Kristin Rides

I am a major Facebook addict. So much so that I pretty much only communicate with people through it, and have developed a few FB friends–people I never used to hang out with, but because we’re both on it all the time, we end up getting together. Part of the problem is that work is slow (which is hopefully changing soon), but it definitely takes up a rather large chunk of my internet time.

One interesting side effect of Facebook is that I am friends with a lot of the “competition” (people I will be racing with, not necessarily against). And these are the sorts of status updates I read:

[] is tired after a ride with the team..

[] is home from a two-hour hammer fest…

[] is looking forward to 1:1 time with coach,..

[] is 3:15 on the bike with snow,….

[] is up and getting ready to do it again. Brrr.

Lots of notes about hammerfests. And hard rides, and those morning AND evening workouts. And I think to myself Fucking aye, I haven’t done a hard interval on my bike in like 4 months other then a few rides with the team. I question my new training method (ie not over training, and ramping it up later). I have a nervous twitch to start leaping full force into 3×20’s and 5×5’s. I really start getting worried that I’m not going to get fast until like… well, June. Oh, right, that’s what I WANT.

I feel like I’ve just been sitting on the couch doing a whole lot of nothing, but when I look at what I was doing

• M- 1.5hrs hard weight training, 1 hour endurance bike
• T- 1.2hrs cross training (run 3 miles, stairclimb 40 minutes)
• W – 1.5hrs hard weight training, 1 hour endurance bike
• Th – 1.5hrs bike endurance with pedal drills
• F – 1.2 hrs cross training
• Sa – 3 hours death march ride
• Sun – 2 hours easy endurance/recovery

On the bike: 8.5 hours, off the bike: 6 hours. That’s not nothing. I’ve definitely been doing some hard workouts. I’m not in race shape at all, but then I won’t really be doing any racing for another month or so. And I don’t really care if I’m in “race shape” for Banana Belt. I would like to have some sort of form for the Cherry Fest SR, but it’s earlier then what I had originally mapped out as my first SR, so I’m not sure how I’ll be at that point. I’ll be getting some help in planning out my training, so I’m trying to take a deep breath and realize that everyone is different, and I probably over-estimate what people are actually doing (and they probably overstate it to some degree).

And slightly off subject, I did a swim workout yesterday! Oh pool, how I’ve missed you. I only swam laps for 20 minutes, but given that I haven’t done it since…last April? May? it was kind of tough. A 20 minute workout feels like its over in a heart beat, but I admit my shoulders and chest were a bit tired after that. Swimming after a long hiatus is interesting; I’ve always had pretty decent form, but still when I leaped in I was mostly concentrating on that form instead of speed. Whenever I tried to speed it up, I actually kind of slowed down. My arms whirled around faster, but it felt like I was doing battle with the water. So instead of a faster turnover, I focused on stronger pulls. Smoother pulls. I noted dead spaces in my pull I never noticed before and that the timing of the entrance of my hand in the water wasn’t optimal. The few laps where I got everything into place felt like magic; it was like I was flying in the water. Swimming is such a fabulous cross training workout, especially with the pull buoy (look mom, no legs!).

Similarly, I did hot yoga at Yoga Pearl this week instead of weight training. Ahhhhhhh. Or should I say ommmmmm. I really wish I could afford to take classes there all the time (lack of $$ and time), because it just isn’t the same at home. It gets me to a place that nothing else really does… a place of contemplation, relaxation, and wonderfulness. It gives me bionic abs, and fluid balance and movement. It makes me very aware of my body, even on the bike, and it gives me a full range of motion, especially handy for the TT bars. I would love to keep going on a more regular basis so I could finally master some more arm balances and head/hand stands, but going one week of the month isn’t going to do that. Although there IS a Friday morning class… hmmm…. anyway, I will ponder this.

Also slightly off topic, I finally rode the rollers for the first time on Thursday. Perhaps its that fluid balance I have, but I don’t get what the big fuss is all about. It was a piece of cake! No crashing, I easily rode for an hour without issue. And no, I didn’t buy the $1000 inside ride ones, I have $30 used, rebranded 3-year old Performance ones I got off Craigslist. They seem much smaller and narrower then other rollers I’ve seen, but they work great.

And finally, completely off topic, I am going to a 4 hour west coast swing dance class today. Yay!