Java, Java, Java!!!

Sometimes I drink a little toomuchcoffee and it becomesaproblem and I can't controlmyselfbecauseI get all jitteryand hyperand then I can't sitdownandI haveto walk around but I thinkit's good formy cyclingbecause it helpsraise my metabolismand that has gotto be good right? well this morningI was feelingreally tired and had 4shots of espresso andsome coffeehere at workand holy cow am I freakingout, it's like I have a jet engine up my butt which isreally weird but it seems tobe true so thats what I'm saying. i'm glad my chair has wheels onit because then I can roll around and that's prettyfun and withthe jet engineIcan go reallyfast. mustnot comedown......
training has been reallygoodlately and i'm doingquite well instickingto my programthanks to the weather but unfortunately i've had oneday that went bad. saturday i woke up with the worst headache I've had in whileand I can't explainwhy I had it butit hurt like helland I was boundtothe bed until the afternoon. I thinkit was from lack of coffeebut I'm not sure, youknow, caffeine headache and all. anyways, I tried to get on thebikebut couldn't do it due to my headache so i had towrite off that dayof training to illness. sunday I made upfor it by riding just over 3hours even though I wasonly scheduled for 1.75hours. it was agreat ride and it felt goodtobe out that long, that makes 4 or 5 weekends ina row that I've done 3 or more hours at least once over the weekend. last night i didweight work and increasedmy weight and decreased my reps andI can definitelyfeel that i'm getting stronger everyweek. tonight is 1.75hours on thetrainer with some Stomps thrown in and tomorrow is weights and onehour onthe bike. the weather is taking a turn for the worse, rabble,rabble, so that sucks but i'mhoping that i can still get in my long weekend of training. i always havethe crossbike and can still do some crossand trailriding and of course there is alwaysthe trainer. i'm looking forward to getting out no matter what, gotta lose some weight and get down to at least 181 by mid-december, i'mat 186 right nowYIKES! JELLO,JELLY,PUDDING,LARD! ok then, so I'm workingonthat and hope to be down to 173 by Aprilif I can. i don't knowif i can get much lower thanthat without sacrificingsome power. ok bye! gotta go have some more javato burn calories, cause I heard it raises my metabolism, so that's cool. until nexttime..................

2lbs. Heavier

I made it through Thanksgiving dinner without eating too much and according to my scale this morning I gained 2lbs yesterday. Not bad. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "Wow, elephants don't eat that much!!", I think I was at about a 6 yesterday. I did manage to get in a 1.5 hour ride on the trainer afterwards so I'm sure I burned off at least a 1/3 of the calories I consumed, well maybe. I feel good this morning and I'm sure part of it is the rest I got last night after sleeping soundly while I dreamt of giant turkeys and bowls of stuffing and mashed potatoes. Anyways, the last few days of my regeneration week have been going well and I feel great and I'm ready to jump in to my next training week. Monday, I did weights and it was a rest day on the bike, Tuesday I rode for 1.25 hours on the trainer at a leisurely pace. Wednesday I did weights again and rode for 1 hour on the trainer at Foundation Mile pace which is pretty easy. Yesterday like I said was 1.5 hours on the trainer with some Stomps thrown in to help build power. Tonight I will be doing weight work and it will be a rest day on the bike. It is my last day of weight work in the Transition Phase and I will be starting the High Volume Phase on Monday which means I'll be increasing my weight and will decrease my reps to about 10-12 with the same number of sets (4). Saturday is going to be 2.25 hours with 40 mins of Race Simulation and then Sunday is a 1.75 hour ride with some FastPedals thrown in to help build leg speed. I also have to have a second Turkey dinner on Sunday as well, as my wife's mother is having us over for a belated Thanksgiving dinner, I'll do my best not to eat too much. Well, I'll update again on Sunday after what I hope will be a nice weekend of riding outside again, until next time............

Ready For The Rest Week

I finished my cross bike and took a ride on it this weekend and it's pretty fun to ride through some grass and mud. If you've been following my posts you'll know that technically it's not a cross bike but really an old Pinarello road bike with cross tires. That is good enough for me to go out trolling in the mud and I took it out this weekend in the Root River Parkway and went through some fields and on some trails for a little fun. After I got home I took it through the yard and jumped some ditches and ran with it for a while over some brush piles. My wife snapped a picture of me running across the yard because she thought I was crazy.....in reality I'm just like every other bike geek. Anyways, I did 2.5 hours on Sunday for 6 hours total over the weekend and 10 hours for the week. I feel great and this week I will be ready to do my recovery week, which really isn't needed physically but mentally it's nice to take a little break on the bike. Basically my rest week means like 8.50 hours on the bike instead of 10. I'm feeling great overall and I'm just reeeeeeally looking forward to next year already. I think that if I train the way I want too and stick to my program of gradually working up to 18-20 hours per week that I will be able to do very well in the Cat. 4s to start and then the 1/2/3s after that. I feel stronger each week and I think that I can be back to where I was previously by 2008. Most of the articles I've read said that by the 2nd year most former elite racers can be back to top form, but I don't think they are accounting for the fact that most former elite racers now have lives and families to deal with. It's easy to get back to top form after 2 years when you can ride 20-25 hours per week but that's not feasible with a family and full time job. I think I can be really good next year and by 2008 I can be competitive in the Pro/1/2 category and by that I mean I can win races. I've done it before, I know I can do it again. Anyways, tomorrow I only have to do 1.25 hours (it is a recovery week after all) and then Wednesday I will do an hour and also will do weights. So, it's an easy week and I'm looking forward to the mental break, especially riding the trainer all week. Well, until next time.........


Is that Sven Nys....noooooo, it's just me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tired And Ready For Rest

Today I did my longest ride since my attempted 24-hour ride (which was only 10 hours), and completed a 3.5 hour ride from New Berlin to Waukesha to Mukwonago back to Waukesha and then back to New Berlin. It was a pretty hilly ride with about 2,700 ft. of climbing along the way but that was before I added about 6 more miles at the end because I was a little short of my goal and was at about 3hrs 15 min. I completed my entire ride and now have to do 2.5 hrs tomorrow but the weather isn't looking too good in the morning so I'll probably sleep in a little bit and then squeeze in the ride during the afternoon. I'm pretty wiped out now and can't wait to get to bed, which I'll be doing in about 5 minutes, so that I can get about 9 hours of sleep. I didn't do too much today, rode right away at 8:00 this morning, toiled around on the tractor in the yard and then did some house work. Oh yeah, I baked a loaf of banana bread as well, and it turned out great, it's almost gone already. I'm feeling good overall, surprisingly I haven't gotten sick from riding outside in the cold the last few weekends and the weather doesn't look too bad for next weekend as of now either. I'm a little less worried about the weather next weekend than I am about all the crazy X-mas shoppers that will be clogging the roads, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the weary shoppers and will probably have to dodge a few. Well, not much too say, I'm tired, so it's time to hit the sack. Tomorrow will be a short ride compared to today and then next week is a regeneration week so I'll be cutting back on the bike and getting some much needed rest after putting in some decent time on the road in the last 3 weeks. Until next time.............

Biomechanic Mess!

I think biomechanically I am a mess. I can't seem to get a comfortable position as of late on the bike. Either one leg is shorter than the other, I'm dropping a hip, I have supponation or pronation, I'm pigeon-toed, or something else is just plain messed up because I'm always fiddling with my cleats and pedal wedges. Last week I took out the pedal wedges that I've had in all year to see if they were the cause of some recent knee pain. Well, I have to say that after a week I have no more knee pain but it seems that I'm always trying to shift my weight on the seat to lean to the right. I feel like I'm dropping my left hip so I keep shifting to the right and then because of my left hip drop my right foot is pointing inward and I have to adjust my cleat to allow for my foot to point in. I just don't get it because I've never had these problems previously. It seems that I can't get square on the seat. I tried to put the wedge back on one shoe to see if my left leg is shorter and maybe that is why I'm dropping that hip. I noticed my seat was pointing a bit to the left and I centered that a little better and that may have helped but I can't tell until I ride more. If this keeps up much longer I'm going to drive myself crazy adjusting my shoes all the time.
Anyways, the last few days I've completed my rides as scheduled and have done 2 days of weight work as well. Monday was a rest day on the bike and I did do my 4 sets of weights. Yesterday was 1.5 hours on the bike and I did that with 5 reps of PowerStarts which help build explosive power. Today I just did my 45 minute Recovery Ride and also did my 4 sets of weights. I feel really strong aside from the freakin' hip, knee, foot issue. As I approach the December 1st date of one year from when I started training last year, I am just in so much better shape that I'd have to say I'm starting at a fitness level that I would've had in about May of this year. That puts me about 6 months ahead of last year going in to my one year anniversary of being back on the bike in terms of fitness. I didn't feel good until about August of this year and hopefully that is what I will be feeling in April of next year. I'm anxiously counting off the days until next Spring, only like 4 and a half months to go! God, I hope it goes quick. Well, tomorrow I will be doing 1hr 45 mins on the trainer and then Friday is a rest day and I'll have some long rides again this weekend. I'll update on Friday night with my schedule for the weekend and hopefully the weather holds out so that I can get in some good riding outside. Until next time.........

Pretty Wiped Out

This weekend was not the most conducive weather for riding but definitely good enough to get outside and complete my rides that I had planned. Yesterday was pretty chilly but warmed up enough, to all of about 38 degrees, to get in my 3.25 hour ride which actually ended up about 3hrs 10mins so I was 5 minutes short, oh well right? I did 50 minutes of Race Simulation, basically in the form of Power Intervals but no sprints or anything with a big gear, I took it easy on the muscles and worked the lungs a little more. I won't do too much in the way of Race Simulation or Intervals throughout the winter, most likely only once a week or once every two weeks probably. Today was just a Foundation Mile ride of 2hrs 30 mins which I completed almost exactly to the minute without really planning it that way. It was a nice ride but it had a couple of good size hills along the way and I can tell I have a long way to go to be in hill climbing shape again. I purposely kept it in really easy gears but I could still feel the burn although I'm not really worried about that right now. I'm looking forward to Spring to do some really good hill workouts to improve that area of my riding. Right now I'm just concentrating on getting in the miles and building my aerobic base and some power for the workouts to come in late Winter and early Spring. Tomorrow is a rest day on the bike but I will be doing some weight work with about 4 sets of leg presses, leg curls and leg lifts. This is my last week of Transition lifting and then I go in to the High Volume Phase next week with slightly higher weight and less reps. I'm pretty wiped out tonight from riding as I think riding in the cold definitely takes more out of me and the 5hrs 40mins in the 35-40 degree weather made me pretty tired right now. I'm probably going to get to bed an hour earlier than normal tonight but not before I have a beer I think, after all that riding I deserve one! Time to eat dinner, have a beer and then hit the recliner. Until next time..........

Beautiful Weather And I'm Stuck Inside

Well, today was a beautiful day and I didn't get to enjoy any of it as of course I'm stuck sitting in a cubicle all day. It is supposed to rain Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday and turn cool with highs only in the upper 30s to low 40s. I have rides of 3.25 and 2.5 planned for Saturday and Sunday and right now it's not looking good for riding outside but I'm hoping there is a little block out of each day where it isn't raining and I can get out. I know it's November and it's supposed to be crappy outside but it's always nice to hope that it will stay warmer longer than it should. Either way I'll be getting my riding done, unfortunately it may just be done inside which will be pretty boring for a 3 hour ride. Let's just say it's going to have to be pouring or snowing heavily for me to get stuck inside.
My training has been going well but I really haven't done much since my last post on Sunday. Monday was a rest day on the bike but I did do my weight work and felt really good doing that, no knee pain or any other issues. Yesterday was a ride on the trainer for 1.25 hours with 5x15sec Stomps. I felt great again last night with no knee pain so I think I shook that issue that aggravated me for a couple of weeks. Tonight I'll be doing weight work shortly and then doing just 45 minutes on the bike to keep the legs loose. Tomorrow will be 1.75 hours with some FastPedals thrown in I think. Friday I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with some friends, I'll just need to make sure I don't eat too much. Well, not much to say for now, I'll update again after Saturday's ride to let you know how that went. Until next time.........

Good Riding This Weekend

I'll start off with some team news before I write about my rides this weekend as we had our official Team Wisconsin/Team Wheaton Franciscan Health Care banquet on Saturday evening. First of all, it was a great evening of food, beer and lots of discussion on where the team is headed in term of budget, number of racers, sponsorship....all that good stuff. We also had a nice long 2 hour discussion (at least is seemed that long) on what our racing outfit would look like. As of right now our outfit is going to have a jersey the color of the gold Vuelta leader's jersey and then of course our sponsors' logos will be on the jersey with the Wheaton logo right in the middle. It appears that we are also going to go with black shorts this year which I don't really care for, but the majority ruled on that choice. So it will be black shorts with a white and gold panel with the Wheaton logo and name down the side. Once I get a copy of the design I'll post something on this site. Right now it appears the team will have somewhere in the range of 35-40 riders with most of them being road riders and some mountain bike riders are on the team as well. Going in to the meeting it appeared there would be about 22-25 riders but there has been a decision, at least tentatively, to merge with another team and take on 10-12 of their riders. It seems certain that the merge will happen and once it does I'll probably post some comments on that as well. Just a quick plug for some of the sponsors that were announced as well...Ben's Cyclery will be our new bike shop sponsor, Vittoria tires is tentatively set as our tire sponsor, Clif is also returning as our food/gel/tasty treat sponsor, and Safway. All in all, it was a good meeting and I'm sure there will be plenty more to talk about in the coming months.
As far as riding goes....Friday evening I did my weight work, basically my normal 4 set Transition workout and it was a rest day on the bike. Saturday I was up and out on the bike at 8:30a.m. and did a 3 hour ride out to Waukesha and the surrounding areas and despite the wind and colder temperatures it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Today I did 2 hours 20 minutes, 10 minutes short of my scheduled ride..oh well. The weather was gorgeous compared to the last few weeks and I would have loved to have gone for 3 or 4 hours but I'm sticking to my training plan for one, and secondly today was my wife's grandpa's birthday and we had to go to his party at noon and we didn't leave there until 4:00. I actually took the opportunity to ride down to the party in Waterford and that was a good way to get in my ride and still make it to the party. I really can't complain about this weekend as I had scheduled 5.5 hours outside for Saturday and Sunday and I did almost that amount and obviously could've added the extra 10 minutes but it wasn't worth it. Tomorrow is just a rest day on the bike but I will be doing weights.
Here are some pictures of my new Cannondale, still being built, and my Pinarello cross bike, still being built as well.

Easton Carbon stem and handlebars Campagnolo Eurus wheelset Old school Pinarello - check out the Scott drop-in bars! Ready for mud and snow!

Training

Oh yeah, I wrote about other stuff yesterday but didn't tell you what I was actually doing on the bike. Please read yesterday's post but in addition to that here is what I'm doing on the bike....

Yesterday - did a 1.25 hour ride because I had to cut Tuesday's ride a tad short because of my knee pain. I was scheduled for just a 30 minute spin but added the extra 45 minutes to make up some time.

Today - a 1.75 hour ride with 6 x 12 second Stomps, although I may nix the Stomps if my knee is too sore. Either way it's going to be 1.75 hours but maybe just spinning easy.

Tomorrow - a rest day on the bike but I will be doing weights.

Saturday - 3 hour ride with 5 x 3 min Fast Pedal exercises. The weather is supposed to suck but as long as it's not raining in the morning I'll do my ride, that's why I have all that cold weather gear. If it's raining, then I'll be doing 2 hours 25 minutes inside as that equates to about 3 hours outside. I'll have to find a long movie.

Sunday - 2.5 hour ride at Foundation Mile pace. Right now there is no rain in the forecast so it will be an outside ride.

I Hate The Offseason

Why is it that during the offseason, when you are actually doing less work on the bike, that weird things like knee pain, and back pain seem to pop up? I know a couple of people that are suffering some sort of knee pain since they tapered in September and October. I have been bugged by a left knee pain that seems to have cropped up for no particular reason. The only thing I can think of is that my pedaling dynamics are different on the trainer than they are when I ride on the road. On the road I probably sit a little off keel on the seat and the bike adjusts under me (that's probably why I wear out the left side of my tires...hmmm). On the trainer the bike is locked in to place and doesn't adjust under me so I'm guessing that in some way my pedaling technique or motion is being affected leaving me with the knee pain. Last year I obviously didn't do any road riding before I started on the trainer in December so I didn't have that period of adjustment and therefore had no knee pain. I've been riding the trainer for the most part since the beginning of October and that's about when the pain started, hopefully it goes away soon after my body adjusts. I might switch to the rollers more often for days when I don't have to do specific workouts so that my pedaling motion will be more like the road. I have to do specific workouts on the trainer though because I can't get much resistance on the rollers.

I had hoped to have some pictures up today of my Pinarello build but I had to bring in the rear wheel to Wheel & Sprocket to get trued up so it isn't quite together right now. I still have to get a seatpost as well and I'm just going to get a cheap no-name seatpost when I go to pick up my wheel as this is just my winter "cross" bike. I will still ride my Specialized throughout the winter as much as I can but if there is any snow on the road or I want to test out some trails I will definitely be testing out the knobbies on the Pinarello. Once the winter comes to an end I will finish the build on my new CAAD8 frame by stealing a few parts from the Specialized and I will start riding the CAAD8 in the early Spring. The CAAD8 will still be all Campy Record Carbon but I've upgraded a few components over the Specialized so this bike will be lighter, more responsive and a little less harsh in ride quality. In addition to the Record components I'm going with an Easton carbon stem, Easton carbon flat-top ergo handlebars, Easton carbon seatpost and to top it all off I've got the new, lighter Campy Eurus wheels. The Eurus' are definitely an upgrade over my Bontrager Race Lites, saving about 200 grams or more and they are way more stiff so they'll be more responsive. I got them in black to offset the shiny silver of the frame, they look great and fast too. I'll post some pictures of the CAAD8 along with the Pinarello tomorrow or Saturday. Until next time..........