Fast, Faster and Fastest Pedal

Today was pretty much a normal day, didn't want to get out of bed, but nonetheless, I headed off to work. I got home and headed down to the trainer, asking myself is this ever going to end and when can I get back outside on a regular basis. Anyway, I had fast pedal tonight, with no cadence sensor, b/c for some reason it is broken and I cannot figure it out. Hopefully it just needs a new battery, if there is even a battery in it. So I spent 1 hr and 30 minutes on the bike tonight, and hit 4 intervals of 3 minutes each with the cadence, with 5 minutes rest between each set. The rest of the ride was 33 minutes of Base miles, and 15 minutes warm up and then again for recovery. NO cadence tonight, but I know I was over 105 rpms. The goal is between 105 and 120 rpms, I found that i could peg it between 19.5-20.5 mph and I knew I was somewhere over 105. Doing that for 3 minutes was a challenge. I noticed towards the end of each 3 minute set my HR was in the upper end of my zone around 158-163. I'll monitor this and hopefully it will not rise the more I do them.

Ride Stats
Time: 1:30
Dist 27.2 miles
Avg HR 135
Max HR 163
Avg Sp 18.13 mph
Max Spd 23.6 mph
Morning HR 53

Rain, Wind, Sleet, and Snow

Absolutely horrible ride today. Worst I have ever had. I should have stayed in on the trainer this morning. But i felt too good after yesterdays windy ride, to stay inside. It had been raining all last night and a little this morning. So I didn't think I was going to get outside. But about 2 this afternoon I saw a little peak of sunshine out by my house and it had not rained for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go and get a 2 hr ride in. Well it quickly turned disastrous, and utterly brutal out there. I got just about 8 miles away from my house, after fighting the driving wind heading West and Southwest, when It started to mist and rain a little bit. So, OK, no big deal I can handle a little rain, but as soon as I thought that the wind picked up gusting well over 30 mph, and it became very hard to keep my bike up right. I was literally riding leaning over to keep the bike upright from the wind. Anyway I only got out for an hour and ended up soaked and cold . I did hit about 29-30 with the wind at my back trying to get home as fast as I could.

Ride Stats
Time: 0:59 min
Dist 15.2 miles
Avg HR 153
Max HR 182
Cadence, not working
Max Spd 30 mph
Avg Spd 15.25
Morning HR 53
Kcal 645

Wed Nes Day

OK quick write up. I felt good today. HR was low ..51 this morning. I could feel the work I did from yesterday in my OLP drill, in my Hip Flexors today. Today was 1 Hr 10 min with muscle tension included.

Ride Stats

Ride Time: 1hr 10 min
Dist: 21.03
Avg HR 131
Max HR 163
Avg Cad 83
Max Cad 103
Avg Sod 17.02
Max Spd 23.8
Kcal 754
Morning HR 51

Tuesday's Gone with the wind...

Well up and off to work for another 11 hr day. But surprisingly the day goes by pretty fast when you have a lot to get done. Anyway, I got home today and felt pretty good. In fact I felt good when I woke up. Resting HR this morning was 51. OLP Drill tonight, not really looking forward to it but did it anyway. I had a pretty sharp pain in the front of my left knee tonight, but after about 20 minutes of riding it went away. I'll monitor and see what happens tomorrow.

One thing I noticed tonight was that my pedal stroke with both of my legs in the OLP drill is much much smoother than when I first started doing this drill. I can get through the entire interval with almost no irregularities or jerks in my pedal stroke. Now I just have to be able to get through then entire minute from a strength standpoint.

Ride Time" 1:15
Dist: 20.8 miles
Avg Spd 16.64
Max Spd : 24.1
Avg HR 131
Max HR 162
Avg Cad 92
Max Cad 107
Morning HR 51
Kcal 795

Another Manic Monday

Got up and off to work this morning. Morning HR was 53. At work tonight until 6pm tonight, and not too bad overall. Anyway to make this short, went off to the gym tonight and got in an upper body, and hard ab work out. Then I came home and got on the rollers for 30 minutes tonight and did an easy spin, in hopes to work out whatever tiredness I still have in my legs to be fresh for tomorrow.

Ride Stats:
Ride Time 30 minutes
Dist: 8.4 miles
Avg Cad 91
Max Cad 98
Avg HR 115
Max HR 125
Avg Spd 16.2
Morning HR 53

Another Garage Day

Well, its officially been three weeks since I last rode outside. I'm starting to get really sick of the trainer, and my motivation is slipping a bit. But hopefully the weather coming up this week, will allow for some time outside this weekend.

Anyway, I went over to Greg's this morning and did 1hr 40 min on the trainer with Tempo as my focus again today. My motivation was pretty bleak, but I got through it just fine. Morning HR this morning was 53. I noticed that i had a lot of trouble getting my HR up today and rode mostly in my 130's zone. Even though my HR was having a bit of trouble, my legs felt fairly heavy and tired today. I'm hoping with some proper rest and a recovery day tomorrow, I will be refreshed and ready to go on Tuesday. Had some slight discomfort in the fronts of both my knees today. Haven't had any in quite a long time, we'll see if it continues.

Ride Stats:
Ride Time: 1:40
Dist: 31.6 miles
Avg HR 134
Max HR 167
Avg Cad 88
Max Cad 102
Avg Spd 19
Max Spd 23.8
Kcal 1054

Getting stuck in a snow bank...why not

Woke up this morning with a new 2 inches of snow on the ground and probably got somewhere between 2-4 inches again today, i really hope this all goes away soon. Anyway, went over to Greg's and got in 1 hr and 40 minutes today with a focus on the fast pedal. Morning HR this morning was 53. Focused on the fast pedal after my endurance section of the ride today. My body felt pretty good, and my pedaling felt smooth. Except during the fast pedal, I felt a little out of control sometimes, trying to focus on smoothing out my pedal stroke. Mostly sitting in a 108-115 cadence for each interval.

Ride Stats
Ride Time: 1hr 40min
Dist: 31.7 miles
Avg HR 133
Max HR 156
Avg Spd 19
Max Spd 24.1
Avg Cad 92
Max Cad 126
Morning HR 53
KCal 1054

Getting Busy

Well today was my first day back at work after all the snow, and it was a good first day in the office. After an 1 hr and 25 minute drive home from work I got on and did the tempo ride tonight. HR this morning was a low 52. Tempo ride stats are below...this is a short posting


Ride Time: 1:15
Dist: 22.25 miles
Avg Cad 85
Max Cad 111
Avg HR 139
Max HR 170
Avg Spd 17.8
Max Spd 24.6
Kcal 867

Legs felt a little loaded half way through the tempo ride. I was switching between a 53x12 and a 53x13-14 at 2% grade for most of the time to try and keep my cadence between 70-75. I had a little trouble pegging my HR today in that 4 beat window, today it was more like a 6 beat window, but for the most part I had it in the zone, dropping a little below every once in a while but I was able to get it back up and hold it. Overall, even though a little hard today and annoying, it was a good ride overall.

"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift." -Prefontaine.

Another Snow Day

Well since most of central Indy today was still under a snow emergency, I had another day off of work today. So I got to sleep in a bit, and felt great once I got up. Went outside and dug ourselves out of the snow again, and the drifts were so high they were waist deep on me. Had some fun in the xterra trying to get out and sliding around, then I hit an early ride on the rollers for about 35 minutes.

My legs felt pretty good and my resting HR was low at 52 this morning. I spun around for 35 minutes and got off, getting ready for my work out tomorrow. And probably a long drive to and from work.

Ride Time: 0:35 min
Distance: 9.26 miles
Avg HR: 121
Max HR 130
Avg Cad: 89
Max Cad 99
Avg Spd 15.87

Snow Day

Snow day today, didn't have to go to work, but I am thinking I will have to go tomorrow. So I got a little extra sleep today, and I felt great when I woke up. Resting HR was 51. Shoveled the driveway a total of three times today, we have an insane amount of snow and its just blowing and drifting all over the place. Anyway I got 1 hr and 15 minutes in on the trainer this after noon and did some OLP Drills, they still suck.

Ride Stats listed below.

Ride Time : 1:15
Distance : 22.98 miles
Avg HR: 140
Max HR 168
Avg Cad 92
Max Cad 130
Avg spd 18.4
Max Speed 24.1
Resting HR 51

I found that my left leg is more efficient during OLP than my right leg. And my left leg can turn about 5-10 rpms higher than my right leg. Need to practice to get both at the same efficiency, and be able to go the entire minute with out really hurting.

And then there were two...

Went over to Greg's again this morning, on another frigid day, with the plan of doing 1 hr 45 minutes, with some base and muscle tension combined. I noticed that my HR was a little high this morning, sitting at about 57 bpm, and I thought it was from yesterdays work out and all the walking I did at the mall in the afternoon. We started the ride and I could feel a burn in my legs, but noticed that my HR was staying pretty low, but it seemed like I was working harder than my HR was indicating. A first sign that I may have recovered cardio wise, but not muscle wise in my legs. Well the ride today consisted of:
15 minute warm up
50 minutes of base miles
20 minutes of muscle tension
15 minute cool down

I propped up the trainer about 4 inches off the ground and did both muscle tension intervals for 8 minutes, in a 53x13 gear @ 55 rpms with 9 minutes rest between the 2 intervals.

We'll see how my legs feel and I recover tomorrow, after my first day of work at my new job.

Time: 1:45
Dist 36.7 miles
Avg HR131
Max HR 160
AVG Cad 89
Max Cad 110
Avg Speed 20.9
Max Speed 28.2
Morning HR 57

A crowded garage

So I went over to Greg's again this morning to ride on the trainer, and this time we had some more company. 7 of us lined up in his garage riding for about 2 hours. It really does make the time to go faster. Anyway, my ride today consisted of 15 minutes of warm up 1hr of endurance miles and then 20 minutes of tempo riding, pegging my HR between 166 and 170. At the end of that 20 minutes my legs were pretty loaded up and and my hamstrings were pretty tired, but I think that it was a great work out.

Time 1 hr 50 minutes
Dist. 35.33 miles
avg hr: 145
max hr: 171
avg cad: 89
max cad : 111
kcal 1329

If it doesn't warm up soon......

So today was my last day at my old job, and I am pretty excited about starting my new one next week, I am hoping it all goes well. Anyway cutting the the chase, I jumped on the trainer tonight and did 1hr and 15 minutes, focusing on endurance miles and one leg pedaling drills.

I've decided that I don't like doing pedalling drills b/c its hard, and shows how "unsmooth" my pedalling stroke is, not to mention how tired it makes my hip flexors. But if I stick with it, it will get better I know it.

My legs felt OK tonight, but even though my HR was below my peak the entire time, it felt like I was doing some good work along the way. I really think it was the two drinks I had the night before that still were playing an effect on my system. I had a couple beers with some guys from work last night, and I think that effected my HR even through tonight. But after my workout I stretched and drank my recovery drink, showered up and I felt really good. So maybe I just needed to work that crap out of me before the weekend

PS I put a new bottom bracket in today, and I possibly felt a difference. :)


Time 1 hr 15 minutes
Distance: 17.7 miles
Avg Cad 90
Max Cad 108
Avg HR 136
Max HR 156

15 minute warm up
30 min of endurance miles
20 min OLP drill
10 minute cool down
Below Zone: 23 min
In Zone 52 min
Above Zone: 0:00

A better day today

OK, so I actually woke up on time this morning and felt pretty good. HR this morning was 51, about the lowest it has been I think. Anyway, I rolled out of bed about 20 after 6, went outside and shoveled the driveway and halled the trash down to the corner and got ready for work. The day went by fairly fast, and after work I headed over to the bike shop, picked up a couple tubes, and some gel packs and headed home. I changed the flat on my bike and geared up for my work out that I missed yesterday. Tonight it consisted of the muscle tension ride...15 minute warm up, and then 4 intervals at 4 minutes each with 8 minutes of recovery between each set. the goal is, with the Trainer elevated 4 inches off the ground to simulate climbing, and turning the pedals over in a very hard gear, turning around 55 rpms. So after my 15 minute warm up I geared up for the first set....and it follows below....

Interval 1: 4 minutes
I put it in a 53x13 and started turning it over, and it was still pretty easy, so I added 3% incline to the effort and rode it for 4 minutes. My AVG Cad was between 54-59, and my HR only hit 140, I know this isn't a heart rate based work out, but I didn't feel like I was getting what it was intended to do....so I rested with active recovery for 8 minutes and started the next set.

Interval 2: 4 minutes
This time I was back in the 53x13, elevated the same height obviously, and this time I put it on a 4% incline. This time I could feel more resistance in my pedal stroke and I was sitting pretty stable at 55 rpms, + - 1 rpm. However through out the 4 minutes again my HR only reached 151 this time, and during my recovery my HR was dropping well below 120 bpm....8 minutes active recovery, spinning in about a 39x16 at around 75-80 rpms

Interval 3: 4 minutes
This one was more of the same as set two, but I was putting an even harder concentration on my pedal stroke, to see if that effected my cadence and/or my HR. 4% incline, 53x12-13, and I noticed my cadence was a bit higher in this set running between 55 and 58 rpms. I held this for the entire set, and toward the end about the last 90-100 seconds I could feel my legs loading up a bit and feeling a burn in them my HR got up to 155.....then 8 minutes active recovery again, same as interval 2.

Interval 4: 4 minutes
This was the last set, and I wanted to see if I could push myself harder and keep the same cadence up. So I put it back into a 53x13 and this time I took it up to a 5% incline. I was able to turn this for the first 2 minutes, at that point my legs were loading up pretty good, they weren't hurting too bad, but my cadence had dropped to 50 then just below to 48 and I couldn't quite get it up to 55 again. So I down shifted to a 4 % incline and finished out at 55 rpms. This time it was a much harder effort and my HR was up to 170. Each time I recovered very well between each set, and at the end I rode a 15 minute cooled down ride and finished up.

Overall Stats:
Time: 1 hr 10 min
Dist 17.3 miles
Avg HR 125
Max HR 170
Avg Cad: 72
Max Cad 100

Not happy about it

Well today pretty much sucked. Very bored in my last days at work. Got off early b/c we were getting "hammered with snow" I don't consider 5-6 inches getting hammered...and I think people need to learn how to handle a little diverse weather and figure out how to drive. Anyway, I got home and spent a good hour shoveling off the driveway, and back porch and a path for the dog. Then I got sucked into helping my brother with some homework projects. Anyway, I had to put my bike in the garage last night. b/c we were moving some things down in the basement. So I put some air in the tires tonight, brought it into the basement, set it up on the trainer, and went upstairs to change my clothes. about 20-25 minute later I went back down to the basement and got on the trainer. MY intention tonight was to do a work out Greg gave me to focus on. 15 minutes of warm up then muscle tension drills...trainer raised about 4 inches off the ground turning a big gear at about 55 rpms for 4 minute intervals 4 times with 8 minutes rest in between. Well I got about 3 minutes into the total ride, and heard a noise that almost made my heart stop. the tube in my tire blew, and not only did it just blow, it blew part of the tire right off the rim. I about died it was so loud and out of no where. My theory is with the bike being so cold and putting air in the tires then riding it 25 minutes later, the change in temperature caused it to blow. Or I had a pinch in it from changing it on Sunday, but I doubt it, b/c I rode it last night and it was fine. So I am pretty pissed about not getting my work out in tonight, and I didn't have a spare tube, b.c I just changed a flat on Sunday. So after all that, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Pretty simple day

Well today was probably one of the coldest days this winter by far and to top it all off we lost power sometime last night. So I woke up freezing and got to take a cold shower this morning and about an hour late. Made it through a really boring day today. As the last week at this job I don't have any new projects to work on, and its going to be a struggle to make it through the entire day. MY legs didn't feel to bad today, going up and down the stairs a lot. So I got home and went over to the gym. Did a fairly lite work out tonight with the upper body and lower back. Focused mainly on chest press, biceps triceps and a major focus on abs and lower back today. MY main concern however was my ride after my work out. I went home and rode the rollers for 30 minutes tonight. Kept my HR in my recovery zone and just spun my legs over. Surprisingly even though my legs felt good at work today, I could feel the work I had put on them over the weekend. Not showing that they were really tired but I could feel some burn in the first 10 minutes of my ride.
Time 30 min
Dist 9.7 miles
Avg HR 121
Max HR 130
Avg Cad 92
Max Cad 100
Avg Spd: 18.8
Max Spd 20.1

Cabin Fever

I think I am getting Cabin Fever, and its only been a week of freezing cold weather. I don't think I can take it much longer. The forecast for the up coming week....Cold, Colder and don't bother. Anyway, got up this morning and headed back over to Greg's for another wonderful day on the trainer. Go going with the intentions of doing 1.5 hours. But only ended up doing 50 minutes, b/c I got a flat on the trainer and had to change it. I was going to do a tempo work out with Greg for the last 20 minutes of the ride, but that got cut short. Anyway , I could really feel the work I had done yesterday in my legs. THEY WERE a little tired and a little heavy for a while but I worked through it. I was also pretty uncomfortable on the seat today. Getting numb quite early, and I had to get up and climb to relieve some of the pressure. Hopefully I can get this fixed. Anyway, ride stats are below


Time 50 min 21 sec.
Dist 16.7 miles
Avg HR 135
Max HR 166
Avg Cad 93
Max Cad 111
Avg Speed: 20.04
Max Speed:23.5

Stuck in a Garage

Well, it was freezing today, no way riding outside was even a thought in the front of my mind. So I went over to Greg's and rode in his Garage on the trainer with him and George. IT really made the time go by faster. We rode for 2 hours in a base miles zone. This was the first time I had a long ride on the new seat to see how it felt. I really want to get it outside to see if it is any better. Two hours on the trainer is tough. I did go numb multiple times and needed to stand up and simulate some climbing to let more circulation to get through. Overall the ride was pretty good. It doesn't look like I'll be getting back outside until next weekend at the earliest. Temps next week will be extremely cold.

The ride today consisted of:
2 hours
Dist. 35 miles
Avg HR 141
Max HR 166
Avg Cad 93
Max Cad 108


I felt pretty good throughout the entire ride, not discomfort in my knees at all until the last 20 minutes I got a little discomfort in the front of my left knee. But nothing to worry about, very minor. I felt that my pedal stroke was a little different today with the new positioning. I also noticed that if I really concentrate on pulling my foot through the bottom of the pedal stroke it becomes much smoother. When I do not concentrate on that, I notice that by rogue memory I am looking for the bottom of my pedal stroke before I begin to pull through, and it makes it a little choppy and I notice I hit the bottom quite frequently. I will try to make a more conscious effort to pull that through better and smooth that out. Hopefully that will come naturally with some more practice. Well, time to get some good rest tonight to do it all again tomorrow.

GO Colts!!!

A little movement...can go a long way.

Well this write up is going to be pretty short, b/c its late and I want to go to bed. Had a deathly boring day at work today, and then headed over to George's to work on my bike positioning....we put on a new seat, well an old school seat, but its new to me. We changed the seat height a little bit and my positioning of my cleats. I noticed a difference in my pedaling stroke, and saw the difference on how I could be too far back behind the pedals. Anyway, after that 2.75 hr adjustment, I came home and jumped on the trainer and hour. And it went something like this.

10 minute warm up
40 minutes of base mile riding
( With in that 40 minutes I did one leg pedal drills, 1 minute each, with each foot, 3 times.)
10 minute cool down

Time: 1:00
Distance 16.7 miles
Avg HR 135
Max HR 162
Avg Cad 92
Max Cad 104

My legs were a little sore later in the day from sitting around all day. I think it was a little bit of lactic acid build up from the leg work out the other night. Nothing to worry about though, I don't think it effected anything, and I will see how I feel in the morning.