Lazy Girl Bike Training

So it's still January here in semi-rural Washington, and yet it is supposed to be 48 degrees here tomorrow!  What gives?  Not that I'm complaining - all this sunshine is keeping from going crazy!  It just makes it hard to hook Honey up to the bike trainer for my workouts.  Oh, sure, I suppose I could go ride outside, but being as there are 22 mph gusts hurtling past my window, I think I'll pass, thanks.

what's a girl to do?....catch up on TV!

Last Sunday when my husband left me, abandoned me, went to go play city league basketball I still had not gotten my long ride in for the day.  At 7:00 pm.  *sigh*  I really did not want to listen to Coach Troy yell at me to "pick it up" for 2 hours (as much as I love Spinervals), so.....I drug everything out into the living room, set up in front of my TV and watched Julie & Julia. 

what?!?  oh, like you've never done it

It worked out perfectly!  I figure I'm still trying to build my base up, so any long amount of time spent spinning away is productive, plus I had a goal:  keep a cadence of 90rpms, no matter what gear you have to be in to do it.  Goal achieved!  I went for 1 hour 15 minutes, and I was a tired puppy!  speaking of tired puppies, like my training partner?

He hangs out right next to the bike as I ride, and he learned very quickly not to get too close to the pedals while they are moving!  (oops)

Tuesday's ride I actually broke down and used a Spinervals DVD - as much as I complain, I think they really do help.

Today's ride fell into the category of "whatever it takes to get it done."  Today it took the most recent episode of Private Practice and high cadence intervals.  During the show I would be in aero, pedaling at 90rpms (in a harder gear than last time.  Yay!), during the ads I would relax a little bit - it worked out great!  One problem though:  I forgot to eat.  I was on the bike for about 1:20 total with no nutrition except oatmeal & coffee for breakfast.  Needless to say I was a little bit spacey and grumpy when I finished. 

Sunday is my next ride and I think I'd like to hit the 2 hour mark....any good movie suggestions? 

Escape

...if you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain...

ok, it's raining here, so where is my freakin' drink?!

What we are dealing with here is a bonafide and severe case of cabin fever.  As in getmethehellouttaherenow syndrome.  It happens every year about this time, but for some reason this year it is TERRIBLE.  My husband has even gone as far to hide my passport. 

...hang on, I see a drawer I forgot to ransack.....

nothing. crap.  Geez, where's the trust?  I'd take him too.

*sigh*  thank goodness for coffee dates with girlfriends because I don't think I could handle another treadmill or bike trainer session.

think Starbucks will put one of those little umbrellas in my drink?

2009 Recap

So just out of curiousity I decided to get on Buckeye Outdoors and see what my 2009 swim/bike/run totals were. Let's break it down, shall we?

Swim: 50 workouts / 46882 yds / average pace of 2:04 per 100 yds
this summer I joined Master's swim at our community pool and eventhough I was cold and wet at 6AM, three times a week, I really enjoyed it and think it helped my swim endurance quite a bit.  At the beginning of the summer I struggled to swim for 15 minutes straight, and by the end of the season I could swim for the whole hour without stopping.

Bike: 25 (!) workouts / 395 miles / avg 15.8 mph
ok, before you freak out, there were also 21 bike trainer workouts.  Still not a great ratio I suppose.  As much as I enjoy Coach Troy yelling at me from the safety of his DVD, there is no substitute for riding outside.  There were also 2 weeks during the Tour d'France when my husband was out of the country where I parked my bike & trainer in front of the flatscreen & rode along with Lance. 

Admittedly, I made alot of excuses during bike workouts this year.....it's too hot, too dark, too cold, too windy, too hilly, too much traffic, too much of a pansy.  It all amounts to too much bad attitude.  I rode the easiest, flattest, most comfortable routes I could find, and guess what?  My biking didn't improve a whole lot because I didn't push myself.  Shocking revelation: hard work = improvement. Duh.

Run: 86 workouts / 276.9 miles / 9:38 per mile average
My season this year started with a 10K and finished with a Half Marathon - both distances that I never in million years thought I would run.  For a girl who has never liked to run, I discovered that it's not all that bad.  That being said, I also came up with alot of excuses to make run workouts easier, and as a result my running didn't improve much. 

Races:
Also this year I set PR's for both sprint and olympic distances at 1:27 and 3:33 respectively.  AND I did my first half marathon in 2:27!  The olympic distance was new this year and I really enjoyed it - I'm looking forward to a FLAT oly this summer. :)