Back-to-back Carmichael's

Threw in a second Carmichael workout of the week, above and beyond the one required for this Week Three.

Felt good doing it and felt good about it afterward.

Weigh-in Wednesday tomorrow, then perhaps an easy spin. Got a busy Thursday so it looks like that will be a rest day.

Week 3 starts with a Carmichael

Off to a solid start in Week Three as I did my first Carmichael workout of the new year, a structured :45 training ride of three various effort levels.

Ah memories...I can almost do that thing without looking at the cheat notes taped to my handlebars now.

I felt pretty good, considering the fact that I was tempted to take a nap instead of working out!

...had a nice visit/chat with reader "Der Jan" on Sunday, when we talked a little cycling. He is thinking about getting back into a little local racing this season and therefore will have to ramp up the trainer work at this time of year. I hope he does...I won't join him, but would be glad to cheer him on from the sidelines come SuperWeek.

Don't forget to check Versus for some Tour Down Under highlights this week. The pro season has begun!

Week Two completed

Nothing much, but Week Two according to the plan was completed today with 40 minutes of a standard spin. That makes three times this week of at least 30 minutes each.

Next week I'll increase the load just a bit by requiring that one of the three rides needs to be my Carmichael workout, a structured :45 with exact purpose that combines spinning at a high rate at times and increasing gears at other times. Basically it is a structured rotation of easy, medium and hard effort.

Back-to-back :45's

Day Two of Week Two and I did an extended :45 again today at a pretty steady 90 rpm straight through.

No issues.

Slow but sure...lay the foundation one day at a time now.

Weigh-In Wednesday; Week One tomorrow.

Week Two starts well

Week Two of the annual effort to lose holiday weight and get back into at least some cycling form went well today.

Spurred by the joy of a Packers' win over the Eagles in the playoffs and taking the lead in the PhilCast Fantasy Football League (my first-ever attempt at fantasy football) I jumped on the bike in the afternoon and did a steady spin for 45 minutes, 15 more than required this week.

I felt fine today.

The week's goal is to do at least :30 at least 3X. One down, at least two to go. Weigh-In Wednesday week one should be interesting.

Week One goal hit

Easing into it all after the holiday, the first couple of weeks are just to break a sweat and not do much to rattle these 52-year-old bones on the saddle.

So it's a minimum 30 minutes three times in the week. Today marked the third ride of the week. Two 30's and a 45. The 30 today kinda bothered me by the end. Legs were kinda stiff...right knee was a little gimpy. These are the times when you wonder how in world you ever did a solo century last season!

But it's a start. I went 15 minutes over one day, and I may try to get in 30 minutes on Saturday too...which would make it four rides instead of the minimum three. We'll see.

The plan for next week, Week Two, is to do the same as the Week One plan.

Solid :45

As long as I had the time I went ahead and hit the trainer for the second day in a row today, putting in 45 minutes of spinning this time.

I moved the bike too, placing it where it will stay now for a couple of months, despite making my 'recording lounge' a little cramped now. Getting back into shape and losing the holiday weight is a priority this time of year.

All felt fine today.

Weigh-in Wednesday tomorrow. The toughest part of my 'smart eating' now is evenings when I like to have a little something while watching TV. That's how I knew this was for real Monday night! Nothing but some fruit and water.