Bike sprints again, sunscreens

Today, did the same workout.  Very quick and easy, not much time.   Interestingly, it takes about the same amount of time to sprint 440m on the bike as it does 300m on the track.  This time, it was much faster.  

440m x 4 w/ 2:30 rest - max speeds 27.4, 27.2, 27.5, 27.7 mph

single leg squats 2 x 25 with 25 lbs

seated ham curls with bands

Still at 146 lbs.  ;(

Been relatively cool, humid and rainy for summer here.  Generally 70ºs not 80ºs and 60ºs at night.  Weather change coming, Wed - Fri dry and mid to upper 80ºs.  Swim time.  

It'll be a long time before I can start to train to even decide if I can consider competing again, but I'm sure preparing like it.  Doing something everyday.

Public Service announcement on sunscreen:

If you care about the toxicity of foods and healthcare products, check out https://www.ewg.org/ 

I like to train shirtless when in shade or mixed sun and I use a spray sunscreen to get every part of my back.  Or just my arms and legs when hiking in a t-shirt and shorts.  In general, spray sunscreens have a higher toxicity rating than lotions.  Even within the same brand, some formulas are very toxic and some aren't.  Some are very expensive, some aren't.   With the EWG toxicity rating scale from 1-10, 3 is about the best you can find for a spray sunscreen.  This is what I use because it has a 3 rating, is cheap, and is unscented.   It is pretty greasy but easy to wash off: 

Banana Boat Kids Sport Sunscreen Spray SPF 50, 6oz  Oxybenzone Free, Alcohol Free

https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/about-the-sunscreens/928917/Banana_Boat_Kids_Alcohol_Free_Clear_Sunscreen_Spray%2C_SPF_50%2B/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2FXOSM?th=1

WARNING:  This company makes 2 or 3 other products that are supposedly for kids that have almost an identical product label that are rated highly toxic.  One is even rated 10 ... most toxic!

Bike Sprints

What I didn't realize was that I was looking at my bike computer configured in miles not meters, so these bike sprints I thought were 300m, actually are 0.3 miles or about 440 meters.  That makes more sense.  

4 x 440m w/ 2:30-2:40 - top speed: 26.5, 25.2, 25.5, 26.2 

4 min rest

1 x 440m - top speed: 24.8 

Overall, I think these are probably better than doing more than 1 hill climb a week.  They are easy enough that I can do them on consecutive days.  I need to start using my Gymboss interval timer to be more exact with the rest.  Also, I may try a different course that is straighter and flatter on the Green way, so I don't have to peddle back to start.  

I've been neglecting my strength work.  Starting back with the squats and beginning some gentle hamstring work.   

Finding it difficult to lose weight.  Still hanging at 146ish and would like to be 140-142.  Even at 146, BMI is still normal, 23ish.

 

swim, water running, stairmaster

Had yet another travel nightmare leaving Binghamton.  Flight out of Scranton was canceled after we boarded the plane, 6am flight the next morning also canceled.  From the time I left Conklin on Wed, it took me 35 hrs to get home, including a stay in a Scranton hotel.  It took me less time to get to Perth, Australia.

I ate poorly, splurged on bagels, pastry, fried food... when I got home, I was almost 150 lbs.  Mostly FOS.  By morning I was 147 and by the end of the day 146.3.  

Friday, I did what I had been waiting for... to the lake!  Gorgeous morning. 

I was there by 11:15 am, spent 90 min there with no other people.  

First did 6 x 120 strides water running.  Approx 75 sec running with 1 min rest in between.  Not easy.  HR was generally in the 140s.

Then I swam across the lake and back.  

Unfortunately, possibly due to a power surge, my home A/C is not working and Tues will be the first time it could be fixed.  Fortunately, it's not that hot, low 80's to upper 60's at night.  

Later in the evening I went to the gym.  My R hamstring is very weak and the knee burns whenever I do even light weight (30 lb) curls or negatives.  

I did 15 min stairmaster level 13 hill program.  HR maxed at 170, 147 avg.  

Now, approaching 5 mo post op, I was looking at my previous surgery and comparing.  Seems I am quite a bit ahead of the previous in some ways.  

1st surgery - 1st Roark's cove bike climb - 19 weeks

2nd surgery - 1st Roark's cove bike climb -  11 weeks

1st surgery - 1st Raccoon mtn bike climb - 21 weeks

2nd surgery - 1st Raccoon mtn bike climb - 17 weeks

1st surgery - first hill runs 3 x 150 - 23 weeks, 1st flat runs 24.5 weeks.

So, as I'm coming up on 20 weeks, based on this, 23 weeks or about July 21 earliest hill runs.  Aug 1 first flat runs.  Of course, this is pushing it.  Probably wait til after my hiking trip to France to attempt any significant running.  

This year's masters nationals.  I doubt I'll go.  Miss it a lot.  

Summer vacation...

NY Bike Climb #3

Hot again and early in the afternoon, heat index of 107ºF.   Not quite as hot as yesterday.  I scouted Banta Rd. and decided against it because it didn't have one single piece of shade and looked more long than steep.  So I did the steeper shorter shadier road to the north.  From my brother's house on Conklin Rd. I went up Fallbrook Rd to Ross Hill Rd to State Line to Bradyville to Conklin Forks then back to Tom's house.   About 9 miles and a 650' (ish) climb.  The top of Fallbrook was formidable, and I did something I never do.  On the steep about 150m from the summit, I stopped and rested in shade.   This was my 3rd day in a row and I didn't want my HR over 180 for any length of time and it surely would have been if I hadn't stopped.  I was already in the mid 170s by that point.   After I got to the high point I stopped, and on the way down, took some photos.  The 'Conklin Forks' is beautiful, timeless, really pretty much unchanged since my youth, when I was bombing around these roads in a black '69 Cougar smoking dope in 1977.  Never in my wildest dreams as a kid would I have imagined doing what I've done in the past three days at age 65, with the heat index of 104 to 112ºF.... 48 yrs later.  

The initial climb is an estimate of 2 GPS data sets.  

HR was over 153 for 48 min, but not consecutively.    When I rested near the top, I let my HR recover to 140s before the final push, where I stopped again and took the photo.  Happy that the HR graph looks more like a set of intervals than my typical climb.  

The hybrid Cannondale bike was not real light, but it sure was a climber.  The low gear was a 28T crank and 34T sprocket.  On my road bike, it's 34/34T.  It's an older model, probably sold new for about $600.  

I'll be back in Sewanee late Wed, and looking forward to a late morning swim on Thurs, as it is now surely quite warm.  

Saw family and 3 HS friends - Bill C., Joe B., and Scott S, along with Sandy and Gary.  Good visit. 

I'm in decent shape but I haven't starved sufficiently yet to get to my race weight.  Still hanging around 144 lbs.  

Conservatively, I should be able to run hills in 3-4 weeks.

NY bike climb #2

Today was hot, 98º with heat index around 110º, some readings as high as 115º.   I parked at the Conklin Town Park did a climb up Powers Rd to Wilcox Rd and back.  It was hard but not as hard as my hometown hill in TN.  It was a climb of about 600' over about 3 miles (my two GPS gave wildly different readings: 611' and 683', topo map says 580').

Seeing the first glimpse of Powers Rd hill was a little daunting.  Steep but not long.  Heart rate was high but not max, and much of it due to the heat.  I was in the 140s just biking on the flat to get to the base of the hill.

HR over 153 - 36:52

HR over 170 - 14:02

HR over 180 - 0:10

I made it up Powers Rd without even using the low 'granny gear.'   Actually more by mistake than by design.  The bike has a triple crank and I was on the middle sprocket the whole way up, thought I was on the smallest/lowest gear.  

Tomorrow is my last day to bike so I may try Banta Rd.  The stats show that it is comparable to Roark's Cove Rd in Sewanee.

Bike: Cannondale hybrid

Sunscreen:

Neutrogena 70spf

Short but hard bike climb in NY

I wanted to burn some calories today so I did steep bike climb in my home town in upstate NY.  Ahern Rd climbs 541' over about 1.5 miles, so it was every bit as steep as the hills in TN, just not as high or long.  I had my brother's hybrid Cannondale which was heavier than my Cervelo by several lbs at least, but had  mtn bike gearing w/ triple crank gears and a low climbing gear.  It is exceptionally humid in NY after an unexpected / unforecasted rain and warm temperatures.  Due to an incredibly high dewpoint around 81º and temperature of 88º, the heat index was over 100º.   I thought it felt exceptionally humid so I checked the local weather stations in Conklin, NY and all 3 showed similar readings, dew points about 81º ... which is quite rare,  Super humid.  An Extreme Heat Warning is in effect for the next 2 days, with temperatures forecast to mid 90ºs and dewpoints high, but not as high as today... heat index forecast is 110ºF.   Hey, it's cool, the heat adds an extra layer of conditioning. 

This climb was tough due to the humidity but my HR maxed at 176 (and not the usual 185) due to the fact it was shorter and I did some zig zagging to rest on some of the steeps.  

I wonder if it would be fool hardy to attempt another climb during the heat wave?

But, knowing me... 

Got to visit some old friends. More on the trip later.  

hard bike climb

First bike climb since my Raccoon mtn climb 10 days ago, and it was really hard.  This Roark's Cove climb was a post op PR, 30 sec faster than the previous.  It really kicked my butt, although the HR was slightly less than the climb 10 days ago and the avg speed was much higher (5.8 v 5.2 mph)

Max HR - 186

HR over 153 - 20:11

HR over 170 - 15:04

HR over 180 - 4:31

Avg HR - 165

Avg speed - 5.8 mph

Total climb time - 24:10  

I got home and fell asleep pretty quickly.   143.7 lbs after workout.  

Going to NY in the wee hours of Fri morning and won't be back til around midnight Wed.   Probably won't too much in terms of conditioning, maybe one bike ride.  Will do some resistance, maybe even some pool running.

Stairs, bands, drills

Went to the track Monday to do a warmup, drills, and bands.  I then ran the short bleachers 17x.   

 Now at 18 weeks post op, I think I'm pushing it so I'm going to dial back on such running for a while with a slight amount of soreness reappearing.  Certainly in about 4 weeks I should be able to run the big stadium stairs at MTSU.   I'll be traveling to NY so I won't be doing much for the 5 days I'm gone, except ride my brother's bike.  

Also, high knee running is a great workout.  To run high knees on turf for 40m definitely gets the HR up.  

Hanging around 144 lbs and less after workouts.  Main meal 4 of last 5 days was a big salad, yesterday was a lb of salmon and broccoli.   

bike sprints

Yesterday I did 4 all out bike sprints and took more than the 2:30 - 3 min rest than I do with a typical tempo set.  I just rested in between reps for my HR to go down to 120 then I went again.   

Bike sprints 

4 x 300m - rest intervals 3, 4, 5 min

Max speed: 27.9, 27.9, 28.4, 28.5

Max HR / rep: 162, 168, 169, 169

Doesn't look like much but I really felt the pump.  It was hard.  Last one I just went all out to top speed then coasted the last 100m or so, didn't stay off the seat the full 300m. 

Weight is getting down there.  142.5 after doing some yard work this morning. 

Scattered thunderstorms the next 4-5 days so no swimming probably this week.

Milestone, 6 mo since injury, first 'running'

Friday the 13th.  

It was exactly 6 months ago when I felt that snap in my knee, Friday the 13th in Dec.

Today, after doing my morning exercises, I decided to go to the track to do my usual pre workout warm up, some bands, ab wheel, etc...  It was warm, on and off rain showers.

After a warm up, I tested the waters with some A skips, cariocas, and even some slow jogging, actually 'ankling' - small steps.  It felt ok so I decided to try the small staircase bleachers, only 14 steps.  It felt fine, really good.  No hint of pain.  So I ran another a little faster.  Then I did a set of 3.  Then a set of 10.  That got my HR up into the 150s.  It was great and quite a milestone.  First running of any kind in 6 mo.   And, the weight is coming off.  I was under 144 lbs for the first time in a while, but just... 143.9.   

Surprising I did anything today.  Yesterday I was up and down the ladder dozens of times doing work on my roof, and I was a tad sore when I first got up.  After stretching in the hot tub, felt much better.  

  

Gym, swim

This week, Tues I did gym including my first post op Stairmaster, and Wed, I swam across the lake and did some water running.   I've started doing 4 basic exercises every morning, body weight squats, pullups, pushups, and ab wheel.  In addition, reforming my diet.  

This was my gym session.  17 min on Stairmaster then some machines and core work.

Stairmaster 

17 min (20 min hill program no cool down level 12)

 

 

The water running and swimming was inaccurately measured using my watch.  Max HR was only 132.  

After swimming across the lake I did 3 x 120 strides of water running with 1 min rest.

Lake swim / water running

Across lake (~175 yd)

3 x 120 strides water running w/ 1 min rest

Back across lake (~175 yd)

Definitely feel that the fat is coming off but weight is generally in the 145s.

Thurs I spent all day trying to fix the way my gutters drain and probably did more harm than good.  Anyway, it ws exhausting and risky, up and down on the step ladder with a precarious step to the roof on and off the top step.  Lucky I didn't fall.  But I got it done, and I hope it will be ok as we enter a rainy period for the next week. 

1st Raccoon Mtn bike climb of '25

First Raccoon Mtn climb post op, and it was hard.  Hard due to my declining physical ability, age, and lack of being able yet to sprint train on the track.  That won't be for at least 2 more months.

Me and Bill M. usually do this in about 34-38 min, Sunday I did it 44 min, taking a few on bike breaks to drink.  Bill was a minute ahead.  It was hard enough that I felt it all the next day and was pretty inactive on Monday, save for putting my boat away and doing yard work.  

This data includes two sit down breaks and the ride down.  

Avg HR over 2 hrs of 144 is pretty substantial considering it included a 20 min sit down break.  Bill M. had some electrical therapy on his heart and is on beta-blockers to prevent his HR from getting above 140, but he was more than up to the task.  I didn't push it and remained seated the whole way, sometimes crawling at under 4mph.   

As you can see in the last photo, I have become pretty soft around the middle weighing 146-147.  This morning I was 145 and I'm now making a commitment to lose this 5 lbs of fat before I turn 65 in less than a month.  

Lots of people talk about diets and exercise to lose fat, and yes it's important, but the bottom line is, in some measure, you have to starve a little.

Boat ran great. Monday morning was incredibly silent.   I jumped in to try some water running and it felt good.   I'm going to start doing it. Water temperature still a bit cool at 76º.  The lakes here on the mtn might still be below 70º.    I decided to leave at 11am to beat the coming rain, which I did.  

Monday Morning - total silence

Fat and tired at East Overlook

bike sprints

 Got out and did 5 bike sprints, 4 as a tempo set and one last one, mostly to test my equipment.  Beautiful weather in Sewanee, been mostly in the 70ºs.  Not real hot.

Bike sprints - 4 x 300m w/ 2:30 rest 

Max speed / max HR:

1) 27.5 / 162

2) 27.0 / 167

3) 26.7 / 170

4) 25.0 / 170

Bike sprint - 1x

28.0 / 170

I noticed a discrepancy between my bike speedo and my GPS of 0.8 mph on the top speed, with the bike higher.  So I added 0.5 mph to the speed readings from the GPS reading in the chart.  Next I'm going to compare the GPS on the phone vs the watch, the present readings on the chart are from the watch.  

Yesterday, I did pullups, pushups, abs with ankle weights, and my first weighted single leg squats - just 2 x 15 w/ 18 lb kettlebell.  

Another test - 

I had the AFP L3 test, a screening for liver cancer.  It was slightly high at 10.5, reference range is less than 9.9, but positives for cancer are usually 100-400+.   So, like everything else, borderline high, and bears watching, but nothing dire or definitive.  I did this because a previous MRI once showed several small cysts on my liver.  I've also heard that such things can be caused by taking certain supplements.  Who knows.   I'm going to retest this and lipids maybe in about 6 weeks.  

Woke up at 7:30 but got back to sleep and slept til 11:30am.  Didn't sleep well previous night. 

Planning on taking the boat to the river and making the big climb with Bill M. on Sunday evening.  

Bike climb, lipid panel

Back in Sewanee and it's lovely.  Temperatures in the upper 70ºs, mostly sunny.  Did the Roark's Cove Rd climb again today.  It wasn't a PR but a suoer hard effort because I hadn't done it in a while and I started to fast.  My HR was in the mid 160s at the beginning of the big hill.  I think this my have been a record for time of HR over 180, almost 7 min.  Climb time was only 25:38.  24:50 is my post op PR.

Max HR - 187

HR over 164 - 20:53

HR over 170 - 17:02

HR over 180 - 6:54

Avg HR - 170

Avg speed - 5.2 mph

Total time - 25:38  

I think my HR was exceptionally high on this one because I did a ride with a friend immediately prior to this climb, that included a minor hill.

I'm now approaching 4 months post op.  I can run up a small flight of stairs, so I'm probably good to go for stairmaster.  I did my first stadium stair session after my first surgery at about 23 weeks.   I just past 16 weeks so it's going to be a while although I feel the healing is on a similar schedule.   All bets are off on whether I can sprint train again, but if so, I wouldn't say Indoor Nationals end of March are out of the question, but that is pushing it.  

Lipids Up  

My diet was going really well until last Friday and Sat when I ate a bunch of rich cookies from Whole Foods.  Plus, I had spent the week at Roya's and neglected to bring my lipid lowering supplements - Bergamot capsules, juice, and niacin.  I have dropped a little weight, about 145 now.  I fasted Sunday and had a lipid panel on Mon.  It was pretty bad.  Total Cholesterol - 220, LDL - 152, HDL - 37, and the worst TriG reading ever - 174, and worst ratio - 5.9.   Instead of allulose only, I had been adding raw sugar to my tea and coffee.  That didn't help.  I'll get back on the supplements and tighten up my diet and test again in a month or 2.   Wow, what a difference those cookies made - in case you had any doubts that diet affects blood lipids.