I’m heading into Base2 of my training plan next week. I think Base1 went really well and I’ve established a solid foundation. I’ve gotten up to a 2.5 hour long ride and completed several 2+hr rides, introduced my first hill-work in, and been consistent with my swim training although I should probably get another workout in per week than I do (only 2 currently). Other than my run training, which is in more of a build phase as I prep for the half-marathon…there has been very little high intensity work. The end of Base1 also marks the end of my strength building phase that started in the off-season. I have my last heavy lifting sessions tomorrow before cutting back to lifting high-rep and only doing 1 full-body circuit per week instead of 3 more focused workouts.
The focus of Base2 is still establishing my aerobic base, so there won’t be sweeping changes. However, the changes that are likely are as follows:
Weights – 1 strength maintenance circuit instead of 3 strength building workouts
Bike – Introduce a hill-work ride to the weekly routine for muscular endurance.
Bike – Start commuting to work 2x/week in place of removed lifting sessions (7.5 mile 1 way trips on heavy hybrid bike—recovery work)
Swim – Increase length of endurance session to cover 2000-2500m (was 1600-2000m)
Bike/Run – Start adding 1-3 mile transition runs on end of at least 1 bike ride per week
If I can make all the above changes and continue on the path I’m currently on, I will feel very confident heading into Base3. The beginning of Base3 marks the beginning of the warm-up racing season, so we’re not too far off now.
Also, I’m looking at possibly adding a 40k time trial to the slate in early May. In reality, it would be a portion of a long ride for the day, but there is a local cycling club that is hosting 40k TT’s this year, and I’d love to try one, so we’ll see if that pans out. They also offer a weekly 10.2 mile TT on Tuesdays that I went to once last year (it’s kinda out of the way for a week night) and they seem to do a good job for low cost high-intensity training.
Hopefully, I’ll remember that I want to do a write-up of my weight training gains through the off-season once I’m done with the strength-building tomorrow. If not, I’ll update again soon…I’m not sure if it’s the extra energy from a recovery week or good weather and anticipation, but I’ve been pretty motivated to write in the past week or so.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Getting (Wii) Fit
We happened to come across a Wii Fit in the past couple weeks and have been giving it a go lately. Actually, it was a gift from the wife's parents and a reward for her upcoming successful completion of the Derby Festival Mini Marathon (late April). We are just impatient and decided to open it early with the excuse she could use it as cross-training. Either way, this is my take on my Wii experience...
The setup process is somewhat involved even if you already have a Mii created. You have to have a balance and weight check while recieving all sorts of explanation for why you're doing these things. Eventually it asks you to set a goal. My big complaint here is that it uses the BMI scale to analyze you...obviously it's a simple formula, but it doesn't take into account muscle mass. Basically it's fine, since the bulk of the people who will be using it for fitness are likely not going to be muscular, or even generally athletic. So, really I'm just complaining about BMI because it doesn't really work for me. Wii fit told me I should lose 22 lbs...a feat I've just recently accomplished...not too sure I could pull it off again.
Once in the game, there are a variety of exercises categorized into either aerobic, strength, balance games, and yoga. The exercises and the balance games do give you a legitimate workout assuming you don't cheat, but they are too segmented to make it so you can get a solid quick workout in. I have yet to unlock all the events yet, but the longest exercise is only about 5 minutes before you have to go back to button pushing to setup something else.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the Wii Fit and think it's more productive than your standard video games. I was and still am planning on using it to practice flexibility through the yoga moves. That will provide a good compliment to the class I try to get to on Sundays. I also found that I likely have some muscle imbalances that I can work on with the balance exercises. My wife puts me to shame with her stability.
Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts on the Wii Fit...otherwise I'm in my recovery week before heading into Base2 and training is going pretty steady. I've got lots of upcoming posts I want to put together, so hopefully this blog will be abuzz with activity soon. Until then...
The setup process is somewhat involved even if you already have a Mii created. You have to have a balance and weight check while recieving all sorts of explanation for why you're doing these things. Eventually it asks you to set a goal. My big complaint here is that it uses the BMI scale to analyze you...obviously it's a simple formula, but it doesn't take into account muscle mass. Basically it's fine, since the bulk of the people who will be using it for fitness are likely not going to be muscular, or even generally athletic. So, really I'm just complaining about BMI because it doesn't really work for me. Wii fit told me I should lose 22 lbs...a feat I've just recently accomplished...not too sure I could pull it off again.
Once in the game, there are a variety of exercises categorized into either aerobic, strength, balance games, and yoga. The exercises and the balance games do give you a legitimate workout assuming you don't cheat, but they are too segmented to make it so you can get a solid quick workout in. I have yet to unlock all the events yet, but the longest exercise is only about 5 minutes before you have to go back to button pushing to setup something else.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the Wii Fit and think it's more productive than your standard video games. I was and still am planning on using it to practice flexibility through the yoga moves. That will provide a good compliment to the class I try to get to on Sundays. I also found that I likely have some muscle imbalances that I can work on with the balance exercises. My wife puts me to shame with her stability.
Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts on the Wii Fit...otherwise I'm in my recovery week before heading into Base2 and training is going pretty steady. I've got lots of upcoming posts I want to put together, so hopefully this blog will be abuzz with activity soon. Until then...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
That Crazy Ohio Weather
When I was growing up in Louisville, KY, I don’t remember noticing wild swings in the weather…just hot, humid summers and cold winters w/ usually a yearly substantial snowstorm. Then, I went off to college in Dayton, OH. I found the weather to be pretty similar to Louisville, just usually slightly colder due to being more north. However, I kept hearing references to “that crazy Ohio weather” from all my new buckeye state friends. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Then, we had some vicious snow during spring break of my freshman year while I was in Dayton training for crew season. We were rowing on the water in a mini-blizzard with temperatures sub freezing. The news even covered one of the practices so the city could see how crazy we were. At the time, Louisville was getting unseasonably cold weather, but I’m not sure of their snow situation (I got weather updates from my parents…still do).
I mention the above because even though it still seems like Louisville weather and Ohio (Dayton/Cincy) weather mirror each other pretty closely…I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “that crazy Louisville (or KY) weather”. I guess I just find that interesting.
That crazy Ohio weather popped into my mind because we are in the midst of some of it right now. Over the weekend, we enjoyed 70 degree, sunny weather Saturday (but we were out of town in rainy NE Ohio L)…some tornado warnings and windy 60s on Sunday…nice cool 50’s on Monday…humid and windy near-80’s on Tuesday…and we woke up to 40 degrees and diving today. So, I’d say we’re experiencing some strange swings. Luckily, I’ve taken advantage of the good weather as much as possible. I’ve gotten outside on the bike a few times (including being out when the tornado sirens went off Sunday evening…that got my attention), and even pulled out the grill last night for the first time in 09.
I don’t think I’ll be outside tonight for my ride, so I guess I’ll be checking out my new video, riding Lake Placid with Coach Troy. Sounds like a blast…but not really.
I mention the above because even though it still seems like Louisville weather and Ohio (Dayton/Cincy) weather mirror each other pretty closely…I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “that crazy Louisville (or KY) weather”. I guess I just find that interesting.
That crazy Ohio weather popped into my mind because we are in the midst of some of it right now. Over the weekend, we enjoyed 70 degree, sunny weather Saturday (but we were out of town in rainy NE Ohio L)…some tornado warnings and windy 60s on Sunday…nice cool 50’s on Monday…humid and windy near-80’s on Tuesday…and we woke up to 40 degrees and diving today. So, I’d say we’re experiencing some strange swings. Luckily, I’ve taken advantage of the good weather as much as possible. I’ve gotten outside on the bike a few times (including being out when the tornado sirens went off Sunday evening…that got my attention), and even pulled out the grill last night for the first time in 09.
I don’t think I’ll be outside tonight for my ride, so I guess I’ll be checking out my new video, riding Lake Placid with Coach Troy. Sounds like a blast…but not really.
Friday, March 6, 2009
A little love for MapMyRide
I just wanted to give a shout-out to mapmyride.com real quick. Particularly their new mapping software. The follow-roads option they added makes mapping SO much faster. I used to only map when I wasn't sure of the distance covered, was real concerned about elevation, or was just bored b/c for longer rides, it took forever to map. Now, it's a breeze. I've been mapping like crazy of late.
They also seem to have improved the accuracy and sensitivity of the elevation gain/loss calculations and added gradient information. Other new additions that are kinda nice are being able to pull up local weather while mapping, and the workout calculator pop-up.
You can try mapping without being a member, just can't save your routes or anything...but I'd highly recommend at least taking advantage of the free membership. The workout log and map saving make it definately worthwhile. I have just been thrilled with thier recent updates, so thought I'd share and give them some free love and (a very little) publicity.
They also seem to have improved the accuracy and sensitivity of the elevation gain/loss calculations and added gradient information. Other new additions that are kinda nice are being able to pull up local weather while mapping, and the workout calculator pop-up.
You can try mapping without being a member, just can't save your routes or anything...but I'd highly recommend at least taking advantage of the free membership. The workout log and map saving make it definately worthwhile. I have just been thrilled with thier recent updates, so thought I'd share and give them some free love and (a very little) publicity.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Unleashing the (new) beast
I finally set my new bike loose on the roads last night, after keeping it chained to the trainer for nearly a month. This is my experience of my first real ride on my first tri-bike…
I took off from my house a little before 5, hoping to get 2h15mins of easy riding in before dark. The plan was to head through Indian Hill (the rich neighborhood) and straight to the Little Miami bike trail. It’s basically a straight shot down one road that winds a bit and has 2 decent climbs over 6 miles. Since I was breaking in the tri-bike, I wanted to bypass the hills as quickly as possible and get to the trail, which is flat and smooth and has no car traffic. With it still being chilly, the bike/runner traffic was limited as well. It would be a perfect place to get comfortable with my position while actually having to steer the bike. The high for the day was a sunny 50 degrees, but it was in the mid 40’s for most of the ride.
I made it all of a ½ mile before I had to stop the first time. My CPU wasn’t reading properly, so I had to readjust my sensors…no big deal. After adjusting, I exited the neighborhood and hit the real roads, the ones with traffic. This was a little nerve-wrecking at first since my handling was definitely not as solid as on my road bike. I was riding the base bar, but with my aero positioning, my seat has my weight shifted higher, making the bike more twitchy. I kept my gearing on the low end of the big ring and just sat and spun my way through the hills as easily as possible. I finally made the long descent down Galbraith to the bike trail. My back was a little sore, I’m guessing from not being used to riding the base bar for that long. It took about 20 minutes to get to the trail. After standing and stretching out a bit, it was time for the “real” ride to begin.
I got down in my aero-tuck easily enough, but wasn’t really getting into a rhythm. There are a decent amount of roads crossing the trail through here, so I had to stop and go a lot…continuously sitting and crouching. Since this was a somewhat long ride, I started to focus in on nutrition once on the path…alternating between water and the Infinit 70.3 mix I created, at regular intervals. I had also brought a fruit bar, but ended up opting not to use it in the end. Finally, once I got past downtown Loveland at about 10 miles into the ride, everything started clicking. I was feeling comfortable, getting good, smooth leg turnover, and the pace picked up with it. I cruised along until I hit the turnaround point and then repeated the process on my way back to Loveland. I’d say for that 18-20 mile stretch I was probably around a 21mph average and didn’t feel like I was pushing at all. It was a great feeling to be slicing through the air so effectively. I rode a similar route on my road bike in similar conditions last week, and was about 2mph slower through this stretch with what seemed like a little more effort then. Of course, that’s all very non-scientific estimations, but I can safely conclude I was able to ride faster, easier.
The return was going great until I got past Loveland. The last 10 miles were a little scary at times, and very cold throughout. By that point, the sun had gone out of direct sight, and I felt like I was in a race with the oncoming dusk. Unfortunately, dusk had a few tricks up its sleeve, like turning down the temperature. I don’t have proper cycling gloves and thought I could get away w/o them this ride. I also don’t have shoe covers, but I’ve experienced the toe-freezing before. The hand-freezing was a new and wild experience. By the time I turned off the trail and back onto the roads to hit the hills back home, both my hands were numb and were less responsive than normal. I sat up as often as I could while spinning through the hills and tried to tuck a hand away out of the wind-flow…there wasn’t really anywhere to go though. I also would repeatedly open/close them to drive some blood-flow their direction, and basically to make sure I could still move them. Of course, I was on roads again and with the daylight fading had to be more alert to traffic and making sure I kept visible.
I struggled with these conditions until I got about 3 miles from home, then everything warmed up a bit. I’m not sure if it was the increasing nervousness driving my HR up, being in a more urban environment, or just a slight weather change that caused me to warm up. Either way, it was a relief and one less thing to worry about. Now I just had to make sure I could be seen by the increasing traffic in the last couple miles.
All told, the ride was 40.55miles in 2:15:00 (~18mph avg). I mapped it on mapmyride and it gave ~1130 feet of ascent/descent. Overall, I loved my first real ride on the tri-bike…this just steps up my anticipation for the race season to the next level…and my anticipation for some warmer weather…please
I took off from my house a little before 5, hoping to get 2h15mins of easy riding in before dark. The plan was to head through Indian Hill (the rich neighborhood) and straight to the Little Miami bike trail. It’s basically a straight shot down one road that winds a bit and has 2 decent climbs over 6 miles. Since I was breaking in the tri-bike, I wanted to bypass the hills as quickly as possible and get to the trail, which is flat and smooth and has no car traffic. With it still being chilly, the bike/runner traffic was limited as well. It would be a perfect place to get comfortable with my position while actually having to steer the bike. The high for the day was a sunny 50 degrees, but it was in the mid 40’s for most of the ride.
I made it all of a ½ mile before I had to stop the first time. My CPU wasn’t reading properly, so I had to readjust my sensors…no big deal. After adjusting, I exited the neighborhood and hit the real roads, the ones with traffic. This was a little nerve-wrecking at first since my handling was definitely not as solid as on my road bike. I was riding the base bar, but with my aero positioning, my seat has my weight shifted higher, making the bike more twitchy. I kept my gearing on the low end of the big ring and just sat and spun my way through the hills as easily as possible. I finally made the long descent down Galbraith to the bike trail. My back was a little sore, I’m guessing from not being used to riding the base bar for that long. It took about 20 minutes to get to the trail. After standing and stretching out a bit, it was time for the “real” ride to begin.
I got down in my aero-tuck easily enough, but wasn’t really getting into a rhythm. There are a decent amount of roads crossing the trail through here, so I had to stop and go a lot…continuously sitting and crouching. Since this was a somewhat long ride, I started to focus in on nutrition once on the path…alternating between water and the Infinit 70.3 mix I created, at regular intervals. I had also brought a fruit bar, but ended up opting not to use it in the end. Finally, once I got past downtown Loveland at about 10 miles into the ride, everything started clicking. I was feeling comfortable, getting good, smooth leg turnover, and the pace picked up with it. I cruised along until I hit the turnaround point and then repeated the process on my way back to Loveland. I’d say for that 18-20 mile stretch I was probably around a 21mph average and didn’t feel like I was pushing at all. It was a great feeling to be slicing through the air so effectively. I rode a similar route on my road bike in similar conditions last week, and was about 2mph slower through this stretch with what seemed like a little more effort then. Of course, that’s all very non-scientific estimations, but I can safely conclude I was able to ride faster, easier.
The return was going great until I got past Loveland. The last 10 miles were a little scary at times, and very cold throughout. By that point, the sun had gone out of direct sight, and I felt like I was in a race with the oncoming dusk. Unfortunately, dusk had a few tricks up its sleeve, like turning down the temperature. I don’t have proper cycling gloves and thought I could get away w/o them this ride. I also don’t have shoe covers, but I’ve experienced the toe-freezing before. The hand-freezing was a new and wild experience. By the time I turned off the trail and back onto the roads to hit the hills back home, both my hands were numb and were less responsive than normal. I sat up as often as I could while spinning through the hills and tried to tuck a hand away out of the wind-flow…there wasn’t really anywhere to go though. I also would repeatedly open/close them to drive some blood-flow their direction, and basically to make sure I could still move them. Of course, I was on roads again and with the daylight fading had to be more alert to traffic and making sure I kept visible.
I struggled with these conditions until I got about 3 miles from home, then everything warmed up a bit. I’m not sure if it was the increasing nervousness driving my HR up, being in a more urban environment, or just a slight weather change that caused me to warm up. Either way, it was a relief and one less thing to worry about. Now I just had to make sure I could be seen by the increasing traffic in the last couple miles.
All told, the ride was 40.55miles in 2:15:00 (~18mph avg). I mapped it on mapmyride and it gave ~1130 feet of ascent/descent. Overall, I loved my first real ride on the tri-bike…this just steps up my anticipation for the race season to the next level…and my anticipation for some warmer weather…please
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Quick observation
I was at the pool today doing a quick swim. It was cold outside, so I wasn't exactly warm when I got ready for my swim (yes, my pool is indoors I just hadn't warmed up yet). Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic about jumping into the water. I finally built up the courage to take the plunge...it wasn't that terrible. I always imagine it being worse than it ends up being.
But here's the kicker. The pool today had 2 distinct temperature zones, comfortable cold and freezing cold. There was a patch of freezing cold water about 10m wide almost right in the center of my lane. It was a shock to the system every lap...I just don't understand how there can be such a temperature difference throughout a pool that small...it's all one body of water. The water gods were playing tricks on me. That is all you get for now. Thanks for listening.
But here's the kicker. The pool today had 2 distinct temperature zones, comfortable cold and freezing cold. There was a patch of freezing cold water about 10m wide almost right in the center of my lane. It was a shock to the system every lap...I just don't understand how there can be such a temperature difference throughout a pool that small...it's all one body of water. The water gods were playing tricks on me. That is all you get for now. Thanks for listening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)