Brutal Ride but a Triumph of the Will!

Friday, May 31, 2013

I was scheduled to take a 22 mile ride today and planned to work on my cadence. The winds were blowing so hard and from a challenging that I almost decided not to ride. Specifically, the NW part of the Twin Cities saw 25 mph sustained winds with gusts into the upper 30s. They are coming out of the SSW which for the route I planned to ride is about as bad as it gets. It's a west and then east out-and-back route, with about 2 miles of north-south travel, so this wind direction meant that I started out with a mile of tailwinds, 20 miles of crosswinds, and a final mile of headwinds. I pretty much had to fight the whole way but I made it--it was indeed a triumph of the will!

Hope you all had a great day today!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MHEDIN2 6/1/2013 10:48AM

In southern MN here but had to deal with the same winds and a largely west out and east back route. I'm just getting back in the saddle, so to speak, but figured I'd try to put a couple of miles on. Started out aiming for 4, then figured I could do six and finally ended up doing 10. Can't wait til I'm up to the 20+ mile rides again! Great job on jumping that mental hurdle and just getting out there and doing it! Report Inappropriate Comment

BILL60 6/1/2013 9:04AM

Way to go, my friend. Report Inappropriate Comment

SANDYCRANE 5/31/2013 7:49PM

The old me would never go on a bike ride if there was any wind. Now I don't even think about the wind until I can barely pedal. Report Inappropriate Comment

BECKYANNE1 5/31/2013 7:08PM

Great job! We had those same winds down here in SE MN. We made it 20 miles. It was tough, but it made for a good workout. Report Inappropriate Comment

JAMBABY0 5/31/2013 7:04PM

Great job!!! Hope you have a good weekend Report Inappropriate Comment

On the Bike: Strength Workout Today

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Just got back from a nice 22 mile bike ride. I did a workout today designed to produce leg strength, specifically, after warming up at a high cadence for 10 minutes, I completed a number of high-torque, low-cadence intervals--three minutes on, two minutes of recovery and repeat. So after the warm up, I shifted up to a gear that I could push at a cadence of about 80 rpm. I guess I ended up completing twelve intervals, and boy are my legs wobbly--but they feel great!

Tomorrow's an easy recovery ride, and then Thursday I plan to either do a little longer ride of 36 miles or, if I don't have the time, to do a cadence workout (low-torque, high-cadence).

Anyhow, hope you all had a good one today, God be with you!

  

Marathon Out, Cycling Back in Full Swing

Saturday, May 25, 2013

The bad news: both my friend Shane and I just couldn't find the time to train well for the marathon and so we decided to pull the plug rather than risk injury. After the heart of cycling season is over, I'll start working again toward this goal because I do want to complete at least one marathon in my life. That's the bad news.

The good news: this means that I get to focus full force on my true fitness passion, cycling. I've put in a little over 140 miles this week, and though I am certainly not in good cycling shape, I'm not doing that bad either. My big annual ride, The Ride Across Minnesota (5 days, 300 miles for MS research), is in seven weeks from now and so I have a detailed training plan to guide me from here to there.

Over the last five days I have taken five rides, each one designed to work on a specific element: strength, speed (especially cadence), or aerobic endurance. It went well, and now I'm looking forward to next week where I'll be riding for six days, putting in about 100 miles, and seeking again to develop these basic things.

Hope you all have a great day!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

BILL60 5/26/2013 8:28AM

Sounds like a plan. Report Inappropriate Comment

CBLENS 5/26/2013 7:08AM

Your MS ride is twice the distance of ours, best! Report Inappropriate Comment

5 Mile Walk/Jog Today, Tomorrow...Who Knows, Minnesota Weather Strikes Again!

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Just got back from a nice 5 mile walk/jog. Making good progress, and most importantly enjoying the time being outside, getting in shape, and singing to the Lord--yep, I don't care what people think, I sing out loud as I'm jogging!

I had planned to do some bike riding over the next few days, but it looks like we may get several inches of snow up here in balmy Minnesota. You never know until it happens around here, but if that happens, I'll just go to the gym, no big deal.

Hope you all had a great day!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

FRAN0426 4/10/2013 9:54PM

Thank goodness for the gym to fall back on when the weather outside is frightfull. Report Inappropriate Comment

RUN4FOOD 4/9/2013 9:08PM

Good luck getting you bike ride in. We're in the 80's today. We have a few cooler days coming, but I think our cooler days are about over. Report Inappropriate Comment

The Plan for the Week

Monday, April 08, 2013

Thankful for a good week of training last week, and looking forward to another one this week. Here's the plan:

Monday: Day off, rest day.
Tuesday: 5 mile walk/jog (1.5 minute/3.5 minute intervals)
Wednesday: 10 mile bike ride (cadence workout)
Thursday: 22 mile bike ride (cadence workout)
Friday: 10 mile bike ride (recovery ride)
Saturday: 7 mile walk/jog (1.5 minute/3.5 minute intervals)
Sunday: 10 mile bike ride (recovery ride)

You never know what the weather will be like in Minnesota, so I may or may not be able to ride as much as I'd like but I'm going to give it my best shot!

Hope you all have a great day!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

FRAN0426 4/8/2013 2:53PM

Busy schedule that I hope you will be able to complete since they are promising rain and or rain/snow by mid week. Report Inappropriate Comment

BARBWMS 4/8/2013 11:24AM

Keep up the good work! Report Inappropriate Comment