Knowing when to rest

Had a hard work out indoors the other day, I was suppose to train today but feel really cooked from that work out so I am taking an extra day of recover. I have worked hard the last few weeks and I am going to listen to my body even though my ego says get out on the bike. I did do some stretching but that is it. Your body actually rewards you for a little bit of abuse (breaking it down through training) and then it comes back stronger. But, if you beat it to severely it will let you down every time. Plus at this point I don't think I could do the hard work out I have hard enough to benefit, so why waste the effort.

Sunday is the Robeson race, its a local race and I am using it as a tune up for the Tour of the Catskills and I am really looking forward to the race, I haven't raced in about a month. Well, its off to bed for some rest then a hard training day tomorrow.

Gun

Rain Rain Go Away,,,,

Weather has not been very good here the last few days, thunderstorms and rain, so I have been on the trainer. Not a problem I try to maintain a flexable attitude so that I don't get discouraged.

Today I decided to do spin class 7 accelerations. For me that has always been the hardest class, I still struggle with it, but that is OK I do see some improvement. I am in the middle of my training for the stage race its about 20 days out, I am doing a race this coming weekend close to home, its a 60 miler with not many hills but a few punch climbs and a 2 mile easy grade that I am sure is going to lead to some attacks. It will be a tune up race for me, I am going to do my best and hit it hard since its far enough out from my stage race. Josh said "go ahead and try to get a result" and well who am I to argue :)
Nutritionally things are good, I am cycling the drip usually a week on then a day or two off it. My energy is high and am trimming up a bit. I am not focused on losing weight at this point, but gaining fitness. The program that josh laid out for me I have followed I would say 95% I have added a few extra rest days as needed or as uncontrollable events have called for, but over all I have done all the days of work and in pretty much the prescribed manner. (Kicking my butt)
gun

What a three weeks

The last three weeks I've learned quite a bit about myself, training, and just life in general. Life in general, I have really learned that all of our pursuits play a role in molding who we are, and that no matter what age we are were always in a state of change (even if we don't know it or acknowledge it) and change can be positive or negative. If we learn from both we are doing good.

In all aspects I am learning to think outside the box to get out of my comfort zone to achieve growth. My fitness level has gone to a new level, and with that comes the risk of over training. This is easy to fall into and is something I try to keep in check. On the other hand I don't want to use it as an excuse to not push as hard as I need to when its time to push. Its all a learning curve I have been learning from my mistakes and hopefully will not make them again.

I just finished a week of go long climb strong, so as of now I have done (week go long climb strong, 7day climbing boot camp, week of go long climb strong) I start another week of go long tomorrow and then have two days off before going into a week of speed work, then taper into the Tour of the Catskills.

I do have a few added stress points, my wife started back school the other day and two of my kids go back in a week. Its not too bad but on days that I train when I have to work I like someone at home with a car to pick my up in case of a major mechanical problem. To deal with this I just plan my routes close enough that I can get home in an hour if I have to walk it and I do have an older daughter who just got her drivers license if it comes to that. I just take it all in stride and keep my priorities straight.

Over all everything seems to be going good, I feel good, I am eating good, and my general outlook is good. Really the pay off will be how I do in the race not if I win but the effort I am able to put forth compared to what I have done in the past. Its all up to me and there are many factors involved to put all my pay off in the final results, cause sometimes they are just not a good gauge of how your training has gone.

gun

Sweet spot (day 2 of triple up)

Felt good this morning after getting about 13 hours of sleep. Some sorness in the traps but after nearly 6 hours in the saddle yesterday I exspect some, especially with all the climbing. Went out today to train in the sweet spot. I have a nice rolling route that has little traffic and no stops. Its about 9 miles each way. So, I keep up a good pace out and a good pace back, took about 5 minutes of rest between each effort. I did about a 10 minute warm up and cool down also.

Going out I stayed in the drops and in the big ring (53), and on the way back I stayed in the small ring and on the hoods but still low. I have really been working on efficency and breathing, really is paying off. Going out I was able to average 22mph with my hr staying below 150, and on the way back 19.5 mph still keeping my hr below 150. I added in some standing on the way back keeping all side to side movent out of it when I stood kinda like when your on the trainer. I noticed how much more of the quads came into it when I did that and I went up the rollers harder and faster with less effort.

For coming off a hard ride yesterday I felt great tomorrow is a go long day I am going to try and get about 3 hours in if I can. Nutrionally I am really feeling lots of energy so I feel what I am fueling with is doing the job.

gun

Day 1 of a triple up

Today was Livestrong, I did the century (96 miles) I am very happy with my time and how well I climbed. Going into today I thought I would have to re arrange the days of the triple up from Go long climb strong, but I really dont today was definitly an over reaching day, and though I will not go as long as I did today in miles on day three I can do the order as its laid out.

I used just about every technique in the club today, and learned quite a bit about how to suffer. It was a great day and I think I have made great gains. I am still playing with my fueling a bit but think I have it nailed down in the shorter efforts (3hrs or less).

Gun

Chillin

Well, today I am just chillin out hanging with the kids. Plan on doing some recovery yoga tonight possibly. I have really learned how important rest is and I take full advantage of it. I am still training in my nutrition but that is it when resting.

I do have a decent hilly century on Sunday, not sure how I am going to approach it but its going to be lot's of fun. Hope the weather holds off.

gun

All things together

I definitely see my fitness has improved, quite a bit actually over the last three weeks. I am going faster and able to go harder longer. I started a two week block of go long climb strong today. Maybe your saying whoopdee doo :), No really, in of and of itself that is not a big deal. The big deal to me anyhow is this, I just came off a 7 day straight stretch of 6 twelve hour work days and 18 hours today. I arrived home around 1:45 and headed out on my bike for day one of this block with no sleep in 26 hours I actually road before work yesterday and then today when I got home. The big deal to me is how great I felt on my work out today. I was able to push bigger gears with less effort (I believe partly do to working on form), I road up steeper hills in big ring still pushing around 45 rpm. I did 9 sets of 3 minute intervals like this on rolling terrain and a 10Th 7 minute interval. I took about 24 minutes rest between for the most part. My gearing was a 53 and I tried (and mostly achieved this) to keep between an 11 and 17 on the rear.

I ended up with 24 miles in just around an hour 18 minutes, with out even thinking about going fast. My legs felt toasted after till I spun them out and then did my cool down routine. The drip really seems to keep my energy level up, I think I may need to decrease some of my intake but am worried about messing with something that is working. If I gain a pound or two it will more than likely not be an issue. I have also noticed I am leaning up, seeing more veins if you know what I mean.

I don't think I am over doing it, which may cross some peoples mind. I just think I have gone up a level in fitness and strength and can now train at a bit higher intensity with out killing myself. Now its time to refuel and keep it going..

gun

Great Gains

Well, killed day 7 went out did the techniques and just felt like doing a little more, I did not want to over do it just felt so good and strong just wanted to see what my gains over this last few weeks may be. (This is from the culmination of three weeks of training). First, I headed out to a steep hill that I climb now and then, its not real long maybe 1/2 mile but its about 24% grade for about half of that. Anyhow, oh and since I was doing standing drills I stood the whole climb. I normally feel like I am going to explode by about half of the steepest part but I always make it up. Today, I did not even get that feeling it was just like going up anyother hill, I accelerated over the top even past a car (he was going less than 12 miles an hour).
Now its time to head home, so I decided to stay in the big ring and in the drops the whole way so total it was 27 minutes in the drops and in the big ring and even one climb in there. I feel great....


gun

"How hard can you go before you blow up"

The last two days have been pretty tough, yesterday was my fifth day in a row of working 12 hrs. I have two more days then I am off for 5. This definitely plays apart in my energy level as well as my recovery time. The last two days of training have not been any picnic either. Yesterday was an off the bike work out day, basically destroying the core. Then today's focus was on going as hard as I can, on a hill five reps. Over all I think it went pretty well, but there is always this thing in my head (something I need to work on) that if I dig to deep I will never recover, and I will be off the back of the pack. Well, I think its time to realize that even when I go somewhere in the middle I end up off the back, what can I do.

In my opinion I don't trust my fitness enough, an I think (like anyone else) I don't want to suffer to much. So, I either have to get tougher and take that chance or accept that if I don't push it I will be finishing where I am or slightly better in my events. It may sound (at least for the level I race at) that I am putting to much into it. I don't see it that way, the way I do see it is pushing ones self is how we get ahead in all our live ventures and being able to juggle family (first priority always to me), work, and cycling is training, and as I have been told I take things to an extreme that most people in my position would that's just me and I love it.

Going to finish up the 7 day climbing boot camp tomorrow, then its into 14 days of go longer climb stronger. I have a century coming up next Sunday the 23rd of August, and am using that as part of my training. I have seen a good bit of improvement in the last three weeks, so I must be doing something right.

gun

Going into rest day..

Did some hill work today (this is the theme of my training because its my weakest link), practiced pacing my self into the hill and gradual build up and roll over the hill and get back up to speed. It doesn't sound all that tough, but for me that is where I typically get dropped in a race or a ride. I am looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. You might say to yourself "if he is looking forward to a day of rest why train so hard", and that is a good question one that I asked myself before. The answer is this, rest and recovery is just as important to training and training effectively as all the work set off and on the bike.

Nutritionally things are going pretty good, I have been using a drip and increased my veggie (raw) intake as part of the drip. I am still eating carbs but have spread them out, also I am cutting them slightly to see how much I really need. So far I have good energy on and off the bike during and after work outs.

So far my goals are on track actually a bit above where I figured, I have increased my volume and am feeling the work but not over trained. I have Livestrong (a century) coming up, which falls during the first week of two weeks of go longer climb stronger, that will be a good marker. I don't have a time to beat I just want to finish and ride strong in the hills, I did do a 101 mile ride last year in 5hrs 50 it had some decent hills at the end but not as many as livestrong will have.
Cant wait, its going to be so fun to participate with close to 6000 others, for a great cause.

Gun

Form....it really makes a difference

Today is day two of the climbing boot camp, I was unable to get out to ride due to thunderstorms, so I did "Cyclo-Spin class number 1" it basically hits what I would have hit on the hills doing super spins. I could really see where my technique needs work (I guess we all can use improvement), when I was doing some of the spinning with one leg, I could feel when I was not spinning a circle the dead spot was very obvious. I also noticed that I was able to spin faster with less effort when I had good form.

All in all it was a good (sweaty) work out. Only 35 days left till the Tour of the Catskills, and regardless of how I do I am learning about myself and really loving it.

On a side note, at work I have noticed how my fitness caries over to my life off the bike. I am able to get into positions (I'm an industrial electrician and sometimes I work in very odd contorted positions depending on what part of the machine I am trying to get at) and stay there for long periods of time, where before I would have to get out get back to normal and go back in. A few of my co workers made some comments about my flexibility (but I will keep this G rated)


gun

Climbing Boot Camp

Today was day one of the "7 day climbing boot camp", it was a short work out only about 55 minutes total, it really consisted of a warm up, 20 min hardest sustainable pace, then a cool down. I also did some yoga moves not a full work out, followed by "Cyclo-Zen Fix the back Strength and Cyclo-Cool Down Stretch.

The work done doesn't seem like much, until you do it. I took three days off after the two long days on the bike and that was good. I felt great. With the start of today's work out it takes me into 21 days of training with recover with in the three 7 day programs (climbing boot camp, and two weeks of go long climb strong). I do have some adjustments to make due to a charity ride century but it will work out great.

Gun

Planning upcoming weeks...

Planning is (I think ) important to any successful program, but so is being flexible and having the ability to think outside the box.

Well, sat down and planned the days of my training to see how they fell with i each module. I still have plenty of room for flexibility, (that's what I really like about these programs) so I will start the Climbing Boot Camp on Wed the 12th then I go straight into a go long climb strong (two weeks) the first week I am modifying things a bit to fit my time and a charity ride. All I am really doing is swapping the days around. Basically, instead of doing days 5,6,7 in order I will swap them and do the days in this order 7,6,5. So I will actually be pre fatiguing myself for the sweet spot and over reaching day by going long. (Talk about mixing it up)May seem like flirting with over training but if I need to I can do smaller chunks on days 6 and 7 or less chunks overall. And its far enough out from my event I think it will work good.

Gun

Resting is training...Right

Today I was given a reminder in an email, "if you feel like you're getting close to "the edge" in your training, add in a couple of days off " I have often wondered when I am really getting to the edge of my training, or am I just scared to suffer.

Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't hesitant to suffer (I don't think scared is the right adjective to describe how I feel), I mean the human body is built with many mechanisms to either keep us from suffering or to tell us we are. I mean think about it, when you break a bone your body immediately starts to produce dopamine to dull the pain, so that your flight or fight reflexes can be utilized (this is an opinion based on some things I have read). Anyhow, what I am getting at is we are not programmed to suffer, I think its quite the opposite, our body does all it can to not suffer. Another example is when we are with out food our metabolism (after a time) slows to perserve itself.

Yesterday, I was on the first of two or three days (depends on how I feel) of recovery from the hard block of volume training. Even though I was resting, I was still training just not physically but mentally, which for me entails learning things to utilize in life as well as training. I was searching through some of the Cyclo-Club archives and found a video about intentionally making ones self suffer to find out exactly what you can tolerate and what your limits may be, and where one needs to say enough is enough. This is an important thing to know about ones self for various reasons, with out pushing past a limiter you will never progress in that area, if you dont stress your body it will stay where its at (if your looking to advance this is important), and you never know when you will be lost in the woods with no food (thats extreme but sounds good :) )

So, I have to ask myself (and I do quite often) am I pushing hard enough to attain my goals? I also ask myself is my goal realistic, and will I be happy no matter what the out come? The later of the two questions is easy, absolutely especially if I know in regards to the first question that I did my best and gave it what I wanted to.

I am honest with myself in my training, I know what I did and when I held back when the suffering got intense. So, after an event or a ride I can say to myself honestly "I gave it all I had in training and in the event" or " I know I held back on those hill repeats so I earned the finish that I have" and I am good with either scenario. I just really love what I am doing right now on and off the bike.

Gun

Transition to next block of training

Today (8/9/09)is a day off actually today and tomorrow. Then on Tuesday I am starting the Climbing boot camp. I will be eating good today but still smart. Made sure I got plenty of veggies broc, cauliflowe, carrots ect I will just forgo the dip. We are having a cook out and I plan on eating but still need to eat right.
Legs feel work (as well they should) but I dont feel completely trashed, that is telling me two things one that my in ride fueling was sufficent and that my post ride stretching and fueling are on. Will not be using the drip today as I will be getting a good bit of calories from food and beer...
Gun

Day two (Block of training)

Today was day two of a block of training that I hope will jump start my fitness, as I get into week three of training for the "Tour of the Catskills" I did hills yesterday and something I learned from the "Cyclo-Club, Go Longer Climb Stronger" is to get your hard work in first then taper it off the rest of the week. I came off a week of this program took a few recovery days, and decided because of the time I have (I actually had some) if I got out early I could get a block of days of 4+ hrs or work on the bike. Well, today I intentionally avoided a lot of climbs and went out on a route that starts out with a easy climb and the next real climb is somewhere around mile 70. http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/pa/pottsville/993399642502

The first part of this ride is rolling with a good bit of flat and false flats that you can really move on. I broke this into some chunks of tempo between 5-12 min each set and made sure I blasted up the hills and rolled over the other side not loosing to much momentum or speed. I then took it easy for about 12 miles because I knew there was this climb coming (starts out gradual 1-2% then up to 12-14 %) that is about a good 18-20 minutes. I was so close to stopping on the steep section but I pushed it out, I figure if I am not going to push through the pain then I may as well not train for a race. After this climb I hit a few tall rollers and felt like my legs were going to fall off, I was so inside my head I had to get out, or I was going to quite.

I tried something different for fueling today inride. I made up two bottles of perpetum, one three hour bottle (6 scoops) and one two hour bottle (4 scoops) and three bottles of water (in a camel pack), also took some gel and a cliff bar. I actually think this worked out pretty good for me it was a little bit thick but actually tasted good I had to watch that I did not go to the bottles too much cause I am use to downing a bottle an hour. Also, used some anti fatigue and enduroltytes. Post ride I had a serving of endurox r4 stretched then had an omlete with spinach and mushrooms and serving of oatmeal with blue berries ( I eat this almost every day love it and dont get sick of it)

Well, overall it was a great ride (just inside my head too much) but still got in little over 5hrs and 84 miles. Tomorrow will be recovery, I find for me that after hard blocks of training active recovery works best, maybe take the mtb out for an hour then some yoga and stretching. Oh and my wife is having a bday party for me so, will be doing a bit of drinking and eating but not still am aware of my goal, but I know I can have fun doing both.
Hey you only turn 40 once.

Gun

Hitting the Hills

Hill work today and man was it a killer got 4hrs in and nine climbs to speak off, did not worry about the total mileage but got 55 in. If your interested in seeing the elevation here is a link http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/pa/pottsville/321124966061584322I did various chunks on the hills first long climb I did some accelerations, the next climb I spun, you get the idea. The best one that shows me how much progress I have made last year was the fourth climb, I stood the whole climb shifting to make the gears harder if it leveled off then back down as it got steeper. Last year it took me 8 minutes to climb this hill this time it was just under 5 min. In ride fuel, I used three and a half bottles of perpetum, one cliff bar broken into thirds and two shots of gell, some anti fatigue caps, RCS, and eduruolytes. When I left it was 48 degrees but I know you can still cramp up so I figure it wouldnt hurt. Hard a** work out..gun

Day off physically but not mentally

Today was a day off of training completely, I worked at the bike shop (do this now and then) I don't work often just now and again to fill in. I have learned a ton about taking care of my bike fine tuning it and general fixes that use to keep my bike in the shop for small fixes when I wanted to be riding. (The discount is awesome too :)

I was talking to the top mechanic there as far as gearing, if he thought I should go to a compact crank or on the other end go to a smaller cassette. Right now I typically use an 11/28 I feel it gives me enough range to climb as well as when I need to hammer it on the flats or false flats. I use a 53/39 on the front. Basically we talked about advantages and disadvantages and we came to the conclusion that I may want to go to the smaller cassette for the prologue being that its not a steep climb, but that my 11/28 should be sufficient.

Tomorrow starts a block of long days 70+miles or 4-6 hour rides, first day will be lots of hills and I will chunk them spinning some, powering some, and doing accelerations and roll overs on some. I will 6 to 8 climbs of varying difficulty half of them just over 2 miles two of them shorter but steep. The day after that will be a long ride about 5 hrs with only two real climbs at about the 60 mile mark the rest mainly rollers and flat. The third day I am still waiting to decide I want to see how my body reacts to this much training in a short time. It could end up a short ride with some good yoga and some core work.

I guess I should be dreading it but I am actually looking forward to it. The days will start early (I want to spend time with the family) about 4:30 or 5am get back be 10-12 then off to the amusement park or the pool to chill out.

Till later

Harvey

Gun

3 Day stage race training

Week one of my training for the "Tour of the Catskills" is in the book, very tough week but productive. If you follow my blog, you may know that I am a member of a cycling club "Cyclo-Club" and I get the majority of my work outs and routines from this site as well as from other members.
I am currently getting guidance from the owner of Cyclo-Club Graeme Street as well as Josh Liberles whom is a Cat 1 racer and does lots of big races. Josh has given me a formula for approaching my training for this stage race, and we will be working on strategy on how to approach each stage to get the best results with in as well as over all (GC). Each race has points with in it for KOM (king of the mountain) as well as sprints. I am not strong after the climb but can climb pretty well during the climb if I expect not to come over the top and stay with the pack, which is one of the major things I am working on. So, there is a bit of strategy that goes into this type of race, as I am learning.

This week in my training I am doing a few days in a row of 60-100 mile rides and with in these rides I am going to do chunks of focused efforts, for example I may do some hill accelerations, some tempo, as well as various techniques to get pedal efficiency up.

If your wondering why I am doing this type of work out for the week, here are a few reasons. First, I have some family things planned and can get in some long rides in the morning and spend the day with the wife and kids. Then there is the base building that comes from long endurance rides, as well as getting my body into a mode of doing long harder efforts consecutive days in a row. Then there is the main reason, my wife is throwing a 40Th birthday party for me on Sunday and I plan on drinking a fair amount of booze (not something I do often) and I doubt I will be doing much riding the day after...:) and that would be right in the middle of a week long routine.

I am really jazzed up about this race and the training and learning that will come with it. Should be a great experience. So here we go full speed ahead.

Harvey

"Gunnadropya"

Where I am at now....

Its been a few months since I have posted on my blog. Being a cycling dad life is pretty hectic and sometimes its tough to even get on the computer. Now, starts a new chapter in my cycling training. As of now I have done Road races (circuit as well as straight road) , the longest was the Tour of the Battenkill at 62miles, and it was tough. The shortest was 17 miles "City Cycle 17" and that too was tough due to the wall (22% grade climb) that we had to go up five times. I have done Crits these are tough due to the accelerations and constant high tempo. I did one crit cat 3/4 that I got dropped after 12 laps of the 20 and my average speed was 29.5 mph.

My finishes have not been great, a few of them are not bad and I bested my last years time in the "Lake Auburn Road Race" by a full 10 minutes on a 35 mile course, Thats like beating myself by 3 miles. So, all and all I have made some great improvements but still have tons of work to do to get where I want to be.

My new goal is to upgrade to a Cat 3 (not an easy thing), and start doing the master series races (dont let the "masters" fool you) and be able to do the national championships (which at my age group you have to be a Cat 3 or lower). I just turned 40 so I would be racing in the 35+, this may sound like a bunch of old guys riding bikes, but if you know anything about racing this catagory is Cat 1-4 so basically you could be racing with ex pro's or even guys that are still racing at high levels just using these races to keep in shape. What I'm saying is that its even tougher than racing in the cat 3 or 4 most of the time.

In order to upgrade I need to accumilate 20 points and this is not easy either. My first race on the road to this upgrade is going to be a three day stage race "Tour of the Catskills". This race has the potential for good point accumilation, which I did not know when decided to do it. Which is why I need to train harder and smarter than I have all year. My training started last week and I will keep posting on my training and how its going and what I am doing and why.


Gun

Harvey