Christmas Rides!

Oops... haven't posted in a while.  Been a busy holiday season and I haven't been out on my bike as much.

This weekend, I celebrated Christmas with several bike rides:
12.5 miles to Santee:  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/63699201
12.5 miles home:  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/63705228
12.5 miles to Bonita:  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/63766527
21 miles home:  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/63768202

So, a total of about 60 miles on the bike over the holiday weekend.  Not too shabby!  I hiked up Cowles Mountain yesterday morning to burn the last of the Christmas calories off.  Up to the top in under 33 minutes -- I believe that's my fastest climb up ever.  Felt great!

Now on to more training.  I have a 50 mile challenge ride planned for some time in January... from home, I will venture across Mission Valley, up through La Jolla to Del Mar, then across the 56 bike path to Rancho Penasquitos, down Black Mountain, across Mission Valley to complete the loop home.  LOTS of hills!

And, I have officially decided I will be running in the SD Half Marathon in March.  It will be both for challenge and cross-training for ALC.  Goal is sub-2:20, which will mean pushing my 11 minutes pace up to about a 10:30 pace.  There... I've said it... there's no taking it back now!!!

Thursday WOD

Prison Yard Chipper:
Run 800 m
50 Push-ups
50 Walking Lunges
50 Burpees
50 Sit-Ups
50 Air Squats
50 Push-ups
Run 800m

Finished in 36:24.  50 burpees?  The definition of evil.

Sunday Ride / Tuesday Run

Sunday, I rode 55 miles -- new PR for distance!  I started on the usual route towards Bonita, then turned off and followed Corral Canyon road UP to Eastlake.  And I do mean up -- 500 feet!  Brutal hill, but I conquered it!  First rest stop wasn't until 18 miles, so I know I'm gaining some stamina.  From there, I continued over a few more gentle hills down to Otay Lake, then across Olympic Parkway all the way out to the ocean, Harbor north to downtown (next rest stop) then up 5th through hillcrest and home.  What a great ride!

So I decided Monday should be a rest day... not Tuesday though.  I went out and ran 3.88 miles in just under 45 minutes.  A rather slow pace, but it turns out that's the key to me getting some longer distance runs in.  Uh oh... maybe that elusive 10k and half marathon aren't so elusive any more...

Week's workouts in review

I have neglected to post all week... oops.

Tuesday, ran 2 miles before work.

Wednesday, gym at lunch time ... "lift weights and keep doing stuff to keep the heart rate up for half an hour."

Thursday, "Griff" -- official CrossFit WOD.  2 rounds of run 800 m forward, run 400 m backward.  Time 17:36.

Friday, Thruster 400 -- 3 rounds of run 400 m, 30 Thrusters with empty bar.  Time 13:59.

It's been a productive week!

Saturday ride

Me to Jen:  "Hey, in case it rains Sunday, wanna do a short ride Saturday?"

Home to UCSD and back.  Only 41 miles.  Nice and short!  Felt pretty good... first time I've biked up Gilman since really getting in shape, and I found the hill totally easy.  I remember it sucking way worse than that!  I love being in shape :-)

A couple big puddles to fend against, one I ended up riding right through which splashed mud all over me.  What can ya do?  But the arm warmers and leg warmers were a very good investment.  Now, I'm off to REI to invest in a Solio Bolt so my battery doesn't die halfway through my ride again next time.

Wednesday Workout

Another smorgasboard style "do whatever".  Today's theme was BOSU.

All on BOSU ball:
50 air squats
10 floor-to-ball jumps

Then, using 10 pound dumbbells:
10 lateral raises
10 front raises
10 arms straight back
10 arms-up bicep curls
10 hammer curls
10 up and turn bicep curls
10 pec flyes
10 chest press
10 tricep press
for 3 rounds

Then, because that only took less than 15 minutes, I grabbed 5 pound dumbbells and did 20-30 second drills punching them out.  I like those.   I'm going to keep doing those kinds of drills.

Then just for fun, kettlebell swings and overhead oblique raises.

Today was my "rest day".  :-)

Extra Credit Tuesday

Biggest Loser is on... and I kicked off something for work that was gonna take a few hours, so I set up the trainer and hopped on the bike for an hour.  Aside from my downstairs neighbor texting me to say "What on earth are you doing?" I'd say it was successful.  As we enter wintertime, I have to find ways to get cycling miles in without daylight.  So I'm thinking I can combine in-house cycling with a DVD or a streaming movie... catch up on movies I've wanted to see AND get exercise?  Yes please.

Tuesday Smorgasboard

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Started by running a mile on the treadmill (10 min pace, with a little bit of incline thrown in for good measure).  Then did jump ropes, planks, hanging leg lifts, jumping jacks, BOSU ball jumps... Was in the gym about 40 minutes I think.

And feeling great =)

Half a century?!

The intent today was 45 miles, but at the last minute we added a 5 mile spur on to make it a full half century.  I AM POOPED.  But I did it!

Phone battery died halfway through, so the second activity was mapped manually.  Looks like it's time to get that solar charger and figure out how to install it on my bike.

http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/57959968
http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/57991359

Death by situps

15 minutes, max sit-ups.  2 burpees on the top of every minute.

37-25-20-16-12-14-13-12-18-18-20-22-21-18-26 for a total of 292.

Tuesday workout

Totally forgot to post Tuesday's workout...

Sprint 0.1 miles at 9 MPH
10 Pull-ups
15 sit-ups

I lost count of how many rounds I completed, and I wasn't timing... but I think I finished 7 rounds (60# pullup assist).  I enjoyed this one... will definitely be repeating it.  Need to keep chugging along on pullups so I can get rid of that assist weight eventually.

Saturday ride

Just a few feet shy of 40 miles!  Home to North Park (to pick up Jennifer), downtown, Point Loma, OB, Mission Valley to Mission Gorge, UP HORRIBLE HILLS, then  lake murray and home.  What a ride!

Classic moment of the day... when biking past the occupy protesters in front of civic center, I signaled a right turn -- left arm bent 90 degrees up with a fist.  One of the protesters saw me and signaled back...

I HATE YOU JACKSON BLVD HILL.  I will make you my bitch.

Thursday WOD

death by thrusters: 1 thruster in the first minute, 2 in the second, etc until you don't finish your thrusters in time.  I used 30# dumbbells and finished 8/12.  Not shabby!  Total of 74 thrusters.

Because I overslept...

I missed today's training ride because I slept in til 10.  Oops.  I guess I was tired.

So I headed out at 11 and tried the commute to work.  I made it there!  And then took the long way home (over to La Jolla, down to Mission Bay, then home across Mission Valley) which added about 7 miles on the return trip for a total of 36 miles.  In 3 hours of saddle time, no less, which factoring in some gnarly hills and a ton of stoplights, I think I made pretty good time.  In spite of coining a new catch phrase at the top of a hill, when I turned left and found out there was another steep climb ahead of me.  "Oh fucknuts."  I think I'll use that more often.

And I'm glad I made an unplanned stop for a vanilla bean creme frappuccino at starbucks.  Om nom nom.

Friday's Ride of Shame

The theme of today's ride was "Making up for the 2 doughnuts, 4 cookies, and (I lost count of how many) pieces of chocolate at work today."  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/56210557

My goal was 15 miles in 1:20... I managed 15 miles in 1:22... pretty close.  I blame that last red light that went on forEVER.

I rode all the way up to Grossmont College... and as you turn towards the college on the last street, there is the most AMAZING view of the mountains behind it.  I never would have known!  On the way back down Lake Murray Blvd I was apparently going 37 MPH... wow.  That may be the fastest I've ever gone on a bicycle.

And what a glorious night of weather!  Nice and cool.  Welcome relief from this week.

Extra Credit Wednesday

9.08 miles in under 50 minutes.  http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/55993804  Would have been farther, but it's still about 300 degrees outside, so I didn't want to push my luck.

Extra Credit Tuesday

I left with no exact idea of where I was going... I ended up in La Mesa across the 125 somewhere.  *shrug*  Good ride though, and some good hill practice.  Especially the last one back up to my house -- WOW.  120 feet up in 1/4 mile.  Felt like 1000!

http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/55866823

Sunday Fun Ride

Having thoroughly exhausted myself yesterday, I was asleep by 10 PM.  Would have been 9 but Phillip wanted to finish watching a tv program.  When it turned out to be a two parter, I kicked him out of bed to go watch in the living room.  Ha!  Anyway, it meant I woke up at 5:30 AM today.  I opted to go back to sleep but was still out of bed by 8.

So, I went out for a bike ride because, frankly, what else is there do at that hour on a Sunday?

From home through mission valley to OB and back.  Grand total of almost exactly 2 hours saddle time for 24.63 miles -- bringing my weekend total to 59.07 miles.  Woot woot!  Off to a rocky start today, though... there's a bike path from the bottom of fairmount around the freeway entrance that is the most sorry excuse for pavement I've ever seen.  One particularly nasty bump sent my phone flying out of its holder.  Thankfully, it survived the fall, but for a few dings and scratches.  The rest of the ride was great -- apparently I was going over 30 MPH a few times on downhills. Brutal hill back out of mission valley, but I killed it.  350 feet up over 2 miles!  WOW!

I think I will take a well-earned rest day tomorrow.

Thursday's WOD, Saturday Training #4

Thursday WOD: Buster AMRAP
10 30# Thrusters, 15 burpess
Results:  3 rounds + 6 thrusters.

This morning's training ride was up and down the 101 from Solana Beach to Carlsbad.  Great ride!  Even got to watch my first ever flat tire get replaced.  Fun times.  =)  25.5 miles in about 1:50 saddle time.
http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/55414899

To reward my good work, I rode up to Trek (4.5 miles away, UP the hill to La Mesa) and pimped my ride.  Another water bottle and cage, a bento box for the front of the bike, an under-seat swag bag, new gloves, and a spare tube.  Yay for sales, I kept it to $100 today.  Then 4.5 miles home, including UP the hill from mission valley.  Good stuff!

Training Ride #3

What a beautiful Sunday!  Today, I rode from home down to meet up with the training ride, thereby adding an extra ~12 miles onto the total ride for the day.  Woo hoo!  I am exhausted now... but feel totally entitled to the delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup I had at Bread and Cie before heading home.

http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/54629536

Home to Hillcrest, then the official ride was Hillcrest -> Balboa Park -> Harbor Drive -> Sunset Cliffs -> OB Bike Path -> Pacific Highway -> Downtown -> Hillcrest.  And then back home.

As always, awesome group of people out training... I loved every second of it!

Biking day

I had a meeting about 3 miles from home so I decided to cycle there instead of drive.  About 20 minutes each way, felt pretty good.  After inhaling a quick lunch I headed on out again... This time across lake murray and up to cowles mountain.  Some pretty serious hills along that route!  The plan was to also hike up cowles, but the friend who net me there had wrenched his back and wasn't able to make it all the way up.  Probably best to not over burden my legs too much.

All in all about 18 miles today, though not all in a row.  Tomorrow I ride down to hillcrest to meet up with the alc crowd for the official ride.  In total the plan is 32 miles for the day!

WOD - 9/29/11

SUNNY DAY -
5 rounds for time:
Run 400 m
25 air squats
15 push-ups

Time 22:39 (new PR -- previously 24:25)

WOD - 09/28/2011

CINDY -- 20 Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible):
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Air Squats

With 60# assist on pull-ups, 10 rounds + 13 squats.

ALC Training Ride -- #2!

This morning's ride from Mission Bay to UCSD and back was excellent.  Unlike last week, all 24 miles were completed comfortably (yay!), and that included the ride up La Jolla Colony into UTC.  The great thing I discovered today is that a 300-350 foot elevation gain is completely doable for me at my current fitness/skill level -- which means commuting to work is more within my grasp than I had thought.  Looks like I'll be pursuing that one soon!

For route map and GPS stats:
http://runkeeper.com/user/music2mychakras/activity/53537445
Avg pace over 12 MPH, including hills -- I'm very proud of that!

Now that I'm officially signed up for ALC, view my page at  http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/music2mychakras.

 

Thursday WOD (Workout of the Day)

Thursdays are my cross-fit-with-coworkers days.  (And in general, my plan is to use cross-fit style workouts during the week as cross-training for cycling).  Today's prescribed workout was:
Run 800m
100 sit-ups
150 push-ups
200 air squats
Run 800m

I finished up to the 80 push-up mark before realizing it was taking way too long (already 20 minutes) and I couldn't stay out for that long a lunch break.  Also, my arms were starting to tire out.  Still, a decent work out.

My First Training Ride for ALC!

I set my alarm for 6 AM today, and woke up half an hour before my alarm.  Considering that my average wake-up time during the week is more like 7:30, and on weekends more like 9-10... that alone says something!  That's how excited I was to get out on the road this morning and officially kick off my latest endevaor -- training for ALC.

It's great being already keyed in to the training group here in SD, who are a WONDERFUL bunch of folks.  http://www.facebook.com/ALCSanDiego  They've been very welcoming and helpful and encouraging.

The ride itself:  8 AM we met up for the safety speech, then did a caravan up the road to the ferry terminal downtown.  9 AM, we boarded the ferry and went across to Coronado.  Once we arrived, we got a quick bathroom break then hit the road.  (Side note, I forgot Art Walk Coronado was today -- pleasant surprise running into an old ceramic friend!)  Coronado, by definition, is absolutely gorgeous, especially on an early morning.  The trail around the edge of the peninsula was a nice easy start to the ride, followed by the breeze down the strand.  The most spectacular part of the whole day was riding past the salt mines -- I didn't even know there were salt mines in Coronado... and my first thought was that they kinda looked like something out of Doctor Who.  (Yeah... I'm a geek, what're ya gonna do?)

Mile 15 was our rest stop and our roadie was already there waiting with snacks and chocolate milk.  Chocolate milk -- love it!  I know it's supposed to be a great recovery drink... something about electrolytes and carbs or something, but let's face it.  I just love chocolate milk, regardless of the excuse!

The last 10 miles were more difficult... heading into the winds for one, plus I was starting to poop out by about mile 20 -- but I made it slow but sure.  All in all, I finished 23.5 miles in about 2 hours (including ~15 minutes spent at the rest station).  Not shabby at all.  I'm tired, but definitely not destroyed by the ride.

So... 23 miles down.  ~520 to go.  I've got 9 months =)