Finally Back on Track and Motivated by the Spring Warmth!

I am finally feeling healthy again and had a full solid week of good training.  I used Graeme Street’s cyclo core, cyclo zen, and cyclo spin classes during the week and went for a killer ride yesterday and will ride again today.  I have a biathlon that I am riding as a relay team for a runner that needed a cyclist next weekend!  I have ridden the course once and will do so again today.  I was really worried since I’d been out of commission for three weeks, but this was a good week and I’m feeling much better about it.  

The biathlon has a steep hill in it towards the end of the 14 mile bike.  The rest of the route is pretty fast, but hills are my weakness and they really slow me down!  The spin classes from cyclo-core that I did this week focused on hill climbing and they really help.  I am leading a lot of weekend rides for the bike club I belong to and I purposely picked routes with lots of killer hills to force me to get better.  One of the routes I picked is a 44 mile ride with the steepest hill in my county and one of the steepest hills in the north east supposedly.  It’s called Platte Clove Rd and it’s between Woodstock and Hunter Mountain, NY.  It’s three miles long and has a section of it that is an 18% grade.  The Tour de Trump race used to go up it  and it caused a lot of pros to walk their bikes.  I have ridden a lot of hilly roads in my area, but this one I have been a bit scared of and have been saving it for when I am in my best shape.  Well, I am leading it in a few weeks and I have to scout it out to make sure I can even ride it.  I decided that would be great training for my biathlon hill and did the ride yesterday.  It was an amazing day – high 80s or 90s and sunshine!  My goal was to get up the hill without walking the bike.  The hill was only 7 miles into the ride. Not a great warmup, but nice to get it over with early I was averaging about 3-4 mph and my lungs were hurting, but I was OK.  Then came the 18% grade and it was grueling.  There was still more hill after the 18%, but it wasn’t nearly as steep.  There was a lookout and a flat rock to sit on just above the steepest part.  I made it to that point, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the rest without a breather.  I stopped for a breather and layed out on the rock basking in the sunshine and regaining my breath.  I was a little pissed that I was forced to stop, but I was determined not to walk the bike and I knew I could continue on after a little rest.  It felt so good to lie there and soak up the sunshine – I was happy to be exerting myself, I felt great!!  I managed to ride up the rest of the hill without any problems (slowly of course) and felt strong for the rest of the ride.  I ended up riding 51 miles that day and although I was exhausted, I felt great!!  Hopefully the next time I ride it I will be stronger and won’t have to stop (but if I do, I will soak up the view and be happy to be alive and healthy )  Today I plan on riding my biathlon route twice through and then take a much needed rest day tomorrow.  

Hopefully this week I can continue to fit in training and sleep amongst work and modified track practice and track meets and life.  I think I can do it.  I am paying to have VO2 max testing done this coming Friday which will be pretty exciting to learn more about how my body works.  Then I will rest on Saturday and race the biathlon on Sunday.  I’m looking forward to a good week!

Early Attempts at Racing

Well, attempted the race thing early on.  The Bethel race was terrible – wasn’t ready for the hill and got dropped.  Then I did two out of three of the Johnny Cake Series.  The first one went well.  It was three laps of 6 miles each and it was pretty flat.  I averaged 21 mph and I was happy.  I got in with a group of really nice guys and we took turns pulling each other.  I wasn’t last and that was my fastest time.  Not a time to win races with, but it was great for me and I was happy.  The following week I was really run down and hadn’t gotten enough sleep and I was getting sick.  I attempted the Johnny Cake race anyway – I did two of the three laps and got lapped by the A riders in the earlier starting group.  I could barely breathe, my lungs were in pain.  I felt terrible.  I pulled out after two laps and went home to rest.  I was sick all that week – which was my spring break (I’m a teacher).  I had planned on riding everyday that week and didn’t ride at all.  Instead I got some much needed sleep, ate healthy and slowly started to feel better.  I wasn’t ready for the final Johnny Cake that weekend though, so I had to skip it.  That Sunday (Easter morning) I was supposed to lead a 50 mile ride with bike club and luckily no one showed up.  I got a lot of things done around the house and went out for my first ride in a week – a nice short 18 mile ride before heading out to spend the day with family.  I was finally feeling better.

The following week was extremely hectic!  I was chaperoning the 8th grade trip to Wash. DC from Wed. to late Friday night and had tons of things to get ready at school and home before the trip.  Unfortunately I didn’t allow myself to get enough sleep again and was completely run down once again!  I did manage to get a nice hike in on Monday but no riding for the entire week.  The trip was great, exhausting as always, but a lot of fun and a lot of walking.  

I was supposed to be training over the last few months for Battenkill, which I was on the waiting list for.  I hadn’t gotten any real training in for three weeks in a row and I was in no condition to even attempt the race.  I got home from Wash. DC at 1:30 am and the race was that morning.  Some things just weren’t meant to be.  I had gotten an email saying that wait listed people would probably be able to race too – Oh, well, there’s always next year.

So that sums up my last month or so of race attempts.  Not a great early season at all.  My goals for the upcoming weeks are to get enough sleep and get back to training.  When I get enough sleep I practically never get sick, it is just so hard to do for me.  I can never seem to fit everything I need/want to do into one day!

Heart Rate Monitors and Cyclo-SPIN 5

I did cyclo-SPIN #5 last night and used a heart rate monitor for the first time (other than two weeks ago when the trainer used one on me for the compu-trainer time trial I did).  The heart rate monitor is great!  I can’t believe it took me so long to start using one.  I love seeing what zone I am in and how many calories I have burned.  Cyclo-Spin 5 was great!  It was great that Graeme shared what heartrate and zone he was in and how quickly his heart rate went down after high intensity – it was a great guide for me!!!  Apparently I can sustain a very high heart rate during high intensity work, I’m not sure if that’s good or not.  My heart rate was above zone 5 for the end of the workout.  I didn’t go out as hard as I could have for the first 8 minutes, but did much better for the second one.  I learned a lot about the physiology of high intensity workouts.  I was about to do some long low intensity spinning afterwards to burn off the extra piece of chocolate cake I had, but Graeme’s information about growth hormone talked me out of it.  I would love to learn more about exercise physiology – it is so interesting to me!

My first pre-season race is on Sunday and my bike went in for a tune-up yesterday.  I got my cleats replaced on my shoes too – they probably have 5,000 miles on them at least and the screws were almost ground down to nothing.  There is a chance of snow on Sunday!  I am already terrified of crashing, I don’t know that I will ride if it is snowing.  

I am happy to finally be healthy again and excited to get more experience training in heart rate zones!  I can’t wait to get out on the road soon and test out my GPS pod for my new Polar RS800cx multi sport.  I love playing with new toys!

Been a little under the weather…

So, I have been sick for about two weeks – just a terrible cold and overall feeling of crappiness that lingered and lingered and would get better and then come back.  It seems like everyone at work has been sick – kids and teachers – and it lingered for everyone!  In the beginning of the sickness I actually had to do a 10 mile time trial on a compu-trainer with a power meter and heart rate monitor.  Surprisingly, I was able to do a negative split and was generally pleased with my performance considering that I hadn’t been training regularly due to feeling crappy and the fact that I was worried my nose would be running like a faucet onto the floor of this poor athletic trainer’s house!  I’ve never seen my power output before and it was really cool to look at my pedal stroke and see how incredibly uneven it was power-wise.  I don’t even train with a heart rate monitor (I just bought one, but haven’t figured out how to use it yet) – so even that was pretty cool to watch.  Apparently, I can sustain a pretty high heart rate for the entire effort – this was no surprise to me – I know my heart rate is always higher than most people’s when exercising – just not really sure why.

So I have become friends with the woman that did my compu-trainer testing and we are both racing together (starting this SUNDAY!!!) for the Hudson Valley Velo Club.  We have ridden together a couple times in the last two weeks and it is great to have someone similar in ability to ride with!  We’ve decided to do our first race as a team and stick together to pull off each other the entire way and use it as a learning experience.  I have no idea what to really expect from a crit – I’ve never done one before.  We are both riding the Bethel series in Bethel, CT.  It’s a 20 mile crit.  My biggest fear is crashing – I’m a bit worried about riding in a pack.  I’m hoping that the women categories are not nearly as crowded as the men…I really don’t want to crash… and I can’t afford a new bike if I do…let alone a new me

My first big outdoor ride of the winter was up and over the Shawangunk Ridge in my town – it’s a killer hill, especially during the offseason!  I must say, the 12 week offseason training plan has definitely kept me in shape and gotten parts of me stronger – I didn’t do all that bad…especially since I had the chills that morning and was about to call off the ride!  I felt much better after ride – it was definitely good for me to get out.

I rode 57 miles this past Saturday too!  That was a big surprise for these winter legs!  These legs are used to doing about 12-15 miles on the trainer. A 57 mile ride would usually be nothing for me – I averaged 85 miles a day riding cross country two years ago and even this past season had gotten to the point where a century ride was nothing for me – I was fine the next day (wasn’t overly fast for the centuries, but finished them feeling good).

Well, I’m on week 9 for the training plan now, even though I hadn’t been following it exactly while I was sick.  I have decided to pay my athletic trainer riding friend to set up an outdoor training plan for me for 6 weeks to lead up to the Battenkill race (NY state) – which I am on the waiting list for – but if I get to race it, it will seriously kick my ass!  It looks so ridiculously hard – it’s not even all paved roads and its 60 something miles long!  This training plan will start in a week or two – I’m so excited to get out onthe roads regularly again.  There were a couple really nice days these last couple weeks and they have really made spring fever set in.  I love skiing and I even didn’t want to go this past weekend to go riding instead.  It’s too early for spring fever – it’s still February!  

Well, it is definitely past my bedtime – took a spin class tonight with my own bike and trainer at the local running store – was my first time.  We did a Carmichael tape – one that I had never done before that simulated a race and had a lot more race footage (tour of Texas 2003?) than most of his tapes.  It was a nice change of pace to be on my bike (not a bike at the gym) and yet have the support and motivation of riding with a group.  I really enjoyed it – now I am exhausted and need to turn in to make sure this cold of mine that is 99% gone doesn’t come back to surprise me again.  Wish me luck at my first crit this weekend – not to win, just be safe, do my best, and have fun!!  :)

Week 5 off to a slow start…

Week 5 got a bit of a delayed start.  I’ve been feeling a bit run down lately and have been fighting to not get sick.  I didn’t do the recovery yoga on Sunday – I just rested.  I didn’t do my 30 minute bike workout for Monday either – wasn’t free until late in the evening and then wasn’t feeling so hot.  Tonight I plan on doing the 30 minute bike and the two cyclo-core workouts for today. I had a great 4 mile snowshoe hike on Saturday and got to go skiing on Wednesday!  I was planning on going xc skiing on Sunday, but my friends had to cancel on me and my body was asking for rest.  I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately and that always weakens my immune system and makes me get sick.  I must get some quality sleep!  It is so hard for me though because I can never seem to fit everything into day that I want to get done.

 

On a better note, my calorie tracking has been going very well.  I am starting to get used to eating less and am not as hungry as I was in the beginning.  I have been coming up a little low on my carbs each day and have been meeting my daily requirements for protein and healthy fats.  I don’t eat refined sugar (it has basically cured my mold allergies that were feeding off the sugar that I used to crave and eat lots of) and meals high in carbs that lack protein and fat never seem to fill me up so I stay away from excess carbs and feel so much better!  I am enjoying tracking my calories and choosing when to treat myself and when to be tough.

Too many calories!

I’m almost done with Week 4 on the offseason plan and I just discovered www.livestrong.com.  What an amazing website!  I have begun to track my calories with MyPlate on the website and it is really amazing how nicely it tracks everything.  It has an enormous database of foods and drinks with their nutrition information and you can add anything that it doesn’t have.  You can even add your own recipes!  It has totally been eye opening for  me!  I eat very healthy, but my portions are way too big.  Alcohol kills me in stepping up my overall calories too! By tracking what I eat, I have been able to eat the right amounts of protein, fats, and carbs and not exceed my daily calorie limit.  I am so thrilled to have discovered this site!  It is helping me SO MUCH to make sure I don’t overeat.  I have it set to calculate my daily calories with the intent on losing 1.5 pounds per week.  We’ll see how I do.  I’ve already lost 1 pound.  It’s taught me that if I want to have a couple beers with friends,  I have to cut something out earlier in the day in order to be allowed the treat.  It has given me good discipline and I am ever so grateful!  This is just what I needed!  I urge everyone to check it out if you are not familiar with it!

Week 3 – complete!

It felt good to finish week 3 of the training plan.  I’m doing pretty well with it.  I haven’t been able to get outside on the bike though.  We’ve had a lot of snow.  I have been substituting it with skiing and snowshoeing – which I have been thoroughly enjoying!

This workout kicked my ass!

Week 3, Day 2

Wow, the 45 minute cyclo-ZEN yoga spin workout is KILLER!!  Oh my god; I was dying!  Graeme makes it look so easy!  The yoga part was fine and even doing the 8 minute power workout after wasn’t bad (I can’t do the hindu squats w/my heels off the floor and my knees in front of my toes though – I’ve had knee surgery and it hurts to do them that way so I do them as a regular squat with my heels down, but unfortunately they aren’t as killer that way).  It was the intervals on the bike that killed me!  What a great workout!  I hope it is even the slightest bit easier next week.  That would be motivating to see some improvement.  I felt great at the end of the workout though – a feeling of successfully working hard with high endorphins flowing at the end.  I went to an inauguration party at a friend’s house and celebrated a new hope for our country, a sense of pride to be an American (and I am not patriotic at all), and a feeling of accomplishment and hope for myself toward getting fit and reaching my potential racing this coming season.  It was a good day!

Switchin’ Things Up a Bit

I am just finishing Week 2 of the offseason plan and I had to switch up the days a bit.  I did Saturday’s workout on Friday, just barely finishing in time to get to my friends’ to watch their kids so they could enjoy a dinner out.  Saturday was my snowshoe club hike so I did Sunday’s workout on Saturday – but substituted the 2 hrs of z2 biking for a 5.5 mile snowshoe hike.  Now it is Sunday and I’m going to do Saturday’s workout right now.

The snowshoe hike was great!  6 middle school kids showed up.  It was the coldest day of the winter so far and the school principal and nurse were worried about us going.  I tried to explain that we’d be moving and hiking uphill and would be sweating, but they didn’t really understand.  They were worried the kids wouldn’t be dressed properly.  Myself and my co-worker Julie who run the club both brought tons of extra layers, gloves, socks, hats, scarves, and hand warmers so that settled the administrators down a bit.  It was in the teens all day and in the single digits in the morning when we started, but the sun was out for most of the trip and it was a beautiful day.  We hiked to the top of East Mtn. in Fahnestock State Park – a tiny little hill that is 1062 ft. high.  It had nice views of Mt. Beacon with its fire tower that we will be hiking as our last snowshoe trip, so it was cool to show it to the kids from atop a neighboring peak.  They complained a bit hiking up to the top of the peak, but once at the top they were so happy and we found a nice sunny spot to sit and made some hot chocolate with my camp stove and drank lots of it and had lunch.  The hike down was when they really started to have fun.  They rolled and glided most of the way down on the nice wide trail and shimmied themselves under logs – all army combat style.  They were having a blast and it was nice to see.  They were sad when the trail flattened out again.  We were about to finish early, which is what the parents expected due to the extreme cold.  We were having so much fun though, that we decided to take another side trail that goes up a different peak and hike it just until the steep part started and slide back down.  There was also an open area near there where we thought we could have a snowman building contest.  We found a steep hill up and some cool tracks in the snow that we tried to identify and follow a bit.  The kids were rolling down the hill, which a little nerve wracking because there were rocks and trees everywhere…but luckily no one got injured.  I found a huge down tree that was sloped down the hill and was covered with snow.  It looked like the bark was nice and smooth with no branches coming out, so I sat on it straddling it and slid down it to test it out.  Once I made all the snow come off, we saw that there was a layer of ice coating the tree.  We took turns sliding down it for about 1/2 hr until it was time to go back and meet their parents who would be waiting.  They had so much fun!  I love introducing the outdoors to kids!  Especially kids today, who often are not very active outside – they would much rather sit inside playing video games then go outside to play.  I think I succeeded at not making the hike too hard – which often turns them off instantly to hiking.  It was a great day.  My co-leader Julie and I celebrated such a great day with the kids after by getting some great mexican food and an amazing frozen margarita with sangria in it!  The perfect end to a great day!

Off-season Training Plan – Week 2, Day 2

I was able to squeeze in my prescribed workout between work and the silly pool league I’m in.  I suck at playing pool, but it’s fun to get out and be social once a week.  It breaks up my week nicely and I come to look forward to it, even though it usually results in way too little sleep that night and some extra calories of the amber, liquid, bubbly variety.  I love the cyclo-CORE workouts – they add variety and I look forward to them.  They are doing a nice job of strengthening my core as well!  The  20 minutes on the bike unfortunately had to be cut a little short so I could get to pool and not be TOO late.  I’m reliably late every week, but I couldn’t push it any later than normal.  The one-legged drills are killer for me!!  It is so hard for me to keep a constant pedal stroke.  I survived them, although they weren’t all very smooth.  I definitely know my weaknesses.  I had to bring my dinner of a salad and an apple to the bar (to drink with a couple beers), because I was out of time (I’m used to the harassment from my friends that I get for eating an apple in a bar ).  I’m happy I was able to fit it in though!  It was a successful day – even though I lost at pool and drank more beer than I had planned…nobody’s perfect.