Swim day. While the kids had their lessons, I went over to the deep pool and swam some lengths. I had less than a half hour, so I swam pretty hard. I managed 600 before I headed over to the nearly empty hot tub. I haven’t done a hot tub post-swim in a long time. Usually I swim later, and by that time the hot tub is packed. Not only was the hot tub nearly empty, I had the entire swim lane to myself.
Tag: trainer
Grind Week
Thursday night was another training night. I got my bike on the trainer for an hours spin. Well, not so much spin as a grind.
I had put a new bike computer on recently, and the one I got has a cadence meter, and runs the speedo off the rear wheel. This is wonderful for on the trainer since I can pick a certain goal, and easily stik to it. I used to use my heart rate monitor for the same purpose, but seeing your cadence drop, or your KM/H drop i find to be more of an incentive to ride harder
I did a five minute warmup, a 15 minute high gear low RPM set, followed by a five minute, lower gear, high RPM set for recovery. I repeated the low RPM and high RPM sets, then finished up with a final 10 minute low RPM set and a five minute cool down.
I worked up quite a sweat during this workout. I am actually looking forward to doing it again next week.
The kids came down to see me and say hi. I like it when they do, but they allowed the smell of cooking dinner to waft down to me. Mmm, Sue was making a lamb hit pot meal that smelled divine. I managed to not let myself get derailed by the smell. 🙂
Snow Clip
It snowed on Wednesday, and it has actually stuck around. Coming up to the weekend I was hoping the snow would melt so I could get in a training ride.
Sadly this didn’t happen. The snow melted a little, but there is still too much ice on the roads to safely ride. Instead I jumped on the trainer in the basement and went for a spin that way.
It’s been too long since I was on a bike. It hurt a little making my legs spin in circles for so long. I sure put on a sweat. It felt good. I did a 5 minute warmup and a 45 minute ride. In that ride I did a few standing stints, a few hard sitting sprints, some rest periods, and the rest I cruised along at a pretty good clip.
Jelly Burn
Wow, I forgot how much a good trainer session makes you sweat, and turns your legs to jelly pretty quickly.
Tonight I rode for 35 minutes, a 25 minute spin with 5 minute warm up and cool downs on either end. It had been a while since I had last used it, and even though I thought I was all set up, the one thing I forgot was the strap to my HRM. That device really helps me keep the tempo up since I can see exactly how hard I am working. Without that I tried timing my revolutions and trying to keep it up pretty high.
I did one standing stint (something I haven’t done much of on the trainer). That sure made the quads burn.
Trainer Workout
I’ve been wanting to ride for a while now. The timing this weekend for me to go mountain biking just didn’t work, and I wasn’t feeling up to a road ride. Instead I popped the road bike on the trainer and stayed home for a spin.
There are some things about riding a trainer that I forgot since last time. First, no matter what, get a fan blowing across yourself. A constant spin like that generates a lot of heat and without actual wind blowing over you, there is no heat dissipation.
Second, don’t wear a jersey. This just traps in the heat even more.
Third, a headband would be a good idea for keeping sweat from running down your face.
Fourth, wear gloves. This may sound odd, but I have never worked up a sweat like I have on the trainer. Everything gets soaked quickly and gripping bars with slippery wet hands is not easy. Gloves give traction.
My workout today was 5 minute warmup, 30 minute hard ride, followed by a 5 minute cool down. It was a good workout, and I think I will try to get back into the trainer once a week again.
In the new house, I have a space downstairs to ride which helps keep the noise down. Downside is no TV to watch, but I will just have to create some good playlists for my ipod.