Spring, A New Beginning, & Some Goals

Well, it's been far too long since I posted here. But I am going to try to reinvigorate this little ol' exer-blog as Spring comes again. For one thing, I have planned a few events that require some training. So the blog as a kind of public record of my training activity is warranted again.

Even though I haven't posted regularly, I have been exercising without much interruption all Winter. I continued to attend my Friday morning spin class at Tina Brookhouse's fitness studio. And I recently added a second class on Monday mornings: Boot Camp. The format is about 1/3 cycling, 1/3 running, and 1/3 core strength. The latter is a weakness area, to say the least. Both classes meet at 6:00 a.m., and it's been a nice way to bookend the work week so far.

I've also continued to ride at home and run; except when I was sick, I would usually manage 3 workouts a week. But for some reason I stopped writing them all down.

So now I'm back to writing them down! Last week I got four workouts in, the two classes + two outdoor rides. This week I hope to do five workouts, including a couple of runs. Some running is important for me now because I have agreed to do a 5k with a couple of friends of mine. It will be their first experience racing, and both are using the race to motivate them a bit. I am happy to participate and looking forward to the event too, which is a well known and well organized race called the Dexter - Ann-Arbor Run on May 31st. One of my friends is following the Cool Running's Couch to 5k training plan.

I'm not yet committed to an actual training schedule for that race. I know I don't have to do much at this point to be able to do the 5k, and I'm not sure how I want to participate - do I want to pace my friends? or do it at my own pace? not sure. Cool Running's Intermediate 5k plan isn't a bad one, though, if I go with the latter. I would, of course, make some modifications because I don't really care about being a competitive 5k racer.

We're 10 weeks out now, so I'd have to start at week 2. They schedule 6 runs a week - I wouldn't do more than 3 runs and three bikes (or classes) and wouldn't feel bad about doing 4 bikes and 2 runs in any given week. This far out, they are concentrating on base fitness, so it's intermediate distance (3-4 miles) runs at Tempo, one long run per week (long is, like, 6 or 7 miles) and one interval workout (Fartlek early on, timed intervals later). They add one extra speedwork session in the last three weeks , and they recommend substituting a long run for an actual 5k race too. Not bad. I would always look to swap the Tempo work for biking workouts, but keep the intervals and long runs. This will let me enjoy preparing for the race without having to worry too much about running-related pain.

I'll post more about some other upcoming things I have planned too. I'll be doing the Tour de Cure event again this year, for example, and I have two bike trips to hilly places planned this season to start gearing up to ride the big mountains in 2010.

Catch up: Bike, Spin, Ski

It's been a while since I last posted, so let's catch up on some workout reports. I finished up the final chores of the Fall semester, and so there was about a week where I didn't do much.



12/12 Spin Class
A tough one! We went almost the whole hour with no recovery, only spinning with less resistance but keeping our cadence high the whole time. We all got to dig deep. I confessed to the group my love for suffering. Not exactly a 12 step moment, but the first time I've said it out loud to strangers. :) Hello, I'm Bill, and I am a cyclist...



12/13 Bike: Climbing Intervals

My weekly ritual, short-lived though it is, of watching Survivorman while riding on the trainer continued with an interval workout. Something like this:

Warmup 10min Fast Spin Low Resistance (50/24)

4 x Climb Interval 8min (50/12), RI 4 min (50/19).

All intervals climb out of saddle for 5min, seated 3min

Cooldown 5 min Fast Spin (50/24)






Saturday 12/20 Ski & Bike Brick

60 min XC ski at fast pace; great snow - perfect fresh powder with a lot of glide. Very little wind and mild temperatures (mid 20's) made this a perfect day to go for a little Nordic jaunt. Awesome. The kind of thing that makes Winter worthwhile.

and then, like some crazy tri-greek, I decided not to waste my warmed up muscles. I got out of the skis, changed, and got on the bike for:

Terrible Twos:

Spin 5 warmup
2 x (6 x 2min WI, 2 min RI)
Spin 5 in between and cooldown

WI is 50/17 max effort
RI is 50/24 at 85%

Yep...back to 6 WIs for this workout. Feeling strong again. Two back-to-back hours of hard effort here, and I felt great the whole time. Making some progress. The goal is to build a strong base over the winter.

Workout: Bike Intervals

Monday 12/8 Intervals on the Trainer, 60 minutes

Terrible Twos:

Spin 10 warmup
2 x (5 x 2min WI, 2 min RI)
Spin 5 in between and cooldown

WI is 50/17 max effort
RI is 50/24 at 85%

Workout: Spin Class

Friday 12/5 Spin Class (55 minutes + stretching)

Well... the typical crazy, end-of-semester. No workouts to speak of since the Thanksgiving break, until today. Happily, I didn't seem to lose much fitness. I was able to dig deep on every drill today and I finished really strong.

Tina had us doing ladders today, a workout I actually do myself on the trainer. Hers looked like this.

1, 2, 3 min WI & RI up
then
3, 2, 1 min WI & RI back down

WI is 90% effort with a medium hill (level 3) resistance.
RI is fast spin (approaching 100%) at level 2.

The RI is really an effort to spin the lactic acid out of the legs, we weren't fully recovering, which was good. This 24 minute set was followed by some pyramids - short bursts of 20, 30, and 40 seconds of max effort with 10 second RIs in between. Those simulate surges out on the road. And we wrapped up with our six-levels of hell hill climbing drill, where we increase resistance incrementally until we are in our heaviest gear and then spend 3 minutes there, climbing out of the saddle.

Good stuff.

Workout: Climbing Intervals

Saturday 11/22 Climbing Intervals on the Trainer, 60 minutes

I've been working on creating some more climbing simulation workouts. I enjoy climbing, first of all, and I need to work on overall strength (core + legs) to get the most out of bigger gears on the flats anyway.

Today's workout I enjoyed quite a lot, by which I mean it was a proper suffer-fest. Before I began, I set my wheel block up to the climb/incline position. As for the drill, it's listed below.

For this workout, I am going to give the gearing to be more specific. My bike has a Shimano 105 9 Speed 12-27 cassette. Kind of like this one, but with only nine cogs. In non bike geek speak "9 speed 12-27" refers to the number of cogs (9) and the number of teeth per cog (e.g. 12 is the smallest) mounted on the rear wheel hub. I have the following choices on the rear hub: 12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,27.

The front chain rings (where the cranks are) on my bike are 50 and 34. I stay in the 50 for all the trainer workouts; the bigger gear is tougher on the front. It's the opposite in the back. The lower the gear, the harder it is. So the hardest combination on my bike is 50 on the front, 12 on the back.

Ok...so here's how the climbing workout goes:

Warmup 6min Fast Spin Low Resistance (50/24)

6 x Climb Interval 5min (50/12), RI 3 min (50/19).

For intervals 1, 2, & 5 climb out of saddle for 3min, seated 2min
For intervals 3, 4, & 6 out of saddle for 5min

Cooldown 6 min Fast Spin (50/24)

That's thirty minutes of climbing in the hardest gear over the course of a 60 minute workout. My least favorite part, by far, is sitting and pushing that big gear during intervals 1, 2, & 5. But it really helps to build leg and core strength. I work really hard to keep my upper body still to avoid straining my back (you can tell if this is working by how much your upper body rocks side to side; if you rock too much, it's too much resistance and you are probably tweaking your back).

Workout: Spin Class

Friday 11/21 Spin Class (55 minutes + stretching)

Today's workout was yet another incremental step up in terms of difficulty. The main difference is that from the very beginning through to the end, we had tough drills with very short RIs.

We had enough new folks in class to do our attack, pull, draft drills in teams, with each team around the circle taking a turn at the virtual front. It was fun. We also had another instructor join us - just as a participant - but in her honor Tina threw in one of her signature drills. She calls them "black holes." They are 40 seconds of hill intervals, out of the saddle, followed by 20 seconds at lower resistance but maintaining cadence. There is no RI, so each one takes you deeper and deeper into the abyss...

Fun. No class next week due to Thanksgiving. In honor of last year, I might go run hill repeats when we are in Ohio for the holiday break. Might, I say. :)

Workout: Bike Intervals

Sunday 11/16 Intervals on the Trainer, 64 minutes

"Hard Eights," with a twist

Warmup Spin 8, High Cadence, Low Resistance (same for RI's, below)
(2 gear differential to start WI)

8 min WI, 8 min RI x 2
then
8 min WI, 4 min RI, 8 min WI

WI has some structure...like this:
4 min tempo w/crescendo, gradually increasing effort
shift up 4, 2 min climb
shift down 2, 2 min hard effort (gear +2)

This was my third workout day in a row...it's been a while since I've done that. I plan to do one more tomorrow, as I am trying to get back to a 5 day week. Tuesday will definitely be a rest day due to schedule alone. Thursday may be too since I have spin class so early on Friday and can count on that being a hard workout.

Wokout: Recovery Ride

Sunday 11/15 "Three Quarters" on the Trainer, 65 minutes

A true recovery ride today. Short segments of fast spinning at very low resistance, followed by 15 minute intervals, below tempo, with moderate resistance. Enough to get the heart rate up and sweat, but not a hard effort. Gear differential = 2.

Pattern:
5 min Spin warmup

3x 15min Work Interval, 5min Spin Interval

It's not really accurate to say these are Work and Recovery Intervals exactly. The fast spins are about the same effort, the heart rate is constant. But a few fast paced spins help shake out the muscles and break up the long ride.

Workout: Spin Class

Friday 11/7 Spin Class (55 minutes + diabolical yoga squats at the end)

Today's workout was another envigorating, hard effort. Tina threw in some new stuff for us this week, building on the drills we worked on last week during our first session.

It's all intervals, all the time of course.

One of my favorites is really fun because it's based on road riding/racing. The idea is to follow a pattern of attack, breakway with a group, take hard pull at the front, and then fall back into the draft. So it goes like this:

Attack: 20-30 second maximum effort sprint, out of the saddle, big gear
Hard Pull: 30-40 second max. sustained effort in slightly lower gear
Draft: 30-15 second recovery

As we repeat, the WI's get a little longer and the RI gets a bit shorter. Nice! A great visual too. I admit I enjoy imagining myself pulling a Jaja Jalabert, escaping for a long break to win a mountain top finish.

Workout: Bike Intervals

Wednesday 11/12 Intervals on the Trainer, 65 minutes

"Terrible Twos"
WI = Maximum Effort; RI = recovery spin; 3 gear differential

Warmup Spin 10
5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI
Spin 5 Recovery
5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI
Cooldown Spin 10

Hard workout today. Felt good.

Workout: Bike Tempo

Sunday 11/9 "Hard Eights" on the Trainer, 74 minutes

My goal for today was mainly recovery, so I returned to my "hard eights" pattern. It goes like this:

Spin 10min warmup
4 x 8 min WI, 8 min RI

WI is tempo pace in a bigger gear, RI is recovery pace, spinning easy. The work intervals are not terribly hard, but this is a tough workout because I try to maintain a solid pace throughout.

Shoutout: Go! Sean Go!

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge my brother's recent efforts to get moving, get in shape, and get healthy! We are very proud of his efforts so far. After just two weeks of running and riding the exercise bike, he's starting to see some results!



Sean and I are planning to do the Tour de Cure ride next year together. I'll log our progress and training! In the meantime, you can already visit my Donation Page for the 2009 Tour de Cure! We already have one donation!

Workout: Spin Class

Friday 11/7 Spinning Class (50 minutes + stretching)

I started my first ever spin class today, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I am taking it with Tina Brookhouse, a trainer who just opened her own studio here in Williamston.


I opted for the 6 a.m. Friday session because it was convenient for me, and also because I figured it would mean that only the die-hards are showing up. I was right about that. There five folks in the class, all of whom rode on the road. This let Tina design a workout that was very cycling-specific.

She put us through about 45 minutes of cycling that included lots of intervals and hill-simulation work. The nice thing about having an instructor for interval training is that I can do more complex drills that involve shorter, more intense intervals than I am usually patient enough to do on my own on the trainer. It's just too hard to pay attention (or write all of the sequences down ahead of time and post them somewhere near the bike) to do lots of variations alone. But she did a great job of breaking things up and getting us to really work hard. I went to my suffer place at least twice during the 45 minute session. And I felt sore in places that I don't usually after riding indoors.

So far, so good!

Workout: Tempo Run

Tuesday, 11/4: 4 miles (no watch, but right around 8:40/mi)

While others were busy finishing up their run for office, I was just plain running. I ran by my polling place where I had voted earlier in the day, in fact, and noted that even as it was starting to get dark at 5:45 p.m., they were still doing what appeared to be brisk business.

I didn't have my watch with me on this run. I mainly just tried to stay steady and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather (68 degrees). I saw several others out doing much the same. First run this season with my reflective gear on...tough to get home in time to train in the daylight this time of year.

Workouts: Bike Intervals

Sunday 11/2 Intervals on the Trainer, 65 minutes

Intervals + ladders...they looked like this:

Warmup sequence
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance
Spin 5min @ tempo pace w/ "road feel" level of resistance
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance

Ladders (WI is Lactate Threshold, max sustainable effort for the interval; RI is just below Tempo)
5min WI
4min RI
3min WI
2min RI
1min WI

1min RI
2min WI
3min RI
4min WI
5min RI

Warmup sequence
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance
Spin 5min @ tempo pace w/ "road feel" level of resistance
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance

All while watching the #99 win and stay in cup contention. :)

Catching up again: workouts after my viral event

Toward the end of October, I had a bit of a cold that kept me idle, workout-wise, for about 10 days or so. Hence...few posts. But I've actually had a good week since then...and so I will try to catch up with a few posts.

Workouts, plural: Bike

I had a nice week last week, workout-wise. 4, count-em, 4 rides! About four quality hours, all told, on the bike.

Sunday 10/12 18.8 mile Hilly Loop at roughly 19.1 mph (57 minutes)

Monday 10/13 Bike Intervals on the Trainer
Spin 10 min
2 sets of 5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI with a 5 min Spin in between sets
Spin 5 min

Wednesday 10/15 Bike Resistance Workout during the Last Presidential Debate
Alternate 9 min WI, 9 min RI with a big, heavy, punishing gear for the WI for 70 min

This workout was inspired by the debate, wherein each topic was supposed to last 9 minutes (two minutes for each candidate to respond to the original question, followed by 5 minutes of follow-up; Scheiffer did his best, but they didn't always make the 9 minute cutoff)

Saturday 10/18
40 minutes @ recovery pace with Michelle & Steve (about 11 miles)
chilly and windy, we are fast running out of pleasant outdoor riding weather here in Mid-Michigan. But this was a nice end to a solid week of riding.

Workout: Tempo Run +

Sunday, 7/28: 10k (6.2 miles) in 46:56 or 7:33/mi

I didn't run the half marathon in town today, so I was feeling a little guilty. I decided to run my measured 10k route to see how I could do. I went a little faster than tempo pace, especially in the last mile, but not quite race pace. I felt smoother and stronger than I have in a while on the run. Quite pleased.

The Fall air brings back such strong memories of cross country season, even 20 years later.

Bonus feel-good fact...my 3 mile split was 31:36 or 7:52/mi, which means I ran a negative split. I had this in mind, going out a little easy but deliberately not going into the red early. Nice to execute a game plan, even when there's no game.

Workout: Bike

Saturday 9/27: 18.8 miles (hilly loop) in 1:00:03, AVS 18.8 mph tempo

Good, steady pace today, but I never dug too deep. It was a bit more than recovery speed, so we can just call it a tempo ride. Felt strong coming in. The days are getting shorter, so I was enjoying the weather while it lasts.

Workout: Bike Intervals

Saturday 9/20: 18.8 miles (hilly loop) AVS 18.2 mph Intervals

Spin 5 minutes warmup, high cadence
2X (5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI) with 5 min high cadence spin RI in between
Spin 10 minutes cooldown

...and another two minutes to get all the way home!

Whew. First time I've done an actual structured workout in quite some time. It would be nice to get some fitness back. And days like this are the way to do it. Have to do these more than once a week, though...