Day 5: On The Stationery

After a day of non stop snow fall, where even driving was difficult, I realized I wouldn't be able to ride outside today. This was quite demoralizing for me because since I unclipped from the bike on Tuesday I haven't been able to stop thinking about the ride on Thursday, how nice it was going to be to get back on the rode. And now, I couldn't. I knew getting motivated to get a good, strong workout indoors today was going to be tough, but I got it in. Here's how it went down.

I got on the stationery for 40 minutes straight. The 40 minutes was split up into a few different sections, but there was no stopping. The first 10 minutes was just spinning, getting my legs warmed up and ready for the workout. I kept it in the small ring and at a middle gear. The next 10 minutes was a resistance progression as I moved up to a higher gear every 2 minutes while keeping the sam cadence. The next 10 minutes was the same thing I did on Sunday, where it was split up into 5 intervals, each 2 minutes long. 2 min. as hard as possible, then 2 min. relaxed pace, then 2 min. as hard as possible again, etc. repeated for the full 10 minutes so as to get 3 100% effort intervals in. The final 10 minutes was the same as the first 10, just a relaxed, easy spin to keep my legs moving but let my body recover. My legs were definitely fatigued after this ride, and I had a small agitation of dull pain at the very top of my lower left leg, right under the knee cap and right next to my shin.

After the 40 minutes was up I immediately started a circuit. 3 sets of 6 exercises. Heres what the exercises consisted of, in the same order that i did them: 50 crunches, 10 pushups, 1 minute leg-raise hold, 10 pushups, 2 minute plank hold, then 20 regular curls (10 on each arm) w/ 15 pound weights. I repeated these 6 exercises in order 3 times with no rest, so as to maximize heart rate and abdominal burn/strengthening.

Immediately after the circuit I was back on the stationery for a 20 minute ride split into two parts. The first 10 minutes was another spin, similar to the first and last 10 minutes of the 40 minute ride, except a bit faster and in a higher gear. The last 10 minutes of the ride and the entire workout was the same exact thing as the 3rd 10 minute section in the first 40 minute ride, where it is split up into 5 intervals, each 2 minutes long, with 3 of the intervals at 100% effort.

Overall this was a good workout, considering I had to go from an outdoor mentality, to riding indoors which is one of the most boring things to do. But I had fun, and I'm glad I got it done. I'm unsure on my plans for tomorrow so far, I may take the day off to rest up for the 50+ mile DC Velo ride on Saturday with Robbie Wade, but I'll decide tomorrow. For now, its off to bed.