A tough month ahead

I'm into my most stressful work weeks of the year. Last week, this week and the following week. Last year, February is where I got into trouble with my workouts...they kinda dropped off a bit. To add to this, I'm starting Monday a bit tired.

Plan for this week. Show up for all the workouts and not worry about pushing hard, especially since I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat. I can't get sick...there is just no time for that kind of thing!

Sunday: Easy 45 minute spin
Monday: Easy 20 minute jog

Shifts and changes

January 26, 2011
Work has been busy and will remain so until after February 5; thus, I'm working a lot of hours and have had to shift my workouts a bit.

Monday, January 24, 2011
Easy 30 minute run on the treadmill. Woke up late and literally jumped on the treadmill without a warm up.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
I did 4 of six intervals at Cycle U. I'm feeling stronger on the bike! four 7 minute zone 4 hill climbs. Good workout. I'm under a lot of pressure, thus, I decided to get home early and get to bed. Didn't have heartrate monitor with me.

Wednesday, January 26
Had a great run. first 10 min at a 15m/mile pace and last 20 minutes at 16.28 min/mile pace. next tempo run I'll pick a pace between these two and see if I can hold it.

Saturday, January 15, 2010

I've been overly tired the last 10 days; thus, I've been taking it easy on my workouts. Thus, Saturday's work out was an easy ride on the Sammamish Trail. 21.5 miles, 73%MHR, 11.5 MPH. It felt good to be on the trail. I do enjoy road riding. It is also good because I can keep my heart rate down. Mtn riding is more akin to interval training. I started with an easy warm up for a few miles and ended with a cool down for a few miles. I'm using the cyclocross bike as a winter road bike. It is a good bike for winter.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Joined the 6:30am morning Cycle U. My legs hurt before I even finished the first interval. Running at 8:00pm Thursday and then cycle U less than 12 hours later was tough. I did three 7 minute zone 4 threshold (90-95 RPM Cadence) intervals and one 9 minute zone 4 threshold interval. At the end of the intervals my heart rate was 80-83%mhr. Stayed at the bottom of zone 4 for first 3 intervals and pushed the last 3 minutes of the final interval at the top of zone 4.

I've decided instead of getting discouraged when life gets in the way of my workouts, I'll just figure out how to work them in. So this week my second run and my Thursday ride were switched and my rest day and weekend ride will be switched. Tomorrow I'll put on some easy miles either on the road or rail trail (depending on weather). If there is snow, it will be trainer or rail trail...today I'm just taking it easy.

flip flop

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I got to work this morning to discover I forgot my bike. It worked out fine because I ended up working late and would not have made it to Cycle U. So I did my run today and I'll go to Cycle U before work tomorrow.

My run felt good. 5 minute walk/warm up followed by 30 minutes alternating between 15 min mile and 15:45 min mile. around 2.0 miles. Max HR 160 = 83% MHR Average Hr 141=73% MHR

Trying to remember what I have as my Max HR. I believe it is 192 on the bike...I'll need to do some research to remember...thus, these numbers are not perfect. Interesting thing is that I'm running much faster than i've made myself run in the last year. Actually had to stop in middle of workout to get my inhaler. I'm feeling good about my body adapting to running on a regular basis.

On another note, went to the team pro deal night last night. I'm checking my budget and trying to figure out how much I need to set aside for races. Good news is there are only 5 Down Hill races in this series. Each race is around $150 due to hotel and travel costs. I plan on racing several of the xc races starting in February (these are inexpensive). Capitol Forest 50 will be inexpensive. I plan on at least one trip to Whistler this summer.

Then for the actual Pro Deals.

I want a new fork and shox for my DH bike. I think this would make the most difference in my racing/DH riding.

I'd like a new set of XC race wheels - which would be great for my xc racing.

I need new XC/Cyclocross pedals

I need new tires for the road bike

I'd like a cyclops power-meter for the road bike (I'm thinking this will have to wait). I need to prioritize according to what will make the biggest difference in performance...and that is suspension for DH and wheels for xc.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Had a good run. Kept it at around 70% of MHR. 15min/ mile pace. I was aware after the run, that his is more my LSD pace and I might need to drop it down a bit for my tempo runs.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Cycle U was great. 5 sets of 7 minute Zone 4 Hill Intervals. Started with a 20 minute warm up. 5 minutes Zone 1, 5 minutes zone 2, 10 minutes zone 3. First 4 intervals I kept my watts at about 125 which is the middle of my zone 4. Last interval I bumped it up to the top zone 4 which is 131. My HR started out in the 60's% MHR and ended between 80% and 81% of MHR.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Didn't sleep well last night, and thus decided not to swim. I'll need a walk this afternoon...which might work around the greenlake area...The team has a social at Recycle Cycles where they will let us know about our pro-deals for this year. The social starts at 7:00pm which gives me time for a good hour walk.

A New Year

Monday:

I've had a good time on the bike this week. It started on Monday with a mountain ride at Black Diamond with Fredrika (just one lap and an excursion out by the jump park).

Tuesday:

Cycle U with 5 minute zone 3, 4, and 5 intervals.

Thursday was a 1:40 minute ride with Deb at Beaver in the snow. I had to work hard to keep up. I rode the hills well. About 40 minutes in I was struggling a bit, so started a feeding regime (75-100 calories every 30 minutes). It did the trick. The snow was beautiful, and I didn't get overly cold.