Monday, February 25, 2008

A Sign From The Heavens

Or, as was said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "A blessing from the Lord". 


I was riding my rollers tonight, and the bulge on my front tire was growing. I needed to ride an hour, and I hit about 1:02 total time, so I figured that was about 55 minutes active time. I got a little drink, and looked down at my tire, and the bulge on the side of the tire had grown quite a bit. I honestly thought in my head "I guess this will be my last ride on these tires. And that will make a cool picture for my blog". I started pedaling, and I honestly pedaled about 4 revolutions before I heard a loud pop, followed by a fairly loud hissing noise as all the air rushed out of my tire. At first, I was just kind of scared. I was able to stop and get out of the saddle before I tipped over, so that was good. Here are a few pics. I tried to get some good ones, but it was kind of hard.







Basically, these are the tires that came with the bike when I bought it, and they're the original tires (the bike is a 2004), so they're old. They were pretty shot, but since I've been riding on my rollers so much, they're completely bald now, and there are quite a few holes in the tires. I actually bought some new tires around christmas because they were having some killer deal at Nashbar. I actually used them once on that infamous day when I broke a spoke, but I put my roller tires back on afterwards. I was planning on using these ones all winter until I started riding outside, and then I was going to put the new ones on permanently. So, I take this as a sign from the Heavens that my indoor riding for the year is over (hopefully the Heavens will keep up their end of the deal with some good weather). Anyways, it was a good ride, and I actually got 1:00:07 active time. I don't know how I always get it right on the nose, but it's pretty funny.


Last week was a rough week. I missed my last 2 workouts of the week, and I just wasn't feeling motivated, but I'm feeling really good now. I got the "Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training" book, and it's been really good so far. Anyways, I think I'm back into the swing of things, and I'm actually looking forward to my runs for this week. 


Monday, February 18, 2008

My First Real Training Schedule + Weigh-In for February

First of all, I had my monthly weigh-in last night, and I am down to 265. I was a little disappointed, but that means that I've lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. I would like to lose a little bit faster, but I'll honestly be happy if I can maintain this same pace. I'll post some pics in the next day or two.

Anyways, so far this year, I've just been training when I feel like it, and it's worked pretty well. I've been staying aerobic as much as possible, and just training as long as my body would let me. I've noticed lately, though, that it's harder to stick with my training if I don't have a set schedule. My actual Spudman training starts in exactly 3 weeks, so I'm pushing back my 3 mile running goal until then. So, I want to be able to run 3 miles by March 8.

So, I don't really have any experience on what kind of time I should be putting in now, but here's what I came up with for this week.

Mon: Bike 60
Tues: Run 45 
Wed: Bike 90
Thurs: Run 30
Friday: Off (date night)
Saturday: Bike 120

So, the times for the bike are active minutes, so basically how long I'm actually pedaling/moving. The run times are run + walk times, so basically the total time I'm out there suffering. Tonight, I rode 1:01 active time, and it was a great ride. Since I knew that I was riding that amount, it made it a ton easier to actually do it. I listened to a little Fredcast, a little IGN podcast, and a little bit of loud music. 

One thing I've noticed is that my heart rate just drops super fast once I stop pedaling. For example, at the end of a similar workout back on January 8, my heart rate dropped from ~158 to ~114 in about 2.5 minutes. At the end of tonight's workout, my heart rate dropped from ~152 to ~108 in 1 minute. Whatever that means, I feel like I've come a long way. My average cadence has also gone up to about 80 rpm, so that's pretty good. I've heard people say that 90 is kind of the sweet spot, so we'll see if I can get there.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

An odd week so far

So, I went running on Monday, and about a mile and a half into my run, without getting too specific, I had some pretty horrendous chafing issues. Basically, I was trying a new underwear regime, and it backfired. Anyways, I was still in pretty bad shape last night, and I also just didn't feel like running or riding in general. 

Tonight, I rode my bike for about an hour, and basically just got kind of tired of it. I'm getting sick of riding/running inside, so I think I'll try running outside tomorrow. Maybe it's not even that, and I just needed a few days off in general. I've basically had a hard time being motivated this week. I don't know exactly what's causing it, but I've taken it pretty easy since Saturday, and at least I feel like exercising again. I think I was getting burned out on tri stuff in general (training, podcasts, books, etc.) so I took a few days break. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to get back on my schedule tomorrow. I plan on running on Thursday (maybe) and Friday, and riding on Saturday. Wish me luck. I still want to make my running goal for the month so I can't loaf for too long.

Speaking of podcasts, I've basically decided I'd rather listen to good podcasts about news and Nintendo than mediocre podcasts about triathlon, so I mostly just listen to the JBST SmartCas, TriTalk, The Fredcast, and then I listen to Infendo (all things nintendo) and some other things like espn and newsweek and what not. Oh, and if you want a good laugh, check out the best of youtube podcast. Good stuff.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

My Goal For This Month (With Video!!!)

So, my goal was to get 6 hours this week, and I got up to 3 tonight, so I'm feeling pretty good about things. So far this week, I have 3:00:29 active time. I really don't know how I time it so well, because I have about 3:45 total time. I took a break about every 45 minutes and actually got off the bike to shake my legs a bit and what not, and it really helped. I felt really fresh when I got back on. My legs have felt really good, and my lungs have felt even better. I'm going to start running next week, so that will probably all change. 

Speaking of running, my goal for this month is to be able to run 3 miles without walking. I really liked having a small goal last month. It helped motivate me since I was working towards a more immediate goal. And, it might sound like another small goal, but it would be huge for me to be able to run 3 miles non-stop. I haven't been able to do that since I was 9 years old. Anyways, that's my goal. If I don't post about it by the end of the month, it means I'm a slacker and you should all hassle me about it.

Also, as promised, here's a little video for your viewing pleasure. For a little context, that is the doorway to my kitchen. I ride right between the pantry and the fridge (kind of ironic). You can see how I'm right next to that wall in case I get out of hand. Also, if you look under the saddle, you can see my fan blowing wonderful air on me while I ride. You can't see it, but I'm watching "The Ataris at Hard Rock Live" on my computer, which is on the counter. Also, that's free advertising for Hammer Nutrition you see on my butt. I hope to get some compensation for that. If anyone notices any glaring problems in my technique, other than my cadence is too slow, I bob up and down a lot,  and I'm too fat,  then let me know. Otherwise: enjoy!

Edit: I don't know why it's showing up so dark. Freaking blogger. Anyways, I think you get the idea. We'll get a better video before too long.


Saturday, February 2, 2008

Another saturday roller ride

Today I rode my rollers for 1.5 hours active (2:00 total). I ended up stopping for a little while because our neighbors came over and I was talking to them. In all, it was a good ride. I rested every so often and stood up off my saddle, and that helped my butt not get sore. I watched the end of Godfather 2 and listened to some more loud music.

Here are a few things I've noticed since I started training. First of all, my heart rate drops a lot faster than it used to after I stop pedaling. I vaguely remember hearing a long time ago that this can be a small measure of endurance or fitness or some such thing. Anyways, hopefully that's a good sign. Also, I feel a lot more comfortable on my bike. I think, in addition to my flexibility increasing, I'm also just getting used to the saddle and handlebars and stuff. I also find that I get bored more and more easily on the rollers, so here's hoping we have a short winter so I can ride outside soon. 

Also, here are my tentative plans for the Summer. I'm going to do a century at the beginning of May, a sprint tri on June 21, and I'll be doing Spudman (Olympic) on July 26. Then I might do some kind of running event in the fall, like a half marathon or something. We'll see.

For this next week, I'm going to stick to the rollers. I'm going to try to get 6 hours total for the week (1 on Monday and Thursday, 2 on Wednesday and Saturday). Wish me luck.