More time in the saddle!

Tonight was a pretty good night. Got home from work, had dinner, fed Charlotte, played with Charlotte, put her to bed. Tracy went to the gym and I turned on TiVo and jumped on the Road Machine. I was able to hold pace with Rubiera as he flattened out Mount Hamilton in the 3rd stage of the Tour of California. Not to be outdone by Hamilton after the climb, I grabbed his wheel on the way down and held on to him and Robert while we stayed away from the peleton to finish about 20 seconds up. It was a hard day, but my legs were actually liking it and I felt good afterwards.

After all my interviews and pictures, I jumped in the MINI and headed out to the gym for some more workouts. Once there I did:

Triceps
Shoulders
Abs
Loweback
Stretching

Water: ~55oz

Weight: 200 (even if I had the large weight at 200 and the small at zero, or the large weight at 150 and the small at 50)

Right now I feel really good. There's a spring in my step and I actually want to go out and ride some more - maybe some hills?!



PS - I've decided that TyboTy rides like Levi. Low on the bike, hardly stands up and doesn't move his upper body much. I guess if you're going to be compared to somebody, it may as well be Levi.

Sticking to it

Tonight was pretty busy with family, but I managed to sneak off to the gym for a quick workout. I was feeling pretty tired and almost didn't go, but once there I felt better. I did a pretty abbreviated workout which consisted of the following:

leg extensions
lat pulldowns
triceps
wall sits
about 80 various crunches
lowerback and some time stretching

Dinner:
small steak
baked potato
green beans
milk

Lunch:
cheeseburger/fries from cafeteria

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with raisins

I probably drank about 30oz of water for the day.

Weight: 200lbs

I managed to ride the Road Machine this past weekend. Granted it was a short time, but I was racing against Levi and Boonen in the Tour of California Prologue. I'm now almost done with Stage 1. TiVo rocks.

A new direction?

Dinner was bagged stir-fry with rice.
I managed about 35oz of water during the day.

Last night I made it to the gym for a workout (gasp):

bench
curls
lats
triceps
leg extensions
upright row

It was a quick workout as it was late in the evening and closing time was approaching. But it felt good. The time before I focused on stretching, abs and lower back. I'm going to try to incorporate this into my "schedule" more, as I felt pretty good afterwards.

The good news was when I stepped on the scale. I actually had to move the large slider over to the left so that it occupied the 150 slot! The small slider then made it's way to the right side to register in at 49. That's 199.

With my time on the bike tonight, I'm hoping to start more of a habit of mixing up the gym and bike.

So far so good!

Stuck

So yeah, training is great...
I'd like to think that I'm not so easily distracted and can stay focused on something for awhile, but the last week or so has shown me that other things are getting the better of me. I feel I'm doing better about staying hydrated and not drinking as much pop (the case of Cherry Coke is finally finshed). Sleeping has never been an issue. It's just finding time to get on the bike. I won't go into all of my distractions, but I will show one big one:



She commands so much attention - and how could I NOT want the chance to run around the house, hide under pillows, tickle her and listen to her laugh?!

I'll be going to the gym tonight and attempting a ride on the bike. Maybe I'll bring the Taurine inside so I see it more....

Still no more bike time

It's set up in front of the tv, ready to go, but I've only been on it the one time. I'll be honest, I'm scared to get on again. I only have a limited number of shorts and I'd hate to get the legs spinning and bust the seams on another pair of shorts. That's really the reason..


However, I did spectate at Pugfest this past weekend and get psyched to ride, so I'll get up there this week. I have to. Melloyellobrook is riding almost everyday with Coach Troy.

Say, Coach Mike, can you come push me?!

Here's one of the things I've been spending my riding time on:

Focus

Or lack thereof.

The last bunch of days have been a struggle. I haven't been on the bike since the post a couple days ago. I've only been to the gym one other time and in the interim I've only managed some situps at home.

Foodwise, I've been pretty good. PB&J sandwiches have been good for lunches with a Subway once. Dinners have been consisting of red meat or chicken and a pasta. Veggies are always included as well as a glass of milk.

However, nothing is going to happen unless I get on the bike and get my body working.

I've been preoccupied with all sorts of things and need to keep myself motivated. Even if I feel lazy or tired in the evening, just buckle down and get it done.

A long time ago I made it to the gym for the 2nd time this month.

Weight: 205
Lat pulldowns
Leg extensions
Upright rows
Walking lunges w/weight
Curls
Triceps
Butterfly thing

At work I'm making an effort to drink water.

This weekend is going to be packed with all sorts of events, so I'll have to work extra hard to stay on top of things.

Now we're gettin' somewhere!

+ 1 hour =




Breakfast
Corned beef and hash and two eggs

Lunch
Spaghetti
a bottle of water on the bike

Dinner
Mushroom lasagna
Stir fry
Sushi
Snicker salad
Dr. Pepper
A&W Rootbeer

I'll probably head to the gym on Sunday and maybe ride again.

I made it to the gym

Tonight after picking Charlotte up from daycare and Trace from the bus stop, we headed to Big Bowl to grab some Chinese food to celebrate the Chinese New Year. After eating and playing with Charlotte, I put her to bed and then packed my bag for the gym. It really is a shame I don't get there more as it is literally minutes away.


View Larger Map

Once inside I weighed myself and got to business. Here's how it went down:

Weight: 203
Height: 6'1"

Workout consisted of:
lat pull downs
bench press
triceps
leg extensions
leg press
upright row
leg lifts

Food for the day:
2 cookies
2 pb&j sandwiches
1 can cherry coke
32oz water
sushi
Thai basil beef w/white rice

No cardio. Yet.

This weekend might be packed, but maybe I'll try to get out on the skis, or drag melloyellobrook out for some dry land training

Happy New Year!

Today marks the Chinese New Year and it's the Year of the Rat. To borrow from my other blog, A Red Thread to China, I'll post a bit about the New Year:

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year 2008! The Year of the Rat!

2008 The Year of the Rat
2008 Feb. 7
The Year Of The Rat

1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2030

People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4705 begins on Feb. 18, 2007.
2008 Chinese date new year :2008 Feb. 7

Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.

To start things off

For most of my readers, the following info won't be new, but to those who might have stumbled upon this here's a bit about me.

Age: 32
My dad owns a bike shop in Duluth - Twin Ports Cyclery. I grew up in the shop, mostly sales, but spent some time in the basement wrenching as well. Needless to say, I feel comfortable around bikes.
Cycling since age 10 when did my first double-century; TOMRV10.
First mountain bike in 1992 - Bridgestone MB1
MTB Racing since 1993
I mostly race in the MNSCS but have done a couple other races outside the series.
I'm currently competing at the Comp level, where I've been for about 4 years. I managed to finish 3rd overall two years in a row. After that my performance dropped quite a bit.
I've done 2 CX races and would love to do more.
In 2001 I co-founded Bent Crank Racing, a local mountain bike team for friends. Through BCR we've managed to donate almost $1000 to MORC by hosting the Lebanon Hills TT for 3 years.
In 2007 my wife and I adopted a beautiful little girl from China and are absolutely loving being parents.
I've been driving MINI Coopers since 2002. When they first came out we had the 64th MINI in MN. We currently drive a 2004 MINI Cooper S (the 2002 Cooper died last year) and are currently awaiting delivery of our 2008 MINI Cooper Clubman.
I have two cats.

I recently purchased a new mountain bike and that has given a little more motivation this season to maybe actually train this year. I thought maybe if I had a blog to help keep track of what I was doing for training, it might help keep me motivated.

So that's me in a nutshell. Check back for progress(?) or not. Have some suggestions, drop me a comment.