Saturday, February 11, 2012

156 Days Part 2: Friday Night Bike Ride and TRX

Yes, a sign that I am now old is that instead of pondering how I am going to fulfill my weekend nights of good times I now look forward to a nice workout knowing I can sleep in past 4 am the next day.

Last night(Friday) I hooked my bike up to my trainer to see how the knee would handle a 30 minute ride. During the day I made my way to Kaminski for some ART. Dr. Walden is amazing. He tested out a few other places on my body to see if there was possibly another reason for my knee pain. He agreed my seat position was going to make a huge difference(hopefully). He also tested my abs by having me try to raise my leg and resist his hand pressure. While doing so he checked my leg strength and something with my ab. I don't know all the technical lingo, but he found a problem, ran my body through some pain and tests and I walked out feeling so much better. I am always amazed by the body when I come to see Dr. Walden in terms of how so many parts of the body work together to make simple things happen.

Last night around 9 pm I jumped on the bike. My workout was pretty simple for the first week

30 Minutes of Riding with cadence above 100

I knew right away my knee was feeling better. I have not been able to push above 100 cadence since Jan. 24th when my knee locked up big time.

While riding I realized many things
- I am starting from scratch on the bike as my butt was sore 15 minutes into the ride
- I was tired from pedaling 100+ after about 13 minutes
- I am glad I am starting 31 weeks out where I can gradually build my base and threshold on the bike and run because I need
- As much as I don't like to admit it, the knee injury has been a wake up call to do things right and gradually. I just want to go all out and go big, but the body cannot handle that. It is about doing things in small steps and taking care of the body

I was able to finish the ride with success. My knee was sore the last 5 minutes which is to be expected. I was happy to be able to ride 25 minutes at 100+ cadence and feel good. This is a big step in the right direction.


I finished the 30 minute ride knocking out 10.58 miles with an avg. cadence of 101


After my bike ride I headed to the other part of my basement where I have my TRX set up. It is nothing pretty, but it allows me to get the job done. I completed two rounds of the TRX workout. I have plans of going three rounds next week, but two rounds is good for the first week. This makes you sweat bullets and for as simple as it looks, it is a tough workout. I did not have a way to time myself so I just went with straight sets tonight. This might have been harder with sets.

TRX Crunch - I really like this one, but it sure is not that easy
TRX Hamstring Curl to TRX Hip Press Combo - I still hate this one and I find it very difficult to perform. It really stresses my hammies and I feel like they are going to cramp. I have some work to do.
TRX Oblique Crunch - OMG!
Overhead Back Extension - I think I need to work on this one more because I did not feel much from this exercise.
Balance Lunge - This was good for my legs
TRX Lunge - a big challenge working on balance and proper form.

I performed sets of 10 for all of these except the Oblique Crunch where I performed 8 on each side.

At the end of set 1 I added
Push-Ups with hands in TRX
Bicep Curls

This took about 15-20 minutes and I felt good. I am a little sore this morning as I stretched out some muscles that I have not stretched in a while. It was a good night of working out.

For the weekend I still need to get in

- 60 minute bike ride in Z2(I don't know my HR Zones, but need to get a Power Meter for my bike)
- a long run - my running is above the basic levels so I don't want to lose too much. I plan on running at least 90 minutes, but nothing more tomorrow morning.
-One more TRX workout

I am supposed to play in a basketball game Sunday as well. I will see how the body feels. No need to tweak my body trying to live my glory days on the hardwoods.

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