Tuesday, January 29, 2008
That feels better.
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.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Two steps forward, one step back.
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.
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.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Back on track
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.
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.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Belated Happy New Year
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.
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.
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