Mixed Back and Double BB Lunch Ride

Continuing on with the mode I started yesterday, I trained in mixed mode again today and did a high intensity low reps set along with multiple low intensity high rep sets.  From yesterday's chest training, my chest felt like it was pretty worked and if anything, the change to the training is probably promoting adaptation...a good thing.  I am hoping to get the same results from today's back workout.  I did end up finishing my training a bit early based on this mixed mode as one of the sets for each exercise performed was reduced to a significantly lower rep set and thus not taking as much to complete.  I was still panting at the end of some of these sets along with the low rep ones, so I think it was a pretty good workout overall.  I also trained my core.

For today's cardio, the plan is to ride and hopefully where everyone agrees to do double back bay.  My legs feel less than 100% probably based on Sunday + yesterday's spin (I opted to spin in lieu of run since Eddie came with me), so we'll see how things go for me today.  I'll make the best out of it no matter what.

Mixed Chest Training and Lunch Cardio

Today, I thought I'd try something different with the weight training where rather than follow one discipline, I decided to try mix things up and throw in 1 heavy set in between my usual high rep explosive sets.  I think I'll do this for a while and see how it works out for me.  The obvious benefits I hope to gain from it would include additional strength as well as better conditioning. 

For today's lunch cardio, my legs don't feel fully recovered from yesterday's ride but I have been wearing compression pants since yesterday...ha ha.  I'm considering running on the treadmill and starting this type of training, but I don't know if that would bode well given how my legs are feeling.  Optionally, I may just spin if my legs don't feel great come lunch time.  

Heavy Arms and Lunch Ride

The heavy training saga continued today where I bumped it up for both my biceps and triceps.  I was pleasantly surprised how much weight I was able to move around, so it seems that my arms are the least affected from m previous light weight high rep transition...which I do plan to go back to next week.   Now, I know where all my muscle groups are strength-wise, so I may make some adjustments in my training program and bump up some of the weights I use next week.

I wasn't able to get my lower back trained this morning but I did manage to get my abs done.  I've been a little nervous with my abs since I don't want them to cramp as they occasionally do, and they seem to hint that they will.  I've still been  doing some decent reps though.

For my cardio today, the plan is to get out and ride.  I'm not sure if anyone will be coming out, so I don't know what kind of route I'm going to do.  If no one comes out, I may hit the bike trail and loop around to Shady.  My legs feel better, but heavy training does usually take some time for them to recover.  It was a good move for me to stay off the bike and just do the spin class yesterday though.

Shoulders and Lunch Cardio

Consistent with this week's training mode, I upped the weights for my shoulder workout as well.  My shoulders have always been one of the strongest parts of my body, and the weights I lifted exhibited that.  I'm still not as strong as I had been before I shifted my focus to slow-twitch muscles, but I was able to hit some pretty solid numbers today nonetheless.  I was a little worried about my right shoulder during some front cable raises due to some discomfort, but it went away after I warmed up more.  I also squeezed in my core training.

As to my lunch cardio today, I'm thinking I need to skip my lunch ride since I woke up and my quads are feeling it from yesterday's heavy workout.  They didn't bother me too much during yesterday's lunch ride, unlike my calves which blew up pretty early on...as expected.  Now they just feel really stiff where I actually took some ibuprofen before working out this morning so I can make my way up/down stairs.  If I do skip, I'll opt for the spin class since it doesn't seem to have the same affect on my legs.  I will wear my compression pants under my jeans today just to help with the recovery process. 

Heavy Legs and Riding - A Bad Combo?

Consistent with the training for the week, I opted to also do heavier weights on my legs today and see how they respond.  I'm always worried about going heavy for legs though since it seems to put a lot of strain on a lot of other areas (groin, lower back, etc.), but I figure one day of this shouldn't be too bad.  I also wanted to focus on my quads, so my calves and hamstrings only had a little work...still heavy though.  I definitely blew my quads up and had a hard time walking down the stairs.  Thank goodness Lisa came with me this morning as she helped me down them.  HA HA

For today's cardio, I usually don't like riding my bike when I train my legs but I also didn't ride yesterday.  I ended up spinning instead and did a session where all I did was stand up and pedal for half an hour.  It was short but I definitely got some sweat going.  I'll need to see how my legs feel before lunch time and make a last minute decision on what to do with spin being the other option. 

Heavy Back Day and Lunch Ride

For some reason, I wasn't able to kick the idea of doing heavier weights today after yesterday's chest day.  I know it's not going to be good for cycling, but I went ahead and did heavier sets just to see where my back was strength-wise.  I do worry that I may get hurt but there's something about moving around heavy weights that seems to draw me back to it.  I hope it's just a phase for this week since my ultimate goal for the year is still continue to improve my cycling.   I got 4 exercises in with 2 additional core for today. 

For lunch, I hope to get a ride in but I'm not sure what route to do.  It's still wet outside, so we need to find a route that will be safe to train on.  I'll be taking out my Cervelo again, so hopefully it won't have any problems with the creaking I had last week. 

Yesterday's Ride, Chest Day and Lunch Spin

After having a food fest on Saturday and having AYCE Korean BBQ, I had a ton of calories I wanted to burn.  I knew Como Street was going to be hard and burn a lot of calories, but when I finished that ride, I still felt like I had a ton more.  I opted to reverse the Como loop and just hit it as hard (but steady) as I could on my own.  By the time I was headed down Irvine Blvd, I did start feeling hungry again.  I opted not to have any gels though on the ride and just sucked down a shot blok to get me back to the p-lot.  My HR was definitely no where near as pegged as it was during Como, which unusually was really pegged for that ride, so it was a great tempo pace.

For this morning's workout, I had an urge to see where I was strength-wise for my chest day so rather than doing the high rep, high speed sets, I did slow it down here and there just to see how much I could push up.  On the bench, after 3 warm-up sets, I was still able to hit 275 lbs for a couple reps.  I didn't want to hurt myself, so I dropped from there and did 135 lbs for 50 reps.  I bumped up the weight on my incline and decline presses also just to see where I was.  It seems when I do my fast high rep sets, I'm only pushing between 1/4-1/2 of my max.   I guess that's okay, but it is nice to know I can throw up some pretty decent numbers still.

For lunch today, the plan is to jump on a spin bike.  Now that I hate the cleats, I may just do it in Bldg 6.  I do like Bldg 11 since I usually can play my music out loud, so we'll see.

Recovered, Arms and Lunch Ride or Spin

From yesterday's ride, I wanted to see where I was recovery-wise and it seems I'm feeling a lot better in contrast to earlier this week.  The rest from skipping a workout (legs) on Wednesday probably helped.  I wasn't as opposed to the idea of pushing myself, although I didn't push too hard. I hope by Sunday, I'm good

This morning, I got my arms worked out and only managed 4 exercises.  I did bump the weight up some and got a pretty good workout on both biceps and triceps. Good enough to finish out the week with weights.  I also got my core training in.

I may ride at lunch to do some drills Noah gave me to get some baselines for the PT on his wheels I borrowed from him.  I don't know if I'm up for it given I don't know if I'm 100% and I won't be able to keep track of my power after I give his wheels back.  One of these days, I'll get my own PT.  If I don't feel up to it, I'll join Lauren's spin class...a guaranteed barn burner. 

Shoulders and Lunch Ride

Got in the gym this morning and got my shoulders worked out.  Did 5 different exercises for my shoulders and cranked out some pretty good sets.  I was able to focus on my goal to improve my conditioning by April, so this was today's motivation.  I also performed my core exercises for my lower back and abs. 

For today's lunch ride, I'm hoping my legs feel 100%.  I got to work on my cleats as well, which were loose.  I'll bring in my BMC and try to get some climbing in on it unless Noah has a route suggestion to capture some more power numbers from me. 

Cardio Only Today

Based on the last 2 days of spinning and riding at lunch where my legs just didn't feel like they had any strength, I decided to dial it down today and skip my leg workout all together.  I was going to jump straight to shoulders, but I felt more like doing cardio so I went with that.  I was thinking of running, doing the elliptical or jumping on a LifeCycle but instead, I jumped on a spin bike.  I definitely didn't push the quads but still got my heart rate up and got to sweat a bunch.  Considering it was 34 degrees outside, I was glad to get any sweat out. 

For lunch, I'm not doing anything at all.  I'm just taking it easy and will try to resume my full training schedule again tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll feel more recovered.

Setting a Goal, Back Day and Lunch Ride

When I was driving to the gym this morning, I was asking myself what I really want to accomplish today when working out.  I think it's important to have something to work towards, but for some reason I couldn't answer this question.  Earlier on, I've been training hard to peak for last Saturday's ride, but now what?  I do plan on doing more cenury rides and stuff, but I think I need a specific goal as to what I want to accomplish with my body.  I couldn't answer it until after my workout, but I want to get leaner and improve my conditioning even more.  The plan is to improve my conditioning by the L'Etape. 

For my back workout today, I got in 4 exercises and only abs after.  Since I didn't have a focus, I decided to increase the weight some just to get some strength training in.  I still did as many reps as I could, but I did do progressive resistance training and even some pyramids.  I wasn't as fired up as I could be though, so I hope this changes now that I have a renewed goal.

For lunch today, I plan on taking out my Cervelo.  It's been a while since I've ridden this bike.  Last night when I was cleaning it, I noticed that the front wheel just didn't spin up very well.  I guess I never really paid much attention to it since I got it back from when it was last serviced.  I decided to loosen up the hub and wow...the wheel spins up so much better.  I can't wait to take it out today. 

Friday, The Race, and Today's Training

On Friday, I still went into the gym but sat on the spin bike for an hour just to relieve some anxiety and keep the blood circulating through my legs.  It's always hard to pull back, but I managed not to break too much of a sweat. 

Saturday was race day and definitely had me pushing to the max for just over 4.5 hours.  All the training and conditioning paid off where we not only got it done time-wise, we did so with managed hydration and intake as well.  I had 2 GU Gels, 1 Honey stinger, 1 package of Shot Bloks (still had some left over though) and only filled up one additional bottle at the half, which I didn't get to until the end of the ride.  At the halfway point of the ride, I still had 1.5 bottles, but I decided to drain the .5 and refill with water only.  I think I probably could have used one more honey gel for the last 5 miles, but overall, I seemed to have had enough energy throughout.  It was just tough to get to since we were just pushing so hard and the rotations were a little faster.  I did have a little stomach cramp toward the end from pushing so hard all morning long, but I ignored it since I knew it would only be temporary.  I'm happy with how everything worked out and I hope my teammates were happy as well.  My back, however, was definitely strained from the TT position and my unfamiliarity with it, but that too was a small price to pay considering our win.

Since I rested on Sunday and ate a bunch, I was back in the gym this morning despite my back still not being 100%.  I did take it easy considering, but wanted to get in and burn some calories.  I got a decent chest workout but only got in 4 exercises along with 2 core.  Good enough for today. 

For lunch, I plan on joining Madison's spin class as my legs are feeling better, but we'll see how my back feels by then.  If it doesn't feel great, I'll tone it down for sure.

Yesterday, Today and Tapering

I didn't get to blog yesterday because I never made it in to the gym in the morning.  My phone, which is what I use for my alarm clock, was having a problem with playing sounds, so it didn't wake me up.  It would have been my leg day, but I was planning on skipping it anyway.  I would have done shoulders, but since I didn't get up early enough, I skipped it all together. 

I did go on a lunch ride with Vince yesterday just to get in some time on the aero bars I installed the other night.  We didn't go too hard, so it was a nice 20 mile spin.  There were moments were we pushed though, especially just to see what it would be like to do so on the aero, but nothing too crazy.  I think I learned a couple things from it though:  I still plan on climbing like I normally do despite trying to see what it was like climbing on the aeros based on the muscles used; the bars have little to no impact on the climbing when I do so from the drops. 

For today's training,  I got my shoulders trained and it was a pretty good workout.  I did try to taper by not doing any progressive resistance training (except one exercise), but I still ended up hitting a pretty good intensity level.  5 exercises done and 2 more exercises for core.   

For lunch, I do plan on joining Madison's spin class but I may sit in the back to keep from being pushed too hard.   We'll see how that pans out.

Back Day and "Lite" Lunch Ride

I had a good workout this morning but I didn't do any type of progressive resistance training.  For the most part, I pretty much repeated the same weight for each set, except maybe on one exercise (but I dropped the weight).  I just banged out as many reps as I could as has been the case for some time now, and also continued to focus on having the movement be explosive.  I got 5 exercises in plus lower back and abs. 

For lunch, I need to take my BMC out and try out the cassette I borrowed from Todd to make sure everything is working okay.  I'll probably suggest a route with some hills just to make sure everything is shifting okay, but I don't want to go nutty out there today.  My legs feel a little tired and I doubt it's from spinning yesterday as much as playing that damn Dance Central 2 with my kids last night.  It's all good though. 

The Latest and Tapering for the Race

On Friday, I ended up going to Lauren's spin class and even got in a little early to warm up.  It was a really tough class where I'm glad she leaves the lights off because I think at two different points, I ended up spitting since I was on the verge of throwing up.  HA HA.  I didn't plan on going too hard given the ride on Saturday, but Lauren has a way of pushing me so that I can't resist.  I was drenched.

On Saturday, we had a good training ride and I ended up being able to do the ride without any "real" food.  I felt really good, maybe since I had borrowed a friend's wheelset that seemed to spin up a lot better than my Spinergy's.  It may have been due to the new songs I have on my iPod.  It may have been since we had a few people to work with, but whatever it was, I didn't end up needing to eat more than 4 honey stinger gels, 1 pack of shot bloks, 2 GUs and 2 bottles of Ultima.  It would be ideal if I only needed this for next week's race, but I doubt I'll take a chance with only this. 

Sunday I ended up resting, and I was glad my kids were slowing down on their Dance Central 2 games.  Okay, so I got in about 3 dances but other than that, I didn't do much. 

Today, I got my chest worked out and cranked out some pretty good sets with fairly light weight.  I'm afraid to hurt myself this week, so the weights will not be too heavy.  I still pushed the rep range as much as possible.  I'm happy with it.

For today's lunch exercise, it's the spin bike again.   I don't think there's a class, so I'll be in there for just over an hour and get a good solo spin session in. 

Yesterday's Ride, Shoulder Day and Spin?

I didn't get in the gym yesterday morning since I had to fast the night before for a doctor's appointment I had early.   Thus, I slept in, which felt great since my kids have been tiring me out at night with their Dance Central 2 game.  HA HA.  I did make it out to a ride yesterday, and the pace was just ridiculous. The team is looking great though, so I'm excited about next week's race.  I just wish I didn't have problems with my bike towards the tail end of the ride. 

Today, I made it to the gym again in the morning and made up my shoulder workout I missed yesterday.  I had a great workout and got through 5 exercises for my shoulders plus my core workout.  Again, love my new songs on iPod...music can be so motivating.

At lunch time, I'm considering doing Lauren's spin class, but I may pull back and skip depending on what the ride plan is for tomorrow.  I may just suck it up and do it regardless and just suffer through tomorrow, so I'll be ready for next week.  We'll see.

Leg Day (crushed it) and Spin Bike

Got in the gym feeling a little tired from playing with the kids again last night, and I didn't think I'd have a good workout.  However, since I uploaded new songs on my iPod, I found myself just crushing the weights and blowing up each leg muscle on every set.  Cool.  Definitely a 10 out of 10 day intensity-wise.  It was tough walking out of there today.  HA HA

For lunch, I plan on a long spin session to further work on my core and my off the seat climbing.  The new songs should be awesome for this, so I'm totally looking forward to it. 

Back Day and Lunch Ride

I really need to stop playing dancing games (Dance Central 2) with my kids at night.  I not only got worked last night, but it carried over to this morning where I felt somewhat fatigue when I got up.  I actually had to take some ibuprofen just to feel better.  Goodness.

I did manage to get to the gym this morning and get a back workout.  It was about an 8 out of 10 intensity-wise, but this is in part based on also thinking about how I don't want to get hurt so close to the race.  I also managed to get my core trained. 

For lunch today, the plan is to ride and hopefully have it be a consistent med/high intensity tempo ride.  My calves were one of the casualties from last night's game play, but I think they'll be okay for today's ride.  We'll see.

2011 Wrap-up and Starting 2012

It's  been over a week since I blogged about my training, but that doesn't mean I haven't been training.  I've been off work since 12-23-11, so I've just taken some time off from writing as well.  Now that it's 2012, I'm back to the grind but let me summarize the last week first:

12-23-11 - 91 mile trainer with the team.  Got sick as a dog after.
12-24-11 and 12-25-11 - Took these days off from training and rested to try and get over what I caught.
12-26-11 - 100 mile training ride with Vince and Adrian.  Couldn't breathe.
12-27-11 - Went to the gym and did chest workout (or tried to).  It was a horrible workout and I was gassing out so fast without ever being able to get any kind of pump.  I even almost cramped up when I did my abs. 
12-28-11 - I did a solo 69.5 mile ride.  Focus was just hill training.  I was still sick, but I did what I could.
12-29-11 and 12-30-11 - 1 hour spin bike training at the gym.  I actually started to feel better after my ride from the day before.
12-31-11 - 98 mile trainer with the team.  Definitely was breathing better on this ride and legs hung in there as well.
1-1-12 - I took the day off from training but I played Dance Central 2 with my kids for a few hours. 

With 358 miles of training (not including the spin sessions), you'd think I'd be tired from that but what's funny is this morning, I felt worked from having played that game with my kids.   My lower back definitely was feeling a little worn from doing "moves" I just wasn't used to. Oh well.

I still managed to get up and work my chest out, which was much better than last week's for sure.  I got 6 exercises in and was able to re-focus on the high rep explosiveness training I was doing last year.  I also did my core training as well. 

For lunch, I plan on jumping on the spin bike for an hour or so to get back into the swing of my 2/day training.   I hope 2012 will be just as good or better than 2011.