as well.

My legs feel better this morning despite yesterday's spin class, so I'm looking forward to a good lunch outing today...I hope.   Since the weather looks like it's taking a turn for the worse starting tonight and possibly through the weekend, I'm going to have to get my money's worth training-wise today. 

Recovery, Light Legs and Spin Class

I know full well that muscles need time to recover, and legs are no different.  Although Sunday's ride took it's toll on Sunday, I didn't feel too bad Monday so I pushed probably a little harder than I should when I rode the spin bike with Seon.  Yesterday morning when I got to work, I did feel the two days of training on the legs and knew our lunch ride was going to be a challenge.  I did better than I expected despite feeling like crap once we hit the bike trail, but mostly I think it was a matter of will vs. capability.  Plus, with all the guys that came out, that helped give me more motivation to push. 

Now with 3 days in a row of trashing my legs, I woke up this morning and they were definitely not recovered enough for a good thrashing at the gym.  I contemplated not going, but instead I opted to keep it light and take it easy.  I know.  I know.  I still blew out my calves since they weren't feeling too bad, but I limited the exercises for my hamstring and my quads to just one each.  Now while that doesn't sound bad, I still drove up the intensity based on the rep range I was hitting on every set with the lighter weight.  Walking down the stairs after was tough even after this limited training.

For lunch, I plan on joining the spin class and I will definitely try to tone it down.  I don't think I have a choice.  I'll need to check the aggro in at the door.

Diet Detour, Back Day and Lunch Ride

Since the kids were out with friends trick or treating, I went out to dinner with Lisa in lieu of having my typical Met-Rx.  We had sushi, chicken teriyaki, and tempura; plus I had a light Kirin beer.  On top of this, the kids brought home a lot of Halloween candy so I had to be a responsible dad and sampled some.  HA HA.  It really is a slippery slope once I cross the line, but that should be it for this week.  I'll be making it up diet-wise come Friday. 

I got a good back workout this morning.  I found a v-bar that they haven't had around for a while, so I actually used it for 2 different exercises.  I kept it light and found that listening to the music I spin to helped motivate me by reminding me how I need to keep pushing to improve.  I also got my core training in this morning.

For lunch, I don't really know what route to take, so I'll see if anyone has any suggestions.  In any case, I'll be all in regardless of what anyone suggests.  I need to work off some sushi!