Performance

Whitney and I discussed the ability to barrel through the wind and still achieve a certain time and speed plan for the event.

Help from groups of riders with similar skill level can be harnessed in attempts to carry-out the plan. A brief respite helps to recover and gives one the ability to carry-on at higher levels of activity.

This can only be done unencumbered! If the group you're using to propel further is at a higher level then maintain contact in whatever way you must with a mash or higher spin RPM. 

This may seem haphazard, but these lessons have been learned and repeated! 

Get out there and carry-out your plan for further enjoyment!

End of Year Briefs

Month Totals:
Dec: Bike 180.7 Hours 12:30.32
Nov: Bike 349.3 Hours 22:55.18 Cross Training=Yoga 45min Walking 5.5 miles 5:05 Hours
Oct: Bike 362.3 Hours 23:00.56
Sep: Bike 125.47Hours 8:05.29
Aug: Bike 508.8 Hours 36:30.55
July:Bike 541.6 Hours 35:24.11 Cross Training=Yoga Zip Running=2 miles 40 min Walking 9 miles 3 Hrs Swim 200 meters 30 min
June:Bike 583.33Hours 44:59 Cross Training=Yoga 1:00 Walking=.25 miles
May: Bike 495.1 Hours 90:24 Cross Training=Move 4:00 Running=3 miles 36min
Walking 1.25 miles 25min
April:Bike345.2 Hours 78:08 Cross Training=Yoga Zip
March:Bike315.46 Hours18:22 Cross Training=Yoga 2:00
Feb: Bike 82.5 Hours 6:11 Cross Training=Yoga Zip
Jan: Bike 411.63 Time 28:39.58 Cross Training=Yoga 2:50
Year:Bike 4299.23 Time410:34.12Cross Training=Yoga 10:35 running=5 miles 1:16min Walking 16 miles 8:55min

Broken PRs - "Can Youuu Dig It?"

Multiple PRs broken today! Woo hoo, let's see if I can remember 'em all. First to the railroad tracks by division south of town PR by 3 minutes in 31. Then PR by 5 minutes to San Jose in 42. Then I got to Espada or 17 miles by 58 PR by two minutes I think. Made it to the 21 spot by 1:15 or 1:16. Took some salt at 30 then turned around at the Valero on 181. Back at the Missions I hit 50 in 2:55 and then hit 52 in 3:00. Finished 64.5 in 3:48 Nice! Final average including cooldown 16.9. Maximum average out to San Jose 18.6 Dainnngguh. Average to 17 or Espada 18.3. All this with a bit of a strained calf from Thursday nights speed fest.

So Where the Heck Am I

Well, I'm further than I was during February! I knew I hadn't ridden a whole lot during February because of church, family and school obligations, but dainguh! Ok here I am in the second week of March and I've already ridden twice as much as I did in Feb! Hilarious how life just has its own way of reorganizing what we've planned. For March right now I'm at 176+ and my total for Feb. was 82.5.

Jan/Feb Totals: Bike 493.13 Miles in 34:50.58 Cross-Training Yoga 2:50

You're probably asking what's up with the Yoga. Well Yoga is good for the core and I needed help with that aspect of my training. My back had been giving me problems since before Christmas when I tweaked it moving decorations. Immediately after starting this Yoga program, in other words, three days my back was better. Oddly enough I had no trouble putting miles in on the bike. The stress on my back from the bike was different and not a problem.

I finally went with a computerized/online log! I'm using Active Trainer from the Active Network where one can sign up for races and events it's also endorsed by Cool Running http://www.coolrunning.com. Sorry, but I'm cheap! Hey I teach for a living so I try to give myself a break whenever I can. With the help of Active Trainer, see the link in the title of this article, I have been able to plan and track my workouts including cross training.

Very nice, but then I'm not coming from any other program except about twenty years ago I knew the guy who invented The Athlete's Diary, it was called, from http://www.stevenscreek.com (a guy that was one of the first members of the DRS see the link below and a friend - Steve Patt), but back then my computing capability was crap so I've been using hard copies. {Ok, I just have to give Steve some props - He has made it big and congratulations he has taken a little spreadsheet program from the 80s to the best computing tool for handhelds in the industry here in the 21st Century. His program is used by the likes of George Hincapie and Frankie Andreu since the late 90s and this is it "I knew Steve Patt when!" he was just running the trails around Stephen's Creek!}. One of these days I'm going to buy everything he sells for my iPhone or Palm. I just need to upgrade my phone first! Amazing athletic calculators and race timing software. No longer a program that fits on a computer in your Volkswagen Combi, but an app on your iPhone or palm and for less than a hundred bucks! Please!

This past year I spent quite a bit of time tracking my workouts on a few sites: FitDay http://www.fitday.com/ (great diet help with the food log to help you become aware of all the crap we ingest); The President's Challenge http://thepresidentschallenge.org/ (great source of motivation - I got the Gold by the time October came around and the president's sig on a certificate); and besides my blogs I used an application in Facebook called Fit-Ify http://www.facebook.com/ (Can you say top-ten world-wide from all the users on FB amazing motivation). Some records were still kept in some other form of storage because of limitations of the programs used.

So I had been reading up on tri-drs (Dead Runners Society - Triathlon) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Runners_Society since it is Spring Break and there is TIME! Well, it got me thinking about my totals, plus if my friend Kathy Morgan comes to my site to read I wanted to have something for her to read.

Personal Best, Season Best

Was my personal best related to stress or new goals posted by my counterpart? I believe a little of both. Charmichael training systems says do more in less time. Higher intensity makes up for time in the saddle when life gets in the way.

Today, stuff at home and at school kept me away from rehearsals at church, but at the same time forced me out the door on the machine. The work out was a reverse ladder in the big crank at 2-3 level and then to 3-4 level. I realized that I was actually doing this same workout longer than needed in the past. It pays to read your training manual more carefully.

Temps were in the upper 70s and lower 80s. I treat this route like a TT and today it payed off when I persevered up the hills in Bell Meade. Max average was 16.1 and final average was right there at 16.

The pay off was almost three minutes less on the route! Maybe it all had to do with the fact that the Spurs http://www.nba.com/spurs were playing their second game in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Spurs won Go Spurs Go!

Quartely Goal & Being Behind

So here I am at least four weeks behind and yet I've reached one thousand miles with less than consistent effort on mileage. Scheduling is always a challenge, but motivation is hard when life gets in the way.

I've read alot about sleep/rest being part of training. In an effort to stay true to training concepts I have taken Wednesday off as well. Hour/Mileage goals are going to be difficult to reach with one less day during the week since I already take Monday and Friday off. Clydesdales require further rest because of size/body shape. I learned this the hard way with my running, that I have now set aside.

One other conclusion I've made is to set aside my mountain biking because of a propensity for injury. Perhaps this would not be as prevalent if I had the latest technology on my MTB.

8 Weeks Behind, But Now Back On Track

The title says it all! I am still behind, but Hell Week according to Carmichael training put me four weeks closer because of the big mileage done.

I may reach my quarterly goal with 1000 miles.

I need more hills! I'm trying to do hills (molehills) close to my neighborhood everytime I go out.

I started doing speedwork again, very limited, fartlek only, but then time was an issue. A start is a start! According to my log I still need seven more weeks of training before getting serious.

The weight is not melting off, but it is rearranging shapewise. My clothes are already fitting better.

I have decided to take an extra day off during the week for the beneffit of rest in response to training. With all the long miles on the weekend I believe this is necessary!

If you're looking for an interesting read Mr. Langley in the link above he's a regular in RBR which is also a good read.