Destination...Bonk City

Hello once again my friends and welcome back.  I hope you all have had a good week and are enjoying some well deserved R&R.  Thanks for checking out the blog and allowing me to share my journey to be a stronger, leaner, faster version of myself.

The best solution I have found to combat a stressful work week has been and continues to be solid, hard workouts.  Now I won't get into the science of the benefits of working out, but I think we can all agree that a person simply feels better and less stressed after exercise.
(See "You Done Been Shrunk Cortisol!! for a previous post regarding relieving stress)

Thursday evening Workout

This week definitely couldn't end fast enough so toward the end of the week, I really hit the weights hard.  Two workouts leading up to my Saturday morning ride may have to led my bonk close to the end of my ride.

Thursday's workout really taxed my shoulders and upper body while working on my lower body.  It's difficult to see in the picture, but it entailed:
A. Strict Press
B. 4 Sets of Snatch Balance
C. Clean and Jerk every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 10 minutes
D. 5 minutes As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) with each round being 15 double under or 45 normal jump ropes and 3 Power Cleans
I increased my normal weight for these exercises which increased the challenge.





Friday's workout was also another challenge that worked both upper and lower body.

Here is a definition of the acronyms:
DU=Double Under Jump Rope
HRPU= Hand Release Push Ups
OH Lunges= Overhead Lunges
OHS=Overhead Squats

All these were done at 115 pounds which is an increase in weight for me.

Next came my Saturday morning ride, which you can view through my Strava link below.  I actually rode 22 miles, but Strava shows only 18. I am getting better at tackling the rollers and actually got a third place achievement for a Strava segment.  I'm pretty stoked about it since I was certain that wasn't going to happen this ride.  I pushed hard on nearly every climb and kicked in the high cadence pedaling on several sections.

My legs were cooking.  At mile 10,  legs were feeling like jello and a few times I started to get that throbbing in my head, by the peak of the climb at mile 16, I had to stop.  I was cooked.  My legs were done, I was pedaling squares and I feel like I was starting to get a little tunnel vision.  I got off the bike in a shady spot, began to eat and take on additional fluid.  Never had I recalled the feeling I was experiencing at that moment.  Spending 10-15 minutes off the bike trying to recover was not only needed for me to finish the ride, but a time to remember this mistake.  Eat and drink often, exhale fully to expel as much CO2 out for the body as effectively as possible and to listen to the body more closely. The last two miles back to my starting point were less filled with aggressiveness and fire and more about keeping enough energy in the tank to keep from going to the red line again.  The positive note to this experience was that I pushed my body slightly past its limit and survived.  I look forward to pushing this hard again with a better nutritional plan to see how far I can push my body to the next level.

I hope you find this helpful and somewhat entertaining.  Have a great week and get out and push beyond your limits.










Until the next time, Keep your mind sharp, body fit, and pedal hard MB&B

Back in the Saddle--Have my work cut out for me.

Hey my friends and welcome back!  There has been a lot going on at the MB&B home, with moving to a new state, getting settled in a new home and environment and it has thrown my entire workout schedule out the window.  Have you ever been in a spot where there is so much upheaval in your normal schedule that you no longer have a solid foundation or recollection of what that looks like?  That's where I am right now.

In the not so distant past I was going to bed early (early for me, anyway) and getting up to start the day off with a 5AM workout at my CrossFit box or getting on my bike trainer and putting in some miles to prep for the weekend for a Friday or Saturday morning ride with friends and family.  It wasn't a tight schedule, but a schedule nonetheless.

My home CrossFit Box

My internal clock has been completely out of whack and getting up early has been a challenge as I have been staying up later than usual to spend more time relaxing after the kids are put to bed.  The last several weeks, working out later in the evening has been the only way I have been able to fit in time at the home gym and riding my bike took a toss out the window until a few weeks ago.  It never fails that after watching some pro cycling, I get excited to get out on the road and explore.  Mind you, I am in no way close to the level of fitness of a semi-pro cyclist, but a person can dream...and work toward being a better version of themselves.

I must confess, for several months, I have been hesitant to get out on the road in this new town.  The roads are unfamiliar and rarely have a shoulder and I am unsure of the driving habits of the local motorists.  After working up the nerve and scouting out several roads, I decided that I would venture out and explore.  I did my usual bike safety check and made sure I had my emergency information handy (driver's license, insurance card, credit card, cash, Road ID) and informed my wife of the route I was taking and struck out on the open road.  I must say that once I got rolling, the exhilaration of being on the bike came flooding back and it was fun once again.

False flat heading into the climb

To read my last post about how I drove the fun out of my cycling, click here.

Top of the one of the "hills".

For several years, I have been riding super flat terrain at or near sea level and now the elevation is slightly higher, which isn't a big deal, but the terrain is full of rollers and some are far steeper that I have ever had to ride.  One particular climb started as a false flat and gradually became a segment of several hundred feet of 5% to 8% grade incline, which as a flat lander could have been the base of the Rockies.  Thankfully, the lessons I learned from my Cyclo90 training workouts and the heavy emphasis of squats, walking lunges and explosive movements learned in CrossFit aided in keeping my head clear of my objective and gave me the leg strength to keep turning the pedals over, even though it still was a very rough climb and I know I wasn't in shape enough to climb the hills as efficiently as I would like.    I definitely exposed a weakness and have my work cut out for me.   Exposing a weakness, acknowledging its existence and making it your focus to overcome it will lead to far greater success and gains than ignoring it or rarely addressing it.  That's the trick folks, if you want to call it a trick.  It's self awareness and realizing that you're not perfect.  Becoming a better version of yourself is not just for improving in a sport or level of fitness, but can be used in every aspect of your life that will increase your wheelhouse of abilities.  I hope this was helpful and mostly entertaining.  Stay tuned for more cycling progress as I work toward rounding out my weaknesses.

Until the next time,

Keep your mind sharp,

 body fit, and pedal hard 

MB&B