Fleshbroiler's Cycling Blog

Fall Update.

2011-11-14T07:59:00.012-05:00

Back again after a long lapse in writing. No time off from the workouts though and here is the latest.

Saturday I met Jim at the club for a short one. I spent just under 25 minutes on the Concept 2, doing a bit over 5k (24 minutes) then a couple of sets of easy squats @225 just to wake up the legs. Sunday I hit Viv's Sunday morning kettlebell workout. I was anxious to test myself because I've only done 2 short kb workouts in the past 3 weeks with only a 16kg bell, because I relocated to San Juan, PR 3 weeks ago and my schedule is a bit chaotic.

Yup. Quit my job at PBS/PBBI/PB MapInfo/MapInfo to go work for Thaddeus.

[another lapse]

Back again. Having a quiet moment here in the office at the end of a day. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Dennis closed the office at 1. It's now 5.

I've been here a month and I still have very mixed feelings. Professionally I am convinced this is a great move. Personally, it feels like a term of service. Like I volunteered for a deployment. I know I don't have to be here, part of me wants to and part of me does not. Perhaps more accurately, at times I really want to be here and other times I can't wait to leave.

So a synopsis of the past month.

1 week prior to departure, mounting anticipation, tension, anxiety.
Departure day; anticipation, separation anxiety
1st week. Wow. Work was good. Evenings got progressively worse, pretty depressed. Couldn't wait to book my flight home for the planned 3 week visit
Moved in with Thaddeus and Stephanie.
Week 2 was better. Felt a bit awkward about a bunch of things. Really feeling negative about the city.
Week 3 better yet, but reactions still cycling from "ok with this" to "this blows." Flew home at the end of week 3, back to work on Tuesday.
Week 4, work settling into a routine. Work is good, hours are too long but what else would I be doing? Sitting around the apartment on the computer wishing I was doing something I enjoyed?

The riding is ok, but I always feel stressed before and largely during, especially the first and last 9+ miles. Not really comfortable doing my kettlebell thing in the garage. I have a large internal debate raging over whether to get my own place or stay where I am, and whether to get a car or not.

More later...

2011-06-24T07:32:00.002-04:00

Tuesday: Bike ride from home, out and back in 1:02 and change. Averaged 17.9 and good power 60m NP 202 watts.

Wednesday: BodyPump was good.
Squat track: 25kg, felt like a could have gone heavier.
Chest track: 25kg, felt good until the last set then battled.
Back/glutes/hams: 25 kg, tough track. CnP reps didn't have the row to break things up.
Tricep track:17kg, very, very hard.
Bicep track:15kg, hard.
Lunge track:Hard but improving
Shoulder track: Ouch. Push ups on the bar. Overheads were hard by now.(20kg)
Ab track: meh, tired by now
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday
Kettlebells then spin.

5 x 30 2H swings with a 24kg bell, 30 second rest interval.

Using 16kg doubles, 3 rounds of:
5 clean and press
25 2H swings
5 clean and press
5 front squats
25 2H swings
5 snatch
5 clean and press

again with doubles...
6/7/8/9/10 thrusters

2 rounds walk (20kg overhead)/kb burpees

2011-06-20T21:06:00.003-04:00

Saturday: Car shopping, bought a new Mazda 3 5 door.

Sunday: Bike ride from home. 18.4 mile out and back. Averaged 18.3 out, 17.8 in. Good power.

Monday: Good kettlebell class.
30 minute spin warm up.
400m run
4 x 1 minute 2H swings (20kg)/1 minute rest.

15 sec 2H swings/15 sec recovery: 32kg
15 sec 2H swing-goblet squat: 20kg

4 sets:
3x 3 double swings, 3 cleans, 3 front squats [2 16kg]
15 2H swings [32kg]

Thursday: Dean's kettlebell class.
2H swings
TGUs
20 minute WOD.
12 deadlifts [40kg]
9 cleans [24kg]
6 push press [20kg]

Wednesday BodyPump. Good. No premature poopout.

Monday: ? Hard kettlebell class.

2011-06-12T22:07:00.003-04:00

Friday: 34 miler with Jim. Weather turned perfect, almost no wind. Went south over Picard to 85 and went part way up the hill towards Thatcher. Had some nice power. 20 minute peak NP was around 250. Averaged 16+.

Saturday: Rained all day, slacked.

Sunday: Met Jim at the campus for a short ride. It looked like rain so we decided to skip a road trip. Jim popped another rear drive side spoke at ~6.5 miles which ended his day. I had been feeling like shit but kept going and eventually a bit better. Treated this like a recovery ride.

Watching game 6 of the NBA finals. Miami shooting like shit, especially from the foul line.

2011-06-09T21:00:00.002-04:00

So far no riding this week. We've had some ferocious thunderstorms that got in the way Tuesday and Wednesday. Saw a pic Shye posted of the team just before the start of the ride Sunday and I'm not happy with way my middle is looking. I have to get my overeating under control.

Monday's kettlebell class was really good, but I cant remember what we did. I was running late so I missed my spin warm up.

Wednesday BodyPump was good as well, except I faded hard during the shoulder and ab tracks. This after going light for squats (22kg), chest (22kg) and triceps (16kg). I went up for the B/G/H track to 30kg and while it was really hard I got all the way through. What I found the most alarming was the ammonia stink I was rocking. Maybe I just didn't have a sufficient carbo-payload, which also explains crapping out. Next week I'll make sure I boost the carb intake Wednesday morning.

Tonight's kettlebell class was hard as hell. Viv was away and Dean ran class. We started with 5 minutes of alternating 25 swings with 5 windmills on each side. Used a 20kg bell for this. The windmill was new and I had had some range of motion issues initially but as I warmed up I also found some hip flexibility. I like this move a lot.

Next we did 20 reps of TGUs (16kg). Fantastic! I hope we do this more.

Then, 15 minutes of...
3 one hand swings,
3 high pulls,
3 snatches,
3 overhead squats (similar corkscrew/hip stretch as the windmill)
farmer's walk with hands turned out, ouch. As in this is farging hard. Used 16kg throughout

and finishing with 5 minutes of...
3 swings/6 thrusters. died here. Started with double 16kgs, went down to 1, just didn't have the ass to get in all the squats.

That was fun

2011-06-06T22:34:00.002-04:00

2011 Tour de Cure done and dusted. Here are a few notes and highlights.

This is a first rate event, very well organized. The course was well marked and a lot of fun to ride. Lots of hills, but none too steep or too long. The organizers had 5 feedzones set out and they were well stocked with water and food. It was really nice to find fresh fruit and clif bars.

The 50 mile route is actually 48.9 miles and has roughly 1000 ft of climbing. The team got separated at the start (my fault) and I made it worse by pushing the tempo to about mile 4 thinking the others were in front of Jim and I. 3 team members, John B and 2 xfitters caught us on the 1st real climb where I slowed way down, and John decided to hang with us. The 3 of us drove a paceline for the balance of the ride. This worked fairly well except for climbs which broke my rhythm. I did experience some pain in the hamstrings at the base of the glute, made this a bit better by stretching when I got off the bike at the stops.

The numbers. Actual moving time was 3:01:31.44, minus the time I spent rolling from the finish line to check in area. This gave us an average speed of 16.4 mph. Average power was a meager sounding 156 watts, 197 normalized. The PT cpu was displaying 176 avg for the ride, which sounds a lot better. 20 minute peak was 189w, 215w normalized.

Good kettlebell workout tonight. Alternated 2 minutes swinging/2 minute jumping rope as warm ups.

5 to 1 ladder of cleans, presses, push-press, push-jerk, right and left.

Then doubles.

5 cleans, 4 each, press, push-press, push-jerk. Rest.
4 rounds.

Finished with 15 seconds snatching alt with 15 seconds rest.
Used the 20kg bell for this last one.

Tour de Cure weekend

2011-06-04T21:49:00.004-04:00

I'm sitting here winding down after a de-load/recovery week feeling pretty good, ready to get back to work. Tomorrow, 5 (at least) of us from the Court Club are riding the Tour de Cure in Saratoga. It should be a relaxing 50 miles as I don't think there's any plan to try and hammer through it, although I'd be up for that. I've got nearly 500 miles in my legs this spring and I think my power number are promising. Jim and I did an easy 10 laps at the campus in stiff winds this afternoon and my 20 minute peak (NP) was a bit over 200 watts and I really only pushed for 3 miles and not all that hard.

We capped off our prep this past Monday, having ridden 4 straight days over the Memorial Day holiday, ending with a 42 miler that included some roads I'd never even driven on, and some real shitty blacktop too.

I included two strength workouts this week, BodyPump on Wednesday and Thursday night kettlebells. I throttled back in both workouts. Dropping weight during BP in the squat,chest,back and tricep tracks. During my kb workout I used the 20kg bell for 2 hand swings instead of the 24, and did most one-hand overhead work with the 16kg bell, jumping up to a 20 only for the last 2 ladders of C&Ps.

My biggest goal for tomorrow is to finish with gas left in the tank and hope my ass doesn't hurt too badly. Also, since I've been experiencing a lot of muscle tension and discomfort in my lower quads just above the knee, I want to try and get my feet out in front of my knees a bit more. I moved my saddle back about 1/4 inch and I may move my cleats forward a bit.

If the group decides to drill it for a while, I'll try and maintain close to 200 watts. I expect we're going to just cruise but who knows. Of the 5, I've only been out on the road with Jim and Shye, and the other two apparently do triathlons.

Am planning on shooting some gopro video so I should have pics to post.

2011-05-26T21:30:00.002-04:00

Gritty kettlebell class tonight.

After a warm up lap, we did a ladder of 5/10/15/20/25/20/15/10/5
swings (16kg & 24kg) alternating w/ 5 burpees.

4x 1 min 5 1H swing/snatch, 1 min rest. 20kg.

Double 16kg: 5x;
5 swing,
5 high pull,
5 snatch,
5 seesaw press,
5 front squat.

Farmer's walk w/ 24kg & 20kg.

Goblet squat w/20kg.
15 seconds in ATG position 15 seconds off x8 rounds.

2011-05-23T23:15:00.003-04:00

Friday's weather made the day a bust.

Saturday: 35 mile ride with Jim.

Sunday: 42 miles with Jim and Shye.

Monday: Legs hurting, 45 minute easy spin.
Hard kettlebell class.

200m run, 2 sets ball slams/burpees
2 hand swings. 10/10/15/20/25 with 24kg

Practice rack position with tension, L and R multiple sets.

3 rounds of
25x 2 H swings
clean and press 5L/5R
25x 2 H swings
clean and front squat 5L/5R
25x 2 H swings
snatch
25x 2 H swings

mostly w/ a 20kg bell. Did 1st round swings with 24kg bell.

Tuesday: 20 miler at the campus. Beautiful but windy. Lots of talkative new faces.

Wednesday: Great BodyPump class.
Squat: 25kg, felt ok,probably could've gone heavier.
Chest: 25kg, felt ok, had more left in the tank than the past 3 weeks.
Back/Glutes/Hams:30kg, struggled, hands could barely hold on.
Triceps:20kg, not as good as last 3 weeks, couldn't finish all reps.
Biceps:15kg, struggled, but finished.
Lunges:15kg, not bad
Shoulders:20kg, yikes
Abs:----

2011-05-19T22:09:00.002-04:00

Wednesday's BodyPump session felt pretty good after taking Tuesday entirely off. I might have gone to yoga had I not been at work until 6.

I went back to 45kg for the squat track and although it was challenging, I got in all the reps and didn't suffer too badly.
Also used 45kg for the chest track and although I did get through it with all reps, the suffering was great.
Stuck with 45 kg for the back/glute/ham track and got through it ok. We were doing the version w/ 2 push presses after the clean and press and I don't think I could've handled more weight.
I used 20kg again for the tricep track and it isn't getting any easier. We did the ultra-challenging bicep track and I started with 15kg, I went down to 12kg at one of the breaks.
No options for the shoulder track, for lunges I used the same 12kg setup I finished biceps with. No options for the ab track.

Thursday kettlebells.
Started with a lap then a set of 300 swings. Got them all in 1 set with a 16kg bell. Used the same bell until we got into clean & press. Next we did a bunch of tabata rounds;
1 arm swings-10 rep goal for 20 seconds,
exchanges-10 rep goal for 20 seconds,
2H swings-12 rep goal for 20 seconds.

Clean and press 1- 5 - 1 R & L (20kg),
Clean and front squat 1 - 5 - 1 R&L (20kg).

Farmers walk - 2 bells (1 lap)
Waiters hold 1 bell (1 lap) (20kg)

Goblet squats, 15 seconds on/off.

40 minutes of spinning.

2011-05-16T22:08:00.002-04:00

Freaking rain! It's been raining (mostly on) and off since Saturday night and it's supposed to keep right on until next Saturday. I managed to get in a short spin at the campus Saturday afternoon but it wasn't fun. The wind was strong and it rained on and off. I would rather ride in the rain than deal with high winds. After calling it quits I went over to the club and did some clean and presses. 5 ladders of 4 to 1 rungs R and L with my 20 kg bell.

I took yesterday entirely off to rest my legs.

Got a late start out of the office and so did not start spinning until almost 5:20. Maintained an easy spin until 6, then headed off to kettlebell class.

Warm up:
12 tabata rounds of 2H swings with a 53# bell.
4 tabata rounds of goblet squats. - 53#
8 tabata rounds of clean and front squat (4R/4L) -53#
6 tabata rounds of reverse lunges (3R/3L) 1st 4 w/53#, then 20kg.

finished with 2 rounds of farmers walks/2H swings with partners.

Feels like spring.

2011-05-09T23:19:00.002-04:00

Beautiful day today, I wish I could have spent it outdoors. Got about 9 hours of sleep last night and that felt damn good. My legs still felt like lead all day. Started my spin around 5:15 and kept it very relaxed. Was a bit surprised that my ass didn't ache from the last few days of riding. Quit at 6 and headed to kettlebell class.

Warm up was 1 lap run, 1 backwards. 5 double clean and front squat, 5 double snatch, 5 double clean and press.

1st workout was 15/12/9/6/3 2 hand swings, R & L snatch, goblet squat.

missing something here...

Finished off with 2 rounds of farmer's walk and kb burpees. Used 16kgs and did the overhead carry. 2nd trip around was much harder and I only made it about 1/4 of the way around before dropping to a regular carry.

My chain has been looking pretty nasty and I picked up a new Park chain cleaner over the weekend. Spent some time tonight before bed cleaning up my gummy drivetrain, now the chain, cogs and rings are all shiny and smell like citrus.

5 weeks until the TdC

2011-04-30T10:57:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I signed up to ride the Tour de Cure in Saratoga with a few members of The Court Club (my gym). My brother Jim is riding on the team, having just bought a new road bike. We've decided to do the 50 mile route which I find preferable to a century this early in the season.

I'm not doing much today as Iain's confirmation is scheduled for 1:30. I just made a pot of coffee and am getting caught up here, which is easier than doing any of the real chores I had thought I might get to this morning. Sandy and I are taking Bri, Iain, his sponsor George and George's wife to an early dinner after the Mass and if I'm home early enough and not too stuffed I may head over to the campus for a quick spin.

This week was pretty tough as far as training goes. I packed in 4 strength workouts but minimal cardio, not exactly optimal for my short and long term goals, besides, it kind of hurt. In retrospect I did not need the extra kettlebell workout last Saturday as we hit the upper body hard on Monday. I was still feeling it on Wednesday at BodyPump and during Thursday's kettlebell workout as well.

I had to skip yoga on Tuesday as I had to travel for work, probably just as well too. So that brings us to Friday, which is turning into ride day with Jim. Although the weather had been forecast to include some sun what I mostly experienced was wind and rain. Nice and sunny out right now, probably because I can't go out and ride...

Anyway we got in a nice enough, if not plodding 25 miles and some hilly terrain (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/82367472)

I still see encouraging power numbers but I'll wait until I get a ride with a low VI to make any more quotations.

2011-04-25T21:41:00.004-04:00

Up until recently I've been fortunate not to have the calluses give way from cleans/snatches/etc. Saturday's workout with a competition-style bell ended that through a combination of moist skin, too little chalk and the very smooth finish on the painted horn.

Tonight's workout didn't help matters very much. I had a shorter warm up than is usual for a Monday as I got to the club late. I still managed about 45 minutes of spinning before heading into the kb workout.

Kb warm up was 40 2 handed swings, then 50 one handed swings, exchanging on every swing, then 50 one handed swings with 1 exchange swing in between.

Then on to the killer.

5 double cleans: 15 sec rest,
4 double overhead press: 15 second rest,
4 double push press: 15 second rest,
4 double jerk-push press: 15 second rest,
10 snatches.

repeat, add 2 snatches.
until we get to 20. (6 sets).

Learned a valuable tidbit when swinging 1 handed: if your low back starts to hurt (and mine was) you're dropping the bell too low. Concentrate on back instead of down. Thanks Viv!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T11:38:00.004-04:00

Thursday: Hell's Bells, no spin. 2 hand swings, 5/10/15/20/25/30/ and back down, on the minute. 1st 3 sets w/35#, balance w/ 53#. Alt 25 swings (53#) w/ cardio. 5 x 5 1 arm swing, snatch, front squat.

Friday: 25 mile ride w/ Jim (1:41). Up Lainhart in 7:14.

Yesterday: Extra kettlebell workout at the club. 5 x 1 minute swings w/ 35# & 53# bells for a warm up. 5 x 5 to 1 clean and press R & L using a 35# bell. 5 x 5 to 1 snatch and front squat, R & L.

30 minute spin on an indoor cycle.

Today (Easter). Not a durn thing...and on the seventh day I rested. And it was good. Attending the triduum and Easter Mass just wore me out. Thought about going for a ride, napped instead.

2011-04-18T21:00:00.002-04:00

When I got up yesterday for Palm Sunday services I had already decided to skip yoga and so some extra kettlebell work with my new 20kg cannonball. I did not foresee having to put in 4 hours counting donations this weekend due to not seeing the new schedule. So no workout on Sunday.

While I'm trying to write this I'm watching UAlbany vs UMBC lacrosse. The Danes have not had a good season after a great start.

Spent an hour spinning for a warm up. Really felt tired this afternoon, but felt energized leaving the gym. I don't think I'll ever be able to stay for an entire class Jamie leads. She really has no clue what to do on a bike.

Kettlebell warm up was 3 rounds of 10 ball slams/air squats.

Long workout next was 5 rounds of:
5x 1 arm swing R,
5x clean & press R,
5x front squat R,
5x snatch R,
5 goblet squats,
5x 1 arm swing L,
5x clean & press L,
5x front squat L,
5x snatch L
5 goblet squats

Yeah.

A few rounds holding 2 bells racked tensing legs,glutes & back.
10 swings/10 breaths, 10 swings/9 breaths

Spring training is on

2011-04-16T17:57:00.003-04:00

Felt fairly tired this morning and am still wheezing a little bit from sucking cold air on yesterday's ride. I was so damn happy to get a Starbuck's in my hand and sit down to breakfast in the local diner.

As promised, the weather absolutely sucks today so I went to the gym to get a recovery ride in. I barely managed to simply sit in the saddle on not fall over for a few minutes but eventually warmed up and did some real work without overdoing. Finished with about an hour of mostly easy spinning with a few easy out-of-the-saddle efforts. Jim showed up as I was finishing on the spin bike, and I followed that up with 25 minutes on the rower, 21 hard and 4 easy, 4k/4.5k.

Nothing left for the weight room.

short climbing route by fleshbroiler at Garmin Connect - Details

2011-04-15T20:25:00.001-04:00

Sunny, windy and chilly day today but the next 6 are supposed to be gray, rainy and dismal so it had to suffice. I stopped by Jim's place to drag him along and we headed out to Guilderland to find a good staging point. We parked at the Capital Care offices on the corner of Carman Rd and Old State Rd and headed out.

In short, lots of wind. I forgot how much cold air tears my lungs up. I was slow as hell today (15.1 avg speed over 21.2 miles) and my power was on the low side (sort of) 161 watts avg, 200 NP. 817 kj expended. Shit I better lose weight...

Jim was great, really strong. He sprinted off for about a mile and if he hadn't backed off I wouldn't have seen him again. The hills were ass-kickers, I hope Jim enjoyed them.

I called Saris about the dead HR channel and its most likely the strap. Certainly was not working today which is too bad because I'm curious what the pump was turning to get up to the top of Old State.

Now its 10:30 pm and I can't stop thinking about breakfast tomorrow.

Untitled by fleshbroiler at Garmin Connect - Details

2011-04-15T09:54:00.002-04:00

I have not been back out on the road since Saturday because I am a weenie. There, got that out of the way. Too windy, too cold, too dark. Uggh. Today the sun is shining and it may get to 60 so I better make it happen today. The next 6 days are supposed to be miserably cold and rainy.

And now, the week in review.

Tuesday yoga was hot as hell, really good workout.

Wednesday morning BodyPump was also really good, in fact, it was over before I was ready for it to be over. Found the ab track a little weak which is weird because it was primarily planks, and I like those. Did face down on the elbows, up to one side, back to center and the other side. Finished with crunches.

I only used 25kg for the squat track and this one had a ton of singles with very few bottom half reps. Barely finished and my back was hurting by the end. Used the same weight for the chest track and 30 kg for the back/glutes/ham track. Anyway, all around it was a good workout.

Thursday: Kettlebells followed by spinning.

Warm up was 4 rounds 25 swings (53#) then 200 yd run, then on the workout.

[1] Ladder from 5 to 10, clean and squat R/L (35#), 15 swings between rungs (53#).

[2] Ladder from 5 to 10, clean and press R/L (35#), 15 swings between rungs (53#).

Tried some bottoms up. 35# R, 25# L.

[3] 15 seconds work, 15 seconds rest of snatches (35#) for 8 minutes.

Then spin, felt ok, not super strong or super spent.

2011-04-11T21:42:00.002-04:00

Felt pretty cooked on Sunday and I skipped yoga class in favor of an easy recovery ride in the afternoon. The only problem is, the weather turned sour and I didn't get out. I did spend several quality hours in front of the 58 inch plasma playing Gran Turismo 5 and watched the entire Paris-Roubaix coverage.

Today I spent about an hour on the spinner as a warm up with a couple intervals to wake me up, and I needed that bad. Started the kb workout with 300 swings with as many as possible in a row. Every time you put the bell down you needed to do 5 burpees. I really despise those so I wanted to do as many as possible straight through. Using a 35# for the whole thing, I did 240 straight in the 1st set and the remaining 60 in a 2nd set so I only had to do 5 burpees. Go me.

It started raining so we dragged the bells inside to continue.

2nd workout was a ladder from 5 to 10 of clean and presses, right and left.

3rd was 5 rounds of 5 reps R/L swing,snatch,press squat.

Good workout, hard.

I ordered a 20kg bell on Saturday from AgainFaster.com, it'll be here tomorrow. Looking forward to doing high pulls and snatches with that baby.

2011-04-09T22:59:00.002-04:00

It finally got warm enough for me to haul my sissy ass out for a bike ride. My short out and back route is now permanently .2 miles shorter thanks to the local grocery kingpin. The town gratuitously kissed his ass and re-routed traffic to make life easier for the guys that drive the hordes of tyson chicken-hauling tractor trailers into his warehouse, but I digress.

I reckon all my landmarks are 40 seconds closer now. I hit the turnaround at about 30 minutes which is still pretty quick. I lost some time on the inbound leg and I'll blame it on some headwind. The whole ride was a hurtfest but worth it. Interesting note. The saddle and crankarms felt weird as hell after spinning a damn 70lb fixed flywheel for the last 5 months.

I dumped my ride data as soon as I got in the door and it made me pretty happy. 186 watts average for the ride, 207 watts NP. 20 minute average was 199w, 212 NP. For some reason I have no HR channel, I'll have to look over the setup instructions.

Went over to the gym afterward for a little recovery and weights. Did ~25 minutes on a rower and then some dips and squats with Jim.

2011-04-07T23:59:00.002-04:00

Tuesday night's yoga class was a blast. We spent a lot of time with weight on the arms and getting up and down. Built up a lot of heat!

Typical to history, I got about 5.5 hours of sleep for Wednesday morning and it took a lot to get out of bed for BodyPump. I stuck with my usual warm up weight. For the squat track I went up to 30kg in plates and I would up cheating on some reps. I also went up for the chest track to 25kg which was very tough. The back/glute/ham track was a challenge at this weight as well. Overall the session was hard and it felt good to work hard and be sore all day.

Got 8 hrs of sleep last night and only felt a little tired by the end of the workday. Ran late and got only 5 minutes of warm up before kettlebell class.

Kb warm up was run a lap, side stepovers for lap, which I skipped, so I did jumping jacks. Finished with 2 laps of farmer's walk with a partner. Shared the carry with Art (2x53#)

1st set was 6 rounds of 50 swings/50 rope skips. Used a 53# bell but only got started on round 5 before we moved on.

2nd set was a partner workout, stayed paired with Art. Alternated between a double waiter's hold with 35s and 10 to 1 snatches, R&L. Felt strong throughout. Viv told me my snatches are looking good.

Last workout was 1 to 10 burpee-deadlifts. Ouch. The pushups beat me up. Last set was shitty.

Finished the night on the spin bike. Felt strong. Finished the work with 5 minutes out of the saddle at a good cadence.

The weather forecast is promising and I'm predicting some mileage in the next week.

and then there was rain...

2011-04-04T21:57:00.002-04:00

Still no decent riding weather, dammit. The 7 day forecast calls for nothing but lousy weather too.

Last week summary: Hard workouts, lousy recovery, so-so diet.
Took Friday off, yoga only on Tuesday. Weights and 75 minute spin on Saturday, yoga only on Sunday.

Tonight, 75 minute spin for a warm up, 5 minute out of the saddle effort. Felt pretty good, never felt like I was pushing hard enough.

Kettlebell class was good, very hard, but very good. Warm up was 3 sets of 100 swings, 30 second rest, 10 snatches R & L, then a 60 second rest. Was able to do the first 2 sets of swings all the way through, but rested twice during the last set. The snatches were easy.

Snatch workout;
1 minute of: 1H swing, snatch, exchange, 1H swing, snatch, exchange.
1 minute of snatch, exchange, snatch, exchange.
1 minute of 10 snatches, exchange, 10 snatches, exchange.
1 minute of: 1H swing, snatch, exchange, 1H swing, snatch, exchange.

Viv introduced us to power swings. 1 rep with a heavy bell. Start with the bell on the floor, hike into position and snap the hips into place. Kill the downswing and place the bell back on the floor. Start again from here, or let go and stand up first. Powerswings for 1 minute then switch with your partner. Hold two bells overhead for 1 minute.

Finished with 8 tabata rounds of goblet squats.

Shye wants to put together a team to ride the Tour de Cure. I've kind of wanted to do that for a while, so I'm looking forward to that. Shye also asked about cyclocross. Doing some 'cross races this fall sounds cool. Better lose the rest of this ballast first.

Rant alert

2011-03-29T00:16:00.003-04:00

A Rant from the perspective of a road cyclist trying to train in a fitness center spin class taught by non-cyclists...

I've been spinning in the gym since October and every night I spin (in class) I have to; grit my teeth, roll my eyes, shake my head, make bad faces and eventually curse into my sodden sweat towel, at the inane bullshit pushed by the "spin instructors." Ok, they are very pleasant women, but for flaming-fuck's-sake, they aint cyclists.

So, I will direct my comments to you the surrogate instructors.

First, start each class with a proper warm up and cool down. A warm up does not consist of 2 minutes of pedal-flailing followed by some upper body stretching. News Flash. It's a spin session. We're about to use our legs, back and cardio-pulmonary system. Upper bodies should be relaxed and quiet. Are you taking notes?

You might consider opening with a statement of the workout's structure, content and purpose. Think long and hard on this.

Let's talk about nomenclature for second. Use of an arbitrary 1 to 10 scale for perceived resistance is useless as is a notion of a "percentage of your max" to describe cadence. Cadence is a precise measurement of pedal revolutions. Learn to count and multiply. Teach this, it's important. Honest. While we're on the subject of cadence, we don't need to spend too much time below 60 rpms. Don't know why? Maybe you should do some reading. Before we move on, take a look around the room. Notice the guys whose knees are flaring out like he's riding a clown bike and the other guy whose upper body movements look like Stevie Wonder at the keyboard? Yeah, those are problems and you need to go help them out.

Now, I've noticed that every work set is based on the notion that we're going to climb a hill and we're going to recover "on the flats" and for some reason we're going to add a ton of resistance until cadence drops into the basement and get out of the saddle as often as possible.

So, if you would go out for a road ride on a two-wheeled bicycle you'd be pleased to find that some flat roads hurt like hell and some climbs are almost pleasant if you "spin" a comfortable gear. Bear in mind, you can climb like this and still get a dynamite workout and you'll find you have plenty more matches to burn later in the ride. Notice that "S" word I just used? Sounds amazingly like what these classes are supposed to include.

This last point may seem trivial or perhaps petty, but this is my blog so, too bad. You seem to like to give out long motivational whoops, like "Wow! We are having some bitchin' fun here now!" I've got news for you. If you have enough wind to whoop like that, you're not working hard enough.

In summation people, spin the cranks like you're a damn sewing machine. Learn what 90 rpms feels like. Add enough resistance so you suck wind. If you can speak more than your name, add more. Hold that effort until its time to cool down. Use out-of-the-saddle work to break the monotony, it doesn't help the workout.

Now maybe I can sleep.

2011-03-28T22:09:00.003-04:00

You hear many fitness experts go on about the importance of rest and recovery. I know this well, but seldom apply this like I ought to. In my last post I mentioned how much I was looking forward to Sunday's yoga class...

Heh. As soon as my eyes opened yesterday I knew the likelihood of actually getting there was pretty low. Basically, I wanted to get the grocery shopping trip out of the way, get some breakfast and take a nap. Mission accomplished, yikes. And holy crap was my appetite fired up. Call me Galactus. Google it if you're not a Marvel fan.

I was a bit concerned about today's work out given the quantity of hummus I ate yesterday, but thankfully things quieted down before getting on the spin bike. For the second week in a row, some skinny wench beat me to my favorite bike. I'll have to try and get there by 4:45. Rode from around 5:10 until 6:00 and pushed pretty hard.

K'Bell class was a blast as usual. Warm up was alternating ball slams (15) and air squats. If you've never done ball slams, you're missing out on a real treat. As a cyclist, the term sounds like and unfriendly union of crotch and top tube, but in reality the pain is all (well, mostly) upper body.

Started off the real fun with 5 rounds of 2H swings alternating with kb burpees. Used 55# bells for this.

Then we did more snatching. 10R/10L, but alternating L/R every rep, which was nice. In between we did swings, 20 to 50 in jumps of 10. Used a 35# bell.

Finished up with tabata rounds (8) of goblet squats. Stuck with a 35# bell.

Found out another kettlebeller (Mark) is a new roadie. Between he and Josh, maybe I'll be able to recruit some new training partners.

Be gone Winter!

2011-03-26T22:48:00.003-04:00

Dear Winter, It's been a lot of fun now enough is enough. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

Call me a wuss but I just can't get excited about riding when it's below 50 degrees. So although the sun was out today I still am riding indoors.

I did a few sets of dips, push ups, standing military presses, curls and sit ups. I was a little bummed with my overhead lifts. I only got one rep @135 and the bar was slow going up.

Next I got on the spin bike for 70 minutes. I did 2 intervals of out-of-the saddle spinning @~70-75rpm, 1 for 3 minutes, 1 for 5 minutes and it felt pretty good. Jim joined me for the last 25 minutes but wanted to do a bit more, so while he used the elliptical I tried out the rower. That felt pretty damn good. Did 4km in 20 minutes.

Looking forward to yoga class tomorrow.

Holy Crap, that hurts.

2011-03-24T22:00:00.002-04:00

Monday's kettlebell class was fairly taxing and I decided not to do any additional work after yoga class. Tuesday's class was really good, but not terribly taxing.

BodyPump went well on Wednesday and while certain things are always very challenging, at the end I didn't feel as wrung out as I was in the beginning. I have to remember to bring something to take notes on the weights I'm using. The new bicep track is really hard and I was really sweating through it. I seem to think I used 22kg on the bar (10kg+1kg plates), but I'm not sure and there's no way I could have handled more. The lunge track is always a disaster so I guess I should do more of those.

Hell's Bells.

Managed a good 15 minutes of spinning before kb class. We did warm ups outside. The program for the men was swing/run/squat. I only ran once (2 laps) and on the 2 repeats I stuck with jumping jacks. Swings were 25/25/10 with a 53# bell.

Another long snatch workout tonight and I made it harder than it had to be. Was supposed to do 10 to 1 ladders of L/R snatches with double overhead hold while the partner snatched. I didn't catch the ladder part, so I just did sets of 10 until discovered my ignorance, about 8 rungs later.

Finished up with alternating swings and front squats; 25 swings/set, 2 sets russian, 2 american (only). Then off to spin class.

This has been going something like this; I need maybe 10 minutes of easy spinning to recover from kb class then I can ratchet up the effort. By the time I'm working really hard I'm ready to punch the leader for whooping and not knowing how to structure intervals and doing other stupid shit.

Since I moved the saddle back a bit, my left knee has been feeling better. Can't wait for this cold weather to GTF out so I can ride outdoors.

2011-03-21T21:32:00.002-04:00

I took last Friday off because I was dog tired.

Saturday I started off with some dips, push ups, curls and standing military presses. Did 60 minutes on the spin bike with a few intervals.

Sunday I just did the 1030 yoga class.

Today:
45 minutes on the bike and pushed pretty hard.
Kettlebell class warm up was 2 sets of 25 swings w/ 35/44/53 # bells. 15 second rest between sets.

The big workout was 5R/5L snatches w/ 2 arm swing, starting at 4. Ladder went up and down to 20 swings by 2.
5R/5L, 4 swings;
5R/5L, 6 swings;
etc.

Finished w/ 2 farmer's walks, alternating with (1) goblet squats w/ 35# and (2) high planks. Used 70# bells for the 1st one, 53# for the 2nd.

2011-03-17T21:20:00.002-04:00

Tuesday: Good yoga class.

Wednesday: Good bodypump class.

Thursday: 15 minute spin before kb class.

Hell's Bells:
Went outside for a bit. Told Viv I was staying away from running for a while. Warm up was alternating jumping jacks and air squats instead of the run + farmer's walk around the parking lot w/ 53# bells. Oh yeah, I got to wear a 30lb weight vest for this.

Next we did 2 rounds of 2 arm swings and 2 rounds of goblet squats, 60 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Used a 53# for the swings and a 45# for the squats.

Next we did 10 to 1 ladders of R/L clean/squat/2 hand swing. I did this with a 45# bell.

Finally, we went back inside to do snatches. Worked with a partner on this one and used 35# bells for this. 1 half did 10 to 1 ladders of L/R snatches, the other half held 2 bells overhead for the duration. Lost traction on my bell twice, almost took out Ryan the second time. Way to be alert and keep happy feet Dude!

Finally

2011-03-14T22:10:00.002-04:00

Last Friday: Lots of upper body work. Standing military press, dips, pushups, tricep extensions and curls, followed by 45 minutes on the spin bike.

Saturday: Some follow-up upper body work, pullups, more curls, pushups. Then squats. Brought in the cambered bar (thanks JR). Some warm up sets then 10 x 155, 2 x 8 x 245, ? x 315. Legs felt good, even the left side. The ligaments on the inside and outside have felt a bit sore now and then. Not sure what sets it off.

Sunday: Rest.

Monday: 40 minute spin as a warm up to kb class.

Hell's Bells.
Warm up: Was supposed to be a run/farmer's walk outside around the parking lot. I skipped the run and went right to the FW, 2 laps w/ 53#.

2 x 5 kb burpees.

Tabata rounds:

8 x 2 arm swings w/ 53#.
4 russian twisters/4 bell juggle w/ 35#
8 thrusters, 4L/4R w/ 35#
8 reverse lunge, 4L/4R w/ 35#

5.5 minutes (mostly) non-stop russian/american swings

I've been following the reports coming out of Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. Horrible. Threat of multiple core meltdown events at Fukushima Daiichi.

2011-03-10T22:04:00.002-05:00

Pretty busy week so far. Tuesday's yoga class was really good and I worked up a great sweat. I didn't have any extra time so I went home right after class.

Wednesday I dragged myself out of bed early and made it to BodyPump. I'm really happy with how I'm progressing with the shoulder, tricep and ab tracks, but I'm still really weak on lunges.

Tonight I felt really tired before heading to the gym. Spent an easy 20 minutes on a bike before kettlebells. Viv took the night off and Jason ran the show.

Warm up was 30-20-10-20-30 swings and air squats with 1 minute rest.

Reviewed the press, worked 1 to 5 to 1 L/R clean and press.

Held double bells racked and worked double press.

Did 21 rounds (tabata) of 4 snatch, 3 rack, 2 thruster L/R IN 20 seconds 10 second rest.

4 rounds of 10 goblet squat, 10 burpee, 10 squat-jumps. This sucked. A lot.

Some stretching.

Last 45 minutes of spin class.

2011-03-07T20:39:00.002-05:00

55 minute warm up on the spin bike. Had to wait a few minutes for the on ramp group to finish up.

4 sets of 1 minute swings, 2 with a 35# bell and 2 with a 53#.

10 - 1 ladder of swing movements against the wall, w/ no bell, w/ bell against the chest.

5 x 5 kb burpees and farmers walk. 1st 2 w/ 53# bells, last 3 with 35# bells.

Ouch.

2011-03-03T22:16:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night I warmed up for yoga with a short spin. Had a very good session with a lot of heat. Finished that off with some assisted pullups and lat pulldowns.

I skipped Wednesday morning BodyPump to take Sanzo to the vet.

Only had time for about 5 minutes on the bike before the kb class.

Kb class was plenty challenging.

2 handed swings, 5 sets of 30 swings with a 30 sec rest.

2 x 5 kb burpees + farmer's walk/overhead hold.

8 sets x 20 sec goblet squats then 10 seconds of rest.

8 sets (4 R/4 L) 20 sec. thrusters then 10 sec rest.

5 x 1 min. american/russian swings, 1 min rest.

Tough workout but I didn't feel horrible. The last 2 sets of swings were rough on the forearms.

Finished the night off with the last 45 minutes of spin class.

2011-02-28T22:04:00.002-05:00

Started off with upper body work in the weight room, assisted dips & curls. A few weeks ago I had to use a stack of 100 lbs or more, now I'm finishing with 40.

I have a better kettlebell workout when I go in really warm, so I spent close to an hour on the spin bike before heading in.

WO:
Started off kb class with swings, ball slams and jumping jacks each for a minute.

W/ a partner, alt 2 bell farmer's walk/overhead hold. 2 reps.

1 to 4 reps L/R clean & press with pullup. 2 ladders.
Used a 45lb for 2nd set. Felt really good except I cant do more than one damn pull up. Yet.

Finished up with 1 min sets of, 2 hand swings, 1 hand R/L, American, goblet squats, 2 hand swings.

Nommed a protein bar (1/2) during my warm up spin. I think it helps.

2011-02-27T18:02:00.002-05:00

Short, easy workout day today. 25 minute run on the treadmill after church then the 10:30 yoga class. Did just over 2 miles (2.1 - 2.2?). Between yesterday and today the thighs are pretty sore. Yoga was pretty easy today, no real leg work and minimal shoulder work.

2011-02-26T22:11:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday's edition of Hell's Bells went pretty well. Spent 20 minutes on the spin bike before class and got in a minute late. Warm up was a short run around the parking lot, then swings starting every minute. 5/10/15/20/25/30/35/40/35/30/25/20/15/10/5. Sets 6-10 were pretty tough. More swings, 5 sets of russian/american. Then thrusters from 1 to 10 on each side. Finally, 2 long farmer's walk w/ 2 bells, alternating with overhead hold.

Took yesterday off, in honor of a foot of fresh snow,but hit it good today.

Warmed up with a 45 minute run on the treadmill (3.25 mi.). Felt remarkably good although really slow. The left knee felt a little wonky for a while but not bad. Followed that with 5 sets of swings, 2 sets of TGUs, the 2 rungs of clean and presses.

Finished on the spin bike for 30. Started getting nasty cramps in the calves.

2011-02-21T21:25:00.002-05:00

Tonight's kettlebell workout was challenging but not as hard as last Thursday.

Warm up, 3 sets of assisted dips, sit ups, presses, pushups
1 hour of easy spinning.

KB:
1 min swing, 1 min rest.

1 min russian/american swing, 1 min rest while everybody else did snatches;

30 sec waiter hold, alt left/right;

alt 1 min rope jump, 1 min swing;

3 x 5 k'bell burpees and farmer's walk;

Where'd my lung go?

2011-02-17T20:48:00.002-05:00

Pleasant little change of pace tonight with the kettlebells. We didn't do any pressing, only swinging. I only had about 10 minutes to spin before class started, so I wasn't very well warmed up. Warm up alternating ball slams and air squats, that is to say, do air squats for as long as your partner is slamming his ball. I got paired up with a younger (and larger) dude, and a 30 lb medicine ball. The ball slam sets went 5/10/15/20. The last set sucked and I'm pretty sure I shredded a lung except there was no bloody froth.

The rest of the night was a wind-sucking blur, but I'm pretty sure we did:

a ladder of 2 arm swings (5/10/15/20/25/30) alternating with 6 goblet squats, performing a front kick after the squat, so 3 left/3 right;

a ladder of 1 to 10 reps, 2 arm, 1 arm swing, 1 arm high pull (each side);

6 x 1 minute sets of alternating russian and american swings.

This was easily the hardest workout I've had in this class yet. I even took an extra 5 minutes to chill out before hitting the spin class. I think I tanked out of energy so maybe its time to fuel up better before these tougher nights. At least I'm not hurting now, 3 hours later.

More kettlebell stuff

2011-02-14T22:01:00.002-05:00

Good workout tonight.

Did some easy spinning for 45 minutes with a few out of the saddle medium-hard efforts.

Warm up was alternating swings and goblet squats.
swings: 30/25/20/10/5
squats: 6/7/8/9/10

Reviewed/practiced the TGU in much detail.
10 minutes of alternating russian/american swings and rest.
2 x 5 k'bell burpees w/ pushup with 53# bells.
strongman walk

Kettlebell == Pain

2011-02-10T21:11:00.002-05:00

Kettlebell class #3.

A bit different approach to our warm up tonight. We paired off, one member of each pair taking a bell, the other a jump rope. We alternated jumping and swinging for 1 minute for at least 10 minutes, then substituted goblet squats for swings and planks for rope jumping. I suck at jumping rope, always have. The "warm up" lasted for half the class. For the last 30 minutes, I did ladders of 5/4/3/2/1 (clean and press), then clean/press/squat, then clean and lunge.

After the workout I hit the last 45 minutes of spin class, which was hard.

Early start

2011-02-07T20:37:00.002-05:00

I make no secret that I have never made friends with my trainer. Although I managed a couple of months of good sessions in the early winter of 2009, I couldn't keep it up after roughing up my taint.

When I lost decent riding hours to daylight savings I had to something given my expanding girth.

Enter the Gym.

Spinning classes are offered at the Court Club and I figured, what the fuck, it cant be worse than any of the alternatives. Besides, it was a good opportunity to hang with my brother. Skip ahead to today, and, spinning classes suck quite a bit actually. I'll get back to that later, right now I want to talk about stuff I like.

I am becoming a big fan of strength training, but more than just trying to push big(ger) weights. One of the benefits of the gym membership is access to the many diverse fitness classes they offer. One of these is BodyPump. I can do without the canned techno crap, but non-stop large muscle activation with moderate weight is an ass-kicker.

I've also gotten quickly hooked on yoga. If you already practice yoga you're thinking, "yep, I'll bet." I scoffed for years at it thinking it was just a way to do stretching.

Although I've got a lot of new stuff going on, I'm going to mention kettlebell training last, and use this as log for what we go over in class. I can do two classes each week and the instructor runs everybody through basic stuff during the 1st half, then teaches more complicated technique in the 2nd.

Class 1:
warm up: J jacks, air squats,
2 arm swings, 1 min on/1 min recovery x 5 sets.
2 arm swings, alt russian/american 1 min on/1 min recovery x 5 sets
clean and press, 1 rung x 5 reps.

Class 2:
warm up: j jacks, air squats, knee ups, heel ups, planks
2 arm swings, 1 min on/1 min recovery x 5 sets.
1 arm swings, 1 min on/1 min recovery x 5 sets.
2 arm swings, alt russian/american 1 min on/1 min recovery x 5 sets
learned the TGU.
k'bell burpees.
Worked with a 35# bell tonight. Shattered.

Its been a few weeks since I put the bike on the Kurt so I have no idea what my wattage looks like. I do know that I want to get down to 180 by August 1st and I'm doing 6 and 7 days a week in the gym.

Hey, where the hell did 2010 go?

2010-09-26T12:41:00.003-04:00

2010 highlights.

Gained weight, up around 225 right now but I've been too discouraged to really look at it much.

Haven't felt really good except when on the bike.

Tore my left meniscus back in April at an epee tournament and I'll have surgery in November.

Haven't ridden too much this year, always tired or busy or lazy.

Broke the Trek doing sprints. Bought a sweet full carbon Scott CR 1 Elite. Took an XO2 'cross frame/fork as a replacement. Project bike, but too broke to complete it for now.

We put in an in-ground pool this year and it is sweeeeeet.

So it looks like I wont be under 200 lbs for my 50th, and that disappoints me because I want it and I really thought I'd be there. The snacking really gets me and I haven't been able to keep it under control. I'm going to have to keep setting some realistic goals and try to find ways to stay motivated.

On the good side, I finished a 25 miler yesterday in really windy conditions in 90 minutes, averaging 17mph and my 20 minute peak normalized power has been around 206 watts. That's a good enough indicator that the cardio system is responding.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T22:54:00.002-05:00

I didn't intend to take such a long break from here, but I'll try to get caught up. Feeling back to normal for a few weeks now, just a bit heavier. After finishing up month 4 at around 209 (avg), I gained steadily for the next 4 weeks. I thought I had stabilized around 215, but wait for an update in a week or so. I have gotten into the habit of reaching for the snacks after work, and eating a bit heavy at lunch. Couple that with less cardio volume and its no surprise the scale is starting to groan.

I need to get back on the bike, but haven't yet. What I am doing is running and lifting. So, looking for a weight training "plan", I bought the ebook, "5/3/1" from EliteFTS and am following that to the letter at least for now. Hoping to strengthen the core and legs, and deflab the chest between now and spring. I'm running (now) 4 days a week and boosting the mileage slowly and incorporating some "speed" work. Although I originally planned to do 2 to 3 days a week on the bike concurrently, that part hasn't come together yet.

I'd like to run a few 5k events next year, particularly some off road events and maybe a 15k. I may go as far as to plan for the Hudson River Half Marathon in October, although I'd have to feel really good about the distance and time to make that commitment.

I don't expect that the distance/speed measurement capabilities of the treadmills I've been using are terribly accurate, but going by them, I have a 5k time around 35 minutes at a pace of ~11:20. I'd like to finish a road race under 30 minutes. Longer term I'd like to get my 5k pace down around 9 min/mile. I guess what I'd like even more is to not have my feet and joints break down under the strain ; ).

Minor setback

2009-11-17T12:06:00.002-05:00

Long story short, haven't felt really good in about 2 weeks. Took 10 days off the bike due to aches, pains and fatigue. (Probably had a kidney stone) I got on the trainer Saturday, and for taking all that time off I felt good about averaging 181 watts over 20 miles. I'm still not over it yet though and I keep feeling fatigued and spacey, almost dizzy. Talked to my GP about it and he was unconcerned, attributing it to "what is going around." Missed a couple of nice days too as it was sunny, warm and without strong breezes. Oh well.

Got 3 reps benching 205 last week off 3 boards. That felt pretty good.

Winter Training Time

2009-11-02T08:53:00.002-05:00

I'm in week 16 with month 4 of this effort winding down and it will be time to reset goals and make some new ones. Although last week looked like my progress was stalled, it appears things may be looking up now. I just started keeping a log of everything I eat and I think by forcing myself to calculate calorie/carb/protein and fat consumption I may be able to improve my nutrition.

Saturday night's session on the trainer looked pretty decent. Not a record but good enough, 190 watts average for the entire ride. If I stay focused I may still be able to hit my goal of sub-200 lbs by my birthday.

Riding the KK has been going well enough that I should think about doing some structured workouts to improve power. Maybe 2 x 20s or PIs at least once or twice each week. I should also increase the ride volume a bit. 5 days may be stretching things so pushing the mileage out to 25 from 20.

More on that subject this Friday.

2009-10-25T12:22:00.002-04:00

I guess I'm going to have to redraw my weight loss plan as the curve is flattening out. I suppose I could up my calorie burn or reduce my calorie intake, but it seems easier to keep things constant and observe the results.

Week 15 ended at 212, about 4 lbs over the plan, but the average weight was down a pound from the previous week. My current average is 211, but I'm not seeing a low-end number close to the stated weekly goal. To help matters, Sandy decided to bake some molasses cookies yesterday and they're really good.

Last night I got my planned ride in, but it was way late (10:45) and I screwed my sleep schedule again. My ass is dragging royally today and I'll need a nap before tackling today's ride. The ride was just over an hour and averaged 194 watts over the entire workout, 196 watts NP at 19.0 mph. 60 minute peak power was 196 watts average/197 watts NP at 19.2 mph. If I find the recent speed increase to due to a worn rear tire (reduced tire diameter) I'll be really disappointed.

Got in a few sets of wide grip bench presses afterward.

2009-10-21T09:03:00.003-04:00

This week isn't exactly going according to plan. After riding Saturday I took Sunday off due to extreme fatigue and Monday was not much better. Last night I felt better, having gotten 8 hours of sleep but didn't ride until 10:30. That screwed my sleep schedule, but the ride was productive. 22+ miles, entire: 186w avg/188w NP, 60 min peak: 190w avg/192w NP @18.9 mph. That's pretty damn encouraging for me. Also got some lifting in at work and a few sets post-ride.

My weight is doing the mid week bloat thing which pisses me off. At this point its unlikely I'll see 208 this week (plan) and my weekly average is hovering around 212.

I keep thinking about a new bike, road: IF Ti Crown Jewel, mtn: hardtail 29er. It might be nice to have a mountain bike to do some off road stuff, maybe even some racing. Got a good look at Thaddeus' new bike lights. These things (DiNotte) are super high quality. The flashing red rear light nearly induced a seizure. When I hit the lottery I'll have to grab a set.

Made the mistake of reading a few posts in the cyclingnews forum. The LA haters are really obnoxious. I have to like Lance now for no other reason than there are so many douchebags that hate him for stated reasons that make no sense.

2009-10-16T23:13:00.002-04:00

Quite a busy week. Finished week 13 at 210.5 (.5lbs > plan) which was a minor miracle given the mid week bloat ; ). Serves me right for eating out 3 days in a row. Monday night I had a pretty decent ride while Thaddeus hung out. Tuesday we headed up to the peaks (long route ; ) ). Wednesday we hiked from Adk Loj to Avalanche Pass via Marcy Dam and back. Felt really good on the hike and even the steep sections were no problem, of course my legs are still hurting. Thursday I was back at work but didn't ride after fencing and tonight I ate dinner late enough I didn't feel like it.

Tomorrow I need to hit it good! Weighed in this morning at 210, which gives me a net loss of 25 lbs. If I can stay on track I'll be under 200 lbs for my birthday.

I'll shoot for 80 miles next week.

2009-10-11T23:12:00.002-04:00

Playing catch up tonight. Ended week 12 at my target of 212 lbs, but my average for the week was close to 213.4. Close enough to claim victory. Had the weekend off from running to XC meets but the siblings were all in town to put Dad's ashes to rest. Friday, Saturday and Sunday wound up as restaurant outings so I hope I haven't set myself back to badly. Yesterday's session on the KK was pretty damn good and I put up power numbers better than any previous ride on the trainer.

Entire workout (1:04+) was 192w avg/197w NP, 60m peak 195w avg/198w NP @18.3 mph. Finished just in time to get cleaned up and run out to Yip's. Had almost no time today to do anything for me, so here it is 11:30 and I don't feel like working out now.

Went out yesterday and bought some new shirts and a pair of pants. Slid into a 36 waist nice and easy. XL shirts are too baggy now.

New goals: Lose 8 lbs in 4 weeks, target weight 204.
Log > 80 miles/week.
I need to come up with a lift schedule that does 4 or 5 days/week.

2009-10-02T16:04:00.003-04:00

I don't feel like I got much accomplished this week. Work really sucked and it kind of drained my energy. I only rode Monday night after fencing and I'll ride tonight but my heart isn't really in it. Didn't hit the gym this week at all either.

On a more positive note, I ended week 11 at 215.5 lbs, just a pound over the plan, but my average weekly weight was 215 even, so that's consolation. Weighed in this morning at 213.5. 212 will be my lowest weight since 1996. '96 was the second year I got back in to cycling although it was mostly mountain biking. Saw both the GP and Cardiologist this week with nothing but good news and congratulations.

I let myself get very short of sleep one night which effected me for a couple of days, so I need to pay attention to that given this time of year when I feel more like hibernation. I'm planning on doing some hiking this weekend regardless of weather to break the routine. I'm thinking about trying to do some XC skiing this winter if we get enough snow locally.

2009-09-25T13:16:00.002-04:00

Not much outdoor riding this week. The weather was generally pretty good last Saturday and I should have gone out right away after getting home from the XC meet. Instead I pansied out because of the wind and rode indoors late. Sunday the weather was better and with strong incentive from a planned trip to the OG for the never-ending-pasta-bowl I went out at 2 and hammered right at my limit. The wind kicked my ass pretty soundly on the outbound part of the route so while I was marginally slower on that 25 miler, my power was pretty decent **. That morning before the ride I had egg whites and a 100 calorie english muffin. I expended 977kJ on the ride and spent 75% at >155bpm. Finished at 3:25 but didn't get food until maybe 5. Felt a little sick/tired at the table so maybe I should try refueling sooner.

The rest of the week I had to settle for indoor training. For the most part I just went for saddle time with energy expenditures from 600 - 700kJ with only short intervals to break the monotony. Tomorrow I'll be in Utica most of the day with Iain at another XC meet and don't expect do do more than a short KK session. Right now I'm just hoping that Sunday gives me good enough weather to hit the road for a bit.

Finished week 10 at 216 and an average weight for the week of 216 (new data). Food control was on par with last week with no late night snacking or bingeing.

Didn't get as much weight training in this week as last. Have felt really good physically but still get the occasional twinge that freaks me out a little bit. At the XC meet I walked the course and measured it with the garmin (~2.8 miles). It took about 50 minutes to get around the course with the other guys. During the 4 races I walked/ran around to different spots to get good photos. I've really enjoyed being out on a couple of these courses and it makes me want to go do some hiking in the high peaks. I'm thinking once I start ruinning again I might look at trail running. With the Plotterkill and Thatcher so close it could be a good alternative to pavement pounding.

Shifting focus to indoor training.

2009-09-18T08:54:00.003-04:00

Ok, summer isn't officially over until 9/21 but there is no denying that mornings are chilly, sundown is coming early and afternoons are rarely better than warm. I really love this time of year but it's only getting harder for me to get out on the road. Had a few days this week when I needed to cart Iain around to and from x-country practices so I had to settle for indoor riding. The upside is the transition has been more manageable for me. Rather than fight it I'm trying to embrace it. Since the space in the basement I've been using for the past 2 years doesn't get it done for me I decided to start reorganizing, which meant getting a new TV! Hah. Picked up a (sort of) cheap 26 inch LCD and a new DVD player and set them up alongside the power rack. After moving the KK and a fan I was right in business. I still need to clear out some clutter, hang the TV from the ceiling, run a 4 gang outlet, reroute the co-ax cable, put up a towel hook, hang an overhead bar and probably another couple of things to make things just right.

Having the space just a bit more comfy to watch a movie, have some better light and a bit more room has made things more bearable.

On the trainer I managed some solid interval work this week and I'm looking forward to getting out on some hills this weekend if the weather cooperates. I also got in some weight training at home after KK sessions and a bit at work in the afternoons.

Diet control was better this week than the week before and I ended the week (9) at 217. After resetting my goals at the end of week 8, I'm hoping to see a loss of 1.5 - 2 lbs per week although that may be too ambitious. If I can stay on track that would put me at 216 at the end of week 10. If I don't hit it that's ok too as long as the numbers trend down.

Month 2 done

2009-09-09T23:16:00.006-04:00

This was one of those weeks when I hated stepping on the scale every morning. After hitting 216.5 last Friday, I bounced up to 220, down to 219 then back up to 222. Finished out this 4 week block at 220.5 which is a bit of a disappointment as it only gives me a net loss for the month of 6.5 lbs, total of 15 lbs this summer.

I ate pretty well all week except for a couple of bad desserts, but still have not done any late night snacking or binging. I have to remind myself not to obsess over minor ups and downs and stay focused on long-term goals.

On the bike, I put up a few encouraging rides including hitting a goal I set in my last entry. Saturday's 60 min peak power was 201w avg/212w NP. Cool that the entire ride was 25.3 miles at 18.6 (197w avg/211w NP). Followed that up on Sunday with 30.3 miles at 18.2 (191w avg/208w NP), 60 min peak power was 195w avg/212w NP. As far as ride performance is concerned, I can only be pleased with how I've felt and the results I've seen.

One minor bummer, pranged my front wheel so it needed to be trued and Dave P. found a crack in the rim propagating out from a spoke hole. The Bontrager 20 spoke rim is uniquely paired to that hub so it's not going to be a cost effective replacement. After this season is over its going to get retired.

I'll have to come up with some new power goals and recap my existing ones. I'm setting a 4 week weight loss goal at 8 lbs again and try to keep my ride volume over 7 hours.

Bring me the power.

2009-09-04T11:42:00.003-04:00

Starting week 8 about 11 lbs lighter, I think. Went for a 90 minute ride yesterday afternoon and felt really good. The weather has been super all week, not too warm, not too cool, plenty of sunshine and breezes. Well, maybe stronger than a breeze at times. Just fantastic riding weather though. Had about two hours between the end of the ride before I had to open up the school. Fenced a lot last night and just got worn out so maybe this is all sweat loss this morning.

Power was pretty decent yesterday, 186w average for the entire ride. 20 minute peak and 60 minute peak were nice. Don't have WKO+ on this machine or I'd quote the numbers. Maybe I'll edit this post later and add the data. I'll add a quick word about the folks from Saris. I'm really happy with their customer service today. I bounced the PT CPU off the tile floor and fubar'd the 2 lower display lines. The regular cost of that unit is down to $99 from $350 and they'll give me $50 in trade on my original. If I had a wireless unit I'd upgrade to the new Joule 2.0, but I'm not interested in upgrading my PT yet. If I were, they will also give me a great trade in on my PT Pro. A new SL+ would only cost about $1,300.

Got a few workouts in this week of mostly squats, db presses, curls and pullups. Diet control has been good, although I did eat dessert a couple of times this week.

One of the highlights this week was a PR on my short out and back loop, finally completed in under an hour, (59:46) avg speed of 18.9 mph. So two new goals:

[1] complete at least the out and back or better at >= 19.0.
[2] complete any route with 60 min peak average power >= 200 watts.

Summer fading.

2009-08-27T14:57:00.008-04:00

The summer weather is definitely fading to fall. No sign of change in the leaves so far but the evening temperatures have been lower. The cooler temps make riding way more comfortable for me though. The first day of this "training week" my weight dropped to 221.5. I was up and down but finished this week, #6, at 221.5 this morning. This was also a good week for power with more routes finished at > 18mph, including Tuesday's 21.8 miler at 18.6. Monday's route included 2 nice climbs with average power for the entire ride of 192 watts/213w NP and 20 minute peak of 213w avg/238w NP. Last night I had a strong start but got hammered by wind which slowed me down but my average power was 186. All of my rides for the past week have showed IF values > 1.0, so I certainly need to re-estimate my FTP. I've been using an estimated value of 180 since June, but based on 7 day distribution charts its probably closer to 190. My 60 min peak NP has been consistently around 200 watts, so that's what I'm going with.

Food control still going well. Still not hitting the weights though.

My appointment with the cardiologist was rescheduled for 9/28 which gives me 4 full weeks to shed a few more pounds. I'd like to be 215 or less for that appointment. If I get sufficient warm weather into October or perhaps even November, I think I'll climb Thatcher to Wolf Hill and see how it goes. I'd like to try it as close to 200lbs as possible.

Vacation update

2009-08-20T22:38:00.002-04:00

Pretty quiet around here this week as Iain is attending The Running School in the Catskills. I started and ended the week at 225, but had been as low as 223.5 mid-week probably from some consecutive dehydrating rides. We've eaten out quite a bit but only last night's dinner was really rich. We did stop into the spumoni shop for gelato, better not do that very often.

It was a very good week for power output. Today I rode my medium out and back route (25.5 miles) in 1:25:11 (18.2mph) at average power of 182 watts, 202 watts NP. Yesterday I finished a 23.7 mile route with a few climbs at 17.3, average power 169 watts, 208 watts NP.

Got home from fencing tonight and Sandy had brought home a vanilla/peanut butter/chocolate sundae. Almost went for it but I decided to leave it for breakfast ; ).

Week 4 wrap up.

2009-08-15T23:31:00.003-04:00

Finished up the last 4 weeks with a weight of 227 giving me a net loss of 8.5lbs, 1.5lbs short of my goal. Not a problem for me though. I've avoided the late night snacking and binge eating demons and have been getting out to ride regularly and frequently. During week 1 I was putting out 160-170 watts avg for an hour. Tonight I averaged 173 watts over ~90minutes, 60 min peak was 178w/208w NP. Decent progress in a month.

So my new goal is another 8 lbs in 4 weeks. Day one I was down to 225 and this morning was down to 224.5. I'm going to try and keep my weekly mileage >120 and try to finish a short out and back with an average speed > 18.0. Best out and back time so far is 1:03:30.

Before the riding season ends I want to pick up one of these. I think it'd be cool to video some of my rides so I'll something interesting to watch when I'm on the trainer.

I've also been thinking about one of these. Don't really know why. Maybe it'd be fun to ride around the neighborhood during the off season.

Mirror vs Scale

2009-08-12T15:21:00.004-04:00

I was talking to my buddy and coworker Chris about body weight today. I asked him if he weighs himself everyday and his answer was "I used to. Now I just look in the mirror." I laughed.

It's Wednesday and I'm one day from the end of a 4 week period for which I set myself a goal to lose 10 lbs. Sunday morning when I stepped up on the scale I was happy enough to see the number 225.0. The number I dreaded seeing a month earlier, 235.0 shocked me out of complacency and I've rededicated myself to living longer, if not lighter. Unfortunately my weight bounces up and down, I guess like everybody else' does so yesterday the number shot back up to 227 and this morning was 228. Looking in the mirror today I have to be happy with what I'm seeing, but I really want to be down to 220 when I see my cardiologist for my annual check up. Since I'm scheduled to see him on the 26th I doubt that's a reality.

I continue to experience the odd twinge in the same place, which tends to get a bit distracting. If these sensations were absent I would reschedule for a month or so down the road but I guess that would be pretty silly given my history.

So, after feeling pretty elated this past Sunday morning I felt really motivated for the day. We had just decided to hit OG for lunch and it was clear I wouldn't have time for a pre-lunch ride. I figured I'd go in the afternoon but decided to work up a bit of an appetite by pushing some iron and maybe get a short run in. I jumped into a circuit of dumbbell presses, squats, blast-strap pull ups and leg lifts in the ab straps. After 15 minutes I stepped onto the treadmill and ran for ~15 then finished with another set of squats. In all I must've done 4 or 5 sets of 10 squats light and fast. Lunch was good, but the lactic acid dessert in the quads was not and the ride never materialized. Monday morning I was nicely crippled.

It took some stretching over the course of the day but I was able to fence then hit the KK for an hour, finishing at midnight. Last night Iain and I hit the MHBW so he could run and I figured I'd spin and give the legs a gentle workout. Rode easy to the RR tracks then turned around and hammered back to the parking lot. Averaged 18.4 inbound, then tooled around for another 10 minutes spinning out the slag. Legs feel good today so far. Hopefully Iain will feel like going out tonight, in which case we'll go to the campus. If not I'll head out over Tawasentha.

Still no snacking or binging. Improvement needed on getting enough sleep.

2009-08-08T23:30:00.002-04:00

Had a pretty good week. Iain has wanted to do some riding on days he's not running cross-country so we've been out a few times. First two times we hit the MHBW west of SCCC. Last night we rode laps at the campus. This morning we rode the MHBW east of downtown Sch'tdy past Blatnick Park. After our ride I went out on my short out and back loop and put out better numbers than I have all season. Avg power/NP was 175/191.

This is early in week 4 of my summer 2009 weight reduction effort. Down to 227 this morning after a late dinner last night, 2 lbs to go. Still no late night snacking or binge eating. Have been getting out on the bike on a regular basis, but haven't been very good about doing any lifting.

Found this blog during the TdF in one of LA's tweets. Felt moved after reading much of Fatty's story about himself and Susan. Had to make another donation to the LAF in honor.

I keep thinking about getting a new bike, but I want my next one to be a gem. See the link to my dream bike. So if I can't afford a titanium IF, maybe I'll pick up something for tooling around the neighborhood at night or during the winter. Performance had a couple of simple single speeds that look interesting, and a track bike with a reversible free hub/fixie. Fit that out with cross tires, hmmm.

Wow, feeling pretty damn tired now ; )

Monsoon season

2009-08-03T00:02:00.004-04:00

Had a good ride yesterday in the late afternoon. Went out Old State to Fuller, then down Carman to 20/146 and up Tawasentha. No speed record yet up the hill, but was comfortable out of the saddle up the middle third. It was pretty damn windy and I wound up with an avg speed aroud 16.7. Another ride at 159w/182 NP. Peak20/NP was 178/211.

Tonight I spent an hour+ on the KK, didn't feel too bad. Set the rollers up in the garage but they're still too awkward. Maybe after a ton of practice and some mods, like a flywheel and bumpers.

Still no snacking ; )

Late-ish dinner last night as a treat. Sandy and I went to the R. Villa. Nice.

2 weeks elapsed...

2009-07-30T10:44:00.005-04:00

Two weeks since I realized (again) that I've been growing sloppy about my eating and exercise habits. I guess snacking for me is like smoking. I could never stop at one so the only way to control it is to avoid it.

My goal was to lose 10lbs in 30 days. I lost ~ 5lbs in the 1st week so I thought this was going to be a snap, but I've been wrong before and it looks like it will be the case again. My weight hovered up and down a bit and I end week two exactly where I was a week ago, at 229.5. This isn't a horrible thing, as I have stayed on a generally reduced calorie "diet" and I haven't snacked or binged at all. My weekly mileage on the bike is up around a hundred and I saw some encouraging power numbers last night, 173 watts avg, 192watts NP and I didn't feel ragged when I got finished. Heavy rain and a late start had me quit a lap early and the PT malfunctioned due to wet contacts.

I didn't hit the weights as planned, so that is an area for improvement, nor did I do any running. I still want to set the 2nd rack up in the garage and keep the rollers there for more experimentation. Maybe I'll try and fit a set of roller bumpers to the frame a la the e-motion rig.

A quick note about the pic. Wednesday night Iain wanted to run on the MHBW, so we did the usual thing from SCCC. He did 5k out at race pace, then an easy run back. I went easy/moderate out to the 6m turn around then came back hard. Outbound leg in 22:30, back in 20:00 (17.3). Had to slow down a lot for pedestrians, so I'm still pretty happy with the return leg. Once I finished the inbound hard effort I did some easy spinning back and forth until Iain got back to the car. The max effort pictured was a middle ring spring up the hill from the 890 Jct.

2009-07-27T23:09:00.002-04:00

229.5 this am. Tonight I had a lesson but no fencing as it was just coach and I and we were both beat. Had plans to come home and do a recovery spin on the KK, but dinner and lounging won out. Still no snacking so I should feel good about that.

Rode Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Went ok. Power was uninspiring but I can't really complain. No repeat of the bad twinges.

2009-07-23T22:28:00.004-04:00

Had a good, if not short ride last night after work. Was a bit pressed for time so I had to cut it to 9 laps at the campus in order to pick Iain up at 8. Eastbound leg felt really hard (slow). Felt like a nasty crosswind. Power was not exciting (159w entire/199w 20NP), averaged 17.2.

Felt a little off later with some cramp/twinge sensations in that spot by the left nipple. Had a nasty repeat of the same today at work that shook me up and got me thinking I might want to go get an EKG run. Trying to tell myself its dehydration/fatigue/meds/etc.

No time to test tonight on the bike, Iain's birthday and had to bring him to x-country practice.

Have remained quite disciplined about not snacking at night and keeping dinner on the frugal side. Weighed 229.5 this am. Hoping to be down around 220 before my (planned) visit to the cardiologist next month.

When I hit my 10 lb goal I'll reset that.

2009-07-22T00:21:00.002-04:00

Great comeback ride from Lance today. After letting a gap open up within 5k of the summit of the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard he put the hammer down and bridged up tp Alberto, Andreas and Andy Schleck. Unfortunately Jens Voight augered in on the descent and was taken to a hospital. Pray he has a speedy recovery.

Rainy day here so I logged a few miles on the KK. Ass hurt a bit but was manageable. Rode for 45 minutes @ 17.5 mph avg.

No snacking last night or tonight.

Nice ride

2009-07-19T23:53:00.002-04:00

I was a little bummed when I headed out tonight as I had watched the end of stage 15 of the TdF. LA rode pretty well but lost 1:35 to AC and sits in 2nd only 11 seconds ahead of Brad Wiggins. Was hoping for some magic.

I had a decent ride though. Well off from where I was but decent still. Avg 17.3 over 18.9 miles, 170 watts/187 NP. Post ride I had a protein shake and some fruit, nothing else tonight so that's a win.

Great night out tonight, no wind and not hot.

Moving day

2009-07-19T00:09:00.002-04:00

Helped Gary and Allison move into their new house in North Schodack. Well organized effort with plenty of help and I was home by 3:30.

Started the day off with a 10 minute walk/run and a few squats and dumbbell presses. Iain decided at the last minute to go for a run and have Emily come along so we hit the MHBP around 7:50. Beautiful evening to do a quick (short) ride. Went 11.75 miles in around 43 minutes. Went at an easy pace out to the turn around (23:00) then hammered home in 20:00. (NP ~190 watts/VI 1.13)

Weigh in this morning was 234, no snacking last night or tonight. 3 in a row. Up too late tonight though.

New goals

2009-07-17T22:19:00.002-04:00

So I stepped on the scales this morning at got slapped in the face. I've let my weight creep back up to 235. I can point to several areas where I've gotten lazy that have contributed this, so I'll start my goals there.

Diet: I've gotten bad about late night snacking and binge snacking. This must end. The first thing I did after I had the stent put in was to stop eating anything after 9 pm. I lost weight while I obeyed this rule, so I need to develop some self-control and abide by this.

Diet goals:
[1] No snacking after 9.
[2] No binge snacking ever.
[3] Lose 10 lbs in 30 days.
[4] Reduce caffeine intake.

Workouts:
I've gotten lazy about doing planned cardio and weight training. A good deal of this comes from putting things in my schedule that don't allow training as easily. Because I'm fencing 2x weekly and am often too tired and hungry to workout after class I need to watch my schedule more carefully. A convenient fix is to train in the morning before work but to do it I need to be able to get up earlier and well-rested.

Training:
[4] Get to bed no later than 12
[5] Get at least 30 minutes in before work.

Accountability:
I stopped weighing myself and logging it because I'd get depressed about lack of progress. Going backward is worse.
[6] Resume daily or weekly weigh ins, log results.
[7] Don't get too hung up on numbers.

Detailed planning:
Develop a set of cycling goals (power, time, distance)
Develop a set of lifting goals (prs, aggregates)
Develop a set of running goals(distance, time, speed)
Develop some body mod goals (weight, waist size, BMI)

This is day 2 of yet another new beginning. No snacking last night.

Don't waste time.

2009-07-16T14:34:00.002-04:00

I hate starting over from scratch. Looking at my powerfiles I was forced to reconcile the fact that I rode only sporadically last year and finished up the season doing that ride with Thaddeus and Gabe at the battlefield. So now, I'm fat(ter), slow and have no power compared to where I was. Really disappointing after viewing the data from my last good indoor session before that string of bad ones. After going from 20-minute 200 watt intervals to having my leg burn from a 140 watt effort really destroyed my desire to get on the bike.

So I have to learn to keep things in perspective, because there's more at stake here than just wattage.

At least last night I was able to average 16.7 mph over a short haul at the campus and that is at least better than where I used to be and it doesn't feel like too far from 17.5 which would make me feel good.

I guess I should set a couple of goals but I'm going to think about them and start easier. I can break them down into physical and performance-related goals like:

Weight:
20 MIN NP
Time for 20 mile campus ride
Time for out and back loop.

I should also make some behavioral changes like:
Get control of the diet thing again as I've been slack about the late-night snacking.
Get out of the habit of staying up past midnight for no reason, or for relentless gaming.
Get into the habit of getting up before work and doing some kind of workout; treadmill, trainer, weights, heavy bag; bladework.
Get on the scale at least weekly and write down the weight.
Log all workouts but not get too worked up about performance hiccups.

So next time I post here I'll put up some goals and some data.

2009-07-12T00:52:00.005-04:00

It's taken me a long time to get motivated to ride this year. Went out with Iain to the bike path so he could get his training miles in (4+) and found that the sections west of SCCC are pretty nice. Power numbers are low but not abysmal. NP for today was 180, 1:02/16.4 mph. Felt pretty good, last 20 minutes were challenging. Needed better fueling, but more important is miles, lots more miles.

Catch up

2009-02-10T00:15:00.002-05:00

Last week I was stll a bit unsettled but shot a 352. Tonight was bust-city again, 329.

Equipment issues:

The entire sight assembly fell out of the dovetail after a shot! Guess that might account for some of the up/down crap in the 4 ends or so before the thing dropped. The set screw in the lower elevation adjustment knob backed out and let the detent ball escape, so that sucks. Release was marginally better tonight, maybe. I should try to get a lesson in with the guys at Flying Arrow.Two weeks ago I was down in the lower 330's.

Half to try and remember to keep my right hand "level", metacarpals parallel to the floor, not angled up or down. Hold steady, good sight picture. My current aperture sucks, must replace.
Follow through. Relax the release hand at release.

Worst night so far.

2009-01-13T00:23:00.002-05:00

Wow I sucked. Shot a 297. I really struggled with technique tonight. Am now shooting the 40# limbs. George thinks my arrow flight looks really good though.

So, I can't afford to dick around holding the shot after the clicker goes off. Like the book says, 7 or 8 seconds is it then I need to let down if its not coming together. Also, in order to comfortably increase back tension and have the clicker release with the correct draw, I need to place the draw hand more precisely. I found I need to pull from the first joint, not the pads. Pulling from the pads feels weaker and results in my having to contort in order to pull enough shaft to release the clicker arm. This makes getting a good release a little more difficult. I found I was plucking the string a bit, sometimes down and sometimes out. I need to practice the former bits, then keep good form while increasing back tension keeping the elbow up and relaxing the fingers.

Equipment issues.

Locknut on plunger keeps coming loose.
Tip weights coming loose.
Stabilizer coming loose at riser.
Left side rod too close, need an extension.

Training notes.
Still haven't gotten on the bike this winter. I'm running more often but not quite regular enough. Saturday I ran for an hour straight (4.2 miles). Tonight was a bust at fencing so I did 2.75 miles when we got home (~35 minutes)

New Year Results

2009-01-05T22:28:00.002-05:00

The other guy that shoots at 5 took two weeks off, so tonight was my first night back since before Christmas. I'm using a clicker now as well as a jbar and side rods. I had the clicker set up too long for my draw length so I had to dick around quite a bit to get it in a more comfortable spot. I also had a miserable time settling my sight picture and I blew many releases. I had one really crazy flier high on center in the 2 ring. Shot 345.

2008-12-16T00:08:00.002-05:00

As it turns out, there is a line that shoots at 5:00, so by going early I can shoot and make it to fencing in the same night. There were only two of us so we made it through the entire course in an hour and we were done by 6 pm. I didn't catch my scores from each round but my total was 371 again. I was much more consistent tonight and was in the gold more frequently with several x's. Had some trouble settling on target and some release control as well. I managed to fall out into the blue only a few times.

It's December already...

2008-12-02T10:57:00.002-05:00

Iain is running indoor track so Monday night fencing is even quieter. Kind of want to take a break from the regular schedule and keep shooting, so I'm trying to shoot every other week in the Monday night archery league at West Albany Gun Club. Last night was the second week and it had mixed results.

The format is 3 rounds of 5 ends of 3 arrows, 45 arrows total from 18 meters.

Week 1 I settled down pretty quickly and shot a 371. 118/139/114, with a high end of 30.

Week 2 I never really settled down and seemed to chase my groups high-low, up-down. 331 106/106/119, high end of 27.

Where did the season go?

2008-09-29T10:45:00.002-04:00

This has been a pretty uninspiring season. I had a lot of trouble getting out the door. At least I wasn't completely inert all year, fencing twice a week, played a bunch of lacrosse, getting some running in. Anyway, I'm trying to refocus and get back in some kind of groove. Looking forward to next week as Thaddeus is coming up and we're going to get some riding in.

Iain and I also just got involved in archery. This past weekend was kind of crappy as far as weather goes but we spent as couple of hours at the range. Iain grabbed this image of my first flight of the day.

Brief diatribe on cycling politics

2008-02-22T13:59:00.010-05:00

Preface:

I'm not a professional cyclist nor do I know any personally. I could be completely full of crap. Please feel free to leave a comment even if you disagree with me.

If you follow professional cycling at all, you may tend to look forward to certain races and keeping tabs on certain riders and their teams. I've really been looking forward to this year's Tour de France as I'd like to see Levi Leipheimer improve his 3rd place finish from last year. I also wanted to see his Astana teammate and fellow American, Chris Horner ride another TdF. Last week, the ASO, organizer of the Tour and a bunch of other classic bike races in France declared that Astana would not be invited to any of their events this year. You could debate this issue at length, and it is a deep and convoluted one involving past interactions between the ASO, the UCI and other entities, but since this is my blog I'm going to state that some of these organizing bodies really suck. No transparency, no due process. They break their own rules when it pleases them.

I've come to the conclusion that professional cycling would be better off without the existing organizing bodies. I think the situation would be improved if cyclists disassociated themselves from the UCI, the IOC, WADA and its national bodies. I'd like to see them all gone, flushed goodbye. Let cyclists organize and manage their sport to their liking. Government Of, By and For the Cyclists.

If cyclists worked with parties interested in organizing events for the benefit of cyclists, they wouldn't be at the mercy of organizations like the ASO, or the ASO would have to learn to serve the needs of cyclists first. No sporting group owns the roads. If the ASO won't throw a good party, organize a better one yourselves. If pro cycling teams don't learn to play hard ball with ASO, RCS and Unipublic, more will find themselves in the same position as Unibet and Astana. All dressed up with no place to go and soon out of sponsorship. Kind of ironic that the teams had the chance to put collective pressure on ASO last year prior to Paris - Nice, and they declined. When the UCI subsequently backed down, they all handed the reins to the independent organizers who are now dictating terms to the rest of the cycling world. Of course, RCS followed suit and Unibet couldn't find a big race to attend, and they had to fold. Anybody else wondering how long Astana will last? You could write a cheap novel about Russian (or Kazakh) gangsters getting ready to hunt down Christian Prudhomme and shoving a bike frame up his ass before strangling him with a blue and yellow jersey.

Maybe I'm naive, but the case of Floyd Landis is one where a guy gets screwed over by a bureaucracy that's chasing its own agenda instead of serving the truth. I believe Floyd is clean. I have years of experience dealing with sampling and analytical issues and I wouldn't trust the French lab to find the bottom of an empty coffee cup. And the ass backward "hearing" that was able to rule against Landis' defense is an example of a process that serves an agenda, not the truth. Sorry, I know I'm shifting my vitriol between both sides of the issue. I see ASO/RCS/Unipublic as the other side of the coin as the UCI/IOC/WADA. Different side of the same screwed up relationship, each group as fundamentally fucked up and wrong as the other. When people say cycling is dirty, they're right but they're overlooking the worst offenders.

Please consider supporting Levi and Astana's cause by visiting LetLeviRide.com. Sign the petition, email the ASO and voice your displeasure. Hey it won't do jack but it can't hurt to speak up.

Ride safely out there.

Dismal cycling results

2008-02-18T00:29:00.002-05:00

To make a long story short, my performance on the bike has sucked. My power numbers have declined steadily since 1/29. I tried resting a bit but my power tonight was horrible and my legs started burning less than 15 minutes into my workout. Maybe the effort I've put in fencing and playing lacrosse is preventing me from pushing harder. I'm fairly concerned about this but not sure whether I should be resting, pushing, seeking medical advice or ignoring the numbers. I'm waiting to see what things are going to feel like on the road in a few weeks.

Fencing went pretty well this week. We bouted all night on Thursday using the electric gear, then had an extra practice Friday. Saturday we fenced in a non-sanctioned team tournament. We got housed but we had fun and our coach took 1st in team epee with two of his old buddies.

Last night's lacrosse game was a blast. We were a little short handed so we played 5 on 5 full field with 1 sub each. Running full field wore me down a lot faster but my recovery wasn't bad. Had a lot of trouble catching the ball. No in game injuries though and my joints feel pretty decent today.

That feels better.

2008-01-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

After those last two dodgy rides, I was able to crank out a 20 min peak power of 203 watts and an average speed for the whole workout of 18.3 mph. That makes me feel a lot better. I have to credit Alex Simmons (his blog post) for the idea of posting the power graph. Thanks Alex.

Two steps forward, one step back.

2008-01-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought I was all set to move forward. Had a couple of busy days that kept me off the bike, then two very discouraging rides. Saturday and Sunday I could barely keep my output above 160 watts for any length of time, and the effort just made my quads hurt like hell. On the up side, my calf muscle feels pretty good and is loosening up very well. Monday night while fencing I had some decent explosive lunges.

Regarding fencing, I had an interesting experience developing defensive footwork. I found by keeping my weight slightly forward instead of balanced 50/50, I could use my front leg more effectively to spring backwards and create more of a buffer between the opponents blade and mine, allowing me to make more leisurely parries. I was also able to stick the rear foot with more authority during a retreat, allowing me to change to an advance more smoothly. Now that the left leg no longer hurts, I want to do some lunge drills using the jumpstretch bands around the left foot to right shoulder

Tonight I played my first game of lacrosse with a mixed group of thirty-somethings and over forty guys, and I sucked. It was a lot of fun though. I ran out of gas pretty early and had no sprint left after a very short time. The good news again is, it didn't hurt the leg at all. I'll keep stretching it and plan on doing some treadmill miles over the next 2 weeks and see how it goes. I wasn't planning on trying to run until late February, but I think the injury is sufficiently healed. If I can run and sprint in short bursts more comfortably I think I'll be able to settle down and concentrate on better stick handling.

So, I hope this valley in my power numbers is just a burp.

One more thing. I've wanted to write about this but I keep avoiding it.
On January 14, my Dad passed away after suffering a fall and subsequent head injury. He was 85. This past summer, my son, my Dad and I went on a couple of local sightseeing outings. Here's a shot of them both. I miss him.

Back on track

2008-01-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

Had a pretty decent ride today and my previous ride was encouraging as well. My goals were 2 intervals above 200 watts at least 10 minutes each. Last time the 2x 10s went well (209/209 wattts), and tonight I stretched those out to around 12:30 each. Actually they wound up being 2x 4 miles at 209/206 watts. PE for both workouts was high, around 9.

My leg is getting better but it's not ready for me to run on it. I still have plenty of time though to build up to 4 or 5 miles before the triathlon season kicks off. I'll have to be careful while fencing as that tends to aggravate things a bit. Hopefully I won't need any PT. I really can't squat or deadlift either until it's fully healed.

I think the reduced dose of the beta-blocker and avoiding under fueling has successfully addressed those fatigue/dizziness issues. Now if I can stay healthy and injury-free I can concentrate on training and dropping some more weight.

Belated Happy New Year

2008-01-13T12:32:00.001-05:00

Time to get caught up on things. Well, my diet made it through the holiday season relatively unscathed. A few days eating like crap then back to good habits. I really wanted avoid having my weight creep up but I'm afraid I've lost some ground. Currently am up to 221 from 216, but its been stable there since mid December.

High points: Cycling and running is going well. Fencing is also going well. Had been feeling very comfy running up to about 30 minutes on the treadmill after a good warm up on the bike.

Low points: December 29 I tore my left calf muscle. Gimped around for a few days and couldn't get back on the bike for 5 days. Even then it still tightened up pretty badly on me. A combination of heat, ice, massage and stretching seemed to help things heal up. Today it feels almost normal.

I also have had some problems with the beta-blocker. I really felt wickedly fatigued and a bit dizzy for a few days. My regular doctor suggested I cut the dose in half and so far it seems to be helping. After a good hour long ride today I felt pretty good, then I pulled it running around at lacrosse practice.

Today I decided to stretch out the time on the bike, as I just mentioned. I also wanted to slip a couple of intervals in there. I didn't know what to expect so I set my sights low and tried for 2 x 2.5 mile efforts above 200 watts. Each interval took 8 to 8.5 minutes, and wound up with output of 206 and 211 watts. Sitting here now I'm pretty confident I could have kept the intervals going for 10 minutes, so I'll continue interval work with 2x10s and build from there. Hopefully I'll be able to run again by March 1st.

I happened to be talking to a couple of folks about comfort issues on the bike, and the topic of saddles came up. I had some really uncomfortable hours in the saddle until I switched to a design with a radical perineal channel. Here are a couple of pics of my Adamo ISM racing saddle. It takes a little getting used to, but it is comfortable, and you'll never have any numbness with this baby.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T23:14:00.000-05:00

Finally getting back to normal. Came down with a cold after setting the clocks back so I spent more time off the bike. Rode and ran this morning for the first time in a week and a half and felt really good. I decided to start doing some legwork in the power rack as well.

My friend and coworker, Jim Regan, turned me onto powerlifting in the "tradition" of Westside Barbell. Serious cyclists that train with power meters will discount this as meaningless, pointless, and largely counter-productive, but I'm keeping these techniques in my arsenal. I've become a big fan of box squatting. I'm not going to describe the technique here, if you want to know more, follow the link and read Louie Simmon's articles. Anyway, it felt good to load up the bar and crank out a few sets. I need to pick up a rackable cambered bar for my home set up.

Indoor training

2007-11-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

Well the first week of indoor-only training is behind me and wasn't horrible. On the down side, rolling the clocks back knocked the crap out of me and I just wanted to sleep all week. I was starting to think I was sick but a bunch of people I work with reported feeling dog tired as well. On the upside, I feel pretty good being on the trainer for short workouts of an hour. I need to ramp up the intensity this week and push the duration out. Also, I jumped off the trainer and right onto the treadmill. Starting off doing a mile at a slow pace and it felt pretty good. This week I'll stretch the time out a bit. I also am going to start fencing lessons pretty soon, so I've been drilling the basic footwork and bladework. My blade control seems pretty good but I about crippled myself practicing balestra.

Mmmmmn, nutrition

2007-11-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

Note: This post is a work in progress. I'll come back and edit/add as I have time. Meanwhile, please forgive erratic content, incomplete thoughts and misspellings.

Wanted to take a few minutes to talk about nutrition. Actually I want to talk about food. I really love to eat and learning to eat well has been the key to my weight loss. I have a few goals that I keep in mind as I shop, plan meals and cook.

Minimizing fat intake and avoiding saturated fat.
Avoiding heavily processed and refined foods.
Include fresh fruits and vegetables.
Choose a variety of foods.
Include whole grain items and legumes.

My goals will not necessarily be consistent with anyone else's certainly, but mine are driven by my medical history.

What foods to choose.

Start at the beginning and learn to shop for the right foods at the grocery store. Avoid shopping on an empty stomach so you don't buy crap on impulse. Try to go with a rough meal plan and perhaps a list developed from a recipe or two (see resources). On successive trips, try to add the occasional new item. This keeps your repertoire of food prep choices ever expanding and (if you eat the new items) helps avoid boredom at mealtime.

As you gain confidence choosing and using healthier foods in a grocery store, you'll start being able to make better choices in restaurants. Actually, I think you just become more aware of what is used in different dishes and you should find yourself asking questions and asking for substitutions where needed. Things like, "hey, can I get the tzaziki sauce on the side?", or "could you go easy on the cooking spray when you make my omelete?", or "hmmm, those aren't sauteed in butter are they?"

Some specific food items that have become pretty standard for me are;
Whole grain breads, pasta and cereal.
Dried beans including pintos, black, lentils and Anasazi.
Egg whites.
Fat free yogurt and skim milk.
Soy-based cheese.
Romaine hearts and mixed greens.
Peppers and more peppers. Bell, serrano, cubanelles and jalapenos.
Smart Balance butter spray
Fruit, all kinds
Seasonal fresh vegetables
Sweet Potatoes.

Spices! This is where bold taste begins and ends.
Curries
Cumin
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Powdered Chipotle
Smoked sweet paprika
Emeril's southwest seasoning

How to prepare meals to avoid boredom.

Learn to cook! Find some style(s) of cooking that you like and immerse yourself. Variety and big taste will keep your palette entertained. You don't need to resort to fast food and packaged snacks for food enjoyment.

Portion sizes and other bad habits to avoid.

Learn to measure. Buy a food scale, keep it close to your food prep area and use it. Learn how big/small a 2 ounce portion of pasta is. Don't graze, when you're hungry, prepare your planned meal and eat right. Learn how much non-stick spray to use, know what condiments you can use with impunity and which need to be used with restraint.

One of the principles Dean Ornish discusses in his books is choosing foods with low caloric density. Eating these foods allows you to get filled up before you've taken in so many calories that you accumulate a calorie surplus, i.e., gain weight. Dieting sucks because you feel like you're starving yourself. Eating foods with high fiber content combats this directly.

Meat or no meat?

I don't eat red meat because it's loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. For the same reason I don't eat egg yolks. Some nutritionists like to point out that no connection has ever been proven between eating eggs and heart disease. Here's my view. High cholesterol (LDL) levels have been proven beyond argument to lead to CVD. 1 egg yolk contains 250 mg of cholesterol. That's 10 times what I shoot for in a day. There is no question that good quality meats are loaded with nutrients. I choose to avoid them for their negative qualities and get the good stuff from other sources. I do eat lean chicken, turkey, fish and egg whites, the first 3 sparingly. Animal proteins tend to be calorie dense, so portion size becomes a bigger issue. Just to reiterate, please review Dr. Dean Ornish' materials on this subject for more information.

Resources.

Food for Fitness by Chris Carmichael is a great starting point for the athlete (or anyone) that wants to make better nutrition choices. Full of great recipes too!

Foodnetwork.com
Recipes, food prep information of all types. Also check out the food network on cable TV.

2007-11-03T19:01:00.000-04:00

Every time I mount the bike on the trainer I swear I'm going to learn to like riding in the cold. The last couple of rides have been in 40 degree temps with lots of wind. The colder air temps are bad enough but the wind always sucks. I was a bit disappointed today as I only managed 17.0 mph over 20 miles and 182 watts average/ 199 watts normalized. I'm down to 215 or 216 lbs so I'm still making progress.

My last workout on the trainer was kind of a bust. For some reason my legs always ache on the trainer and I don't seem to be able to push as hard. If I spend time on the KK every day the discomfort lessens somewhat. Tomorrow looks to be the only day I'm going to want to ride outdoors for the coming week so it will be time to suck it up and get used to it.

I've been keeping track of my weight, resting heart rate (RHR) and blood pressure in a database since June. I wrote a simple .net user interface to input and display the data. I'm definitely a data geek, but it really is helpful to be able to view historic data in order to keep progress and plateaus in perspective. My RHR at this point varies from 45 to 48 and BP has been running around 125/64.

A final note for today. Many of us use HR monitors, GPS, Power Meters, etc., to capture ride data. For anyone that values historic monitoring data and stores electronic files, plan on backing up your data. It's not a question of if but when you'll experience some hardware malfunction and then your historic data is gone. It just happened to me and I really should have known better. Stupid me.

Extended fall riding

2007-10-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

Typically daytime temperatures in this part of New York are in the 40s and low 50s. Yesterday was sunny and in the mid 70s so I had to sneak out in the early afternoon for a quick run around a 26.5 mile loop. That put me over my modest goal of 2500 road miles for the season. Today I start indoor training, probably on the tread mill. Later in the week I'll start interval training on the KK (Kurt Kinetic).

My weight is still hovering around 217. I really liked being able to watch 1.5 to 2 lbs. per week drop off but it isn't realistic to expect that to go on forever.

Getting ready for winter

2007-10-16T21:33:00.000-04:00

I really hate riding when it's cold, but I'm not quite ready to abandon the roads for the trainer. Indoors, I use a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. It's a great piece of equipment but it isn't the same as the road. I hope to get somewhat acclimatized to the colder temps and keep training outdoors until the roads get crapped up with snow and ice. A local bike shop is organizing a century/metric century in November that sounds fun, so I'll try to keep my weekly mileage up to be ready for it.

Had to replace another rear tire yesterday. Wore the center of the tread right through the casing and had a blow out 3 miles from home last night. So that's 4 Panaracer Stradius Pros since April. Only getting about 500 miles per tire, which means I'll be going back to Continentals.

Other changes for the winter include a change up to the diet. My cardiologist wanted me to take niacin and fish oil supplements to boost my HDL levels. A 3:1 LDL:HDL ratio is ok, but for documented cases of atherosclerosis they want lipid profiles closer to 2:1. Since my weight loss has slowed/plateaued, I want to jump start things. I've been reading Dr. Dean Ornish' books so I'm going (mostly) vegan for a while. I say mostly because I'm still going to eat egg whites, non-fat dairy, fish and the occasional chicken breast. Fish and chicken will only be once a week or so. I've been eating far more fruit, vegetables and legumes this year and more so in the last month and a half.

I plan on hitting the free weights a bit pretty soon. I firmly believe they helped me bump my speed up this year. I train with a power rack doing box squats, deadlifts and good mornings. In my opinion, Louie Simmons is the source for powerlifting techniques. Check out the details for accommodating resistance work in the rack. A week before my little coronary episode, I was doing 500# reverse band deadlifts and 465# box squats using 160# worth of chains on top of the plate loaded bar. Good stuff. I have to say a quick word also about the Simmons reverse hyper machine. We're fortunate to have one in our gym at work at it is a great way to work your lower back.

I'm going to use a structured approach this year with my winter cycle training. My unstructured approach this year has been, go hard on the medium length days, go harder on the short rides. If the legs hurt a lot, keep spinning and they'll eventually loosen up. So I've been looking at the "canned" plans available from TrainingPeaks and I'm pretty sure I'll try one of these. The price is certainly doable.

I've also been thinking about some things I'd like to accomplish next year, either related to cycling or to fitness improvement in general. I really enjoyed mountain bike racing back in '96/'97 and I might like to try something competitive again. Mountain bike races for sure and maybe some road racing. Not sure what I've got available in the area so I'll have to do some research. Maybe a TT. One event I've got my eyes on that looks worthwhile is the Adirondack 540. There is no way I'm jumping into the whole thing, but 1 lap would be an accomplishment. I also want to try a sprint triathlon or two. My weight loss goal is to get down to 175 and I'd like to get there by June 1st. At a light weight I want to climb Whiteface Mountain. It's an 8 mile climb that gains 3350 feet so I'm sure it's going to hurt.

I'll have some other goals in mind soon but this is good for now.

Beginning at the beginning

2007-10-14T11:34:00.000-04:00

I wish I'd had the presence of mind to start writing at the beginning, but that is so long ago that filling in the salient blanks may take me forever.

I am in the best shape of my post teenage adult life, and at 46 that is a lamentable fact but one that I am very pleased with. On January 26 2007 I had a stent implanted to the circumflex artery after experiencing acute cardiovascular syndrome. At the time I weighed 281 lbs and had documented total cholesterol levels from 250 to 300 mg/dL.

Today I weigh 217 lbs and my last blood screening showed LDL/HDL levels of 75/25 mg/dL. I have been logging 100 to 150 miles per week on my road bike and have truly not felt better in a very long time. Yesterday I suited up for a chilly afternoon ride here in upstate New York and I spun through a 25.3 mile out and back loop in an hour and twenty two minutes. At an average speed of 18.5 mph, that is faster than I was riding in 1996 at 210 lbs.

In the last year I've had a few health scares and have had to re-evaluate my priorities. I've made some changes and I'm pretty excited by the results and I want to write about them. I find myself setting some long term and short term goals and I want to write about them as well. Along the way I hope to read some of your comments.