4 bike climbs in 5 days

I did bike climbs M, T, W, F.  Always hard but getting easier and HR monitor shows less stress.  Here's a comparison:

Monday:

    Max HR: 192 .... Avg HR: 159 .... HR over 170: 15:36

Tuesday:

    Max HR - 186 .... Avg HR: 155 .... HR over 170 - 14:11

Wednesday:

     Max HR - 182 .... Avg HR: 157 .... HR over 170 - 8:44

Friday:

    Max HR - 181 .... Avg HR: 154  .... HR over 170 - 8:17

While much of the SE has languished under excessive heat, it's not been too bad here.  80ºs mostly, only one day this week over 90º.

Still the biking is sweaty work, but someone has to do it.

Despite the "pastry diet" ... I'm keeping my weight under control.  143 lbs this morning.  

Making progress on my shed construction.  Got the roof on yesterday, will do the floor and siding hopefully next week.  All this despite a shoulder injury

Tool shed project

Kirschstrudel

Bike climb again

Second day in a row of bike climb.  Maybe 2º cooler today, 84º at the top and less humid than yesterday 

Roark's Cove Rd bike climb, maybe a tad faster than yesterday, about 24 min.

Max HR - 186

HR over 170 - 14:11

The gorgeous shady mountain road... Roark's Cove Rd. 

Yea, I've gained that 4-5 lbs back from peak fitness when in peak season.  Not quite to 'dad bod' yet, but getting there.  

At this age, must train just to keep from backsliding too far, especially while enjoying previously forbidden foods, like my favorites... fruit pastry.  At least I'm not frying potatoes.  

Holding around 145 lbs.  

Strudel -

Bike, new max HR

Shoulder still a major issue, but I can bike.  Did my first trip up the mountain in quite a while and my first significant exercise in quite a while.   With the hot weather, 5 lbs heavier, and lack of fitness... I worked way harder than usual to get up the mountain.  About 86º at the top, 92ºF at the bottom.

Set a new max HR reading on this climb of 192 bpm.  

Compare when I was doing this in shape in much cooler weather in March:

March 12: 

Bike climb up Roark's Cove Rd - about 20 min 

Max HR: 177 .... Avg HR: 153 .... HR over 170: 4:36

Today: 

Bike climb up Roark's Cove Rd - just under 25 min 

Max HR: 192 .... Avg HR: 159 .... HR over 170: 15:36

Most notable is the amount of time my HR was over 170 today, almost 16 min.  Long time.  Hopefully my fitness will improve as I get back into cross training.  

Time off, construction, injury, bike

This past week I was going to roof my shed and put in the floor.   It didn't go as planned as I had a serious shoulder injury when hoisting a piece of roofing up.  After sliding a 4x8' piece of plywood on the roof, it started sliding down and I tried to catch it while walking backward, I tripped over a log and fell straight back.  May have momentarily dislocated the shoulder, but it came back in.  It was bad, worst shoulder injury in 18 yrs, since I fell of my motorcycle back in 2006ish.  I knew the shoulder would tighten up in response to the injury so I worked quickly to get the roof up, caulked, and screwed after the injury before quitting.   Probably not a good idea because, next day, pain was bad.  Affected by sleep.    Could not lift my arm from my side at all.  But strangely, I could hang from a bar and do a pullup with no pain.  It was the muscles and tendons on the front on my shoulder that were hurt.  Shoulder is a really complex joint. 

Now, 5 days later, I can barely lift my arm parallel to the ground and with some pain.   Still doing 5mg of 'hillbilly heroin' at bedtime, and hard to get comfortable.   It's going to take weeks for this to heal, maybe all summer.  But, I can do tasks that keep my arms low, like putting in the floor joists that I did this week.  It sure will put a damper on my fitness pursuits.  I still haven't done any swimming this spring/summer.

I really want to put the metal roof on and add the floor next week, hopefully I'll be recovered enough to do it.  (Probably not, but will anyway).

I haven't run in 2 weeks now and my knee feels much better as well as my foot.  

Today, I'm going to bike up the mountain in the heat of the day, it's mid 80ºs with a H.I. of 90º, not bad compared with Murfreesboro/Nashville where it feels like 105ºF.

Fortunately, keeping my weight under control, about 144 on the avg.  

I've booked a hiking vacation in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps for Aug with Roya.  In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy the US Olympic trials for the next 9 days, then the Olympics next month.  Looking forward to finishing this shed and moving the tools out of my house closet, and from around by house.   

No plans to start running again anytime soon.  Good time for a break, but want to get back to cross training.  Being sedentary ages a person.

Done ... for a while

Photo:  injured guy being assisted off the track who fell into my lane on the turn.  

I'm definitely done competing this year on the track.  This last race was a bust, I didn't get a good time mostly because I was interfered with.  At yesterday's all ages meet in ATL, they combined masters and open and I was by far the oldest and slowest in my heat, although I had a good lane (#5) in my 200m race.  The guy in lane 4 took a lead into the turn, easily making up the stagger on me in 50m.  He then pulled a hamstring on the turn, fell into my lane causing me to break stride and go into the outer lane to avoid stepping on him.  I probably cost me at least half a second and I finished in a miserable 27.4.  

I was feeling ok before the race, a normal aches and pains but afterward and by this morning, a definite pain in my left knee.  I had felt that this week after workouts but it went away in 2 days.  Today it was worse, so a definite sign to wrap it up for the year.   This was my 4th of 7 days on track doing high intensity sprints, and it's taken a bit of a toll.  I probably shouldn't have raced Saturday.  It was mid 80's and I had to wait hours before racing.  

It was cool to be in the race though, and was happy to race with fellow masters Sean B., an elite 43 yr old masters sprinter.  He ran great, 22.91, probably about the most I was capable at my peak in college.  All lanes full, I was the only white guy in the race, the rest were 19-22 yr olds, running 21-22.  Sean was right there with them.  I'm really envious of those kids speed and physiques.  So lean, light, and muscular. 

Moving forward, I'm going to stop running altogether for while.  This break is long in coming.  The last bit of training showed me that doing high intensity (98%+) all the time is risky and hard on the body, maybe even more so than doing 85% intensive tempo.  

I'm a decent weight, probably raced about 142.  Was 143.5 this morning after a large meal last night, so my objectives in the near future are to work on strength, maintain flexibility, get back on the bike and rowing machine to maintain some semblance of V02 max, work on core and upper body, and most of all ... heal up.  I also want to remain under 145 lbs.   And, I certainly don't want to make this knee issue worse.  It's recoverable now and I want to be able to hike in the Alps this summer if we can arrange it.  Perhaps in a month or 2, I can start again by running again once a week, low impact, turf or some hills / bleachers.  Not running is going to be quite an adjustment since I've been on the track pretty much 3X a week for the last 7+ months.  I can see why the pros do so few meets.  I did 11 meets this year.  More than most pros.

So, a few weeks away from M64, I'm looking ahead to M65.  

    

3x100m

Thursday, exhausting day of house cleaning and travel.  On my feet all day, went to the track in the middle of the day, sunny, upper 70ºs and breezy at the SAS track.  Foot wasn't feeling all that good so wasn't sure whatever  I would do.  First thought about just 1 x 200m hard and some blocks.  I ran a warrmup 100m in trainers then put spikes on.  I decided a 200m in spikes would be too punishing so I ran one, and then then foot felt better, so I ran another all-out.  Rolling.   

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

100m - 13.94

Adidas Prime SP2 spikes on

100m - 13.06

100m - 12.34

Felt good about the last one.  143.7 lbs after workout.  Pretty heavy.

After returning home and working 4 more hours on my feet, I'm feeling pretty tired today, foot sore, knee a bit stiff.  I'm not feeling in the best of shape for a long sprint, but I may race a 200m tomorrow, only because it's later in the day and I don't feel like getting up and out early, and a few more hours of recovery.  Not the best lane, lane 3, which means more turn running.  What yesterday showed is that if I'm fully warmed up, my foot feels better and I run faster.  

120s, weight pulls

Decent weather, mostly sunny, 70º at sunset, the SAS track had wet spots.  On suggestion from Allan, I'm running just 3 quality sprints today and some weight pulls.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands, 100m

100m - 14.50

Hoka rocket X2s on

120m - 15.60 (2.60, 13.00)

120m - 15.31 (2.51, 12.80)

120m - 15.41 (2.57, 12.84)

11x20m weight pulls w/ 90 lbs

120s are not a distance I usually run, but it was fine.  I'm not where I want to be in top speed, dubious on improving with my present level of training.  These rolling 120s were not really that fast but considering a wet track and trainers, not real slow either.  Probably about 19 mid-low 150 pace.   Might be able to break 15 in spikes in a 120.

Have gained 4 lbs from indoor season.  My knee was a bit stiff today so I don't know if I'm going to run tomorrow.  May race the 100m or 200m on Sat but probably not both.  It'll be just for fun, no expectations.

143.5 lbs after workout.

200s, weight pulls, weather

I got to the SAS track Sunday evening, waiting until near sunset, and I saw a fairly intense thundershower heading my way, it was isolated, the only one in the state and it had to be threatening my workout.  Otherwise, nice weather, upper 60ºs, breezy.

I drove through the storm and to my delight, the rain ended less than a mile from the track and it was dry.  Went through my warmup but the sky was threatening.  Just as I was finishing the warmup, it came.  A 15 min heavy shower.  It left standing water on the track.  

By the time it was over, I tighened up a bit but I was running out of daylight and I launched into my first 200m.  Felt really clunky.   Rested about 15 min, the second was better.

I finished with weight pulls til I ran out of daylight.  

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 100m, bands

Hoka Rocket X2s on

200m - 28.29 (13.47, 14.82)

200m - 27.53 (13.06, 14.47)

7 x 90lb 25m weight pulls (sets of 3x and 4x)

I was rewarded with a great sight during my workout....

It was more tiring than I would have expected.  Probably due to the physical labor I've been doing.  I've got the shed I'm building ready to roof, so I'm going to leave it alone for a while and visit Roya in Atlanta.  This construction project has been very hard on the body, I'm spoiled and not used to physical labor, and I'm doing it alone which adds an element of difficulty.   It's taken away from my gym workouts, I haven't been in a week since I started this project.  

I hope to race at least a 100m in a meet Sat.  Maybe a 200m.  It's a pretty small meet, hopefully it won't be canceled.  There are only 2 other masters so far, one guy my age.  So, I hope to be on the track tomorrow and Thurs for some short quality stuff.  

143.4 lbs after workout.  

I actually entertained the idea of going to Sweden and tying it in with a vacation with Roya, and just run the 200m.  Registration just closed and I think I'd have a decent shot to make the Final, no real chance to medal, however.  I don't think there will be 8 people there that can beat me, maybe.  It's a huge meet, on the scale of Lyon 2015.  80+ in the M60 200m.   But I decided against it.  I told myself and Roya I wouldn't do any championships this summer.  Next 2 summers I definitely will, if my body holds up, so I need an extended break and we're going to the Alps hopefully this summer to hike, and eat.  I expect to take off much of Aug and Sept from training.