Today's Workouts

First off, I'm feeling a lot better today than I have for the past 3 days, which was, oh, perhaps a cold, perhaps accumulated training fatigue. I slept 10.5 big ones last night!

11:00AM Lift 2x12, decrease weight, 1:02. It was nice to decrease the weight, and also seemed like a good thing since I had been feeling under the weather over the weekend. I inserted a few new things ad hoc from the program in The Core Performance. Those reverse back hyperextensions on the stability ball are a buzz! When I looked at the picture of them, I wondered if I could do them, but I should have known better. My core is really strong. I also did my biceps curls and military presses sitting on the stability ball rather than my weight bench. Anything I can do to force more frequent engagement of the core muscles is a good thing. I'm doing my reverse crunches with a 10 lb. medicine ball now, and fuck, I got used to that weight in like 3 weeks, so I guess I'll have to spring for a 12-pounder. That's the fun thing about fitness--you can't stand still--you need to keep upping the ante, or at least periodize things in a way that you drop down and build back up. I am already stronger in my core and abs now than I was last year, so part of the changes to my strength program have involved adding a few exercises, dropping a few, and where I'm using weight, adding more.

3:27PM Bike 1:15. OK, we did the 2x20' (2') FT intervals again. Now I am doing these twice a week--Tuesdays and Thursdays, for the next 4 weeks. Talk about fucking torture! I made an executive decision today--no more doing these without the use of Ultra Violence! For those of you playing at home, if you haven't already discovered the pleasures of training and racing with caffeine, well let's just say I think you're missing out. Depending on your stomach, it might take some getting used to, but there are studies that show you get enhanced fat metabolism when you add caffeine. And I can attest that workouts on the trainer, looooooonng rides by yourself and long treadmill runs are way less boring with caffeine!

In fact, I just recently concocted my custom mix of Infinit. I received it today from my (I keep him busy) UPS guy. I had caffeine put in my mixture. I made another executive decision about a week ago that it's about time I switched over to 100% liquid race nutrition. Until now, I've progressed from bars/Gatorade to gels/Gatorade to gels/Ultra Violence/Gatorade on the bike. For the past 2 1/2 years, I've been using only Coke/Ultra Violence during the run leg of my races. I'm so small now (5'3", 113-115 lbs. depending on hydration, approximately 12% bodyfat), that I only need to take in maybe 250 kcal/hour in training or racing. I can go up to 300 kcal/hour in training, but for me now, in racing less is more. This is a byproduct of years of focused training, my personal body composition and my hyper-fitness level. The more fit you become, the less calories you burn per hour (I run about 450-500 biking or running), meaning the less calories you need to ingest (a good rule of thumb is to take in 1/2 the calories you are burning unless you are very large or slow in case you will need to try and take in more; most people can ingest up to 400 kcal/hour. Read this article.)

While I'm writing this, I am seeing a number of changes I've made in my lifestyle and training protocol. Sometimes we get caught up in the flow of things and forget about the good things we've done. Change is good! Here's a summary of changes I've made since mid-September:

1. I don't worry about the number on the heart rate monitor. It's just a number. I'm running more by feel now. I still wear the HRM, but it's just "interesting information."
2. I've committed (as of 2 days ago) to regaining the hamstring flexibility I've lost over the last 5 years. So far, so good, I can already notice a difference!
3. I am going to fine-tune my race nutrition with the objective to convert to all-liquid bike nutrition during racing. I think I'll still continue to use Gatorade/Ultra Violence in training, since there's no mixing involved.
4. I'm mixing up my abs/core routine to move myself to the next level of strength there.
5. I'm reading a number of books on self-awareness. This is not something I'm doing specifically for sport, but I know that the impact on sport will be tremendous.

On that note, I'm going to get a little more work done and then call it a day.