Third time out for Cascade’s Seattle to Portland ride – the one day version (stopping halfway and making it a two day ride always seemed more hassle than just riding through. This might say something about me – but then, check the title of this blog …)
Thursday random stuff
Gym continues – possibly my longest streak of gym attendance for a while. The Fitbod app continues to be useful (again, not an ad. Just stuff I use), which may be part of it. Things I like: the ability to change exercises on the fly – the gym was busy the other evening and there were no weights benches free, so I changed the seated stuff to standing variations. If something doesn’t appeal, I can change it to something else that is more interesting/less uncomfortable (Supermans hurt my leg, for example). I also like that I can check what muscle groups I’m covering in the workout vs what muscle groups are relatively fresh (not my quads. Never my quads!) and make sure that I’m getting a reasonable spread of exercises. I’m not doing upper vs lower and so on – I’m looking for all-round fitness and, frankly, my legs (other than hamstrings) get a fair workout just from riding. The app is a bit like having a personal trainer on tap, to mix things up.
I’m watching what I eat again, with a bit more discipline. Eating lower carb, for various health-related reasons. I should have done this some time ago, although it’s proving as awkward to get the balance right with cycling as you might think. Tentatively, I think I have to fuel rides from the outset (instead of taking on carbs after a couple of hours) – it worked ok last Sunday, for a given value of ok. I’m following another app for this, with a group thing – because I know I stick to things better if I think I’m accountable to someone else. I’m old enough to have given up trying to change my personality and instead focus on working with/around it.
20ok ride this weekend, since I figure I should get in a metric double century before reading for the imperial double in three weeks …
Random check in
Still here, still riding. I’m now experimenting with Zwift workouts again, as their plans have been updated to be somewhat more adaptive to real world issues, and are a bit more realistic in time commitments. Also re-starting gym workouts, as I’m finding Fitbod’s (also adaptive) workouts to be interesting (again, not sponsored, just something I like using).
Planning to ride StP again this year, and eyeing the remaining 5 weeks with a bit of trepidation.
Noodling on Zwift
I’m trying some experiments to change my approach to a few things, and one of those got me onto the turbo this morning for a little over an hour, noodling around “London” in a Zwift workout – London and Leith Hill and Richmond Park (deer! and being chased by Roger Rabbit) via the magic spacewarps that exist in Zwift.
It’s the first time I’ve tried out Leith Hill/Richmond Park – I usually stick to the flat bits of London because I’ve been using TrainerRoad workouts in conjunction with Zwift, and I want points … more on that in a minute.
Zwift and TrainerRoad works well as a combination – I prefer the TR workouts/plans, not least because TR acknowledges that not everyone has a couple of hours at a time for a workout, which Zwift’s workouts assume (at least, I can’t find a Zwift plan with weekday rides all under 1.5 hrs or so). TR has low volume training plans for those of us with chaotic diaries, which tend towards a hour twice in the week plus 1.5 hrs at the weekend. That is a decidedly more achievable fit. Read more
General musing
The hip, it hurteth. Again. This is unamusing, but most likely the result of not quite enough exercise and so on (too much work, not enough energy and so on and so on). Circling back around to “what can I do that I actually will do”? Read more
Achievement unlocked
Finally managed to drag myself out of sleep (or at least off the sofa) and onto the turbo – 30 minutes done, via Jon’s Short Mix on Strava. I wasn’t really intending to do a workout; I had decided I would noodle about on Strava for 30 minutes, just to get my system started on the idea of morning workouts again. But, bah, plans. I logged on to find a 30 minute event about to start, in the ‘E’ category (aka, stick within a specific % of FTP and you all ride together no matter what your watts are), so I joined. Why not? Read more
Food for thought (and other cliches)
Not feeling great – and have been feeling lousy for a couple of days. It doesn’t seem to be the viral crud going around, to any great degree. I’m wondering whether it’s related to an increase in exercise whilst still restricting calories. Read more
Winter kit check
48km at zero C was a useful test of the winter kit that I bought in the sales, in the hope that it would get me outside. Not sure if it was the kit so much as the responsibility of being second leader on a club run that got me out, but the kit got tested either way. Read more
Still riding (yes, again)
Radio silence … something to do with burnout, maybe. I am still riding, but I’m working on just riding for enjoyment – it all became a bit of a chore: “must ride, because …” rather than just wanting to ride.
LEJOG (well, LEHereford, which has less of a ring to it)
LEJOG was started – and I did get to John O’Groats, it’s just that I did so by way of home and an airport and a car after I had to pull out of the ride after a crash. Read more