Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Promise (half) kept

A couple of months ago I gushed about relaunching Cycledork with daily reports about my progress with the Reoch-Zonneveld training program. I've stuck with the program but have neglected my reports. Short version: it's going better than I expected even if it has been an ass kicking one day at a time.

Longer version: I'm impressed that so far the 31 workouts I've done have been progressively more difficult and subtly more ass kicking. As mentioned previously, Reoch-Zonneveld is 50 interval workouts meant to last 26 weeks. My plan was to complete the program in 50 plus days. I started the program, went hard and productively for nine sessions, then had a family health concern (everyone is well — it was benign stuff that had malign symptoms; objective data demonstrates the stuff was benign) that kept me off the bike for a few weeks. So I started from the beginning again in mid June and mostly rode six or seven days a week, the four days I took off last week notwithstanding. The intensity of the endorphin rush merits the obsession.

Data I've gathered, as I expected, indicates I am indeed riding myself back into shape. The 10 pounds I expected to lose over the course of the exercise? Lost. I can go at least an hour anaerobic. My resting heart rate is now typically in the low 50s after being in the 60s at the start of this exercise. If I'm going to time trial Sept. 1, I've still got some work to do, but I'm confident I'm getting it done.

Today's data:
Weight: 143.0
Average heart rate: 157
Maximum heart rate: 183
Music: Squeeze, "Up The Junction"; The Avett Brothers, "Die Die Die"; Gorillaz, "Feel Good Inc."; Janis Joplin, "Call On Me (alternate take)"; NOFX, "The Moron Brothers"; John Fahey, "The Holly and the Ivy/The Cherry Tree Carol"; Patty Griffin, "Rain"; Freddy King, "Sen-Sa-Shun"; Krüger Brothers, "If I Had A Sweetheart"; Jimmy Buffett, "Come Monday"; The Rolling Stones, "Factory Girl"; Jimmy Buffett, "Everlasting Moon"; Guitar Slim, "Things That I Used To Do"; Wynonie Harris, "Lovin' Machine"; Roy Buchanan, "Soul Dressing (live)"; Mahgeetah, "My Morning Jacket"; Pearl Jam, "Evil Little Goat"; Gilberto Gil, "Quilombo, o El Dorado Negro."

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The hibernation has ended

I never stopped loving bicycles. I just lost, temporarily, the motivation to write about them. And for that matter, to ride them. More on those things later.

The good news, particularly for me, is that I'm back on the bike and with a specific focus. Over the weekend a friend of mine sent me a pdf of The Reoch-Zonneveld Indoor Winter Workout Program. It's 50 one-hour trainer sessions meant to get racers through the winter. The sessions are progressively more difficult. Since I learned of this document — from this same friend, as a matter of fact — I have been fascinated by it and striven mightily to obtain a hard copy of it. Amazon, eBay, zip. A grand total of 23 hits on Google. So my friend might as well have been sending me cycling's Gutenberg Bible (219,000 Google hits; 21 copies extant). Obviously, I would love to have my own copy but it appears to be as rare as, well, a Gutenberg.

What I'm going to do with Reoch-Zonneveld is ride myself back into shape. I'll probably take a day or two off each week. But for each day I do ride, I'll provide, at the very least, my end-of-ride weight, my peak heart rate during the ride and the music I listened to during the ride. My guess is that by the time I've done all 50 I'll be about 10 pounds lighter and my peak heart rate will be lower. If the stars align, I'll time trial again shortly after I've completed this program. While I'm explaining all that, I'm also going to do some catching up on other topics.

Today, for instance, I weighed 153.4 pounds. I didn't consider heart rate until I was on the bike, so that'll wait until tomorrow. I ended with a decent sweat but wasn't winded. Today's music: Janis Joplin, "Dear Landlord"; Old Crow Medicine Show, "Fall on My Knees"; Hank Williams, "Dear John"; The Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Jumpin' East of Java"; Steve Miller Band, " Rock 'N Me"; Otis Redding, " Cigarettes and Coffee"; African Music Machine, "AM-FM"; Rusty Bryant, "Lou Lou." I cut the music early because the scientist came home and I wanted to be able to hear what she had to say.

Anyway, if you've read this far, thanks. I'll try to make it worth your while to continue.