Archive for the ‘biking’ Category

Training Update…

Jun 6th, 07 / 0 Comments

I’ve started my new training regimen for the 2007 Twin Cities Marathon on October 7th.  Can you believe it’s only 18 weeks away?

Here is a little more detail on my training plan, this is typical week:

  • Monday: Cross Training – Swimming
  • Tuesday: Cross Training – Swimming
  • Wednesday: Core Workout #1 – Speed
  • Thursday: Cross Training – Spin Class
  • Friday: Core Workout #2 – Tempo
  • Saturday: Rest
  • Sunday: Core Workout #3 – Distance

So, today was a speed workout:

  • 10 minute warm up – easy
  • 1 x 400 @ 1:43 / Actual: 1:34 
  • 1 x 600 @ 2:36 / Actual: 2:28
  • 1 x 800 @ 3:29 / Actual: 3:25
  • 1 x 1200 @ 5:20 / Actual: 5:14
  • 1 x 800 @ 3:29 / Actual: 3:28
  • 1 x 600 @ 2:36 / Actual: 2:31
  • 1 x 400 @ 1:43 / Actual: 1:37
  • 10 minute cool down – easy

Overall a nice effort and a good workout.  I’ll post my two swim workouts from Monday and Tuesday later tonight.

Thanks!

Aaron

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Change of Pace… (26 of 30)

May 27th, 07 / 0 Comments

I’m going to get to post 30 if it kills me…

Update #1: After some thought, and getting seriously behind in week 1 (of 6) I dropped my MBA course for this session.  I’ll pick up the same course starting in the first week of July.  I needed to do this for so many reasons, but mainly it will allow me to spend more time concentrating on important things like family time, running, writing, family time, fire department stuff, and family time. I really feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I know this was the right decision at the right time.

Update #2: I have been putting off so many projects around the house lately, but this weekend we have been able to make some real progress in the yard work arena.  We got a big dumpster delivered on Friday and promptly started filling it up.  Yesterday (Saturday) and today, we spent most of our efforts in the front yard trimming trees, bushes, and shrubs.  Along with all the trimming and pruning, we also made great strides in our front flower bed.  This has been a complete mess since we bought the house 3 years ago and now, after two summers of renovation and hard work, it is getting close to being in decent shape.  Jen has dug out (by hand) layer after layer after layer of wood chips, rock, more rock, big rocks, and a layer of plastic from the entire flower bed.  She really deserve all the credit for the transformation. Today we even put in some new dirt! It’s really starting to come together and look great!

Tomorrow, we are going to spend the day cleaning up the side of the house.  We will be loading the dumpster with all of the debris from our construction projects over the last two years.  We have a few doors, lots of old trim, a big pile of dirt, and random odds and ends to  get rid of once and for all.  Additionally, we are going to spend some time in the garage – sorting and trowing out as much as possible.  We have needed this spring cleaning for a couple of springs! Fianally, if there is time I’d like to trim the big pine trees in the back yard.

Update #3: Last year, when I trained for the Twin Cities Marathon, I followed a program – one of many like it I’m sure.  There was nothing really special about what I did or how I did it, I ran 5 to 6  days a week and put in a certain number of miles each week.  I ran my long runs on Sunday morning and got up to a max of a 20 mile run a month or so prior to the Marathon.  It worked, more or less, I finished and didn’t have to crawl home.  But I really felt like with a better training program and a little more dedication on my part I could have done much, much better. With that I have decided to totally change my training plan for 2007.  I had a pretty standard Hal Higdon Plan ready to go, but I started reading about a new plan called the FIRST training method. As of today, I’m 3 weeks and counting to the start of the 16 week marathon program.  The race I ran today (5K, 23:19) will help me set the paces for most of the runs in the program.  I’ll post more about it in the coming weeks…

Keep running…

Aaron

 

Online Running Logs – a review of some of more popular free exercise logs

Jun 22nd, 06 / 0 Comments

***This is the first in a series of posts that will review and rate a variety of training/running/exercise logs or journals on the web.  I will start with some of the more popular and hopefully move on to others. The only constraints that I’m putting on what I review is that it must be FREE. 

I’ve been recording most of my training here in my blog for the last 6 months or so along with other ramblings and incoherent mumblings.  This, however, is not the optimal format for a training log.  There is no graphing, no mileage/time tracking, no heart rate monitoring, really nothing.   I know that there are multiple training logs out there and I’ve use a few.   Here are a few of the free ones I’ve looked at:

Each has basically the same features: the ability to log running, cycling, swimming or other fitness type activities on a daily basis with a web-based interface.  None of them require any type of download or installation.  I’ll go through each and kind of give my 2 cents on the overall experience…

The first one I’m going to start with is CoolRunning, I will follow up with separate posts on each of the others listed and more if I can find them.

CoolRunning.com

Basic Site Overview

Coolrunning is a solid, well known, established website and training log.  You can find a ton of useful information and articles on the site and there are many, many users.  Content, for the most part, seems to be well organized and fairly regularly updated.  There is lots of information on races, training, and fitness.  Additionally, you can find multiple calculators to help with pacing and training goals. 

With that said, the overall site does have a slightly dated feel and at times navigation is a bit tricky and muddy.  For example, finding your way to the Training Log itself is not a simple, one click task.  From the home page, you must navigate to the ‘Training’ tab (at the top of the home page) and then down on the bottom-left side of the page is a link to ‘Sign up Today!’ for the Cool Running Log.  This link then allows you to
log in if you all ready have an account.  I’m sure there are multiple ways to get to the training log, but none of them that I have found are any simpler.  There should be a big link on the home page to go directly to your log.  This would make navigation much quicker and more straight forward.  Again if I am missing it – let me know!

***UPDATE*** I was able to find a way to get my journal stats and a link to my journal on the front page of www.coolrunning.com. You can set this up in your personal preferences for your personal start page.  This makes it much easier to find and view your journal from the start page.  It did, however, take way too much digging to find this feature.

Training Log Overview

The training log is simple and easy to configure and use.  Here is the data it allows you to enter:

  • Date of Training
  • Time of Training
  • Workout
    • Sport (Running, swimming, walking)
    • Workout (Interval, training, tempo, etc.)
  • Location
    • Route (lets you store multiple routes and distances)
  • Stats
    • Distance (Tied to route)
    • Elapsed Time
      • Used to fill in a pace field
    • Weight
    • Heart Rate (Avg, Max, Resting)
    • Shoes (Tracks mileage on shoes)
  • Environment
    • Weather conditions
    • Temperature
  • Notes

Navigation through the entry of a workout is good.  All the tab stops go where you would think they should and the drop downs are populated and ready to go.  It does take a second or two to save an entry and it takes you to a separate page before reloading the Journal display page.  For usability, this is not the best design, but it seems to work consistently. 

Along with the data that you enter, the application actually tracks some data as well.  At a glance you can get the following:

  • Week to date totals by sport
  • Month to date totals by sport
  • Year to date totals by sport

The main journal view allows you to see 7 days of entries at a time.  This seems to adequate and is fairly readable.  Additionally, there is an option to view your data in multiple graph formats.  As you will see, while they offer a wide variety of data to put in the graph, the graphs themselves are not very detailed or overly useful.  Bottom-line, pretty basic.

Overall Rating

I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.  Pretty good, does what it needs to do, but not a lot of extras or flash.  Everything feels like it needs a little bit of an update…

Thanks!

Aaron 

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Nice spin today and exciting news

Jun 15th, 06 / 0 Comments

Wednesday was a great day.  I went for a short run in the afternoon (over lunch) and then went out again in the evening for another 2.5 miles.  While neither were my fastest or hardest efforts, they both felt good and easy.  The evening run was with a friend of mine from the fire department and it was really great.  I’ve been running alone pretty much all the time, and having someone to talk to was nice.  I also pushed David in the jogging stroller and he seemed to really enjoy himself
too…

Today was a cross training day on my schedule, so I went to spin class.  It felt a little odd not to run, but I really noticed my improved conditioning while I was on the bike.  I really had to push hard to get my heart rate up.   That’s good though, right?  I was able to get in about 11 miles in the 40 minutes I was on the bike.   My max HR was 165 with an average of 120 (including warm up and cool down).  All in all a good workout.  Tomorrow it’s back
on track for another run – 45 to 55 minutes, so I should be able to get in about 5.5 to 6 miles.

Additionally, I have an announcement!

I am officially registered for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 1, 2006!  I have a lot of miles to put in between now and then, but I know I can do it.  I’m really looking forward to the challenge.  I am intent on listening to my body and trying to ensure that I don’t get injured.  I’m running for Team Capella and I’m also going to be raising money for the American
Cancer Society.  I will follow-up with more on my fund-raising efforts…

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X-Bike

May 23rd, 06 / 0 Comments

X-BikeI found this interesting review of the X-Bike on Wired News (via Uber Review) and it looked really interesting to me.  If you go to the X-bike
web site, you’ll see a short video of how this thing actually works.  Basically, the premise is that the X-Bike more closely mimics the actual workout achieved from riding a bike on the road vs. a stationary bike.  The X-bike has revolutionary handlebars that actually rock and roll with the rider much the same way a road bike will bend and flex as the rider exerts force on the pedals.  The tension in the handlebars can be adjusted for the rider and the bike comes in multiple sizes for
different riders.

For about the last year or so I have been going to Spin class (indoor group cycling) at my local YMCA a couple of times a week.  I have thought for a while that a real road feel is one thing that the spin bikes lack.  They are almost too smooth and stable.  This solves that problem, it forces you to use your trunk a little more to provide upper body stability because it’s not built in to the bike.  It also allows the work you do on your trainer to transition a little better to the road. 
Bottom-line, your workouts will be more useful and provide a better base for real road riding.

Without actually riding it, I can’t say for sure that it really feels like the road, but judging by the pictures and video I’d have to say that they are at least on the right track.  I’d love to get my hands on one of these and use it for a while, but at $2,100 I doubt that I’m going to be riding one anytime soon.  From the X-Bike web site:

A single piece of cardio equipment that will satisfy all your personal training needs, keep you immersed and engaged while improving your fitness and above all, coming back for more.

The total-body X-Bike is the only indoor cycle that incorporates Trixter’s patented X-Bars handlebar mechanism that allows the rider to engage the upper body and core musculature along with the legs cardiovascular system. This total-body workout provides substantially improved fitness benefits while bringing the natural movements of outdoors cycling indoors.  

The handlebar movement also promotes improved balance and coordination functions further enhancing the effectiveness of regular X-Bike rides.

Cowling-mechanism2

Another difference between the X-Bike and traditional spin or stationary bike is that the X-Bike proves 32  gear shifting (rather than a typical tension dial) for different levels of resistance as well as a freewheeling drive train.  This is a complete 180 from typical spin bikes which are fixed wheel – if you stop the wheel stops – and this again seems much more realistic and true to road riding. 

Very cool indeed!

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