Training blog - page 5

Day twenty five: Wednesday 1 March 2006

Gym.  I spent about an hour on the exercise bike, going through a profile of the Col de la Croix de Fer mountain, seeing how my legs would react from a non-stop uphill effort.  Positive response although I had to stop several times to drink water; I couldn't reach the cup whilst pedalling, and also to pick up my MP3 player which fell off the bike and wrapped itself around one of the pedals!

Next, I did some of my usual weight exercises.  As predicted, I managed to leg press 170kg fairly easily and did my usual 3 sets of 10 reps.  I also did 2 sets of 15 'superman' ball raises but had to restart the sets on numerous occasions as I found it extremely difficault balancing efficiently to manage 15 consecutive reps.  After this, I did 4 sets of 10 inner thigh squeezes at 115lbs and a couple of sets of 10 outer thigh pushes at 90lbs.

On the next visit, I'll be working on the exercise bike again and doing all other possible exercises I can do at the present time.

Day twenty six: Thursday 2 March 2006

Rest day.

Day twenty seven: Friday 3 March 2006

Gym.  For the third gym visit of the week, I was again on the exercise bike.  Not content with Wednesday's effort, I did the same mountain again and my legs seemed on this occasion to adapt a lot better to sustained gradients.  I completed this particular mountain in 42 minutes, although in reality it may take slightly longer.  One thing's for sure though, I will be a lot cooler in ambient temperature, with the gradients in full view in front of me.  With an exercise bike, all I could was imagine being on the mountain.  Not quite the same!

A full weight program followed.  I decided to further increase leg press load from 170kg to 175 and did the usual 3 sets of 10 reps, again fairly comfortably.  I am now just 25kg away from my June target.  Other weight increases were on outer thigh pushes, where I did 1 set of 10 reps at the usual 90lbs, then 1 set of 10 at 100lbs; an increase of 10lbs.  I increased the load on my inner thighs, from 120lbs to 125lbs and managed 2 sets of 15 at this new weight.  Leg extensions, torso twists and 'superman' ball raises were unchanged.  I only managed 1 set of 10 reps at leg curls (40kg) and on calf raises, reverted back to 3 sets of 10 at 100kg (just for this session only). 

Within the next four weeks, I hope to recommence the upright rowing bar, sit ups, pullovers, tricep pull-downs and back squats.

Day twenty eight: Saturday 4 March 2006

Yoga.  This evening, I decided to remove the plaster cast from my arm.  There were several reasons why, the main one is that I have an appointment with the Orthopaedic Surgeon on Monday 6 March, when it will be removed or removed then replaced.  The plaster I took off had worked very loose during the last couple of weeks and would have been redone at the time of the appointment anyway.  Whilst wiggling the thumb, there was no pain whatsoever.  I wanted to spend this evening, tomorrow and most of the next day without the arm in plaster to see if I can live without it, so I can advise the surgeon.  The answer is an emphatic yes so far; absolutely no pain but I am, at the same time, using common sense and only using the thumb very lightly.  I cannot bend the knuckle of the thumb whatsoever, so I imagine I'll be booked in for some physiotherapy sessions at the appropriate time.  The incision has healed up nicely but there are visual signs of bruising on the palm side of the thumb joint.

I did some more Yoga today, not too much as I was wary of putting too much load on my newly freed up thumb/arm.  The exercises I did were mainly relaxation and breathing control ones - yogic breathing (whilst lying on my back, then upright with legs crossed), corpse pose (on all parts of the body, starting from bottom to top), the three part breath (Hatha), mountain pose (Tadasana), legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani), the tree pose (one side only) (Vrksasana) and finally a Child's pose (Mudhasana).

With the clocks going forward in approximately two weeks time, I will be upping the load on my body, often doing at least two training methods per day and certainly increasing mileage on the bike.  With my arm plasterless, I should be able to ride in more than one position and will be able to wear cycling gloves which absorb ulnar nerve road shock.

Day twenty nine: Sunday 5 March 2006

Bike.  With tomorrow's Orthopaedic appointment in mind, I wanted to test my thumb on the bike, to see if any discomfort was experienced.  On some of the roughest roads I've ever seen in Norfolk, it was well and truly tested.  I'm pleased to say the thumb coped absolutely fine, with occasional mild pain but in between rides I will be resting it and keeping the thumb clean and warm.  I did not want to do too many miles in case I over stressed the thumb but was also wary of doing too little and perhaps giving the Surgeon a false opinion.  The elbow continues to improve day by day.  Although I have only a 50% range of easy movement, I can barely feel any pain from vibration through my handlebars.  On my winter training bike, I recorded a distance of 32.01 miles at an average speed of 17.3 mph.  I felt strong riding against a moderate wind, so it appears that all exercises I am doing in the gym are bearing fruit.

It really is a relief that my thumb is on the mend.  I certainly respect the ligaments and am very realistic about what I can and can't do with the thumb; if I over work it, it could mean a longer time off the bike, worse damage and a further operation. 

Day thirty: Monday 6 March 2006

Rest day.

Day thirty one: Tuesday 7 March 2006

Gym.  I visited the Orthopaedic Surgeon yesterday.  I emerged from the hospital with my thumb still out of plaster; a massive relief and have now started physiotherapy aimed at getting knuckle joint movement.  I am due to return to the N&N hospital in about four weeks to have a long piece of wire removed from the broken elbow.  This will be done under local anaesthetic.

Today's visit to the gym was largely to consolidate on Friday's efforts.  Same weight loads as previously attempted, but I did return to 130kg calf raises (3 sets of 10) and did the full sets of leg curls, again at the unchanged load of 40kg.  I also did a sustained effort on the exercise bike; I feel my legs are starting to get acclimatised to constant gradient resistance.

Determined not to create any unnecessary injuries, I will again be consolidating on these exercises, working the largest muscle groups first.  Next week, I'll be increasing weight loads on most leg exercises, with the exception of calf raises; I have already met my June target.  However, I am not ruling out upping the weight load on my calfs in a couple of months time.

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