Training blog - page 12

Day seventy four: Wednesday 19 April 2006

Bike.  Another training ride today, focused at getting as many miles in my legs at a high cadence.  With an extra couple of gears now available to me on the winter training bike, I cycled a total of 27.53 miles (approximately 13.5 miles each way to a fundraising destination).

After returning home to collect my lights and have some lunch at 7.00pm, I went out for a further ride at approximately 7.30pm and cycled a further 29.28 miles, so total mileage today was 56.81 miles at an average speed of 15.1mph for the two rides.  My legs felt very good today, with only minor aches felt in my quadriceps.  Occasional rain fell on both rides, sometimes light sometimes moderate and the wind was light.

Once home, I managed two sets of 30 handgrips.  Shortly afterwards, I layed down on the exercise mat and did ab crunches (two sets of 30 reps) then reverse crunches (again two sets of 30 reps).

My winter training bike now has a new chain and rear derailleur and I currently have four gear combinations; two rear sprockets and both front chainrings. I believe the rear sprockets need a thorough clean in between the gears then all of them should be available to me.

Day seventy five: Thursday 20 April 2006

Rest day.

Day seventy six: Friday 21 April 2006

Gym.  I increased weight loads/resistance on six of thirteen exercises I do at the gym. 

As predicted, I managed to successfully leg press 235kg (three sets of 10 reps), do three sets of 10 leg extensions at a new weight of 80kg.  Torso twists were unchanged, as were tricep pulldowns.  Inner thigh squeeze resistance was upped from 140lbs to 145lbs.  Outer thigh pushes were unchanged, but I am aiming to increase weight resistance to 110lbs on the next visit.  'Superman' ball raises were also unchanged, ditto with hip flexor raises. 

The fourth weight increase came in total hip kickbacks; today I changed from 59kg to 66kg.  Next came leg curls, again I chose to increase weight load.  I managed three sets of 10 reps at a new weight of 55kg, but my hamstrings struggled with the extra load; the first five reps of each set were relatively easy but found my legs fatigued very quickly, which meant completing the remaining reps of each set at only a 50/80% travel to my buttocks.  Another chosen increase came in the upright rowing bar; I elected to not only lift the weight of the 15/18kg bar but add two 2.5kg weights.  I managed one set of 15 reps plus 12 reps of the second set before removing the extra 5kg to complete the remaining reps.  Finally, pullovers and calf raises were unchanged.

At home, I did the usual 2 sets of 30 reps with the hand/wrist grip and the same quantity of ab crunches and reverse curls.

On my next visit to Lakenham Sports and Leisure Centre, apart from increasing weight resistance on the outer thigh push aparatus, I will be upping a weight on hip flexor raises and continuing to lift the upright rowing bar with 5kgs of weights; my elbow and trapeziums will gradually adjust to the extra weight and demands being placed on them.

Day seventy seven: Saturday 22 April 2006

Rest day.

Day seventy eight: Sunday 23 April 2006

Bike.  A late evening ride for me today, meaning I arrived home from it at approximately 10.50pm.  I cycled 42.65 miles at an average speed of 15.8mph.  The main focus of this particular stint on the road was to assess my legs when riding up gradients, standing on the pedals.  I was very surprised to discover that my legs clearly flushed lactic acid from them significantly quicker than any previous time on a bike.  This is very encouraging news as lactic acid tolerance is extremely important in the mountains.  I feel that I can improve further with extra training in this area.

Day seventy nine: Monday 24 April 2006

Gym.  I limited today's session to upper body exercises and a couple of leg drills, but wanted to rest my quadriceps and calfs.  I further increased resistance on inner thigh squeezes from 145lbs to 155lbs (sets of 20 reps) and outer thigh pushes from 105lbs to 110lbs, again doing two sets of 20 reps.  Tricep pulldowns and torso twists were unchanged, but increased weight load on hip flexor raises to 45.3kg and managed the usual three sets of 15 per leg.  There was no change to total hip kickbacks, 'Superman' ball raises and pullovers.  Finally, I persevered with doing the upright rowing bar with the 15/18kg bar weight plus 5kg of weights.  Today, I managed 10 reps with the extra weight before finishing the first set with the weights removed.  The other two sets of 15 were performed without the extra 5kg.

I am hoping that my broken elbow will strengthen as I still have limitations as to the amount of weight I can lift / push down.

Day eighty: Tuesday 25 April 2006

Rest day.

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