Weight: 215, 7am
Warmup: 80m spin
Spin Class: 60m
Cooldown: ~20m spin
Soak: 7m
Steam: 7m
Bit of a Forrest Gump day today. Meant to lift legs, but got into the riding zone early. Felt good, so I kept going. Took a break at 1:20m to take a Clif Shot & refill my water bottle. Felt good, kept going through class. Then cooled down.
~2.5hrs total ride time, mostly in LI or MI aerobic zones.
60m Spin Class + 30m cooldown
#woot #cardio – stayed #aerobic
Weight: 212
Pigged out on carbs last night and saw the expected weight jump on the scale this morning. Busy day today, energy levels almost back to normal. Went to the club for a body composition assessment at 5pm, came in at 19%* body fat. Not great, but already improving. Wish I had comp assessed Jan 1 so I could put this number in a more positive perspective. Regardless, I have a starting point. My target is to get to 10% by July 31.
Historically, I can drop .5 to 1 percent a week – more when I’m doing a lot of outdoor cycling. So let’s say 20 weeks to transform 20 pounds of fat to 20 pounds of muscle and energy. Throw in an extra week or so and that’s five months, ergo my cutting phase must begin on March 1.
Until then, I am primarily working on building strength with the weights and low intensity (LI) zone cardio to prepare the body for the training loads that will be thrust upon it come March. With two weeks’ training under my belt, hopefully the bod’s adapted and recovered enough to start moving more serious iron this week.
I sleep 8-9 hours a night now and struggle to stay awake until 11pm, not used to hitting the bed before 2am. Nice. 
Feeling good about the first two weeks’ training – a great start to 2012, let’s keep it going!
*3-fold pinch + estimated weight + late in the day + food = inaccurate test, take results with a large grain of salt, and use number as a guideline rather than absolute. Pinch tests generally have a 3-5% margin of error to begin with. The results stated 20%, 209 was input for weight when I was actually 214. That 2% difference in weight input changes the calculations to a lesser result, so I’m going with 19% math++!
Today marks the beginning of the strength phase of my three month training plan. After a month of low intensity, aerobic foundation training, I’m excited to move some iron for a change. (Not as much iron as my ego like, but ya gotta start somewhere.)
I’ll go detail the plan in a later post, but it’s basically a month of low-intensity aerobic work, followed by a month of strength training, with a month to specialize, focus on weak areas and taper for the event.
For those that think weightlifting doesn’t count as aerobic exercise, just check the HR graph – almost all of the energy spent in this workout was generated aerobically, not just when spinning.
Warmup: 12min elliptical
Assisted Dips: 108×15, 90×10/10/10
Incline Press: 50×8/8/8/8 (pingy shoulder)
DB Pullover: 30×10/6/6
Cable Cross: 30×10/10/10
Spin: 55min
Stretch
Calories: -1040
Weak! Shoulder issues
Weight: 211
Time: 9:30am
Warmup: 13min elliptical
45 min Exerbike
45 min Spin bike w/3 climb intervals
Total calories: -1160
Dropped 5 pounds overnight after last Sunday’s ride – clearly didn’t rehydrate properly. Note to self: even if it’s chilly out, make sure to drink enough fluids!
Made it to the gym yesterday to train, but forgot my lock so I went home to grab it and work caught me. Made sure I had everything and went earlier today.
The gym room with the spin bikes had a Zumba class going on, so I cruised on the exerbike until they were done and then jumped on the spin bike. Did three standing/climbing intervals that got the quads so pumped I was feeling them all afternoon.
Weight: 210.2
10:00 am
Ride: 13.2 miles, :53
Total calories: -650
Took advantage of a free hour to grab a quick ride. Nothing major, just got out on the bike path and spent the first :30 focusing on high-cadence pedaling (avg. 103) followed by :20 of free ride/flush/cooldown.
Body weight is going up, which is a good sign that I’m not overtraining. (And I’ve been eating carbs at night, which always makes my weight jump a pound or two overnight.) Recovery and fueling the body paramount at this point, so I fret not about it.
Cadence is a funny thing. I had been conditioned by years on the exerbike to keep cadence down near 70. When I started riding regularly a few years back, I had to make a concerted effort to raise my cadence up. After the first year, I was spinning at 85. After the second, 95. Now it seems my bod naturally wants to spin at 105 and it takes some concentration to keep it lower – and I can sit in the saddle and spin at 120 rpm with relative ease. On days where my target cadence is 75 (climbing days, usually), not only does it feel unnatural, but I feel a bit mentally drained.
I’ll try to start posting ride pics, as some have requested, but I generally get in the zone and am so focused on the ride that I don’t think to take ‘em until afterwards. 
Weight: 209.4
2:15 pm
Ride: 17.3 miles, 1:05
Total calories: -1010
Yesterday’s long session did the trick for sleep! Not only did I grab a power nap after the workout, but I went to bed at 10:30 and slept through til 8:30. SO nice to get a full, uninterrupted night’s sleep.
It’s absolutely gorgeous out today, and I took advantage of it by doing the dam loop – down the bike path, up Chatfield dam (the steep side) and back. Tried to keep the HR fairly low, but given how pumped I was to be riding outside, I didn’t worry too much about it and just enjoyed being alive, outdoors, and moving along.
I can feel my body tightening up, muscles are starting to get strong again, waistline is pulling in… Body weight is staying pretty consistent and I’m further buoyed knowing that fat weight is being replaced with muscle weight. I figure another week or two and body weight will start dropping consistently. Historically, I can drop 1-2 pounds of fat a week and not lose any energy – it’s just a matter of time at this point.
My lower back has been pretty stiff lately – in addition to adjusting to new training loads, I whacked it on one of those wall-mounted hooks that hold the sprayers at the car wash last week (ouch), so today I decided to change it up and ride the recumbant for an hour.
Book in hand, I sat down and pedaled for an hour, finding it surprisingly easy to keep my HR low and in my aerobic zone (note the flat HR graph above). I sometimes struggle with this, as my natural wont is to go-go-go and it usually takes a concerted mental effort on the bike to keep it low and slow… EZ PZ on the recumbant.
If you haven’t tried one before, I recommend it. It also makes it easier to read a book while riding, which helps the indoor training time pass more quickly…
Weight: 209.2
2:00pm
Recumbant: 1 hour
Total calories: -563
Took advantage of a break in the weather to get in a short ride, a bit of a late start rebuilding aerobic base for the season, but game on!
Weight: 210.2
12:00 pm
Bike path 11 miles to 470 and back + cooldown spin
Total calories: -580
Weight: 206.8
9:00am
60 minute recovery ride
Total calories: -664
Mellow recovery ride to base of Chatfield dam and back. Still some intermittent numbness in left hand, but improving overall.