Tapping Out

Ok, so yesterday I put up this great post about how I was going to stick with the "big boy" gearing of my standard crank and 11-23 cassette for my road bike.  I was talking all this smack about how I'll just get used to it and since, back when I was strong, I was riding that gearing easily, I was just going to go with it.  Well screw that!

I decided to take a recovery spin today and realized that with that gearing there was no such thing as a recovery spin.  My legs might have been fresh yesterday, but damnit if they weren't tired as dead wood today.  So, with my tail between my legs, I'm admitting to being a meat-headed pedal masher and succumbing to the lighter gear setup.

Maybe I was a bit too ambitious and maybe I thought I was stronger than I was, but at this point in my newly re-discovered like for road riding, I'm just not up to pushing gears that big.  My knee started to hurt a bit and my legs felt like they were dead.  I had no pop, no get up, and certainly no go.  It's the right decision, it's just a little humbling having to make it.

Because of my lack of money, as well as my desire not to let anything go to waste, I'm gonna go back to the 12-27 cassette for the time being.  If I had the cash, I'd spring for something like an 11-25, but for the moment, I'll just have to deal with it.  At the end of the day, 12-27 isn't such a bad gearing, and still affords me plenty of range to push things when I want to, or lay off and spin up hills when I need to.

As for my ride today, it was nice.  A little to hard but nice.  Temps were just above freezing and the wind was howling, but it was nice to be on the bike even with the cold weather.  I'll probably wind up riding again tomorrow on the road, and then hopefully enjoy a nice, snowy mountain bike ride on Sunday.  We're looking at getting a dusting to 2 inches of snow, which will be perfect on the already frozen ground.  I'm looking forward to getting back on the mountain bike and back on the trails, but right now the priority is getting fit again-meaning plenty more road miles to come.

I've been a little lazy in the gym this week.  Work and life stuff have just taken so much of my time up, and getting back into regular riding had got me pretty tired-moreso than usual.  I'll take this week as an "off" week from the gym, and start back to hitting it hard again next week when, hopefully, my body is a bit more acclimated to everything.  I need to stay healthy and injury free, so being careful is the name of the game right now-at least that's the plan anyway.  I'm sure I'll find a way to push it again!

Road Bike Thursday

I should just label this week "Road Bike Week" and call it a day.  The trails are a soupy mess as a result of the crazy bipolar temps we've been experiencing, so really, the only choice is to go with the lycra and skinny tires.  Not that I'm complaining though, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time back on the saddle of a road machine.

Today was about a 90 minute ride, high on power output with less spinning.  I don't want anyone to think I'm actually training though.  The resultant 'high power' ride from today came at the expense of changing the gearing on my bike.  You see, the stock crank and stock cassette was a Compact, 50/34 chainring set, and a 12-27 cassette.  I'm not saying that I'm putting out pro-level power, but I do happen to be a very strong rider and at my strongest rode a setup of a standard 53/39 crank and an 11-23 cassette.  Coincidentally, that's exactly what I set the bike up with today.  I pulled the stock crank off, threw on a sweet "new to me" Dura Ace (bought from my good buddy at the bike shop for a shockingly low price), and stuck with the 11-23 cassette I'd put on there when I was trying to make the compact crank useful.

Again, back when I was strong (and not to mention about 30lbs lighter!) I was killing it with this setup around here.  The rolling hills were no match for my legs, and I had no problem riding that gearing.  Today however, after a year plus off the road bike, I'm strong, and can still push those gears, but have a much smaller amount of muscular endurance.  The good news is, I wasn't too beat up by the end of the ride and actually finished much stronger than when I started.  The bad news is it was only a 90 minute ride and I've got some work to do before I get out there and start riding hard.  My plan for the bike now is to keep the gearing as is, and keep my intensity low and work on building up my endurance.  I'm not all into the fancy, scientific training thought right now, I just reckon if I ride more I'll get strong, even if the gearing is a bit steep for me at the moment.

Overall it's been a good week back on the road.  The weather's been cooperative and looks like it will be for the next few days.  The temps both yesterday and today were unseasonably warm and nice, but it'll all get back to winter starting tomorrow and going through the weekend.  I'm hoping to get a mountain bike ride in by the weekend, and if things go well perhaps both Saturday and Sunday I'll get the chance.  If the temps can stay below freezing, the mud should freeze up nicely and give us some great, hard, and fast trails to enjoy.

Road Ride Wednesday

With the temps reaching Spring-like proportions, it was anything but silly not to go out for a ride on the roads yesterday.  Yeah, there was a lot of much and sand on the roads-probably a little bit of salt out there too, remaining from the snow over the past weekend-but who the hell cares when you can go out in long sleeves, knee warmers, and glove-less?

Like I've stated before, I got the "bug" to ride the road again.  After picking up the new road bike and enjoying the warmth yesterday, I'm stoked to be getting fit and riding on the road again.  I'm not going to lie, in no way, shape or form do I get the same "rush" riding on the road as I do bombing down a rocky, rooty trail, but it is somehow therapeutic and very satisfying to be rolling along and just pedaling.  There's the sound of the tires on the road as well as the sounds that you don't hear from the bike.  It's just smooth and fast.  Power from your legs goes directly into the bike and from there in to the road.  There's no suspension to suck some power, and not jostling of the bike to get around obstacles.  What you put down is what you get out of each pedal stroke.  Without getting too poetic about it, things are just simple on the road: You pedal and you go.  That's about it.

I say all this keeping in mind that mountain biking is still (and probably always will be) my preferred style of riding-particularly Enduro style riding. I love the aspect of having to pedal to the top only to get to bomb the descents.  Getting through rocks, roots, mud, drops, and other obstacles is what makes things for me on two wheels more enjoyable than anything else.  But, and it's a big BUT, there's something to be said about the road.  Even though I spent most of the last year discrediting everything "roadie" (see lycra, shaved legs, etc.), it's pulled me back in like a drug.  Having the right mix of both will, in all likelihood give me a balance I've missed out on most of my athletic life.

Rest Day

Some days you just have to much shit to get done to worry much about working out.  Today was one of those for me.

From 5am onward, I've been moving and moving and moving.  Personal training clients, doctors appointments, bootcamp classes to teach, and the list goes on...  I like these days because usually it means I'm being productive.  Usually it means I'm making some money and getting things done-but today I somehow wound up spending more money than I earned.  Hate days like that.

On a good note, the temps have warmed up a bit and the weather is looking nice for a good road ride tomorrow.  I'd love to get out the mountain bike for a trail ride tomorrow, but A)the trails are going to be a soupy mess, and B) I need to continue to build up my fitness.  I haven't dropped many pounds yet since the holidays (which is perfectly fine at this time of year), but I need to keep my head down and keep plugging away so that when the Spring and races come, I'll be fit and ready to go.

On ANOTHER note my stomach hurts so bad from the sit ups I did yesterday, I thought I was coming down with the stomach flu when I woke up this morning.  Alas, what I thought were stomach cramps was actually just DOMS.  Kind of a good feeling to know that I worked hard enough to have to "stretch" to actually stand up straight, but at the same time kind of sucks to know that I haven't been keeping up enough with my abdominal work that it hurts so bad after just 100 sit ups.  Still, I'm encouraged.

Finally, I'm really getting stoked on skateboarding again.  It's been a good 10 plus years since I actually attempted a trick or two, but I'm picking things up again and it's a fun and creative way to goof around when I'm not trying to be serious about fitness.  I think it's a necessary evil to have some kind of an outlet that's not "fitness related" when your pushing the envelope training for a particular sport.  It's nice to be able to concentrate on creativity but still be somewhat physical at the same time.  I will say though that I wish I'd played soccer in school-makes me think I might have a bit more coordination with my big as floppy feet if I did!

Tomorrow is a bit more of a relaxing day and one in which I can concentrate a bit more on riding and getting back in the saddle.  It's going to be warm and rainy-a nice Spring-like day.  Looking forward to turning the cranks!

Detour

I was going to make this a hate-filled, negative post about what I hate in the gym and the humility that is non-existent in so many parts of life, BUT, I thought better and realized that it's all about the positivity that we spread in the world.  Karma is a real thing and if you're positive in the way you live your life, you welcome positive things, events, people, etc. in as well.

So instead, I'll just talk about my workout today.  In an effort to get my strength back I've been hitting the weights pretty hard.  And, because of this, I've caused myself to plateau a bit-which isn't a bad thing, just a regular occurrence in any training program.  To me, it's these plateaus that allow us to learn and progress in the end.  The key is to know what to do when you reach it and to have the guts and discipline to actually do what you should (i.e. rest, recover).

I've been dead lifting a lot of weight lately, getting my 5 rep max up to 335lbs.  This by no means is 'world class' or even close to where I used to be.  But, it is a step in the right direction and I'm happy with the results I've achieved.  After my last dead lift day, however, I was spent and wasted physically for about 3 days.  No good.  Because of this, I took a step back for this week  on the weights side of things, and am concentrating in stead on "feeling" my way through workouts and not trying to be Superman.

Today, I did the following, all with a 32kg kettle bell:
Warm up-1 and 2 arm swings and shoulder stretches
Then- 2x5 of one arm:
Clean
Long Cycle Jerk
Snatch (I actually did 3X5 of this because it felt so good)
Then- 5 rounds of:
10 Push ups
20 Sit ups
10 Strict Pull Ups w/full range of motion-starting each rep from a dead hang
Then-
2x5 1 arm Front squats on each arm with the kettlebell.

On the volume end of things this workout was just about perfect.  The strength work in the beginning was all quality, and the bodyweight stuff in the middle (push ups, etc.) was great-tiring, but great.  I threw the front squats in at the end for shits and giggles, as well as to round out the workout and give my legs something to do.  A workout like this is perfect all around and can be done in about 45 minutes providing that you're giving yourself ample time to rest in between sets of the strength work in the beginning.  I'm a big fan of resting fully between lifts like snatches, cleans, and jerks, so a lot of the time spent in the gym today was spent pacing in between that early stage of the workout.

I'm trying, also, to keep my lifting volume to a minimum this week and focus solely on strength and quality movements.  For the past few weeks I've spent too much time trying to tire myself out from gym workouts and have expectantly seen a slight decrease in my performance.  It's important to remember that the gym is a place where you build strength, not tear it down.  Working too hard or with too much emphasis on volume is a surefire way to see performance dip and then continue to decline until you decide to train properly.  From this point onward I'll worry about tiring myself out on the bike, not in the weight room.

Tomorrow, hopefully, will be another day on the bike.  I'm not sure if it's going to be on the road or on the trails though, because of the crappy snow and rain we've had the last 24 hours.  My guess is that the trails will be a sloppy mess of half frozen dirt and slush.  Hopefully one way or another the bike I ride will be decided for me by the elements, because I'm so stoked on both right now it'll be hard to decide.

Ahhhhh.... Now that felt much better than being all negative.  :)

The Bug

I got the road riding bug again.  I mentioned it in an earlier post this week, but I woke up this morning once again thinking of going out for a road ride.  It's cold, miserable, and the roads are shit full of sand and salt from Friday's dusting of snow, but for some reason all I wanna do is bundle up and push the pedals.

It's funny how things go in (pardon the pun) cycles.  I have, personally, about a 2 year attention span when it comes to sports.  Since I stopped playing lacrosse-my longest run at a sport, spanning nearly 20 years-I've been hopping around and back to different sporting endeavors.  From Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, to Triathlon, to Mixed Martial Arts, to road cycling, to downhill mountain biking, I've pretty much done everything I can do on two wheels.  Even now, getting into dirt jumping and some small attempts at trials and street riding on my dirt jump bike, I've had a hand in everything.  Hell, I even started skateboarding again.  Then, if you combine all that with the fact that I'm back into being a gym rat again, you'll probably figure out that I'm just an activity junkie.  And honestly, I can't say that I'm the type to sit still for all too long.  I need to be on to something, have some kind of interest, and more times than not it has got to be physical.

So what's the lesson in all of this?  What is the take away that I can use to improve my life and learn a lesson?  I don't know.   At times I feel like this addiction to switching things up has been a downfall of mine.  I get just good enough at something to really give it a go, but then I grow tired of it and things turn stale.  Just at the point where I'm about to advance to the highest level I can achieve, I burn out.  I'm not psychologist, and I honestly don't believe there is a deeper meaning in any of this, but I'm sure that someone sitting me down on a couch would say that I'm a non-commital person.  Maybe so, in the sporting part of my life anyway, but I think the real meaning behind this is that I'm just a very "interested" person.  I see something cool and I want to do it.  Sure there have been times in my life when I would have liked to master something, but at the end of the day, what's the big deal?  I can have just as much fun being proficient in something, and maybe even more, than if I spent months and years of my life trying to perfect just one thing.

The idea of perfection and mastery is deep rooted in our culture.  We're told to look at all the great thinkers, performers, and especially athletes and try to emulate what we see in them.  Why?  Why can't we just learn different skill sets enough to experience the joy in each and then find the next thing?  After all, those skills will be there when we want to call on them again-maybe a bit rusty but they'll be there.  I'm not saying we should just strive to be mundane, rather, we should strive to be well rounded.  Learn different skills, ask different things from different aspects of your personality.  Not everyone has to be Michael Jordan or Tony Hawk.  It's ok to be the "other" guys (or girls), just make sure you're having fun while you're at it.

Not Up for Much

Kinda wound up spinning my wheels a bit today.  I guess it's probably from being a little overzealous this past week with my training.  It's dawned on me that I'm going to have to go a little less hard in the gym if I'm going to want to give it a go on the bike for this race season.  My endurance on the bike has always been a strength, so I'm not too concerned with that at the moment.  The nature of enduro racing being what it is-with high intensity periods followed by low intensity periods-is forcing me to think about my training differently than in the past when I was just an endurance racer.

So far, my training has been high intensity, really hard but short gym sessions.  My thought is to have most of my intensity come from that early on, and then start to incorporate specific hard sessions on the mountain bike once the season comes closer.  I say "season" more referring to the Spring right now as I've yet to plan any actual races.  The planning part will have to come a bit later when Anne and I can sit down and figure out what races are going to work where in our calendars.  Her races have a higher priority than mine, so we'll have to plan accordingly.

Back to training, I'm toying with the notion of cutting my gym sessions from about 5 a week to 3 a week and ramping up my riding volume.  Last week, I did a couple double day sessions that worked well, but left me tired and quite fatigued.  I think it's best if I let my fitness come around first before doing too many 2-a-days.  Also, while you can compliment what you do on the bike with what you do in the gym, there's really no substitute for getting in good saddle time.  Spending about 3 solid sessions on the road and the rest on the mountain bike working skills should be a good plan moving forward.

The ride today wound up being a little more of a "fun and adventure" ride than anything else.  We got about an inch of fresh snow covering the trails from last night's snow that provided quite a bit of fun.  I haven't ridden in the snow in ages, so getting my wheels underneath me required a little bit of patience. Also, having not really ridden in the cold for over a year didn't give me the best idea of what to wear when the temps were well below freezing.  The long and short of it was that I dressed too little and got cold early.  It's tough to come back from being cold nearly as soon as you start, but I did my best to get in what I could.  Tomorrow is another day and I plan on getting in some more quality riding time then.

One other thing that has been on my mind a lot has been rest.  I posted a few days ago about making sure I get proper rest, and since I haven't been terrific in doing so.  I've done alright to get a good nights sleep, but there are other things such as foam rolling, stretching, and getting to bed even earlier that I could be actively doing but I'm not.  Also, my diet still needs to be gotten under control, and that's something I have absolutely no excuse about.  I've always got the "tomorrow" idea going in my head, but it's just something I've got to take the bull by the horns and control for myself.  After all, no one can have more control over what I shove in my mouth than I do!