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06-11-09, 10:14 PM
Okay, actually I wanted that last bit to read "(Or: how I drank and napped my way to physical fitness over the offseason)" but there wasn't room.
I didn't start regularly working out till about a 1 year, 8 months ago. It was to train for the death ride last year, and I dropped about 20-30lbs, frequently doing an hour most days on the stationary until I bought my bike last April.
I bike commuted maybe 10 times last spring/summer in the run up to the death ride, did 80k in the KOM challenge for June 08, etc etc.
After all that, I rode a decent amount in the fall, but not tons. As winter came, I started lifting free weights (upper body), my only bike riding became maybe 30 mins on the stationary, anywhere from 2-5 times a week. I started my riding season early-ish, in Feb, but never really got into it. I'd ride once every 2 weeks or something. Just a busy schedule, a lot going on, never bike commuted, never made it to major rides this year, etc. I feel like I've been slacking at the gym the past few months, not eating particularly well, etc.
So here I am, 1 month till the death ride, feeling outta shape.. easily ~10lbs more than I was last year at this time; some of it upper body muscle, some of it fat no doubt.. but without serious riding or doing lots of hills, I KNOW it's not leg muscle.. right?
Did my bike commute this morning, first time since... last July? It's 28 miles each way, give me a break!
It was overcast and windier than usual -- going north to Redwood City I always face a headwind, but this was worse than usual. I'm fortunate because usually the wind picks up in the afternoon so I have a stronger tailwind going home than I have headwind in the AM.
I felt like I was making good time, and when I got to work was stunned to see an 18.15mph average speed and door-to-door in 93 minutes. My RECORD from last year was 87, coming the other way (tailwind, also about 0.5 miles shorter the way I come back).
Despite having not done a ton of long rides this year, I still had great energy, and kept pumping it coming home, trying to keep my average speed over 20mph.. tailwind not as good as it could have been.
Imagine my amazement when I made it home in 79 minutes, a full 8 minutes faster than my record from last year! Average was 20.5mph!
And all this on 4 hours of sleep... somehow my legs just had no problem keeping my pace up (I'm about 200#) on the flats... and when I'd sprint leaving a light or trying to make a light or going up a hill, I could sit back down and maintain a good pace afterwards -- none of this gasping and wheezing and trying to give my legs a break stuff.
So I just wanted to share how thrilled I am today, and I guess sorta try to figure out what the hell's going on! I just can't be as strong as I was last year at this time, and I KNOW I'm heavier. When I've done hills this year, I have felt slightly down on power, as you might expect from not training as much.
I'm guessing that, despite my lack of riding, and not doing more than 30 mins of cardio in the gym, my weight being up a bit, etc, that past year of regular cardio work has still made a difference. I'm able to feed my legs more oxygen so they don't collapse after a sprint, and my HR doesn't spike as much. I can't have as much leg muscle, though I still manage to spin the cranks with good power when cruising, despite my typical low cadence..
I guess I had just thought that spending the better part of a year training fairly hard would have had me 'peak' last summer, and relaxing on the workouts a bit would have my performance off somewhat.. But it seems that every bit helps, and you can keep improving even when not training as hard.
I didn't start regularly working out till about a 1 year, 8 months ago. It was to train for the death ride last year, and I dropped about 20-30lbs, frequently doing an hour most days on the stationary until I bought my bike last April.
I bike commuted maybe 10 times last spring/summer in the run up to the death ride, did 80k in the KOM challenge for June 08, etc etc.
After all that, I rode a decent amount in the fall, but not tons. As winter came, I started lifting free weights (upper body), my only bike riding became maybe 30 mins on the stationary, anywhere from 2-5 times a week. I started my riding season early-ish, in Feb, but never really got into it. I'd ride once every 2 weeks or something. Just a busy schedule, a lot going on, never bike commuted, never made it to major rides this year, etc. I feel like I've been slacking at the gym the past few months, not eating particularly well, etc.
So here I am, 1 month till the death ride, feeling outta shape.. easily ~10lbs more than I was last year at this time; some of it upper body muscle, some of it fat no doubt.. but without serious riding or doing lots of hills, I KNOW it's not leg muscle.. right?
Did my bike commute this morning, first time since... last July? It's 28 miles each way, give me a break!
It was overcast and windier than usual -- going north to Redwood City I always face a headwind, but this was worse than usual. I'm fortunate because usually the wind picks up in the afternoon so I have a stronger tailwind going home than I have headwind in the AM.
I felt like I was making good time, and when I got to work was stunned to see an 18.15mph average speed and door-to-door in 93 minutes. My RECORD from last year was 87, coming the other way (tailwind, also about 0.5 miles shorter the way I come back).
Despite having not done a ton of long rides this year, I still had great energy, and kept pumping it coming home, trying to keep my average speed over 20mph.. tailwind not as good as it could have been.
Imagine my amazement when I made it home in 79 minutes, a full 8 minutes faster than my record from last year! Average was 20.5mph!
And all this on 4 hours of sleep... somehow my legs just had no problem keeping my pace up (I'm about 200#) on the flats... and when I'd sprint leaving a light or trying to make a light or going up a hill, I could sit back down and maintain a good pace afterwards -- none of this gasping and wheezing and trying to give my legs a break stuff.
So I just wanted to share how thrilled I am today, and I guess sorta try to figure out what the hell's going on! I just can't be as strong as I was last year at this time, and I KNOW I'm heavier. When I've done hills this year, I have felt slightly down on power, as you might expect from not training as much.
I'm guessing that, despite my lack of riding, and not doing more than 30 mins of cardio in the gym, my weight being up a bit, etc, that past year of regular cardio work has still made a difference. I'm able to feed my legs more oxygen so they don't collapse after a sprint, and my HR doesn't spike as much. I can't have as much leg muscle, though I still manage to spin the cranks with good power when cruising, despite my typical low cadence..
I guess I had just thought that spending the better part of a year training fairly hard would have had me 'peak' last summer, and relaxing on the workouts a bit would have my performance off somewhat.. But it seems that every bit helps, and you can keep improving even when not training as hard.