Training blog - The Pyrenees - page 2

Day eight: Saturday 17 March 2007

Rest day.

Day nine: Sunday 18 March 2007

Gym.  Following four days of rest during which I have only just started to walk properly again, I headed to the gym for another session, with the only tweaks and strains within the calf muscle area.  In future I will list the exercises undertaken in list form and indicate any change in weight load with a "+" or "-".  For no change, a "0" will be indicated:-

Leg extensions: 3 sets of 10 reps at 60kg (0) with 90 second rest between sets.

Leg curls: 3 sets of 10 reps at 50kg (n/a), the last 3 reps of the final set did not reach full distance.

Outer thigh pushes:  2 sets of 20 reps at 95lbs (n/a).

Tricep pulldowns:  3 sets of 20 reps at 20kg (0).

Kneeling "Superman" raises:  2 sets of 20 reps (0) alternate leg/arm combinations.

Dorsal raises:  2 sets of 20 reps with each rep held for 2/3 seconds (0).

Inner thigh squeezes:  1 set of 20 reps at 150lbs, 1 set of 20 at 155lbs (0).

Barbell bench press:  1 set of 10 reps plus 8 reps at 30kg (n/a) (bar weight plus 2 x 5kg disks).

At the end of today's session, other than the calf niggle, I felt fairly fresh with perhaps a little tenderness around the elbow area, from the tricep pulldowns.

Day ten: Monday 19 March 2007

Rest day.

Day eleven: Tuesday 20 March 2007

Gym.  Today, the calf muscle strain had all but disappeared, so I felt confident of returning to exercises which worked the lower leg area :-

Leg press:  3 sets of 10 reps at 175kg (+25kg).

Step drops:  6 sets of 5 reps per leg (n/a).

Rear crucifix raises:  3 sets of 10 reps at 5kg per arm (0).

Lunges:  3 sets of 10 reps per leg with a 7.5kg dumbell in each arm (n/a).

Dumbell pullovers:  1 set of 15 reps plus 13 reps at 20kg dumbell weight (n/a).

Kneeling "Superman" raises:  2 sets of 15 reps (alternate arm/leg combinations) (0).

Front planks:  5 reps, holding each rep for 20 seconds (n/a).

Side frame crunches:  2 sets of 20 reps per side (n/a).

Oblique crunches:  1 set of 15 reps per side followed by 30 reps (alternating sides) (n/a).

Reverse curls (lifts):  2 sets of 25 reps (n/a).

Today's session was very draining, particularly on the upper body with so many ab and oblique crunch exercises.  I left the gym feeling very stiff all over my body, particularly around the bottom and gluteal area.

Day twelve: Wednesday 21 March 2007

Rest day.

Day thirteen: Thursday 22 March 2007

Rest day.

Day fourteen: Thursday 5 April 2007

Bike.  After approximately 14 days of rest following back problems (see the latest Evening News article)  here, I am extremely relieved to state that the pains have subsided.

My new bike, a Trek Madone 5.5SL was awaiting; on 30 March, this year's much improved Shimano Dura Ace pedals arrived. I promptly fitted them to my new steed but at the time, still had intense spasm-type pain at the base of my spine.

Anyway, today was the day when my Trek finally met the roads.  I have only one word for the bike - AWESOME, a word I very rarely use.

It felt as if I covered 52 miles in next to no time and the miles simply flew by; easily put, I was floating on a piece of carpet.  The average speed was quoted at 17.3mph but it was quicker than that; unfortunately for some reason, the trip distance on my HRM froze after 13.7 miles, as did the trip timer and average speed.  I waited until I reached the turn back point before the counter restated and then doubled whatever the difference was on the return journey.

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