Secret Plan in Effect

So, today I began implementing my secret plan....rowing. I also did a spot of upper body work but nothing too significant.

Here goes the workout:

• 10 minutes elliptical
• 15 minutes rowing (2750 meters)
• smith machine bench press (no weight, 20 reps; 20 lbs on bar, 20 reps; 40 lbs on bar, 2 sets of 12; 50 lbs on bar, 2 sets of 8)
• lat pulldowns (55 lbs, 20 reps; 70 lbs, 4 sets of 12 reps)
• seated triceps (no weight, 20 reps; 50 lbs, 20 reps; 90 lbs, 3 sets of 12?)

That's it. Not very challenging, but still a decent workout. I'm not sure I'm doing the rowing thing correctly. It just feels odd to me. Perhaps if I were really in a boat, I might notice something (like I was going in circles ...as that's what happened the last time I rowed a boat). Felt like a decent upperbody workout. I'll get the hang of it the more I do it. For now, it's a top secret project.

1 hr of cycling + 1 + hrs of yardwork =

one very tired me.

Popo lets Cadel down...

I ran around the small block just now, but more importantly, Cadel lost his yellow today. Was a great finish to the stage - lots of attacks, etc. But Popo is a real disappointment. Maybe he was doping too when he was with LA? I thought he'd be able to escort Cadel right up the mountain. That would have countered the Schleck attack. Now Evans must deal with several GC contenders within a minute, and TWO ON THE SAME TEAM. That's insane. I don't know about Frank's tt abilities, but Sastre doesn't really worry me too much, so if I were Cadel, and both attacked, I'd be more likely to follow FS than CS.

Need a shower. Missed a shower by a few minutes it seems. Major t-storms headed this way.

"You talk about your woman; I wish you could see mine"

That's a quote from Tommy, of course. I was singing and dancing in the shower; in fact, the TOMMY album is playing in the background as I type this.

Today was a good day at the gym. I think the shoulder is improving, but I still don't trust it. So here's the routine:

• 10 min elliptical to warm up
• pull ups (3 sets of 8) and knee ups :) (3 sets of 15)
• bench press (no weight, 20 reps; 20 lbs on bar, 12 reps; 40 lbs on bar, 3 reps; 20 lbs on bar, 12 reps; 40 lbs on bar, 2 reps; 20 lbs on bar, 12 reps)
• overhead dumbbell press (5 lb dummies, 20 reps; 10 lb, 12 reps; 17.5 lbs, 12 reps)
• side and front lat raises (5 lb, 20 reps; 10 lbs, 3 sets of 12?)
  
• preacher curls (20 lbs, 20 reps; 30 lbs, 12 reps; 40 lbs, 10 reps and 6 reps?)
  
• tricep pulldowns (20 lbs, 20 reps; 30 lbs, 12 reps; 42.5 lbs, 2 sets of 12)
  
• bicep curls (15 lb dummies, 20 reps?; 20 lb dummies, 2 sets of 12)
• behind head tricep thingies (20 lbs, 3 sets of 12)
• 10 pushups
  
• 20 minutes running on treadmill
• some light ab stuff
  

I am sure I have some of the numbers above wrong, but that doesn't matter too much. Basically, I warmed up with a set of 20 on a light weight, and then did 3 sets of 12 with some decent weights. I tried some heavier stuff, but I am WEAK! I don't really care about the weight though; it's more about the appearance. I want to look lean.

You may also notice something new: running on a treadmill. I really can't explain that. It just sorta happened. Bad. Very bad. I hate running on a treadmill, but it happened, so I put in 30 mins of cardio today.

Now my next step is try the rowing machine; not sure I'll do that, but I'm thinking about it. It's a top secret project though.

Ok, off to dress and head to the hot air balloon festival.

-The Gypsy Queen

Ho-hum, I ran the trail, and ran the hill...

So, after the requisite day off after a good leg day, I did some trail running today. I took it at an easy pace, because of the heat and humidity. I also ran the hill 5 times. Felt good.

Tomorrow it's a visit to Urban Active for some upper-body stuff. Wooooo0-hoooooo pull-ups!

I've worn a path on the hill, which makes it easy to follow, but someone needs to do some serious trail maintenance! The paths are overgrown and I'm constantly afraid of getting poison something.

A lil dung beetle advised me to use alcohol to kill anything - I think he meant rub it on my legs, but he may also have meant I should drink it - so that's what I do... rub the alcohol... in fact, it's actually RUBBING alcohol, so it makes sense to rub, not drink.

"You shook me all night long..."

What's the phrase - apropos of nothing? - I chose that for a subject line. Heard the song on the radio, and it's a favorite 80s tune of mine.

So, big day at the gym for my legs. For the rest of me? Not so much.

I admit - and those who know me, probably know this - that I LOVE leg workouts. It's just pure power for me, and I like that. I hate running long distance. I don't like endurance events. But I do love just allowing my muscles to do their thing. I really am trying to improve my endurance and my strength for cycling. I actually wanted to go really heavy today, but I resisted that. Had a very weight tinge in my left knee, which worried me but didn't stop me from lifting. The reason I can stand running trails is that those runs feel more muscle-driven / power-driven than road running. Yes, I know you use muscles all the time, but I like explosiveness that trail running requires just as I like the explosiveness of a strong leg workout. I just wish, wish, wish, wish I could shape my legs more. I think they look like redwood trees.

Here's what I did:

• 10 minutes warmup on elliptical
• front squats (no weight, 20 reps;20 lbs on bar, 20 reps; 3 sets of 12 reps with 50 lbs on bar)
  
• hack squats (no weight, 20 reps; 4 sets of 12 with 50 lbs on the bar)
  
• plate loaded leg press (no weight, 20 reps; 90 lbs on bar, 12 reps; 180 lbs on bar, 2 sets of 12; 270 lbs on bar, 2 sets of 12 reps)
  
• leg press (no weight, 20 reps; 90 lbs on bar, 4 sets of 12 reps)
  
• Romanian deadlifts (just the bench press bar, 4 sets of 12 reps...finished with 24 reps)
  
• seated calves (45 lbs, 20 reps; 70 lbs, 4 sets of 12....finish with 24 reps)

So, perhaps you can see the "philosophy" here... or not. Basically, warmup on each exercise with 20 reps and very little / no weight. Then do 4 sets of 12 reps at a good weight. I was comfortable with this workout; it didn't stress me out too much, but I did feel I was working.

Where's my soigneur? Heck, where's my domestique!? I need a peloton!!!

Cycled a new route today, and the beginning felt terrible. My legs were dead. Luckily, I rode myself into things - at least slightly.

Completed 15.5 miles with a 14.9 mph average.

Hitting the hill TEN times

Inspired by my guy's performance today (I mean Ricco, of course!), I decided to run the trails and hit the hill. Now, I didn't exactly light the trail on fire - I'll leave that to the highschool students - and I abbreviated my normal run, but hey... I ran the hill TEN times!

Did I mention that I ran the hill TEN TIMES?!

There are SOME people I know - and you know who you are! - who wouldn't meet my challenge of running that hill ONCE.

While there, I saw a young kid - middle school age - just sort standing there with his bike. I asked him if he was waiting for someone, because he seemed to be just waiting. He did that middle-school boy response - a sort of grunt - given to most adults (am I really an adult now?! I hope not!). So, I said, "Well, you should try running this hill."

Guess what the young man did? He proceeded to run the hill... he made it up 4 times and was going for his fifth when I was done with my tenth. You go, kid.

*This* kid needs to shower.

Cadel crashes

Watching the first big mountain day, and Cadel has crashed. He has some nasty cuts on him including a torn up jersey on his back. As I type this, he is receiving treatment from the doctor in the medical car - how nifty is that? You hang on to the side of a car speeding at 35mph and get your cuts and bruises looked at?

I wish they had the crash on video, so you could see what happened to him. I almost feel badly for him, because this is going to be a rough day. 6 seconds off the yellow jersey with Valverde and Menchov needing time back, and you crash? You think they're not going to try to take advantage of it? I wouldn't necessarily think they would attack today, but certainly tomorrow. He may be able to make it through today, but he'll be sore tomorrow.

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but air conditioning is so delightful...

I really appreciated the a/c when I came in from my run around the block this evening. Yuck! It is HUMID out, but I was really glad I dragged myself outside to run. The humidity kept me from sweating initially, so it was hard to cool off, but about halfway into my run, that changed. I'm going to have to change my running mix, because it's getting a little old now.

It did feel weird to run after lifting today, because my arms felt like lead. But I only did 10 minutes of cardio at the gym, so the run was a good way to balance my workout for the day.

What will tomorrow bring?

Arms, arms, and more arms

So, I took arms against a sea of troubles... no, not really.
Went to UA and did my thing, which is:

• 10 mins cardio - very light stuff
• pull ups and leg lifts (no weights, 10, 8, 6, 20, 15, 10)
  
• bench press (no weight on bar, 15 reps, 10 lbs, 15 reps, 20 lbs on bar, 15 reps)
  
• incline press (no weight, 2 sets of 15)
  
• decline press (10 lbs on bar, 2 sets of 15)
  
• lat raises - side and front (7.5, 15 reps; 10 lbs, 2? sets of 15)
  
• cable rows (55, 15 reps; 85 lbs, 10 reps)
  
• bicep curls with bar (30 lbs, 2 sets of 15)
  
• tricep thingies with bar (30 lbs, 2 sets of 15?)

So, that was it... not bad, but not great. My arms definitely look ripped, jacked, pumped, whatever you wish to call it. I'm not going for that look - just want to be lean. Oh well.

I may go running on the trail later today. No rest for the wicked.

Silly, silly, you thought the Tour was CLEAN THIS YEAR?!

Beltran out. Beltran, as you may recall, was one of LA's top lieutenants. Think he started using EPO just recently? That's not what L'Equipe says, but I won't say more here. You can read the stories yourself.

Oh, I was waiting for this to happen; perhaps I'm a cynic, but I just think that people are going to find new ways to cheat or are going to believe that they won't get caught doing things the same old way.

I can already anticipate the opening discussion on tomorrow's VS coverage...well, at least that will distract me from the absolutely HIDEOUS shirts that the four men seem to be sharing - how long until we see Bob Roll's pit stains on Phil Liggett's shirt?

Guilted into running... not a bad thing.

Thanks to the questioning of a friend, I took a trip around the block. It felt ok, but my legs are REALLY tight because of the leg workout yesterday. I will be suffering more tomorrow. Gotta remember to STRETCH!

But thanks to my friend who encouraged me to run today. And I DID have that protein shake - black cherry vanilla flavored.... yum!

Cadel slaps a gendarme

Just saw Cadel Evans, who had a mechanical, ride by a gendarme and slap him and then point to his eyes. NOT GOOD, Cadel. Chill. Just chill. Maybe he isn't such a boring rider after all? Ah, no.

Sorry for this interruption in regular programming, but I'm watching the stage to SUPER BESSE - woo hoo! - and I had to comment on this.

An Old-Fashioned Leg Workout (following a rest day)

So, it was a tad backwards; I usually like to REST the day AFTER a leg workout, but so be it. I wanted to try my idea for improving my legs for cycling at the gym, but it didn't really workout very well.

The good news: no cardio. Yepee! I skipped it.

The bad news: I couldn't really find a way to use the straps, etc. to the the leg work I wanted. Still, it was a good trip the gym. Here's the routine:

• messing around with straps and such trying to do something interesting
• walking lunges
• no weights, back and forth
• 15 lbs in each hand, 3 trips back and forth
  
• plie squats
• 80 lbs, 3 sets of 15
  
• leg press
• no weight, 15 reps
• 90 lbs, 3 sets of 15
• no weight, 3 sets of 20
• 180 lbs, 2 sets of 30 and 1 set of 25
  
• seated calf raises
• 45 lbs, 3 sets of 20
  
• bend over hammy exercises
• 30 lb, 15 reps
• 40 lbs, 2 sets of 15
  
• leg extensions
• 50 lbs, 15 reps
• 70 lbs, 15 reps
• 90 lbs, 15 reps

For some reason, I can't indent my bullets by just hitting tab. I don't feel like messing with the html, so dela with the bad formatting. You get the idea here. ;)

• 
  

18.37 miles, 15.8mph

Not bad, but not great. I must have been cycling in disguise, because I could have slammed on the back window of a pal as mine as I was coming down into town. Hehe.

I took my new favorite route, and again struggled up Breiel Blvd. I didn't bonk but I did really really really struggle.

The roads in Middletown are as bad as they say - especially for a cyclist. Only a few cars that seemed too close to me, including one cadillac coming up Breiel. I bet the driver was over the age of 70 and probably couldn't see my fuscia jersey. Ha.

For a while I was cruising along at 19 - 21 mph, which felt great. Still I need to find a way to improve my climbing ability. Breiel should NOT kill me like it does. I asked a buddy of mine for an exercise suggestion that might mimic the pulling UP I do with my legs. He said "toe raises." I think he really wanted to write "toe curls." My idea is to do something with knee lifts and some cables to create resistance.

Ok, well I'm at Java Johnny's the locally owned and overpriced coffeehouse, so I better get some work done.

Repeat of trail run from a few days ago

Today did the trail run that finished with 5 runs up the Hill.

Felt great and could have kept running, but I was running with a partner, and you know how that goes. ;)

In other news: Valverde took yellow today. Does he really intend to defend this thing for three weeks? Can't. Must have been just to make a statement. It was a great uphill win; you could see the pure power in his legs. Oh, that stuff makes me quiver!

Chilly, rainy morning led to

a mild, humid, drizzly run around the small big block in my neighborhood. I felt good, and I was glad for the exercise. No pains, so I guess that means no gains.

This too shall pass...

Yesterday I took a well deserved day off from working out. I think I'd done something five days in a row, and that's enough. Today I decided to drive down to UA to do some lifting and such. My left shoulder is still a problem; I probably tore something, and I probably should get it checked out, but then a doctor might tell me something I don't want to hear (ie "you need surgery" or "you can't workout anymore" or "you need a replacement shoulder").

Here's what I did at the gym:

• 10 mins on the elliptical - when I'm on there, I think about watching the cyclists in the peloton and the rhythm of their movements... the movement on the elliptical reminds me of that every time for some reason.
• ab stuff
• 3 sets of 20
  
• leg press
• no weight, 20
• 90 lbs, 3 sets of 20 reps
• 180 lbs, 1 or 2 sets of 20
• 270 lbs, 1 set of 15
• 180 lbs, 1 set of 20
  
• double pulley pulldown
• 20 lbs, 3 sets of 20
  
• overhead press (machine)
• 30 lbs, 2 sets of 20 (didn't feel right with the shoulder)
  
• decline bench press
• no weight, 20 reps
• 10 lbs, 2-3? sets of 20 reps
• 15 lbs, 20 reps
  
• incline bench press
• no weight, 20 reps (shoulder really bugging me)
  
• hack squat
• no weight, 3 sets of 20
  
• calf raises using leg press machine
• 90 lbs, 20 reps
• 180 lbs, 20 reps
• 270 lbs, 20 reps

Oh, so the subject heading refers to my feeling after reading some of the journal I wrote that covers 11/01 to about 2/02, which was a really interesting time in my life (at least to me; perhaps to no one else). It just reminded me of many non-workout related things, so I'll keep them off this page. I did realize that there are three "types" and I'll leave it at that - more a sa reminder to me than to anyone who might read this.

Finally, I am looking forward to the start of the Tour this Saturday, which will be a real treat because it's a REAL stage, not one of these silly 4 minute prologues won by David Millar or someone like that.

All things for a reason

So, today is a gorgeous day out; it's perfect biking weather. You'd think I'd be eager to cycle, but I wasn't this morning. In fact, I wasn't going to do anything. But I thought I might as well run around the block.

I'm coming down Rosedale, listening to my iPOD, and just allowing my mind to wander... I see flying down the side street on the left a kid on a skateboard, and I see coming up Rosedale a red pickup truck. Now, the timing was perfect in the sense that in an instant I saw that kid colliding with the truck - or the truck with the kid.

I didn't even think about it, but I screamed "STOP" and held my hand up. The kid jumped off his skateboard about 5-10 feet in front of the truck as it slowed down. Had that kid not jumped off his board, I'm sure he would have been hit.

Now, maybe the kid SAW the truck; I dunno. Anyway, it both freaked me out and made me feel good in an odd way. Today was feeling like nothing was going well, but then that happened, and it just reminded me.... ah, those cheesy thoughts are for some other blog.