Cycladdict Road Blog

15 minutes on the elliptical machine just to loosen up. Looking forward to some long rides this weekend.

Workout:

• Type: General Cardio
• Date: 07/31/2008
• Time: 18:00:00
• Total Time: 00:15:00.00

Super set work out with bicep and tricep lifting and core/leg work outs. Just focused on form and repetition.

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 07/31/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 00:45:00.00

I left work early to go for a ride. This time of year, the afternoon boomers roll in with buckets of rain, wind and lightning. I had planned to go for 25 miles. I spent the first 15 going back and forth on an overpass at high cadence, never dropping below 15 mph. On the last time over, the storm hit. The wind slowed me to a crawl as the rain came in sideways through my sunglasses. I finished with a flat run to Mather’s Bridge for another nine miles or so.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/30/2008
• Time: 16:30:00
• Total Time: 1:27:00.00
• Distance: 24.4 miles
• Average Speed: 16.83 mph
• Max Speed: 30.1 mph

I tried Namaste Yoga last night for the first time last night. I was impressed with my lack of flexibility. I will try and add this to my schedule at least once a week. Maybe yoga can be a long term goal of improving my flexibility over the next year or two. It was a moderate challenge, but it is healthy and relaxing. Something new . . .

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 07/29/2008
• Time: 20:00:00
• Total Time: 00:30:00.00

Basic cycling stretching program. Thinking about taking up Namaste Yoga for flexibility on the bike. Calves are tight.

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 07/29/2008
• Time: 07:30:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

Upper body workout with three sets each of flat bench, incline, decline. Cable pulley sets of 15 for four sets at different elevations. Every chest set was super set with abdominal crunches on machine and on ball. Total of 120 crunches.

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 07/28/2008
• Time: 17:45:00
• Total Time: 00:52:00.00

My wife woke up early to go for a run along River Road. Her going motivated me to go for spin. I have been cycling now for a grand total of almost five months. I remember being discouraged at the prospect of considering a ten mile ride. Today, I went twenty at a real average pace of closer 18 mph. It was controlled, easy without too much effort at all. I guess I am starting to see the progress. Anyways, a great ride withe the early morning sun, a light breeze and the riverfront. I am grateful.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/27/2008
• Time: 08:00:00
• Total Time: 1:16:00.00
• Distance: 19.9 miles
• Average Speed: 15.71 mph
• Max Speed: 22.6 mph

Today I went for an extended ride. I specifically rode near the beach because I knew the winds would bluster. I rode the flats so that after a hill or climb, there could be no coasting. I waited to start my ride until 1:00 p.m. here in Florida because I knew the temperature would be over 90. It would seem that I went out of my way to not only exercise, but to make it difficult. I love the challenge.

I had forgotten the satisfaction found in suffering through an athletic trial. As I train for my century ride, I find myself more and more engaged in the act of training. I am no one special. I have not achieved anything noteworthy by the world’s standards. But I am driven to pursue more: to pursue challenges that cause me to struggle and leave me wanting. I don’t know why I wax poetic about cycling. I leave with a quote and hope to have that “thing” that makes me struggle, every day.

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/26/2008
• Time: 13:00:00
• Total Time: 2:47:00.00
• Distance: 42.3 miles
• Average Speed: 15.2 mph
• Max Speed: 21.5 mph

Looking for ways to increase muscle strength and recovery time as well as support my weight loss goals. Today, I had limited time so I did sprint intervals. I maintained a high cadence of around 90 at 16 mph and then maintained that pace and speed as I rose over hills of various sizes. 10 “climbs” in all.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/25/2008
• Time: 18:00:00
• Total Time: 00:38:00.00
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 15.16 mph
• Max Speed: 32.2 mph

I was out of town for business. I got stuck in the weather mess on this last Tuesday while trying to fly back into the US from central America. What should have been a three hour flight turned into an eight hour ordeal with re-routs, flight delays and waiting on a new pilot. As a result, my left hip got really sore starting last night and into today. I went out and rode anyways. I am hoping that fighting through the hip pain to put in the miles was the right decision. I worked 21 miles on the hills at a moderate cadence of about 85. I ran out of daylight, so I cut the intended thirty mile work out by a few. The last four miles were on the flats at about 17 mph on a winding river road.

Some work out is better than no work out, . . . as long as I can stand upright tomorrow.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/24/2008
• Time: 20:48:42
• Total Time: 1:40:21.00
• Distance: 25.2 miles
• Average Speed: 15.07 mph
• Max Speed: 31.3 mph
• Average Cadence: 88
• Max Cadence: 104