Like I would Actually be in There

Nice sleep in and a coffee in the hot tub to warm-up the legs before the inevitable workout.  Today - The Wretched.

Not for the faint of heart.... well that might be a bit hyperbolic, as you are ultimately in control of how hard you work, but for those of us that are truly motivated to use this indoor season to rehabilitate and return to the summer race ready... well there is nothing hyperbolic about it at all.  I am left absolutely gasping during some of these sets and I am pushing with all I have.  Sweating profusely while keeping hydrated I am doing everything I can to climb with the best of them....  giving it to Contador and Evans... like I would actually be in there with them on these epic races and climbs.... but it is fun to dream.

MEC says my GSC10 should be here this week and I will be back with more useable data, but in the meantime the above will have to suffice.  I am very curious how it all turns out when I get it all hooked up.  I might even guess that I might be working harder without my speed.... who knows.

Shut Up, Legs!

There is not try.

What a great title for a Sufferfest video.  This was the one that got Tri-Girl.... BOOOM!!!!!!!!  Just a real tough series of intervals that rely on you getting faster with each push with a load of high cadance.... combined with a 30 minute warm-up it truly is enough to make you question your sanity..........   Shut Up, Legs!

I am still without my GSC10.  Not worth the effort to send it out to Montreal to get it fixed.  So, after some research I found it at MEC for $50.  with free shipping. Done.  It should be here before the weekend and I will be back with some accurate data.  In the meantime, never fear I am still suffering and I would not doubt that I might even be suffering more.

Aluminum Man

Into the great empty awesomeness.... or at least that's how I like to think of it.... or my own personal pool that I share with the occasional stranger.

But the best of all was the NEGATIVE SPLITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was on fire!

5x300m sprint set as per usual.

Wait for it.....

wait for it......

4:47, 4:47, 4:46, 4:45, 4:44!  WOOOT WOOOT.

I am so ready to accept the tin man award..... strike that and make it aluminum man.

Cadence and Barfability

Okay, so Sunday - Local Hero

OMG - I could not believe the sprint set a the end

Okay, so my GSC10 Has packed it in and I rode this one entirely by cadence and barfability.  And let me just say right away that the barfability was extremely high.

Based entirely on past practice I am guessing my KM total here and manually inputed it.  All other data is real.

Not much else to say....  owch.

Lack of Concentration

Easy week means I am not in the pool as much, but does not mean that I am taking it easy when I am there.  I am still in the 100m average of 1:34.... or better as the Krauss would say.  To be honest, I just as not feeling it and I did not really settle into a solid pace that felt comfy with the exception of the first 50m.  The set was the usual and the pool was basically deserted... just the way I likes it.  That said, I over shot set two with an extra 50 as an ode to my complete lack of concentration.  set was 5x300m threshold...  4:40, 5:31 (extra 50), 4:45, 4:48, and the 4:50.

Downward Spiral

It's Wednesday and I am $1700 poorer.... (but then again myt baby's got snow tires)...  why not continue with the metaphorical Downward Spiral?

Pain glorious pain.

  Intervals

     2:00/ 2:00

       1:45/ 1:45

         1:30/ 1:30

           1:15/ 1:15

             1:00/ 1:00

                :45/ :45

                   :30/:30

                      :15

Repeat

When you are on you are 9/10 effort and when you are not, you are 3/10

Barf and easy... I see why they say to have a bucket ready.... I really do.

A note about my data - the armin cadance sensor was dying so some a bit ridiculous at end - no max speed of 112KMPH I am afraid, but the 51KMPH on the first :15 Vo2Max was legit.

Fight Club and Tyler-interuptus

Sunday Fight Club

"One hour you wish you never started!" - Fight Club

Today was all about some patience.  The internet was giving us some grief and keep kicking us out in the middle of our VEVO 80's mix.  I forgot how bad some of those videos were.......... 

"Livin' it up while I'm going down!"

Other than Tyler-interuptus from the fantastic people at MTS, we had ourselves a marvy time racing again for the glory of Sufferlandria.  Due to a late evening of embibement, the warm-up took its took on Tri-girl, but being the trooper that she is she dug deep and kept in the game for the full 90 minutes.

The video had 5 main sets of TT and climbing that really took a fair bit out of you and with each set there were random attacks where you did not change gear, you just spun up +15 cadence.  So that saw you attacking at 115 in the TT and jumping to 90 from 75 on the climb.

I cannot really say enough about these videos as a really stellar way to train at home and still push yourself to achieve something new.  As well, I am a real fan of their cooldown... something comedic having to do with cycling.

Did 15 minutes of core after.  3 sets of: 30 second plank, 30 seconds side plank with leg lifts, 3 sets of 10 leg lifts, 3 sets of 20 elbow to knee sit-up touches and yes.... wait for it.... I did my first set of sit-ups!!!!!!  I know.... holy shit..... I did 3 sets of 10.  Not tooo shabby if I do say so myself, as two weeks ago i could not even do one sit-up.

On a side note, still loving not having to pack up all my crap an go out into the cold in my sweaty state and staggering up-stairs into the shower.

The Art of Seconds

Hit the pool.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

It was the Friday that felt like a Wednesday.

Swimming is an art of seconds and then at the competitive level the art of hundredths or thousandths of a second.  Just ask Milorad Čavić.  Nedless to say that todays brief post sees my first forray into an average speed of 1:34 for my 100M or 6 seconds faster since I started back in the tank.  I'm no Steve Austin and some haters might say, "who gives a.... ?"  I do.  I do and, if I am honest, I am pretty damn proud of the seemingly insignificant difference between 1:34 and 1:35; it hurt.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Remembrance Day TT

With the Sufferfest Videos being the meat and potatoes of cycling for the summer it is wise to get in a TT to establish my numbers.

We did a 30 minute warm up.

The into the Time Trial:


Here's the thing....
last year's November TT - Avg HR - 147 Avg. Speed 23.9KMPH
This year's November TT - Avg HR 138 Avg. Speed 23.8 KMPH

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

¡yo no say!

Back in the pool.



Nuff said.

On a side note, it is always interesting to meet someone at the pool out of context.  If you are like me, I pigeon hole people by their profession or what I know of them.  So... when I see them out of context swimming and obviously wearing next to nothing, it often runs at odds to my pigeon hole.   Hypothetically speaking, let's say by all accounts you are a very successful powerful person at work, but yet in the pool it's a different story. OR,  the opposite, when you see some one and they are successful in their work life and the obviously have a swim background and solid grasp of the fundamentals.  I just like the idea that I am consistently being humbled by life and reminded all the time to never judge a book by its cover and to remind myself that you truly never understand someone until you walk a mile in their shoes.

Had a 4:38 today.  Fell apart 2 sets later, but I had a 4:38.  YAY me!

Yep - still partly en español.... ¡yo no say!

The Howling ( '15 and not '81)

So Friday I found myself back on the table like the slab of meat that I am, and there (as always) was Chris at Ness Physio pulling apart my calves and hammies with his thumbs.  It never seems to be anything less than bearable, but for the most part it is controlled agony.  Lots of fluids and stretching when I got home meant that the stairs to the basement were almost pleasant.

Saturday we tackled the dumping ground in the basement known as the storage room.  Each year we go through this process and if we have not touched it in 2 years it finds a new home.  This year that included a huge old school media cabinet that I built 13 years ago and our old 5.1 channel surround system. There is also the reorganizing of totes and the like.

Nothing like warming up to old 80's videos - this is Phil Collins' - Sssss-sudio with to of his biggest fans....... ha.... ha......... heh... he.

But Sunday it was time to ride for the honour of SUFFERLANDRIA in the tour d'suisse.  Tri-girl and I tackled "The HUNTED"

What a work out - a truly epic event.  We are loving these videos and we are loving no having to haul all our crap anywhere.  With the onset of snow today, it was totally wicked to just have to go downstairs and do what needed to get done.  We loved how the video "howled" as the pack tried to chase us down...  fun.  All in we did a 30 minute warm-up with some builds and then into the video and ended with about 15 minutes of core.

Pleasantly Suprised

I am super proud of myself today.  NEGATIVE SPITS in the pool..... not that my average pace went any where, but I have really been trying to get somewhere on my last set.  That means I would do the 4 3oo's and then try my best to be faster on my 5th and final one... to no avail.  However, today was different.  It started with some real lag and ache in my arms and legs left over from Angels and core last night.  I really mean it.... that first lap hurt.  Then I settled in with the mentality of let's just get this one in the books and sucked it up.  So, needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by my times.

4:50, 4:48, 5:40 (350m.. I really should pay more attention), 4:49 and 4:45!!!!

Whew!

It's not like I have been slacking.  I went to the pool on Friday the 31st (all hallow's eve) and it was closed due to a fouling - aka kid barffed in the pool, so they gave me a coupon for my inconvenience, but I took that as a sign as my massage that was scheduled for 10:00 AM that morning was also cancelled as my dominatrix - wrong word as he is a guy, called in sick so I had to reschedule.

After the dust of Halloween settled I headed into home owner-ship-ness for the weekend and tried to get caught up with all the things I have neglected throughout the summer.  Let's see:  raked leaves, drained all the gas out of the lawnmower, cleaned out the garage and organized all my tools, put the carb back together on my snowblower as the gasket that connects the carb to the intake manifold mysteriously vanished along with the bolts, cleaned out all the duct work and replaced about 3ft. of venting for the dryer, scrubbed the furnace intake vent (blocked) and installed a new sink stopper system and drain in the ensuite, cleaned out and scrubbed clean all the bathroom drains back to the main and installed a new ceiling fan in the down-stairs bathroom.  Whew.

Somewhere in there I even made an appearance at Central Canada Comicon for 5 hours with my kiddies.

So Monday was a R and R day and I was back in the pool Tuesday and met up with Iron Mike.  He was busting out 10 X100 and looked solid and steady.  I was back at the usual and did my 1500 with a cool down of the easiest 200 breast you've ever seen.  I got out of the pool and , as per usual, the shower would not take.  I was still sweating as class started at 8:30..... sigh.

Today... well it is official, we are now riding for SUFFERLANDRIA.  Tri-girl and I began session one of our Wednesday night workouts with "Angels" by Sufferfest.  This video lived up to its name and had us both gasping for air.  The best part... we did not have to rush home to load up our gear to head out to Tribe and as soon as we were done, we did not have to load up our gear and could hit the shower immediately.  The down side...... none of JS's brilliant innuendo..... miss you big guy.  On a side note, I tried my first sit-up in 5 months and was unable to complete even 1.  I did three sets of 10 of pulling my knees up to my chin and that just about killed me.  Slow and steady road to recovery..... at least that's what they tell me.