great end to the week

this week was good but not great. i missed a few strength workouts which messed up my over all planned time of 15.5hrs. i rode the bike a lil more than planned but the strength sessions are important right now...i wont be lifting much more after the new year...at least nothing heavy or hard! all leg strength work will be moved to "on" the bike and except for a few short core/strength workouts no more gym time...but i am going to try really hard to continue the core workouts a couple times a week during the racing season.

so how did the week end...well, 2 killer endurance rides of 4 and 3.5hrs! saturday started off chilly but beautiful. the ride took me from the house to the Trace to Military rd to purvis to oloh to bay creek to tatum salt dome and back home...70 miles and 3400ft of climbing! sunday, again started at the house and to the Trace at USM but then hooked up with the normal sunday group ride. the pace was good but just too many stops! i was out there for 5hrs and ended up with only 3.5hrs ride time...i just like to ride...not stop! still ended up with some good endurance paced miles and had good company...which always counts for something.

the upcoming week is heavy! lots of training, lots of riding, lots of family time! im off most of the week from work and plan on logging in as much as i can. the plan...17.5hrs total...with 14 on the bike...we'll see...nasty weather looks to moving in mid week which could see me heading into the gym for some xtraining but hopefully that will only be for a day or so. and i really need some quality dirt time...i havent been in the woods for more than an hour since thanksgiving weekend...i nee some singletrack time pronto!

starting off good...

this week with the training. it's good to keep the body guessing on the workouts so i have been mixing a bunch of new movements into my workouts. the newest weapon has been the kettle bell. it seems to fry my mid and lower back, sides, and hips...all good for biking. Thursday has Big Gear intervals planned for the first time this off season...but i like those...HR stays low and the muscles simple burn...you can almost feel yourself getting stronger. and as for friday this week... im going to try and do the 300 workout...8 different movements with a set number of reps per move...you complete all number of reps in the least amount of sets as possible for each move before going forward...it should cook me for sure.

sunday last weekend saw me heading down to Mobile, AL do join a ride being hosted by Infinity Bikes and Herring Gas. The plan was for a chill paced 70 mile loop with an attack zone towards the end finished by a hill sprint...then a casual stroll back into to town...the ride was great. we had good weather...chilly....but nice....about 40 folks started the ride...the effort was chill for the most part but on the last hills some effort was being laid down and in the attack zone...well that was just plan fun as hell! it was flat with a tailwind...and we were moving about 27mph...i threw down an attack and knew my legs were going get me for it...and i pushed on the climb for about half of it...and then my legs were questioning me again...HR was way too high and the PE wasn't...er, back it down...

ended up being a great ride with beers and pizza afterwards...thanks scott for the ride!