Now that I'm finally over the bug that slowed me down for a couple of months, it's time to get some sort of conditioning and weight loss program going again. This last summer/fall was great, losing 30+ lbs, getting a lot faster on the bike and so forth. After I got my new road bike, I set some personal bests for me lately. Not close to the old days, but I was much younger and stronger back then. But, I was still improving none the less.
When September came around, I felt a bit sluggish, even on the flats. Steeper hills were getting harder, my heart rate was running higher for the perceived effort, and I was getting slower. I started riding shorter routes than normal, and my motivation dropped. I wanted to ride, but I was just weak and lethargic. After a 30 mile gravel ride with Doug and Jeff, it took a full week to recover. My weight rose and my fitness hit the deck - hard.
I've started riding the trainer in the pain cave here at the BD hq. When I moved into L's house, the basement was more of a dungeon. At least the bathroom and shower were in decent shape, but the rest was a pit. The wind came right through the gaps and holes in the plate, cob webs and general grime was everywhere. We cleaned and evaluated the situation at hand. I foamed all the air leaks shut, added insulation to the plate, and installed 2 baseboard heaters. Had I mentioned it was cold? It was, but not anymore. My office area is cozy, L doesn't even mind venturing down to do the laundry. She used to hate it. I also added another electrical circuit so the vacuum didn't blow the breaker if anything else was on. The lighting sucked, so I put in several pot lights on a dimmer. A nice touch.
There was an older entertainment center that I cleaned up and set up the TV and DVD player in. My futon acts as a couch and my nice leather recliner has a spot again. Office, man cave, house of pain, all without much cost other than time.
I put in a nice 1 hour zone 2 effort yesterday and another today with some intervals, without much discomfort. My heart rate stayed in zone, good snap on the intervals, and my legs feel good, not like logs as they did last fall. I've got a library of cycling DVDs, several Spinerval and CTS videos to train by. I really need to get some studded tires for my MTB, but haven't taken the plunge yet. A cross bike is in the works if my secret plan comes together, and that would get studs. Logical, me thinks.....
