Yesterday's Race, Today's Arms and Lunch Run

Yesterday's race revealed once again that I just don't have the energy to finish the race strong.  Midway through the race, I just started to fall off the pace of the rest of the group even from the draft.   I was glad not to get dropped right away though since it was fast from the start.  I just need to bring up my endurance to be able to sustain the high pace throughout.  I don't know if now is a good time for it though given I don't take in a lot of carbs during the week, so  maybe I should just expect this for now.  Once I drop the weight I want, maybe I'll be able to have the energy needed to do better.  I'll be eating real food again vs. mostly Met-Rx, and if I can remember last year, this was good for me. 

For this morning's workout, I did my arms but with the rep count for each set, I was only able to do 3 exercises:  2 biceps and 1 tricep.  Time flew this morning, but my arms got a good enough workout.  I also got to work my core, so good enough for this morning. 

At lunch, I hope to do a 4.5 mile run with some people and I'm contemplating taking it easy.  However, I doubt that will be the case once I get going.  I do want to keep running just to get more accustomed to it, but I do wonder how it'll affect my racing.  I'm not willing to give it up this early though, so it is what it is.  Maybe I'll actually focus on racing and do only things that will help it down the road.  Maybe.

Shoulder morning and Lunch Spin

Last week, I opted to do cardio in the morning and shoulders at lunch time since my legs were trashed from a run I did over the prior weekend.  Since my legs feel good today despite yesterday's lunch ride (with the exception of my damn bee stings), I worked shoulders this morning and will spin at lunch.  We'll have to see whether this affects my race tomorrow night.

My shoulder workout was a good one.  I got 5 exercises in, high reps, blew up during some of the sets but drove to do even more after.  The weights were light, non-increasing, and the reps were fast and explosive as usual.  Side dumbbell raises, seated machine shoulder press, alternating front dumbbell raises, cable overhead press, and rear delt machine.  I also got my 100 rep lower back set in and my lower ab workout. 

For lunch today, I'll be spinning in Madison's class.  I feel like I haven't been spinning as much lately, so I'm looking forward to it. 

Swollen Legs, Back Day and Lunch Ride

I'm really not having a great reaction to the bee stings to my legs where my right calf is totally swollen as is my left inner thigh.  They are sensitive to the touch, feel really tight since they're swollen, and they itch like hell.  I've been taking all sorts of stuff to try not to feel them, but nothing is working.  They feel no better today than the last couple days.  I hope I can get through today.

I did make it in to the gym this morning and got my back worked out.  I went back to light and fast reps without increasing the resistance through each rep.  I figure I need to go back to my original objective of trying to adapt to high reps without taking the intensity up too high.  It was good and I got 4 exercises in...barely.  I also got my core workout in. 

Even though my legs are jacked from the stings, I'm going to ride with the guys today during lunch.  I'm not sure what kind of route we should do, but I'm open to anything.  I just want to ride. 

Friday Run, Yesterday's Ride and Today's Training

On Friday, I ended up running with Madison and a few others during lunch and the pace was not as manageable as expected.  I was hoping for a 10 min/mi pace or somewhere in that range if not slower, but we were doing sub-9 minute miles throughout 4.5 miles over hills and with a sprint finish.  That was NOT the plan, but I rolled with the punches.  I was off the back for the beginning, but caught Madison a little past midway through.  Running with her was a challenge, but she's alpha through-and-through and I guess so am I.  My legs were feeling it after but not as bad as from when I ran the weekend before.

I did get a decent ride in yesterday despite my legs still recovering from the run, but my pace was sub 22 mph.  I didn't really set the ride up for the climb up and over Cook's, but it was still fun and I got a great workout as a result.  In the reverse loop we did after, we did a good amount of off the seat riding, so that was fun.  On the way back on Irvine Blvd though, I got stung by a bee...on both legs!  I didn't mention the 2nd sting on the ride blog, but it was on my calf on the other side.  I thought my leggings caught and that's why it pinched, but you can see where I got stung after I took them off.  Both areas are now swollen and itchy.  Sigh.

For this morning, I ended up skipping the gym because my legs were feeling a little tight last night (maybe more from the bee sting than anything else), but I thought it may be a good idea to rest them today.  I'll be training pecs during lunch at the gym at work, so it should be a good day for my legs to recover.

First Race Analysis, Yesterday's Diet and Today's Training

Well, I finally got my first crit out of the way and it was pretty much just as I expected.  It revealed that 1) I'm not ready for that type of racing yet and 2) I may not be ready for any type of racing.  Going into it, I did do some things right like resting the day of the race, getting there early enough to get a warm-up, and getting enough fluids in where I had no problems with cramping.  For the next race however, I won't eat like crap the night before (due to Lisa's birthday), drink alcohol the night before, and I will make sure my bike is free of any problems.  I also hope to have my legs as fresh as possible whereas only today, my legs finally don't feel the effects of last Saturday's run.  I do think I have to find my way back to "wanting it" more since I seem to have some motivational issues when pushed to the limit, but I hope getting out there regularly will do this.  In general, I don't think I did too bad considering it was my first race and I was alone.

After binging on Wednesday, I was actually down on calories by a lot even after racing.  According to a calorie tracker app and based on my weight and calories burned, I was over 500 calories under what I was suppose to burn yesterday.   I'm okay with it since it probably was still less than the extra I took in on Wednesday.

For this morning's workout, I got my arms done and started out with triceps for once.  I haven't been doing triceps as much only because they would get worked on climbing from the drops off the seat.  However, I think it's time to give them a little attention, so....  I got 6 exercises plus the lower back and ab workout. 

At lunch, I plan on getting some running in and will run with some folks at work.  I think the pace should be manageable where I can consider it a light day for cardio.   I need to keep running so when I do the duathlon, it just won't hurt as much.  I don't expect to kill it at that event, but I don't want to embarass myself too much either.

Morning Cardio with Lunch Shoulders

Rather than working out with weights in the morning, I opted for the ideal where I got my cardio out of the way.  I say ideal because cardio in the morning after a cup of coffee is best for burning fat since glycogen levels are depleted from the overnight fast.  The reason I did my cardio first, however, was just so I can give my legs enough time to rest for tomorrow night's crit.  They feel better today albeit with some slight discomfort still, but nowhere near as bad as it had been the last few days.  They didn't hold up as well as I had hoped for yesterday's ride, but maybe after giving them a whole day's rest, they'll be good.

I do plan on doing weights at lunch time but there is a possibility I may skip since today is my wife's birthday.  If she opts to come join me for lunch, I'll go and push out my shoulder workout to Friday.   I plan on sleeping in tomorrow, so it would have to wait until then.  If she doesn't, I will be working on my shoulders at lunch time at work.  I hurt my wrists yesterday after a little spill on my bike, so I don't know how effective my workout will be but I'll still give it a try. 

Back Day and Lunch Ride with Unrecovered Legs

This morning, I was a little charged up for my back workout despite still feeling pains from Saturday's run.  I had some pretty good sets where I actually broke a pretty good sweat.  The weights I used this morning are a little heavier than what I was using before (I'm bored with the light weights), but they're not too heavy where I can still crank out a lot of reps.  I may go back to the lighter weights since my goals are not to get bigger, but I need to change it up a little just to keep it interesting.

For our lunch ride, I'm hoping to get some good crit training since I do want to do this Thursday night's crit.  The only problem is my legs have not recovered fully from running.  My hamstrings are the worst with my feet and shins coming a close second.  I spun yesterday and they felt okay after some endorphins kicked in, so I'm hoping they'll be the same today.