Easy Rainy Run

I've limited myself to 1 run a week, and today was the day. It was raining and 60*, pretty much perfect for a run. I went to the Brentwood Y for my 20-minute-limit run and enjoyed it. That's about all I did today (except for 20 minutes in the steam room at lunch!), and it was just enough. Yesterday's ride was brutal, and tomorrow's ride will be more of the same, which means no lifting for the legs.

CompuTrainer Class: Strength Training I

Today's ride was tough. In a good way. We tested last week and thus many of us had to work harder today than we have in the past. Not only that, we rode on a course unlike any we'd done in the past sessions. As tough as it was, it was fun to work on the perseverance aspect of the ride.

The efforts at 110% and 100% were at a very slow cadence—70–75 RPM

• 1:36:00, 160 HR, 185 max
• 16:33 warmup to warm up the trainer, 122 HR
• 13:00 warm up, 152 HR; 10-second sprint, 2 min active recovery, 167 HR
• 5:40 tempo, 170 HR; 10-second sprint, 30-second recovery, 181 HR
• 3:54 tempo, 176 HR; 10-second sprint, 30-second recovery, 183 HR
• 3:45 tempo, 177 HR; 10-second sprint, 3:40 recovery, 169 HR
• 2 min at 110%, 173 HR; 3 min active recovery, 169 HR
• 4 min at 110%, 177 HR; 5 min active recovery, 168 HR
• 6 min at 100%, 177 HR; 5 min active recovery, 167 HR
• 6 min at 100%, 177 HR; 5 min active recovery, 167 HR
• 4 min at 110%, 176 HR; 3 min active recovery, 170 HR
• 2 min at 110%, 171 HR; 1:30 active recovery, 167 HR

The workout looked somewhat like this (I skipped the final 5-minute tempo effort):

My afternoon workout, after 30 minutes on the step mill, was quick and not too hard; I was ready for a nap all day after this morning's ride! Altitude drops: 20 sec work, 20 sec rest, 5 times, wall squat; 100 push up; 100 standing ham; 50 curl; 20 sec work, 20 sec rest, 5 times, quick-style crate crunch.

WSM 5K Race: Postponed

Sadly, I drove all the way out to Opryland this morning only to find out that the race I was supposed to have done was postponed due to the threat of bad weather. Nevermind that the race director had sent us a reassuring email earlier this week saying that the race will run even if it rains. But alas, that wasted hour+ pretty much took the wind out of my sails and I did only 100 rebound standing ham and 50 rebound front delt with a 3-lb weight and called it a day. My hammies are still sore from yesterday, and I just wanted a rest. So rest I did. It was nice that it was rainy all day and my bike is conveniently getting tuned up so I couldn't even ride it if I wanted to.

I Make War

We watched this video the last two weeks at Inversion, and although I enjoyed it last week, I appreciated it much more this week after watching the lyrical version and actually being able to understand what he was saying.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and remember that we can be prepared for any spiritual battle by wearing the armor of God and fight those battles with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Lyrics:

[Intro:] ~John Piper~
I hear so many Christians, murmuring about their imperfections, and their failures, and their addiction, and their shortcomings. And I see so little war! Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way? Make War!

[Verse 1:] ~Tedashii~
Bang with me/ba-bang bang, ba-bang with me
No more playing games mane/cause this thang can get risky
So mane if you in Christ/TAKE UP!!/your cross quickly
Stand fearless on the frontline/time to come with it
Do the right thing/WAKE UP!!/and lets get it
I ain't even in the ring/they throwing bows like Riddick
Persistently attacking me/they're even in the back of me
It's either fight or loose my life and I can't take this passively
So what you think I'm bout to do/I'm bout to do what I can do
Trust the ONE who got me through/and fight like it was after school
Never giving up/steady, standing on the battle field
Feet firm to the ground like I stepped on Chappel Hill
Flesh feeling frisky, sin persuades and tempts me/
Satan cheers me on/guilt followed by conviction
It's the same ol' trap/and we fall like we defenseless/
Work your senses/grow in wisdom/stand firm and be relentless/

Hook:
I MAKE WAR!/Cause sin never sleeps/
It's got me in a trance/you can see it in my dreams/
I MAKE WAR!/Man I beat my flesh/
To the death/every breath/like I beat my chest/
I MAKE WAR/sun up/
I MAKE WAR/sun down/
I MAKE WAR/time in/
I MAKE WAR/time out/
I MAKE WAR/against lust/
Against pride/against me/until I die/

[Verse 2:] ~Flame~
Do you even have a clue
What happened to you when He died
When that tomb got rolled when He rose in the sky
I think we emphasis sin so much
That it makes us paralyzed
And glorify struggle so much
That it makes us terrified
And deemphasize the fact that we have been sterilized from our own lives and thus
We gotta snap out of it
We ain't in no straight-jacket
We free
When Jesus died in our lives something strange happened
He gave us power
Yeah I know that we sinners but since He rose He's renewing the image of God in us
Now, we gotta start making war
Now we can start saying no
To them fleshy impulses that Jesus Christ is paying for
Now we can start taking the lead
Just like the Dalai Lama and start going all out like a suicide bomber
Whatever the sin is we gotta go go go harder
By His grace no time to waste and just just just like there's no tomorrow

[Hook:]

[Verse 3:] ~Tedashii~
I'm a Christ representer, fin to stand and deliver/
Cause a lot of my believers struggle with their agenda/
So I dropped this on an ADAT/just so you could come play back/
A hit to be encouraged that rocks you with truth from, way back/
So listen up to it ASAP/like you do a Lecrae track/
I'm spittin' written visions to put on heads like a wave cap/
Sinning, nawl we don't play that/cause that's the way that a slave acts/
I'm filled with the Spirit so tell them dog this is pay back/
As you begin to copy the carbon copies of Christ/
And conform to His written image you should be shinning a light/
If you not, why is that?/
Is it fear that's been grippin' you/cause you scared they'll be dissin' you/
Flipping birds while that spit at you/
If you not, why is that?/
it don't matter so bump it/perfect love cast out fear and He ain't save us for nothing/
his is a privilege (privilege)/your life to give to Him (give to Him)/
so stand firm for Him dawg and lets get it in/

I made it to the Y for 100 altitude drops, scap pull up, GHR (arm's length), wall squat, and bench (50 with 30lb and 50 with 20lb) followed by 5×40 quick-style crate crunch. It was a good hard workout, and my hamstrings will be feeling it tomorrow!

Then Lauren and I hung out for the evening, enjoying CozyMels and some good conversation, shopping at Target, and working on a school project. I love having family nearby!

CompuTrainer Class: Torture Test IV Part II

Since I did the real test and am super happy with how I did on Tuesday, I decided to ride the 5 miles at an easier pace today. I was aiming for somewhere around 15 minutes and wanted to keep my HR below 180. I managed to stay there until 9 minutes, brought it back down, and then forgot to keep it down after minute 11. But I felt great and just decided to ride. In fact, I'm actually pretty happy with this ride today especially considering I wasn't trying to work super hard. It wasn't my best result, but I wasn't aiming for results. It was, however, significantly better than January 6, the last time I did but didn't do the test.

March 3, 2011, Torture Test 4 Part 2: 14:26, 202 watts (high-tempo ride)
March 1, 2011, Torture Test 4: 13:48, 229 watts
January 6, 2011, Torture Test 3 Part 2: 14:58, 185 watts (tempo ride)
January 4, 2011, Torture Test 3: 14:06, 217 watts
March 25, 2010, Torture Test 2: 13:56, 223 watts
January 28, 2010, Torture Test 1: 14:22, 208 watts

Today was so nice that I couldn't stay inside. And since I'm trying to be good by running only once or twice a week, I went out on my bike for a hilly ride. This was a slightly different route from what I've done on my past hill rides because I decided to warm up a little (30:22 with some strong headwind and tailwind). The 15+ miles took me exactly an hour. I climbed Lynnwood from west to east, and it took me 8:23 to get from South Berrys Chapel to Sawyer Road—a benchmark number to try to improve all season. From there it was 2 minutes of descent followed by 3 minutes of climbing up North Berrys Chapel. Another 6 minutes of descent and recovery before climbing up Holly Tree Gap; I didn't time that climb because there were too many cars and I forgot to look back at my watch. The more hills I ride outside now, the better I'll be all season, so I'm looking forward to lots of similar, better rides throughout the weeks!

The first sprint marker is pretty accurately placed. The second is questionably placed; I know there are at least two city limit signs on this route but can't remember where the second is. The elevation doesn't look right, because I know the climb up North Berrys Chapel is the steepest but also the second climb (around mile 11). Mapped separately, the three steep (short or long) climbs on this route look like this:

Lynnwood Way west to east: 1.2 miles

North Berrys Chapel: 0.3 miles

Holly Tree Gap: 0.4 miles

5-Minute Lunge: Accomplished!

One of my goals for the year was to accomplish a 5-minute lunge with both legs. I started by focusing mainly on having my right leg forward but still working on both legs, and once I had that one accomplished I'd focus on having my left leg forward. Well, I have now accomplished holding a 5-minute lunge, without my knee touching the ground and without standing up, with both legs! I met the first goal of my right leg on Jan. 3 and then took some time to rest, which meant that instead of trying every day like I had from Dec. 6 through Jan. 3, I'd try only every couple days. My hip flexors needed the days off in between. And finally, today, I met the second goal of my left leg! This took about everything I had so I didn't do the workout I'd actually had with me, but I had run a little at lunch and knew I'd just worked as hard as I could have (if only for 5 + 2.5 + 5 minutes; L leg + R leg + standing ham). I left it at that and felt great. I'm thinking also that I will ride tomorrow morning easy, not worry about testing again.

CompuTrainer Class: Torture Test IV

Today's was my best test yet. We rode a good hour-plus for a warm up and then got right into the real workout: a 5-mile time trial. My previous best had been 13:56, 223 watts, and my goal for today was to beat that time for sure and possibly the watts; I succeeded at both! The first list below is the workout from today. The second list is all my test results.

• 1:22:22, 149 HR (192 max)
• 1:05:20 warmup, 142 HR
• 13:48 test result, 187 HR, 229 watts, 21.7 mph
• 3:12 cooldown, 153 HR

March 1, 2011, Torture Test 4: 13:48, 229 watts
January 6, 2011, Torture Test 3 Part 2: 14:58, 185 watts (tempo ride)
January 4, 2011, Torture Test 3: 14:06, 217 watts
March 25, 2010, Torture Test 2: 13:56, 223 watts
January 28, 2010, Torture Test 1: 14:22, 208 watts

My HR for today's test was a little lower than it's been for previous tests, and I know that's because I was in an easier gear than I normally would've been riding in for the test. But I knew it was a gear I could stay in and that would push me to work hard and keep a faster cadence, so that's what I did. I could've kept a slower cadence and pushed a harder gear, but I think I would've lost my legs about 3.5 miles in.

I'm most impressed with the results that Cali and Parri posted: 13:07, 258 watts; and 13:01, 260 watts respectively. Those are results I aspire to achieve...hopefully sooner down the road rather than later!

The rest of my workout, which I did in the afternoon with half of with half the enthusiasm I should've had, was 3×30sec heavy.