28 September 2010

27/28 SEP 2010 workouts

Today's entry is brought to you by the letters R, P, E, and by the number 10.

Dual entry for the early week workouts. Monday's, a brief interval workout. Tuesday's, a 60' EM with a 45' T.

Workout 1 (Monday):
Warmup: 10' easy spin
Workout: 5 x 30" RPE 10 intervals with 2'30" recovery
Cooldown: 5' easy spin
Workout 2 (Tuesday):
Warmup: 5' easy spin
Workout: 45' Tempo spin (HR 143-159)
Cooldown: 10' easy spin

Workout time has been harder and harder to come by mostly due to the overtime I've been picking up at work, which mostly consist of working medical stations at the U of A football games. Regardless of that, I have still been able to crank out good Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday workouts for the most part. This week's Monday was a full-out RPE 10 interval set, but shorter than I really wanted (I intend to repeat this interval Thursday and crank out a full 12 interval sets). Today was an RPE 6-7 Tempo workout for 45' with an easy spin warmup/cooldown. Both of them went very well.

Early wakeup tomorrow for work to do a 30' recovery spin.

Sleep: 9/10 (good sleep. Finally starting to dream again, which I think means my sleep cycle may be getting back to normal.)
Fatigue: 0/10 (not fatigued)
Stress: 0/10 (no stress)
Soreness: 1/10 (slight quad soreness from yesterday's intervals)

23 September 2010

23 SEP 2010 workout

Today's workout was a 46' simulated race, using RealRide's Race Day Indoor Training Cycling DVD, featuring Robbie Ventura.

Warmup: 10' spin-up, gearing from RPE 2, up to a 10 for 30 seconds, then down to a 4 for 3'.
Workout: 33' simulated race, variable RPE from 4 to 10. AVG HR 149.
Cooldown: 3' RPE 1–2 spin.

Well. For someone else who has raced in crits before, they probably won't find this as cool as I do. This dvd is an actual, recorded race, where Pro road racer Robbie Ventura had cameras on his bike, and other places around the course, and the main part of the training is the US National Criterium Championships, I think from 2006. I didn't finish the whole race (I'm not nearly in that good of shape yet), but I did do about half of it. I'll review the disc in a day or so, but for now know that it's a freaking butt-kicker of a workout. I mean, it's a full-on race, for crying out loud.

No workout tomorrow, on shift.

Sleep: 6/10 (shift yesterday was not bad but we only got two brief bouts of sleep, one 2h 30' and the second about 2'.
Fatigue: 5/10 (due to the lack of sleep)
Stress: 1/10 (very little stress)
Soreness: 3/10 (back is still sore from last weekend, but is improving)

"Race Day" ... the DVD

Recently, I ordered myself a copy of a DVD entitled "realRides presents Race Day with Robbie Ventura" ... it's a race-day DVD of a crit race Mr. Ventura did, presumably in 2006 or 2007 (the video is ©2007), and apparently uses bike-mounted cameras during a real, live, honest-to-goodness national-level criterium race with real pros and everything.

Which, of course, is why I bought it. Not that I have any illusions that I can race with these guys, not by a long shot (yet), but that it gives a sense of how they race, how the race plays out, and gives me something to shoot for as well.

I will pop this badboy in the DVD player later today, and run a workout with it, and I'll let you know how it goes.

21 September 2010

21 SEP 2010 workout

Today's workout was an interval workout I found in Bicycle magazine.

Warmup: 10' easy spin
Workout: 30" all-out (RPE 10, Zone 5) spin against resistance with 2' 30" easy spin between intervals (RBI), seven sets (21' total)
Cooldown: 5' easy spin

Interval workouts are going to be the new mainstay of the workouts I'm going to do, and today's was a pretty brutal one. Warmup, then go at absolutely maximum effort for thirty seconds ... and relax for two and a half minutes, then do it again. Seven times. I tell you what, I was absolutely busting those intervals out. I could have done one, maybe two more, but as Coach Friel says, always leave a little bit behind when you're training. They were really good intervals though.

Tomorrow: getting up early to do about a 30' easy recovery spin before I go on shift.

Additionally, today I started getting serious about the food I eat. Yes, I had a jack-in-the-box burger for lunch, but I also went to the store and bought veggies (quite a lot of them, actually), whole-wheat bread (which I eat anyway), lean meat and fat-free cheese for sammys, healthful soups, lean-meat and bean based chili (Eating Right brand), and fresh fruits. Yesterday I had cooked up a batch of oatmeal (Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal) and saved them for breakfasts (along with some now thawed frozen blueberries) and a batch of short-grain brown rice to use as a carb base for take-to-work lunches/dinners. I've packed tomorrow's lunch already: two small sammys (I found these really cool sandwich rounds, whole wheat, 100 calories, and slapped a slice of ff cheese and turkey breast on them, with Smart Balance spread and mustard), a serving of the Eating Right turkey chili with beans, to which I added brown rice and snap peas (for early afternoon dinner), and a serving of organic lentil soup (for supper). Breakfast is also set aside: oatmeal with blueberries, a bowl of Kashi Honey Toasted Oat cereal with light soy milk, and another cup of soy milk to drink. Add a dose of Fish Oil capsules with each meal, and a banana for a snack, and I think tomorrow may be the most healthful day of eating I've ever had in my life.

Sleep: 8/10 (woke up briefly a couple of times during the night)
Fatigue: 0/10 (no fatigue)
Stress: 0/10 (no stress)
Soreness: 4/10 (lower back is pretty sore from an overuse situation from Friday, which is why I didn't do my scheduled run this week).

Forgot to test resting HR this morning. Will make sure to get it tomorrow morning.

20 September 2010

It's been a while ...

I apologize for the delay, but it's been a bit busy lately and finding time to hit the blog has been tough. In addition to my normal shifts, I've picked up overtime shifts working on a medical crew for the University of Arizona Football games, and those are long, exhausting (but really awesome!) shifts that end in the wee morning hours of Sunday.

In any event, I have been basically getting in relatively short spins (60'–75' EM spins) just to keep my head in the game, as well as a couple of 2.25 mile jog/walks. Oh, and add in the five hours of work at the game, constantly walking (and, in one case, sprinting up the ramps and stairs from section 6 to section 204 for a reported cardiac arrest [wasn't really]), and carrying a 30# pack for half of that time. Good times :D

As I'm sure anyone following my blog has noticed, I'm constantly learning and adjusting my exercise/weight loss habits & goals based on what I learn. Just the other day (Saturday, in fact), I got a couple of new books that I'm reading (I shall review them in a new blog entry soon), and have yet again made changes to how I'm going to approach my cycling.

The first of these books is Ride Your Way Lean, by Selene Yeager. It's heavy on the intervals as a weight-loss tool, something I was already familiar with from previous bouts (usually on treadmills, though). I'm still reading through this book, and will get you a review as soon as I can.










The second is Endurance Sports Nutrition, by Suzanne Girard Eberle. It's not as much a weight-loss book as an all-the-time fueling guide for endurance athletes, which is my ultimate goal (to be able to compete in my age group in road and mountain bike events, eventually making my way to at least Cat 3, pref. Cat 2, in road cycling and Cat 1 in Mountain biking).

In any event, the intervals seem to make more sense for what I want to accomplish right now, and so my workout will be changing again. Later today I have a low-volume high-action spin scheduled, and will let you know how that goes, in addition to a walk/jog tomorrow morning and another spin in the afternoon.

13 September 2010

Catch-up workout entry

Several workouts to cover.

First, from 11 SEP 2010: 60' EM on stationary trainer.

Warmup: 5' spin
Workout: 50' 00" EM spin
Cooldown: 5' 00" spin.
Estimated Total Calories: 800
Came home from shift and did a 60' EM spin on the stationary trainer. Basically just a keeping-the-flow-going workout, since I had another overtime shift later that day at the football game, and didn't want to wear myself out before that shift.

Second, from 13 SEP 2010 (rest day on 12 SEP): 45' EM on stationary trainer in the morning, with a 50' EM on stationary trainer in the afternoon.

Warmup: 5' spin
Workout: 35' 00" EM spin
Cooldown: 5' 00" spin.
Warmup2: 5' spin
Workout2: 40' 00" EM spin
Cooldown2: 5' 00" spin
Estimated Total Calories: 1265
Woke up in the morning, fueled/hydrated, and then did a 45' EM spin with avg HR ~130. Recovery during the day, then an additional 50' EM spin with avg HR ~132 in the afternoon.

Tomorrow will be a two-workout day as well; with a 2–2.25 mile run in the morning and a 75' EM with 45' Tempo spin in the afternoon.

Sleep: 9/10 (slept quite well)
Fatigue: 0/10 (no fatigue)
Stress: 0/10 (no stress)
Soreness: 0/10 (not sore)

Resting HR: 68

09 September 2010

09 SEP 2010 spin

90' EM spin on indoor trainer.

Warmup: 10' easy spin
Workout: 70' EM spin (estimated 950 Cal.)
Cooldown: 10' spin.
Estimated Total Calories: 1200
Did a 90' EM spin instead of the "scheduled" 180' EM spin mostly because I did some calculating, and my increase in exercise hours from two weeks ago, through last week to this was quite high, more than 100% from the week ending 28 AUG to the next week, and another 75% on top of that for this week. Now, I know that fitness experts recommend no more than a 10% improvement from week to week, in any given area, and that people who are in the first few weeks can usually afford a slightly bigger increase from week to week but that's along the lines of 30%, not 75-100%. SO .... I'm cutting back a touch. I'm going to keep the two long EM workouts at 2h but make other ones 90' for now, then next week creep that up a little bit more.

No workout tomorrow, on shift.

Sleep: 6/10 (pretty good sleep for being on shift)
Fatigue: 2/10 (slight fatigue; didn't sleep all night !)
Stress: 0/10 (no stress)
Soreness: 0/10 (not sore)

Resting HR: At work, unable to check.

07 September 2010

07 SEP 2010 spin

A 150' EM spin on indoor trainer, split into two workouts due to miserable night of sleep.

Warmup: 10' easy spin
Workout: 1h 35' 00" endurance spin (estimated 1396 Cal.)
Cooldown: 5' 00" easy spin.
Warmup: 3' easy spin
Workout: 45' 00" endurance spin (estimated 598 Cal.)
Cooldown: 5' 00" easy spin.
Estimated Total Calories: 1994
Had a 150' EM spin on trainer planned, but spent the whole night tossing, turning, and generally unable to fall asleep. Split the spin up into two parts as above. Actually was a pretty nice spin overall.

No workout tomorrow (shift). Thursday's workout scheduled as a 3h EM spin, though I may cut that back to 90'–2h if this sleeping stuff persists (could be overtraining syndrome?).

Sleep: 2/10 (couldn't get to sleep, and when I did I woke up frequently)
Fatigue: 5/10 (mostly due to sleep issues, I think)
Stress: 1/10 (just the sleeping thing)
Soreness: 0/10 (not sore)

Resting HR: 63

05 September 2010

05 SEP 2010 workout



120' Endurance ride (note: ride totals include warm-up and cool-down; this is exactly what the book The Time Crunched Cyclist says to do so I do it that way).

Warmup: 10' spin
Workout: 1h 40' 00" spin (estimated 1700 Cal.) @ EM HR (125-140)
Cooldown: 10' 00" spin.
Estimated Total Calories: 2200
Did a 120' spin of EM this morning. This was the first true endurance spin (or ride) I've done in many years, so I was a little apprehensive about it, but I owned it. This is also the first ride with my new Bellwether Axiom biking shorts. They absolutely rule, I will be reviewing them in a blog later today. Also tried my new Bontrager biking gloves, I will review them separately. Overall, had no problems keeping my HR in the right zone, and the spin itself was otherwise unremarkable.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Tuesday, a 150' spin in EM.

Sleep: 9/10 (slept very well. Woke up once, went right back to sleep)
Fatigue: 0/10 (no fatigue)
Stress: 3/10 (slightly stressed about the length of today's ride!)
Soreness: 0/10 (not sore)

Resting HR: 67

02 September 2010

02 SEP 10 workout


Endurance gear-up for TCTP outlined in earlier blog. 90' EnduranceMiles (EM) spin with 40' of Tempo.

Warmup: 10' 00" of easy spin
Workout: 40' 00" of Tempo (T) spinning (HR 143-147)
followed by 30' 00" of upper-end EM (HR 125-140) (estimated 1331 Cal.)
Cooldown: 10' 00" spin.
Estimated Total Calories: 1700
Day two of this EM workout. Had no problems getting into a good HR, staying there is a little bit tricky but as I get more adapted I think it will be easier to keep within the ranges. Going tomorrow to buy a new pair of cycling shorts, hopefully they will help with some of the groin pressure that has been coming up during the spins.

Shift tomorrow, no workout.

Sleep: 7/10 (had a couple of late calls, but still managed to get some good sleep)
Fatigue: 2/10 (very little fatigue, mostly from the sleep issue)
Stress: 0/10 (no stress)
Soreness: 0/10 (not sore)

Resting HR: at work, unable to check