Believe, Sweat, and Inspire.

Week Three

Inspiration, Records, Hips, Gear, and Fails


Watching online youtube videos of the Paris Roubaix and these Sufferfest Videos has been crucial to my training.  Also, images like this have helped to keep me inspired while on my indoor trainer this cold January.  And with more snow on it's way, I think we will be friends for a while.  Just today I watched a race in Leadville Colorado thats 100 miles long and has more than 3000 vertical feet of climbing!  Great stories, moments, and the course is grueling!  

Working on the trainer has consisted of hour long paces at 130 bpm, interval training of 30 sec on 30 off, and also climbs for up to 14 minutes in some of my higher gears.  One tactic I love is taking one foot out of the clip and hammering your hamstring on that one leg thats still clipped in for 30 seconds or more.  Right now in my training I am concentrating on endurance and Speed skills.  Since my lactate threshold was tested around 154, I am trying to get accustomed to spending a lot of time in a 125-135 zone.  It seems like most of the time When I am kicking butt I am above that.  For Speed, my Sufferfest video has been great help.  Trying to hit a cadence of 100 plus on the bike for different periods of time has been grueling.  Here I use interval work, 10 on, 50 off.  20 on, 40 off.  30 on, 30 off. 

40 on, 20 off.  50 on, 10 off.  It's tough but a great work out.

As I have put miles upon miles on my indoor trainer this winter, I have noticed that some of the tar has come off my back tire and all over the wall.  At first I was angry...then I thought of it as an art piece.  Now, I am realizing it is a sign of hard work and determination.  

Here is the set up.  My friend Rick came over and helped me set up his tri bars so I could get my body adjusted to the feel.  I never though I would be so comfortable.  

My running this winter has really been a success.  It is all about pacing yourself and taking your time.  I learned the importance of breaking in a pair of shoes and also, wearing the correct type of shoes.  I have McDonalds arches, so it was important for me to have a neutral shoe.  Last year I ran 7 miles out of the gate in a pair of Asics which destroyed my knees for the rest of the season.  This year I am coming back in a pair of Saucony Fast Twitch 5 shoes that have been great.  I started off small at 2-3 miles every other day.  This past week I hit almost 8 miles with the 4th mile being my fastest!  My hip flexors tend to act up around mile 5 or 6, and in the beginning If I didn't perform active and dynamic stretching they would hurt more!  I've learned the importance of the Psoas muscles, the only muscle in the human body to connect the Upper extremities with the lower extremities.  Working on release techniques, static stretching, muscle energy, and the foam roller takes away any pains I might feel after a run.  I have come to the conclusion that my hip flexors along with my rectus femoris get so tight that it affects my knee, and my VMO (which affects the glide of the patella, Quadratus Lumborum (which is a hip hiker and controls the stability of the pelvis and low back) and glute medius (which keep the hip abducted) tightness all contributes to my supination and tightness felt in my knees after a run.

My Godmother and favorite Aunt gave me this water bottle right before she passed away.  It gives me so much power while I am on this bike and with this sport.

My new toy bought with Amazon gift cards.  I can't wait to use this.  It has been so helpful being able to see my cadence and my speed while on the trainer.  It hooks up with your iphone which can also mount to your bike.  Soon I'll be using the GPS feature to explore all of Western CT.  The Fail in this article being...I shattered the first one that I bought.  Good thing this company is so nice.