Trainer Tale

Four workouts per week

Dead legs tell the tales of woe

Results are worth it

Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Me

No, I’m not channeling my inner Tyra.  For some reason lately, I’ve been thinking about that Road ID commercial that Levi Leipheimer does.  In it, he does a brief list of “Who I am”.

Many cyclists know that when you have to do an hour of tempo on a trainer (I do twice a week now), your mind can wander.  Well, after pondering Levi’s soliloquy and then clipping in, this was my stream of consciousness:

I am a cyclist

I am a husband

I am a brother, uncle and a son.

I am a computer programmer.

I am not a gamer.

At one time, I was an excellent bowler.

I am a guitarist.

I will not have children.  It used to bother me a little, but not any more.

I can see why some people don’t like Woody Paige.

I don’t drink alcohol.  I do drink caffeine.

I love chocolate.  Don’t care much for hard candy.

I have a lack of discipline when it comes to food.  If I don’t want to be tempted, I can’t have it near me.

I have a strong immune system, I think.  I don’t get sick very often.  Not having kids likely helps.

I’m scared of being fat again.  That has to mean something deep on some level, doesn’t it?

I hate yardwork.  Mowing the lawn is a 90 minute chore.  A 3 hour ride is a joy.

I love it when my legs feel totally fatigued and a little sore after a tough ride.  I feel like I did something fulfilling.

I tend to be routine-oriented, but not married to it.  “One man’s rut is another man’s groove”, I say.

I hate it when the above is interpreted as my being panicked when a routine is interrupted.  I not Rain Man for crying out loud.

I don’t see my friends as often as I’d like.

Man, do I miss riding outside.

A New Season Underway

The Tour Down Under started today, sort of.  An unusual format to a stage race, a criterium that doesn’t count toward the overall standings, yet is still somehow part of the TDU.  Good thing they have the day off tomorrow to recover; you don’t want to push them that hard this early in the season.  I guess it’s also good that there’s no serious climbing stage.  Or time trial.  If there’s such a thing as an emphatic “meh”, then this race earns it.

I’m not here to hate on the race, not at all.  It’s good to have something to follow this time of year besides transfers, legal mumbo jumbo and other detritus.  Up until this year, the TDU was a prelude to the first race on the calendar I had genuine interest in, the Tour of California.  Sadly, I have to wait until mid-May for Cali.  All I have in February now is the GP Tom Boonen Tour of Qatar.  I’ll really be jonesing for Paris-Nice.

Topics to Ponder

Last year at this time I was musing the year that was.  However, this time around I just didn’t have the motivation to look back.  Overall it was a sub-par year for me.  There was a metric assload of rain in July and August and my total miles were down around 25%.  Now it’s January and I am wrestling with the traditional winter issues of weight gain and trainer rides.  I need to look forward, not back.  It’s time to do a status check.

Here’s what’s going on right now:  Starting 4-ride weeks on the trainer.  I have just enough cycling clothes to do this.  They will take the form of two interval workouts and two tempo rides.  I need to increase the volume and I don’t want to burn myself out on constant lung-burners.  No January Champions here.

I’m going to do one tempo ride on the weekend and fit the other three in mid-week.  This should be a fun exercise in reovery.

I want to train for a century this year, but not like I have done in the past.  No, this will be what I’m calling a “Circuit Century”.  This past summer I added a loop route to my stable of rides.  It measures about 10 miles per lap.  Yep, I want to take a shot at 10 laps.

If it’s anything like riding a more conventional century, there will be at least two brief stops.  I’m going to need them to to refuel and keep my sanity.  I’m liking the idea.  I just hope it’s not stupid.  (FYI, 4 laps was my max last year on that route)

Speaking of riding longer distances, I need to give my most precious contact point greater support.  More specifically, the Canari Velo II shorts I have had since 2006 are nearing the end of their run.  I bought a pair of Performance Elite bibs with a gel chamois, and mostly like them.  The gel chamois is a little rough at times, but nothing a little chamois cream shouldn’t help.  I’d like to get a couple more of these, but experience tells me to go for the foam padding.  Ride and learn.

To an old friend

Make my spirit soar!

Turning gloom into bright skies

I love you, caffeine

Craptacular

Ugh.  So I haven’t had a meaningful ride in almost a week.  Taking stock of the last few days it makes sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

On Monday, I led a conference call at the J-O-B for about 90 minutes.  By the time it was over, my voice was a little rough.  I figured it was from the usual vocal stress of talking for over an hour.  I drank some water and forgot about it.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I felt like a golf ball had been forced into my larynx.  My voice sounded like I was channeling some weird mashup of Barry White and Tone Loc.  While it was fun to play with this new sound, it hurt.

It simmered for a couple days, but by Thursday it had become a problem.  I actually completed 25 minutes on the trainer doing some easy tempo, but even at that pace I could feel every breath irritate my throat.  I was sure it was Strep, so I went to the doc.  Turns out, no Strep.  It’s some upper respiratory virus – wait it out for a week and take some vitamin I.

Side note: They had to weigh me for some reason.  I tipped in at 186.  That was hard to take.  The heart rate of 56 mitigated it somewhat.

Today I felt like I was turning the corner, but now I think I have a full-blown cold.  To quote Samir, “This is a suck!”

Mrs. Stallion had gotten me some new training vids, and I’m dying to try them out, but now I have to wait.  They say you can still train and ride as long as your illness doesn’t go below your neck.  I don’t think I’m that desperate yet, and I don’t want to redirect my body’s energy to non virus-killing activities.

Does this count as rock bottom for my fitness and weight?  I dunno, but I need to turn things around post haste.  Not liking the trend.

Consistency at Last

A quick check over at Winning Stats shows I had 11 rides for November.  Not bad, considering that my goal every month is for 12 rides.  I consider three rides a week to be a good pace.

It’s also a good number of rides considering the paltry amount I did over the summer.  We set a record for rain here in July, and August was only slightly better.  I think I had 12 rides over the course of two months.  Blech.

Factor in that I packed it in during the second week of October, and the road season this year sucked.

I’m glad that the Sufferfest is putting out new material, as I’m finally fully adjusted to trainer mode.  I think that I’m learning what training works best for me during these cold, dark months.  The outright thrashing of some of the Spinervals videos isn’t what I’m looking for.  I guess that the Sufferfest is dishing out similar punishment, but I have a good time doing them.  The Trainright workouts seem to work well also, but they leave me in better condition afterward.  I feel that I definitely put out a hard effort, but I recover from them better and feel that I get a stronger fitness gain.

I have also been reading about the classic off-season ”LSD” (Long, slow distance) theory of building the base.  Since I’m not a racer, I can feel free to take my own approach.  What seems to be working so far is mixing in at least one mid-tempo hour-long ride per week.  I throw in a time trial-esque 10 minute high aerobic interval to make it a little harder, but it’s just a good calorie-burner.

The mix of tempo and interval workouts is feeling like a good mix.  I just have to be able to keep at it and hope for better weather come April.

I’m Here To Pump You Up

I was reading the latest post over at teh n00b, and it got me thinking about my tires.  More specifically, what do I do when it comes to flats?

As with most riding hazards, the best problem is the one you avoid.  There are measures you can take before you ride to minimize your risk: don’t ride on cheap tires, maintain proper pressure and inspect the tires before you leave. 

When you’re on the road it’s always good to be mindful of your surroundings, and the pavement is no exception – you should always have an eye on the road 10-15 feet (3-4 meters) ahead of you.  I can’t count how many times I have narrowly avoided pieces of glass and other sharp debris that snuck up on me.

These preventive measures have kept me flat-free for a long time.  I have had two flats in the last five years, and one of those was a slow leak that I noticed when the bike was still in my garage.  I was also able to help other cyclists I encountered with their flats on the road.

Apparently, there is a bit of debate when it comes to inflating tires while out on the road.  Should you use a CO2 cartridge or a frame pump?  It breaks down like this – the weight weenies love the out-of-sight light weight of the cartridges, but they sacrifice it for a one-shot deal.  If the inflation doesn’t work, you’re walking.

Frame pumps, on the other hand are always there.  Yes, they do add a small amount of weight, but unless you’re paid to race your bike, it’s negligible.  Chances are if you’re not paid to race your bike, the biggest weight penalty is the rider.  I have a full frame pump fastened under my top tube, and I would be surprised if it weighed two pounds.

Is there really a question here, people?  I guess there are always going to be race-facing pricks out there who can’t stand how a frame pump looks.  I just can’t justify the risk of being stranded when there is a perfectly good solution out there.

Feeling ‘Cross

So yesterday Mrs. Stallion and I were spectators at our first cyclocross race.  It was the Saratoga Spa ‘Cross held at the Spa State Park.  Up until Sunday, my only impressions of cyclocross were from online reports, podcasts and pictures.

It was an awesome event.  It’s a real intimate setting for a race, and there were no bad vantage points along the course.  Adding to the parcours was the fact that the day before the area was treated to about 3 inches of rain.  Race day conditions were great for racing with sun & clouds and about 55°F.

Rain makes mud

The DJ had some rockin’ music blaring from the pavillion, although the choice of Norah Jones playing during the Men’s Singlespeed/Women’s Elite race was questionable.

We showed up just in time to check out the course before the mens 3/4 race.  As you can see from the pictures, the course was very muddy in parts.  What you can’t see is that there are a lot of pine needles mixed in with the mud – a lot of riders were picking gunk out of their brakes that got caked up with the stuff.

The terrain added something I wasn’t expecting – quiet.  I never thought about it, but when you ride a ‘cross bike with what looked like tires at around 40psi on mud and pine needles, it really deadens the sounds of the bike.  Braking was the complete opposite – those rims screamed for mercy when the pads forced the mud on them!

As for the spectator experience, Joe’s Burrito back at the pavillion was hard to beat.  An “epic” burrito was well worth the 5 bucks.  One of the sponsors turned out to be my LBS!  It was cool to see them there.  One of their mechanics that raced the Men’s Singlespeed worked on my bike this season – easy for me to root him on (I got a big thumbs up from him when I told him he was racing for a burrito at the finish line).

It was a great time.  It was the first year having the races there and I really hope they come back.  I felt inspired by all the action – the riders gave it their all; even guys 5 minutes back were drilling it over the course.  I don’t think I’ll be racing anytime soon, but who knows?  It might make its way on to my bucket list.

The best moment that I saw was during the little kids race.  About 7 little kids on their striders and training-wheeled bikes did a mini “race” near the pavillion.  When they were about halfway done, one of the Singlespeed guys was previewing the course before his race.  He caught up to the kids and slowed to a stop.  The next thing I hear from the pavillion is a heckler yelling “Sandbagger!”.  Awesome.

Which Way Do I Turn?

When I’m out on the road, I have a good sense of where I want to ride.  There are times when I get to an intersection and, depending on how I’m feeling and the weather conditions, I’ll take a different direction than what I had planned.

It’s that time of year now when that change of direction becomes a metaphor for whether or not I go anywhere when I turn the pedals.  It’s a colder than usual October here, and I’m desperately checking the long range forecasts for anything above 52°F and a wind less than 15mph.  I’m not having much luck.

I was all psyched to gain a calendar advantage with a riding vest.  I was able to use it only once so far.  It has not only been cold, but very windy and rainy.  The one ride was successful, but it was almost two weeks ago.

I have stated before that I ride for fitness and for fun.  To me, riding in a cold rain while pushing the red line so I can go 12mph into a stiff headwind is not fun.  The other side of the coin here is that I can turn this all around by calling it a season and moving indoors to ride on the trainer.

Is this that much of a decision?  I can eliminate weather as a factor and get in three solid workouts every week.  No more numb fingers and toes, no more chasing ever-waning daylight, no more feeling guilty that – while my appetite has not lessened - my caloric expenditure has.

I think I know what I should be doing, but I’m fighting it – for now.  I should just pay attention to the signs; there’s only one way to go.