The Best Laid Plans
Well, this week ended up not being what I wanted but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I had business meetings/dinners Monday and Tuesday so I was planning on riding inside Wed and Thurs then outside on the weekend. But, we had a ton of rain on Tuesday (4+ inches) which caused a couple of small areas in our basement to leak. As I said in last weeks update, we spent all night Tuesday sucking up the water with the Shop Vac. We prevented any damage, to the basement, by doing this, but not to ourselves 
Both of us were extremely sore from sitting all scrunched & crouched under the stairs sucking up the water. I used muscles I didn’t know I had and am still a little stiff from the experience. Combined with the 36+ hours of no sleep, I was worn out on Wednesday and Thursday so I didn’t ride. I did manage to get 2 decent rides in outside over the weekend in the beautiful Fall weather. Here are the numbers:
- Time Spent Training- 3:25 (bike only)
- Time In Sweet Spot- 40 minutes
- Miles Ridden- 59
- Miles Walked-4 (not included in other stats)
- TSS (training stress score)- 234
- Weight- 163
- TSS YTD- 18731
- Total Miles YTD- 4725
- Total Hours YTD- 273
I should be back to speed this coming week and hope to get in 3 good trainer workouts plus some outside rides, That should keep me on pace.
Starting A New (old) Routine
After this week’s bout with inflexibility and stiffness I’ve decided to start up again doing some basic Yoga. I did this a little last year and the year before and got some good results from it. I just get out of habit when the weather turns nice. I will be using the DVD Yoga For Inflexible People
Mark,
I tried to respond to your tweet about looking for a yoga routine, but since your not following me I don’t think you can see it. I have been doing the Cyclo-Core work outs since last year and really find it help my core strength. The same guy (Graeme Street) also makes a Cyclo-Zen series that has cycling specific routines. I may have to start doing the Cyclo-Zen because my flexibility has gone away. Scott V turned me onto these dvds.
Paul
Hey Paul,
Glad you found my site/Twitter account! How has your riding been? I need to do a better job of keeping in touch with you guys. I still see the occasional email from the group. We’re enjoying it down here. I’ve found a couple of good groups to ride with and have been focusing on longer rides/hilly centuries instead of racing. We have some great climbing here and I seem to do well going uphill. The weather is a lot more conducive to year-round riding so I rarely miss a weekend outside on the bike. But , like you are finding out, my flexibility is terrible, which probably hurts me some. I was doing Yoga a few years ago and had good results but got away from it. I’m looking to start up a structured program that will help. I’ve heard of the Cyclo-Core, actually from Scott V, but haven’t got it yet. It is a little pricey but if it works it might be worth it. I’ll check their stuff out a bit more. Whatever way I decide to go I’ll document the progress (or lack of) here on the blog. Let’s stay in touch.
Mark
Mark,
My riding has been going good with the exception of the self inflicted injuries. Last year I had an abbreviated season due to tendonitis just above the knee. I did less than 15 races with less than stellar results. This year I ended the season with a partial tear of the popliteus muscle (under the large calf muscles). It is hard to treat and I am on my way back to physical therapy. They tell me that cyclist are prone to tight hamstrings. So maybe I’ll use you as incentive to start the yoga to improve my flexibility. Race results this year were much better. I am only a couple of results from moving up to the 3′s in USAC. We are all envious of your ability to ride outside all year long.
Paul