Saturday, January 3, 2009

Trainer Time

This week straddled the New Year with 4 days in December and 3 in January. To finish up December, I did 3 outdoor rides, 67.54 miles.

Along with the New Year, we've entered the coldest, snowiest part of a southern New England winter and the roads have not been bikeable. Fortunately, I have a nice Kinetic trainer and though I've neglected it in the past, I am determined to make good use of it this year. I've been on it for 3 days of January so far, 52.66 miles.

So, 120.20 miles total for the week.

With the roads truly too risky outside, I actually feel pretty good about riding the trainer. I set myself up in front of the TV and pop in a disk. (I'm working my way through Season 4 of Dr. Who to start.) It's refreshing to wear summer kit. I guess this is gross, but it feels cleansing to sweat so much though I did put the fan on for today's ride. So far, I haven't followed a specific workout. I've just worked my way up through the gears, increasing my effort and heart rate every 10 minutes and then worked my way back down, trying to keep a steady cadence around 90. I pulled out a couple of books/mags with trainer workouts today with aspirations of trying some cadence and one legged drills, etc, in the coming weeks. I want to make sure I get the most out of the time I spend on the trainer!

Although I'm off to a good start with the trainer this year, I am looking forward to getting some outdoor miles too. I hope it warms up soon to melt the snow off the sides of the roads!

7 comments:

jumbly said...

Dr Who, good choice of viewing!

kate said...

when i saw the heading i thought you'd been out side running in the snow! i'm sure you'll finish the box set in record time

2_wheels said...

I "discovered" Dr. Who earlier this year. Great show.

The one leg drills on the trainer really seem to make difference in my pedaling. Much smoother.

sarah said...

Nice to know you are Dr. Who fans too! Just saw today they've named the actor who will replace Tennant...Matt Smith.

I have some funny confusion with language on your UK blogs too...your trainers are sneakers to me. The variation in word choices is amusing...btw, do you call the bike trainer a trainer there? Do you refer to rollers the same way or did I see somewhere you call them the turbo?

Groover said...

I love Dr Who. I haven't seen any of the new series, yet. Dr Who would make any windtrainer session go quickly. You are off to a great start, Sarah. All the best for 2009 and Happy New Year!

Sprocketboy said...

Welcome to the Tour de Basement! You may want to look into a structured workout plan for the Kurt Kinetic sessions. Joe Friel has "Indoor Workouts in a Binder" (not sure of exact name) and I am using Arnie Baker's "High Intensity Training." Oddly enough, when I rode in California I learned that a lot of the racers did their workouts indoors to control things more closely (and avoid accidents on the road), and just went outside for races! New England would be good for cross-country skiing too!

ItchyBits said...

Trainer - yuk - I think after awhile one just accepts it - not there yet. Following Lance on Twitter and extremely jealous of the fact that he is riding in Hawaii.