Today I jumped on the bike to get my bike workout in that I scheduled. I tried to get away from the mindset of getting in so many miles(I needed 24:)) and instead focused on the workout. I put in one of my new Spinerval workouts that arrived. This one was Spinervals #16: Aero Base Builder #1.
Here is the DVD description
“Aero Base Builder I” is an 80 minute workout focusing on technique and ‘aerobic’ or ‘blue zone’ intensity training. Join Coach Troy as he guides the cast of elite athletes through a structured and highly effective aerobic workout that will greatly enhance your fat burning metabolism, capillary density and other physiological parameters important to maximizing your peak fitness.
This workout is hard because I had to really focus and stay in that aero zone which means about the 70-75% RPE area. I don’t know my true lactic threshold and I don’t own a power meter so I have to by RPE. This workout was hard because I just wanted to crank hard and get after it, but that would negate the purpose of this entire workout. As he talked throughout it was important for me to work on the aerobic level of riding. I had to learn to refrain. He kept talking about avoiding that grey zone where you are pushing harder than you should, but not hard enough. He said to either go all out or not, there should be no in between. This made a lot of sense and I started think on my training about whether or not I was truly doing what needs to be done. An easy run, bike, or swim should be just that and a hard run, bike, or swim should be hard. I should not push on the easy days even if I feel great. A great lesson learned while tackling this workout which proved to be a good one.
I had to get my cadence up over 100 as my gears did not have much resistance to them during this workout. While riding in a high cadence my right knee on the inside hurts. Yes, I know I am complaining of another knee injury. This one hurts in a different than my last knee pain. I am able to grit my teeth and ride through. I don’t feel it while swimming or running, but I can feel the tenderness while walking about after a bike ride.
I made my way to Kaminski to get my shoulder back in working condition after dodge ball last week and to get my knee figured out. He was not concerned about it and attributed it to some issues in my foot. Say what? How does my foot create knee pain? Crazy stuff, but I walked out feeling a little better. He said the knee pain won’t go away right away, but over time it will decrease. I was glad to know it was nothing serious.
I had hoped for some TRX and pushups, but with kid duty tonight that did not happen. As I type this I am getting ready for bed. I have another big swim workout tomorrow. A little Slim Fast shake before bed and I am out.
My eating has been good for two days. I graze, but not as much and with healthier options. With anything, my habits won’t change overnight. The key is to make improvements daily and overtime it will become second nature like waking up at 4:30 to workout each morning. I have avoided candy, junk food, and sugary snacks, but it has been hard.
Good post Aaron. I have heard lots of others talk about bike training in regards to staying away from the “medium” effort rides. Either train aerobic or train high intensity are things I’ve learned from them so it is good to hear that from Coach Troy as well. Be careful thinking that all your training has to be this way. With running you definitely don’t want to stack 2 hard days in a row but swimming is different. An easy swim day can still have a hard main set. Swimming is the one discipline you recover fast. It’s why elite swimmers are able to put in 10,000+ yards every day with hard sets every day. The body recovers and adapts to swimming quickly.
Thanks for sharing/explaining the differences in the disciplines. The swimming makes sense as I usually always feel better after a workout even when I push hard. I agree with running, you have to be careful as that causes the most stress to the body.