The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/9ptoLWd Sunday was a hard ride down to Gilroy on the rural roads on the East side of the valley. I went for a brisk tempo ride of a bit over an hour than did some hard intervals and sprints on the way back. Monday I did my strength training followed by a short recovery ride. Tuesday my group did a rural ramble out to Redwood Retreat road southwest of Morgan Hill. This was a really nice day for a ride with beautiful scenery. I kept it at my “brisk but comfortable” pace on my e-bike. Yesterday I did another hard ride similar to Sunday’s but this time to the Northwest to South San Jose. The weather has been sunny lately and cooler in the morning when I first start out, but is getting a little warmer later in the day- it feels like summer is on the way. Sunday’s ride is posted on Strava here , Tuesday ride here , Wednesday here . Taking a break on Day road on the way out to Redwood Retreat. The hills at the corner of Redwood Retreat road and Watsonville road.

https://ift.tt/Hugaq1J On Thursday I did my upper body workout, followed by an easy ride. I was happy to have my new and improved arm-cycling setup. I had recently talked about my problem with early stages of carpal tunnel syndrome. It turns out, using the arm-cycling handles I put on my home exercise bike, there is a great deal of wrist flexion and extension, which is not good for carpal tunnel. So I took a good look at the handles on some commercial arm ergometers and concluded it’s a good idea to have them vertical to allow a more neutral wrist position. This was easily arranged with some fence post handles from a hardware store and some miscellaneous brackets. I padded the handles with some old resistance band handles and wrapped with tape, and voila: I took this for it’s first test drive Thursday and it allows for a good workout without bothering my wrists. For added protection I also wore wrist braces from Mueller I got on Amazon. Between this an my resistance bands in the ...

https://ift.tt/QbPclD0 Casa Loma Road My Tuesday group and I road around the two local reservoirs, Uvas and Chesbro, plus an out and back on Casa Loma. I was on my e-bike so was able to stay at a steady, fairly easy, pace. It was a nice day for it, not too warm. Riding Past Uvas Reservoir Rest Stop at Chesbro Reservoir On Wednesday I rode my recumbent for one of the two hard days I do each week. I’ve really been enjoying my latest version of a hard day workout: warmup An hour at my highest aerobic tempo, heart rate about 120 4x about 4 minute very brisk intervals 8x about 90 sec intervals “Double Tabata” = 8×40 sec sprints with 20 sec recovery “Tabata” = 8×20 sec sprints with 10 sec recovery On-bike strength = 16 reps per side pedalling at high gear with one leg, repeat4 times per side On-bike strength = 16 reps in high gear uphill cooldown This is very challenging but I feel great after doing it, not too worn out.

https://ift.tt/DSakjPn www.Amazon.com/books This is the inspirational story of Matt Miller recovering from a severe accident. Spoiler alert- it has a happy ending! Matt was a premed student at the University of Virginia, and also doing hard training for triathlons. He was riding with some friends on the Blue Ridge parkway when he accidentally swerved into the oncoming lane and had a head-on collision with a car. There happened to be an anesthesiologist at the scene who kept him alive and stable until help arrived and he was evacuated by helicopter to UVa’s hospital in Charlottesville, which happens to a world-class trauma center. There are multiple other “right place at the right time” incidents from here that have this turn out to be a happy outcome, which is where the word grace comes from in the subtitle, while grit refers to Matt’s attitude and effort. After surviving the initial trauma, which was seriously in doubt at first, Matt began the long arduous process of recovery. H...

https://ift.tt/srLMtB3 On Wednesday I did my 100km ride for the month, for which I had signed up for the Strava challenge. I finished in 4 hrs 23 minutes for an average speed of 14.2 mph (22.8 kph). This was 49 minutes faster than when I did one in March, so I was pretty pleased. But I was wiped afterwards. So Thursday after my upper body workout I just did an easy recovery cruise. I felt good enough to go harder again yesterday for three hours. Today will be another easy recovery ride, this time on my upright emphasizing dirt paths, which I always enjoy. Thus ends a tough week. I’ve noticed my volume has crept up a bit, so I’m going to cut back so I don’t exceed an average of two hours a day. But I’ll still work hard on my more intense training. Wednesday ride is posted on Strava here . Thursday here , Friday here . I did an experiment capturing a video on my digital camera to see if I could extract quality stills later from it. It worked out pretty well. The video is posted here . ...

https://ift.tt/D5x7WVy Monday I did my upper body strength workout then went for an easy local ride. Tuesday was my group ride, we went to the SouthEast, up into the foothills East of Gilroy. First we headed out to the end of Crews road, seeing a little farm with two big pigs (Harold and Petunia) on the way. We visited Aladdin the camel as well as enjoying the scenery. Sadly, this may have been our last visit to Aladdin, as we saw a for sale sign on his property. This was a really nice day, warm but still Spring-like. Heading Down Crews road East of Gilroy, with the Gavilan Mountains in the distance Rest stop at Aladdin’s place Heading West down Bannister ave after seeing Aladdin Monday’s ride is posted here , Tuesday here .

https://ift.tt/D0QTOv8 This is the title of Sam Briggs’ autobiography. She was Crossfit champion in 2013 and champion in the 40-44 age group this year. She has multiple other accomplishments in Crossfit and has shown remarkable longevity in the sport. She was is also a former British national indoor rowing champion, and her book is very inspiring. I don’t actually do Crossfit myself, although I work elements of their philosophy into my training, but I derive a lot of motivation reading about Crossfit athletes. First of all they just do plain hard training. Also, they heavily emphasize upper body training, both for strength and endurance, and I need inspiration in that area as it is not a strong point for me. http://www.Amazon.com/books Sam participated in various sports growing up, and was a firefighter for several years which also emphasized physical capacity. Training with fellow firefighters also led to discovering Crossfit, which turned out to be a sport that suited her very ...

https://ift.tt/VF2BN7J I went pretty hard on my ride Wednesday, so Thursday I just did my upper body strength workout. I followed that with a short local easy cruise on my recumbent which helped my legs recover. I signed up again this month for the Strava metric century challenge, which I decided to knock off on Friday. But I was a bit too ambitious because I set out without having breakfast and didn’t bring any energy bars. I felt pretty good until I got beyond about 45 miles, then started to drag, so I headed home, not quite making 50 miles, I little short of my 100k (62 mile) target. Note to self: not a good idea to do 100k rides without eating! I’ll try again later this month, making sure I eat breakfast and bring snacks. This did turn out to be a pretty nice route which I’ll probably use again in the future. It’s great for starting out early on a weekday because it avoids routes highly trafficked during rush hour, and is is nice and scenic. Friday’s route Thursday upper body ...

https://ift.tt/7Si2g0u The wild grass in this area starts to turn from green to golden each year in May. It doesn’t seem to matter how wet the year has been or if we get late rain, like we did last Saturday. This week it has started to be really noticeable on my outings. On Tuesday my group did a jaunt down the Coyote Creek trail then returned to Bailey ave Malech road, and had a nice lunch at the golf course. I took my e-bike so this was an easier day for me. Yesterday I did a longer outing on my recumbent, to the northwest of Morgan Hill to South San Jose. I rode for a bit under four hours, and did some intervals and sprints on the way back. This was definitely a harder day, but enjoyable. Heading North on Santa Teresa Blvd, dropping down into South San Jose. The hills near Santa Teresa park are turning. Heading home on Santa Teresa Blvd, approaching Morgan Hill . These hills were a vibrant green a week ago. Tuesday’s ride is posted here , Yesterday’s ride here .

https://ift.tt/pGXEmkl Saturday we got several inches of rain over the course of several hours, unusual for us in May. It wasn’t too heavy so I still got an hour’s cruising in on my e-bike. Sunday the sun was back and I went to a 2 1/2 hour ride to the southeast to San Martin and Gilroy. This was at a brisk tempo and an average heart rate of 120. It was challenging but relaxing. I created a new strava segment “T o Crews Road out-and-back from Tennant ” which I finished in 1 hour 53 minutes. This will be a nice benchmark to compare my aerobic fitness against in the future. Saturday’s ride is posted here , Sunday here . On Sunday’s ride I passed a little farm in San Martin with two ostriches, and a little further over two alpacas Looking northwest towards San Martin from Crews Road in Gilroy Looking West from the same spot

https://ift.tt/tmjlC09 On Tuesday I led my group ride, pinch-hitting for leader Kris who is on vacation. We rode up into the hills southwest of Morgan Hill then picked up the Gilroy bike path by Hecker pass highway and took it to the Gilroy Sports Complex, returning via Santa Teresa boulevard. There was a stiff headwind on the way back and I had my e-bike and offered to break the wind for them, but this was a strong group and didn’t need it. Wednesday I did a long brisk cruise out and back on the Coyote Creek trail, then finished up with some intervals and sprints. This was challenging but enjoyable. Thursday I did my morning strength workout with resistance bands in my garage, then went for a short local cruise. Yesterday I did a repeat of Wednesday’s workout but went north instead. I’ve got this “hard day” workout pretty well dialed in now, I’m a bit wiped out after but recover quickly. Tuesday’s ride here and walk here . Wednesday’s ride here , Thursday’s morning workout here and...

https://ift.tt/x06flbP www,Amazon.com/books This autobiography chronicles Brooke Wells’ inspiring journey, focusing on her remarkable comeback following a severe injury at the CrossFit Games. During the event, she suffered a dislocated elbow while lifting a heavy barbell overhead—a moment that could have ended her career. Without revealing too much, I can assure you that her story of resilience and determination is both compelling and motivational. This book comes highly recommended for anyone looking for a dose of inspiration.