STEVE'S DECEMBER TRAINING (NO MORE RECOVERY)

12/31/09

Another year in the books. Highs and lows for sure, but racing and riding with BWR was certainly a high. More in my year end post to follow. Today was the PT workout which I need to modify. It takes too long and does not concentrate enough on the core. It may be time for cyclo-core. Lord help me!

12/30/09

Drove home from the Beach in the morning. Rode the rollers for 1.5 in the afternoon. Still aimless in the training, but I did put down two 1 minute power efforts (380+ watts) to test the knee. Although it did not feel "normal" it did not hurt. Bill, have any suggestions on where to start with a program?

12/29/09

Walked three miles, rode the trainer for 20 minutes, walked two miles. Is that fat burning? It better be since it is tub and 'tini time at the beach.

12/28/09

Went to the sports center and worked out on a stationary bike and weight machines, followed by a little running. Better than nothing. Tomorrow is supposed to be windy and cold. Sounds like another sports center workout followed by hot tub and scotch. Surely that will make me faster!

12/27/09

Surprise! Woke up expecting to get a ride in and then found out that I would be driving to the Outer Banks. (No bike allowed.) Domestic tranquility reigns supreme.

12/26/09

1.5 hours on the rollers. Low cadence tempo followed by high tempo cadence, etc. Superman Returns on the TV while this bloated whale was beached hoping for a return. Enjoy.

12/24/09

Finally got time to work out. 2.5 hours of the PT routine focusing on strength and rehab over cycling specific work. If time allows a spin on Christmas Day. Presuming I have everyones' gifts up and functioning.

12/23/09

I got nothing.

12/22/09

Bah Humbug, still no time to train only 45 minutes on the trainer.

12/21/09

"Solid as a rock" so says the Dr. Now I just need the time to train, instead of sitting in traffic for four hours to go shopping with my wife at Tyson's Corner. What a Charlie Foxtrot that was.

12/20/09

Started shoveling at 9:00 called it a day at 4:00. Two cars free and places to park available. It looks like the roads are going to be ice for the next several days so I will be indoors. I don't want to risk falling. Enough surgeries for one year.

12/19/09

Dead weight snow lifts and squats today. The new knee brace works well. At 2:00 I started thinking how much the snow weighed and then how much a hot tub weighs. At that point I knew that I had to shovel off the deck that has both on it. The tub was too heavy so I had to throw the snow over the railing. Of course now there is more snow that needs the same treatment, and the cars and the wood pile....

12/17/09
I picked up my carbon fiber knee brace today. It fits in perfectly with the bike. But of course I don't need it for the bike. However with that inspiration and finally the time to do so, I did my PT workout. Two hours of exercises with the best part being that running on the treadmill was painful only in the left knee (the original bad knee). I even snuck outside with the brace on to jog slowly up and down the street. It was liberating. This could be the start of the begining of training. Looking forward to the snow shovel workouts this weekend. I love snow!

12/16/09
If you read the Free Lance Star , you know what I have been doing for the last few days and it has not been training for racing a bike. With luck, by the end of this week I will be able to spend some time on a bike before Holiday obligations hit. Keep training BWR, if nothing else I'm watching.

12/13/09
Okay, I am about done with hanging decorations, hauling boxes up and down stairs and tree wrangling. The good news is being comfortable enough on the bike to ride the rollers for an hour alternating between 90+ cadence and 70+ cadence at around 210 watts. I may have been delusional, but did I see the Redskins win a game?

12/12/09
Bah Humbug. That was my mood from 8:00 to 11:10. Compounded by the front fork of my TT bike falling off when I tried to lower the front deck. (Dre' I will be in shortly for some help.) Two hours later and it was time for Christmas songs throughout the house. Riding your bike can be magic like "A Christmas Carol". Listening to Bill wax poetic over his new TT position and watching Greg do his workout while pedaling a bike did the work of the ghosts of past, present and future. Although the knee felt a bit tender for the remainder of the day, riding is definitely therapeutic physically and mentally. Looking forward to more rides as the Holidays progress.


12/11/09
Ask you can tell by the date there has been no training for two days. Never the less I am physically and mentally exhausted. Today was back to fun work with two ours of PT in the basement. Amazing how a couple of off days when you are out of shape just push you that much further into couch potatodom.


12/08/09
According to the definitions provided by the great mass of under exercised bureaucrats, I am "good enough". Good enough means no more PT and that is kind of sad since I have been working with and sharing the highs and lows of this thing called recovery and training as well as just day to day life with people that became friends. I owe them much in addition to a group ride. Despite what insurance companies may think "good enough" is never GOOD ENOUGH, so I will continue hitting the exercises and training. To borrow from The Jinks, "in the pedals".

12/07/09
The hands are still swollen and sore, but they can grasp a handlebar. Flat intervals on the trainer. I am having difficulty getting zones matched up correctly. I think it is partly because my knee is still not good enough to be able to sustain a high cadence (90+). Anyway the work continues. It is getting discouraging to have the continuous discomfort and stiffness in the joints. But the lure of riding and racing keeps me at it.

12/06/09
Both my hands and knees begged for some down time so I spent the day decorating and putting up trees. Glad some diehard BWR guys with cranial judgement malfunctions made it out for a ride. Which one was Tim the Elf and which one Yukon Cornelius?

12/05/09
Wind, wet snow and Christmas Trees to sell. Spent the better part of the day slinging trees on top of cars. Followed that with standing some more watching the downtown parade. My hands began to swell and become sore around 9:00 pm. I looked like Popeye.

12/4/09
I was still stiff today so we limited some of the work in PT. I can't remember the medical terms, but essentially my hip and leg tends to tighten up and that then causes compensation, which causes other problems which results in pain. My therapist worked on the leg (which felt like driving nails into diferent sections of my leg), until things loosened up. Still a solid workout which, again, is better than sitting on my bloated ass. I am not sure how long I have left in PT based on insurance coverage, but every minute has been worth it and it will be a sad day when I have to leave those fine folks who helped put me back on the bike and slopes.

12/3/09
My knee was still quite sore from the PT, but any time the temperature is over 60 and it is in December you have to ride. Although I tried a few sprints and some higher wattage intervals, all I had in the legs was tempo. Not ideal, but still better than nothing. Was able to see Jeff finish up his power stomps. Damn he is a beast.

12/2/09
Despite some stiffness in the knees I put in some trainer time. After a 20 minute warm up, I attempted some PE1's. That was a no go as the wrong kind of pain flared in the knee. Trying to be responsible I just kept an easy high E low tempo spin going for another 40 minutes. Ice packs on the knees for another 20 minutes and called it a day. Hoping by tomorrow to be in condition to do the PE1's or at least flat intervals.

12/1/09
Several fun new exercises at PT today in addition to all of the oldies but goodies. First up was the powerslide. That's the exercise where you are on a heavy plastic board wearing nylon booties and then in a skating motion slide back and forth. This was followed by forward and lateral jumps over 12" wide by 5' high blocks. Then there was the classic chair squat with a ten pound medicine ball. (Back against a wall pretend you are sitting in a chair add weight, hold , hold some more and hold some more. Beg for the time to be up.) Extra time running on the treadmill with mild discomfort, but manageable. A good start to a new month. 51 days to Vail and counting.