I am so excited! My coach has sent me the first few weeks of my training program. I am set up on a website called Training Peaks, where Mike will post my workouts and I will update what I’ve accomplished. We will talk regularly and go on some bike rides so he can see how I handle the bike.
It’s not a very aggressive schedule yet. It looks like I will be building a strong foundation for what will come later. I have 7 days of workouts in a given week, but they are all very manageable.
Monday is a rest day, but I am supposed to do core work and stretching. Tuesday is a trainer day with intervals in my Zone 3. Wednesday is an easy paced ride for fun. I am happy that I can use the Action Wheels group ride for this. Thursday is a group ride with hard efforts. I can use the Ceres mountain bike ride for this, as long as I reach two hours of moving time. Friday is another trainer day with pedaling drills and spin ups. Saturday is a three-hour endurance ride in Zone 2. I also have some intervals I will need to do that day. I may be able to do this workout on the Action Wheels road ride. Lastly, Sunday is a mountain bike ride for two hours with no target heart rate zones to worry about.
I have already done my first day of core work. I did abs, planks, and leg extensions of various types. I think I will add yoga to the end next time. I feel a nice soreness in my abs right now. It makes me happy because I can’t wait to have a firm stomach again. I haven’t done anything for my abs in months, so this change is going to be so good for my appearance!
Tonight I will be on the trainer doing intervals. Strangely, I can’t wait. When I have a very specific set of instructions for a workout, trainer work is not all that bad. I am going to have to watch the clock to hit my interval times. Meanwhile, I also have to watch my heart rate and keep it in the middle of my Zone 3 range. I also have to do these intervals at specified cadences. If heart rate and cadence are to be constant, then I will have to use the bike’s gearing to maintain my parameters. There are low cadences and high ones, yet my heart rate must be at 148 bpms for all of them. I know that as soon as I begin these sets, I will understand the point of these workouts. I know that this workout is designed to work the upper level of my aerobic zone, but I want to feel in my legs and lungs, exactly what’s happening to my body as a result of this exercise.
Tomorrow is going to be tough. I am supposed to do 1.5 hours of easy paced riding for fun. The problem is that it’s going to rain. I will to have to suffer through 90 minutes of easy paced riding on the trainer. Time to watch some movies while I spin, I suppose.
As a very regimented person, I will adapt to this plan pretty easily. I am looking forward to when the hours per week increase. I want to see how the plan is designed to bring me up to a level of peak fitness.
