A quick update on the weekend

Boxing Day (26th Dec for those not British!!)

Good easy 7.5km ankles a bit sore but seemed okay after a warm up....but wow was it icy!! speed was right down as every step was a voyage into the unknown....would I fall over and break my leg or not - thankfully not!

Today
Not icy (first time in two weeks),  but to fit in with family timelines I had to do 1:45 on the turbo and then jump on the bike for the remaining 1:15....I really enjoy watching 24 on the computer when I am on the turbo but I am starting to get cabin fever when I am on it for over an hour - it was great to get out in the open air and hit the road....it was v wet and muddy with melted snow (not so melted in some sheltered areas) and v cold....but I managed 3hrs and I even managed to do alternate hills siting standing all the way through....the last hill (13%) is a pig and doing that sitting down was hard work....managed it tho :-)

Later
I.

A week of trying to train in the snow!!

Well it has bee a funny sort of week with the UK locked in a scary thing called winter....

All the roads around us are covered in packed ice (no one is gritting them...) and this has limited training....basically at the moment all cycling is being done in the garage on the turbo and running is challenging (trying to grab a quick run when the roads thaw around midday)...swimming and gym sessions are almost unnaffected (well unless the 20mins it took for me to defrost the car and the 25mins it took to drive there this morning counted! It was -10 degrees this morning!!)

Anyway today's session was in the gym, looking at the reps I seem to be improving!

Warmup OK 10mins easy on the bike
Scissors 2x20 per leg
Dips to fatigue 33x/22x
Lunges (with 15kg barbell) 2x30 per leg
Alt Lunges (with 10kg barbel - by the end I was almost in tears!) 2x30 per leg
L/Fr/R Planks - 3x30s on each
Squats 30x2 (with 20kg barbell)

Press ups - 28 Narrow/20 Wide
Cool Down 10mins at 140-145bpm on bike


Good set - meant to be doing a 30min recovery run at lunchtime but ice and work (my annual appraisal) might mean this becomes a 30min ses on the turbo instead!!


Later 
I.

continued!!

I did make it to the gym after all!!

What I managed - after forgetting my printout of the training program at home!!

Warmup OK 10mins easy on the bike
Squats 30x2 (with 20kg barbell)
Scissors 17 on right leg 16 on left (before fatigue kicked in...)
Dips 30x/20x
Lunges (with 10kg barbell)
Alt Lunges (with 10kg barbel - wow this hurt the glutes more!!)
L/Fr/R Planks - Easy/Med/Hard on each set
Press ups - 24 Narrow/16 Wide
20 mins at 140-145bpm on bike

First exercise in a few days and boy can I tell now!!

I.

Wednesday - Back to reality...almost

I am really struggling with the jetlag....my body currently thinks it is 4am...I am shattered....

I have really struggled with doing any phys since leaving for the States last week. Firtly the travelling had an impact and then developing torticollis (v v painful) and finally the last two days have been very work intensive (National Sales Training meeting)...

Hopefully I will post another entry highlighting I have done my daily exercise later - I would have loved to have gone to the gym earlier today (it is a Strength session today) but for me it was somewhere around 1am (around the mid-west I think!!) and I could not get up.....

Lets hope the melatonin helps soon!

I.

No training :-(

OMG my neck hurts - I have had wry neck/torticollis for the past three days (in fact just after getting to LV) and so it looks like any form of running etc is very unlikely :-(((

It is soooo sore and has ruined the past couple of days - I have only had a couple of hours of sleep...very bad few days....

Later
I.

What day is it???

Jetlagged to hell - I am currently in Las Vegas on a business trip...I am struggling with trying to work out what time of day it is let alone wether I am up to training!! Thankfully Mike made it a rest week :-)

I cannot believe that the Bellagio (one of the most expensive hotels in LV) where we are staying charge $25 to use the gym - for one session :-O

I think a run might be more likely!! Although the over 2000ft altitude might make that interesting!!

Meant to be a gym session tomorrow - not sure but will see what happend.....at least the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon today was amazing!!

Later
I.

More turbo!!

The turbo is getting some serious use at the moment!! a really fun session today trying to work on my cycling technique:


10 minute easy spin
INTO
Pedaling drills:
10 seconds of high rpm (90-95), 10 seconds higher rpm (95-100), 10 seconds max rpm (100+) x 3 followed by 60 seconds rest.
Then 30 seconds left and 30 seconds right-leg dominant pedaling (other leg loafs).
x 3 straight through folloed by 60 seconds rest.
Repeat above

For the remainder of the session stay HR Zone 70-75% turning your legs at 90 RPM.
I would love to say I completed the 60mins set by Mike but I had to go and get the girls from school so I had to ditch it at 37mins :-(

Good chat with Mike tonight about training/power etc - might see if I can find a PowerTap in the US....

Laters
I.

Rest day....and some free money from Wiggle!!

Rest day today - still have to take my RHR but a nice email from wiggle.co.uk arrived today (courtesy of being an affiliate and having their ad on my page!!) - if you click through either of the ads on the right hand side of my webpage and use the codes below you get money off - that simple!!

Enjoy!
I.


UK:
£5 off £25 code: afree-5pnds
£15 off £75 code: afree-15pn
USA:

$10 off $50 code: afree-10USD

$30 off $150 code: afree-30USD

Euro:

5 euro off 25 euro code: 1free-5euro

15 euro off 75 euro code: 1free-15eur

AUS:

$10 off $50 code: afree-10AUD

$30 off $150 code: afree-30AUD

Japan:

1000 JPY off 5000 JPY euro code: 1free-1KJPY

3000 JPY off 15000 JPY euro code: 1free-3KJPY

Tuesday turbo

A good session - this time I programmed the turbo with the HR zones etc and it made it much easier - althoughit took me a lot longer than I thought it would with Z2 spins b/t efforts...must count the time next time!

8minutes w/u @ 65% HRmax
INTO 4 X 30 seocnds spin ups (RPE 13-14) RPM 100+ with equal recovery in b/t
25, 20, 15mins @ 75, 75, 75% HRmax
5minutes easy spin in between @ 65% HRmax
5min easy cool down

Updates to the web page

Oops forgot to save this blog entry last time - try 2!

Well I finally managed to update my contact button above (yes now if you click it you can email me :-)) and also my About button which now takes you to my LinkedIn public profile (something I update more frequently than my Blogger About me page!).

Also I have joined the Wiggle affiliate scheme to see if I can support my triathlon efforts a bit - if you need ANY cycling/swimming/running kit please come here and click through the banner on the right as I will get a small amount of cash from wiggle each time you do this!! I all helps and if it exceeds my costs of going from IMCH next year I will send it straight through to charity...

Please help a bit - have a look at their Xmas offers - they are very good

Later
I.