Cycling Plan: Week 3 - Complete

Another hectic week with house stuff, helping out at my parent's house, and mother's day cooking. I only got in my spin class, but was able to get all three of runs in, but as the title of this post notes, this is "CYCLING" training, not running training. I actually did plan on riding, but I am trying to learn about bike maintenance and messed up a couple things this weekend. For starters, I bought new wheels, cassette, new tires, and a trainer tire. Unfortunately, I did not buy extra tubes, and for my 1st tire installation, I punctured the tube, so I cannot use the wheel yet. Also, I am having trouble installing the cassette. Basically, my new back wheel is a nightmare right now. Going to pick up some tubes and give it another go tonight hopefully. I am also nervous about swapping wheels, since I haven't done that before, but I am sure I'll get through this.

Swimming
No time as usual.

Cycling
Only got my insane spin class in. It was literally 90% intense hill work, with 80% of that being seated with higher RPM. It was insane, but I felt awesome the next day. Plus it's good to see some of my endurance creeping back, although it would be a lot better if I were doing my actual cycling training.

Running
I got all three runs in this week. It really is so much easier to get my runs in when all I need to do is put on shoes and go. My speed work went well as usual. The tempo run however, did not go as well as I would have liked. The added hills were just too much for me to try and speed up my pace. My long run was alright. I was running a slower pace and cadence initially because the first half was running with someone else. I felt completely fine after the first loop we ran. Then I continued on to do a second loop. I guess I didn't realize how tough the hills on the route was, because I was not able to increase my speed or cadence much on the second lap. Oh well, this just shows I have a long way to go.

Strength
I only got in one legit strength session, and it was pretty tough because it was right after my spin class. I still managed to get the full workout done though and it felt really good.

Nutrition
As you can see, I did alright with logging and macros, but I slipped up Friday night through Sunday. I will be using this new view to help keep myself more accountable.

Final Thoughts
A pretty tough week but still managed to find some extra time to workout. Depending on feedback from realtor, we might be starting to wrap up the sale of our home soon, so I am hoping to have a couple weeks where I can focus on workouts before I get hit with an insane week of moving EVERYTHING to storage and a friend's house.

Interim Plan: Week 1 - Complete

As I have noted before, I am in the process of selling my house and moving. So this past week and the next week are devoted strictly to that. I still have a workout plan, but I am not in any way trying to force myself to stick with it, because honestly, most of my days when I am not at work at spent from dusk until dawn doing moving stuff. At least I am getting some good strength building with this.

Swimming
I didn't get any swimming in, although there were some days I really wish I had the time. My muscles were achy all week.

Cycling
I was able to get a 30 min cadence ride in this week. I was even able to bump up another level of resistance for almost half of the ride. I am really excited for cycling training to start in 2 weeks.

Running
I was able to get an outside run in. I had the following goals: 1) Run outside 2) Run for 30 minutes without stopping 3) Start retraining myself to gauge cadence and pace. I achieved all of these. I learned that over 1.5 years without running outside, I have lost most of my ability to gauge cadence and pace outside. However, it was a good start and I am hoping for an improvement on my next run. Also, I had forgotten how hilly my route was, and for having run on treadmill at incline 0 for many months now, it was quite a shock to my legs. I maintained good form though and had no knee issues. My feet and legs were completely dead after the run though. Fortunately, I have been doing enough strength training and cardio that my recovery was almost 100% the next day.

Strength
I didn't get any formal sessions in this week. However, I have been lifting 100lb tanks, yard equipment, furniture, building stuff, and the list goes on for my move and home sale, so I got a lot of strength work in, even if it wasn't structured.

Nutrition
I did pretty well with nutrition this week. I did horrible logging it, but I maintained good eating habits and even lost some weight! I hope to continue this progress, but hopefully with being more consistent at logging my food.

Final Thoughts
Overall a very successful week, as I wasn't sure I would have any time to workout. Next week will be the same. I cannot wait for this to be over.

Building Plan: Week 16 Complete

What a week! Almost started with getting my workouts in, but then life hit. Had meetings preventing lunch workouts, then was dealing with house hunting and other work things after work. Haven't had a week like this where I legit didn't have time to work out. Sure, I could have tried to wake up even earlier than usual, but I was typically passing out each night from exhaustion, so I am not sure I could have pulled that off. Oh well, it happens, I'll get back on track this upcoming week.

Swimming
Still haven't been getting to the pool. This is becoming a bad habit and I am all out of excuses.

Cycling
I got in a really great trainer cadence ride. I was able to maintain a longer duration at the new resistance while maintaining 90 RPM.

Running
I got in a warm-up run. It felt really good and I had even bumped up the treadmill speed. I didn't expect my legs to get such terrible DOMS from that with the strength session though.

Strength
I got 2/4 strength sessions in despite only 2 workouts this week. They went really well, and I was sad I didn't have time to get the other 2 done. I think I will be repeating this routine, as I saw awesome gains and felt great. I will definitely need to keep working on my adductor muscles though. For some reason my strength + run destroyed them and I was having trouble walking for 2 days after.

Nutrition
For the most part, I did a lot better this week. I was still over my calories almost everyday, but I finally got rid of almost all of the junk food in the house now. And now at my grocery trip tonight I'll only be getting healthy stuff.

Final Thoughts
Despite the hectic week, I still maintained decent overall nutrition and made sure I got sleep. I am feeling much better for it. Hopefully things should be more back to normal this upcoming week.

Building Plan: Week 15 Complete

Another week down! It was a crazy week and I was not home much and my work schedule prevented me from working out at lunch time. However, I was still diligent and got a good amount of workouts in. What is most important is that I didn't miss my strength sessions. My goal for the upcoming week is to not miss any runs, but we shall see, because with any luck I'll be dealing with potentially new home stuff.

Swimming
No time for swimming again. This is still a point of frustration, but my schedule has not permitted me to get to a pool. To make matters worse, I am not sure I'll get to the pool this upcoming week either. I am sure going to try though.

Cycling
I was able to get a cadence ride in last night. I was nervous about doing this because I didn't want to be too exhausted for my strength session. That was silly, because of course I was, but I pushed through and did awesome with my strength session. Also, I am feeling more comfortable than I expected with my new resistance at 90 RPM. I didn't expect to be increasing this for another week or two, but I will be increasing this week.

Running
Although I did not get more than 1 full cadence session in, I still ran 3 times. I have gone back to doing warm-up cardio before my strength sessions. Therefore I was able to get in two 10 minute runs. My cadence was alright for both. With the strength sessions, my legs have been a bit more tired, so it's been tougher to get the turnover I need. This is alright though because my average SPM is increasing even though my legs are tired, showing my strength is improving.

Strength
I hit all of my NTC workouts this week. I feel amazing after doing them, and I keep seeing great improvements in functional strength, mobility, and muscle strength.

Nutrition
I logged almost 100% of everything I ate this week. This was challenging because I didn't always make good decisions; whether it be from stress, needing something quick and easy, or just giving into cravings. However, getting almost everything logged helped me mentally a lot, so I am going to keep focusing on that and with any luck, over the next few weeks my bad habits should start to decrease considerably. On a really good note, my soda consumption is down exponentially! I am no longer drinking or craving Pepsi Max, only drinking Coke Zero when I have Rum and Cokes (a couple times a week), and having a ginger ale when my stomach is upset (this seriously works wonders for me).

Final Thoughts
Overall I am seeing improvements each week. My strength sessions are really having positive effects on all of my cardio workouts. I look forward to keeping up this momentum and once my life schedule isn't as hectic, I'll be able to fit in more cardio sessions.