#28) Belated Notes from the Big W and Tour de Farms Update

Artwork from the house

I apologize for not keeping my journal up to date. The "Spring Break" trip down to the Florida panhandle was a much needed break from the horribly snowy winter we've been having in the Chicago metro-area... As it stands now, the 2013-14 snow season is the 3rd snowiest since record-keeping began in the 1890's.


We rented a beach-housed in Blue Mountain Beach, FL named "the Big W". I don't know if the name was in homage to the
 campy early 1960's comedic film "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" but the house had kind of a campy early 60's vibe although not in a good way. Don't get me wrong, the house was clean  and well maintained and all that, but it was a cross between a beach house and a north woods fishing cabin, with a stuffed swordfish on one wall, a large mouthed bass on another, paintings of seagulls next to pheasants, seashells and antlers , bedrooms painted in beachy pastel hues and a living room with walls of dark walnut.

Grayton Beach State Park

I was able to get out for three good 12.5 mile rides along the paved Timpoochee Trail, which  parallels State Highway 30-A, on the Florida panhandle, improving my time with each ride.

Surfer at Sunset on Blue Mountain Beach 

After basking in the 70f temperatures for one week the return to Chiberia has been difficult to handle. There has been two days where the daytime high neared 60f. On the first day, I went for a ride a 7.46 mile ride at the Morton Arboretum. The roadway was strewn with a mixture on salt, sand and water run-off from melting snow.  This was my first hill ride since last fall so my gearshift timing & technique  was off
but that will return with practice. On the second 60f-ish day I went to the Herrick Lake Forest Preserve. I went 100 yards down the muddy trail but decided to turn back after I discovered snow and ice would make it impossible to ride.

I have been going to the gym for more weight  and spin training in preparation for the June 21st Tour de Farms bike ride.
Earlier this week I took my hand-cycle into the shop for a tune-up (repacking of ball-bearings, cable/shifter adjustments, wheel alignment  and chain maintenance). In order to see what type of terrain I would be faced with on this ride I drove out to DeKalb, Il for a look-see. I didn't follow the entire course but from what I saw the terrain is relatively flat with long stretches slight inclines followed by long stretches of slight declines.

Finding the correct gear near the base of the climb will be essential.


Here is the bike route from last year.

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Music

Indoor Cycling Mix from Youtube.com

#27) Kayla , Walter & Me

1/3 Split Avg 12.22mph

I have been waffling around about whether I should do the 35 mile or 50 mile loop at Tour de Farms Bike MS this June but after reading this New York Times article about this courageous and determined high school runner who has MS the deal was sealed...

Kayla, who plays soccer and was a mediocre high school runner,  complained of numbness in her legs after she ran. At first she tried to run through it but went to see a doctor. After she was diagnosed with MS she urged her coach to push her as hard as he could because as Kayla said, "Coach, I don't know how much time I have left, so I want to run fast-don't hold back." (Authors note: MS is not a terminal disease. She was referring to her ability to run.) The training efforts paid off. Before she learned she had MS Kayla ran her 1st 5k races in 24:29, after urging her coach to push her she ran it in 17:22 and placed 11th in a regional qualifier.

Her comment about not knowing how much longer she would be able to run is so true because MS is such an unpredictable disease. My first neurologist explained it to me this way, " you may never need a wheelchair or you may need one in six months or if you might get run-over by a bus in the parking, that's how MS is." He also advised me to try to remove as much "stress" from my lifestyle as possible. So I'm thinking to myself "I'm married with 3 kids under the age of 10, I own a home, I commute 2 hours each way to work in New York City and I'm a commodity broker, which of these "stessors" do I ditch first?"

After Kayla's story, how can I not try to push myself further. This is where the "Walter Mitty" in me clicks in and I begin to run through all sorts of calculations: 1)the furthest I have ridden on any single day was the 27 mile sight-seeing junket on Nantucket; 2) I just spun 12.6 mile in an hour and I spun for 99 minutes at a 12.21mph pace; 3) I could complete the 35mile ride in  less that 3 hours with 1 rest-stop; 4) 50miles would take me over 4 hours and I could rest more often; average high in June is 80f; 75miles/12mph average = 6:15:00.... pocketa, pocketa pocketa
Then I remember the last time I over did it on a hot day in June, but hey, I was home from the hospital before the fireworks on the 4th...

So that's it I will do the 50mile ride this year and see how that goes.

12.65 miles in 60mins

Then next year I maybe will try the century ride or maybe the Great Bike Ride Across Iowa or maybe the Race Across America..... Damn you Mr Mitty, get out of my head.

To Help Raise Money to Fight MS Click Here

MUSIC

XTC "Jason and the Argonauts"

Squeeze "Another Nail In My Heart"

#26) Keep on Keeping on

Progress Report

I have begun to follow a training program I found on  the Bike MS web site. It is designed to help bicyclists prepare for 50 mile events so I'm using it to help me get ready for the Bike MS Tour de Farm on June 21st. Hopefully my arms will be able to keep up with this program that was designed for your standard bicyclist. If I can keep up I will have to register for the 50 mile ride instead of the 35 mile ride I initially signed up for.

The first two  weeks of the plan calls for 4 rides (Tues, Thurs, Sat, & Sun) The Tuesday & Thursday rides are  45 minute rides, a long distance  ride on Saturday and 45 minutes recovery ride on Sunday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are "recovery days" and you are instructed to  1) stay off of legs all you can, 2) watch nutrition closely (healthy carbs, lean protein, and good fats), 3) stretch, and 4) drink when thirsty. Other common recovery aids include massage, napping, elevating legs, floating in water, and listening to music." I like the massage, napping, elevating legs floating in water and listening to music ideas but I think I need to spend that time working out to build upper body strength.

Here are my sessions to date: 
02.18.14: 45 minutes 8.61 miles  (11mph average) and burned 587 calories. 
02:20:14 60 minutes (15 extra) 12.32 miles and burning 722 calories.
02:22:14 140 minutes 20.10 miles (12.30mph average)  ???calories Polar monitor sez 1267 calories but that can't be correct.
02:23:14 45 minutes  recovery ride 8.0 miles (10.7mph average) forgot monitor 
02:25:14 45 minutes 9.35mile (12.5mph average) 505 calories.

Despite missing a couple days lifting  I am encouraged by the improvement in the average speed of my 45 minute rides and the fact that I was able to maintain that pace during my long ride. I have another 45 minute Thursday and a 25 mile ride on the calendar for Saturday so we'll see how that goes.......

Music

I have yet to make an appropriate uber up-tempo playlist for my MP3 player. During my last "long ride" it seemed like my Sony Walkman randomly picked every slow song in the library. 

"Redheaded Stranger" Willie Nelson
Don't get me wrong, I love this song but not when trying to keep a 90rpm pace.

or

"Everybody Hurts" (Live) R.E.M.

Again, a great song but ....

#25) Take It To The Limit

Workout Recap from Prior Post

01.28.14 Cross Trainer: 00:26:53 290 cal Dist: 1.2mile

01.28.14 Weights: Assisted Chins & Dips 00:16:01155 cal
01.29.14 00:32:18 392c HRavg 140 HRmax 168 Sprints
01.29.14 00:31:28 433c HRavg 151 HRmax166 Stress Test

01.30.14 00:30:40 230c HRavg 109 HRmax 123
01.30.14 00:29:15 294c HRavg 127 HRmax 133
02.02.14 01:30:18 1085c HRavg 140 HRmax 160 18 miles  (12mph avg)
02.11.14 01:00:00 500c ????     ????  12 miles (12mph avg)
02.13.14 00:31:08 250c HRa 113 HRm 140
02.13.14 00:23:30 319c HRa 150 HRm 171 HeartTest (I guess I passed, I'm still here)
02.15.14 01:41:38 797c HRa 144 HRm 169 20.40mile (12.36 mph avg) PR*!

I have been getting to the gym on a fairly regular basis, except for that first week in February.
If I remember correctly, I was getting tax documents together, readying the house for my daughter's return from her year in Santiago, Chile, and oh yeah, dealing with more snow... UGH Don't get me wrong, I like it when it snows, but enough is enough...The latest estimate of total snow accumulation for this winter so far is over 60"...And late February and early March are notorious for large snow storms, so who knows, maybe will set a record. UGHX2

With the Bike MS Tour de Farms bike ride a little over four months away I am trying build up my stamina by slowly increasing the duration of my indoor long "rides." My informal training program of strength training twice a week and 3 to 4 rides seems to be working. Prior to beginning my latest ride  I set a goal of riding for 01:45:00 or 20 miles which ever came first.   The SciFit machine put a crimp in the plan because 99 is the maximum number of minutes a person can enter on the timer but I felt pretty confident I could reach my milage goal in 01:39:00.

I began my ride with a level 4 resistance but increased to level 5 after I warmed up.  When viewing the above photo of the SciFit display screen, the yellow bars at the bottom indicate the "hills" of the course, and as you can see the 1st quarter of the ride was the most difficult. At 49.5 minutes in I had ridden 10.2 miles and decided to move up to level 6. I tried to keep my pace at 90rpms which wasn't much of a problem until the last 10 minutes of the ride. Even with my padded riding gloves on my hands were starting to tingle. To combat this I used a one-armed peddle and alternated arms so I could shake the blood back into my hands...

When all was said and done, I was happy with my distance and pace of my ride. I will see how it goes from here, but I am thinking about riding the 50 mile course instead of the 35 mile ride I'm currently registered for. I'm don't know the exact course yet so I have no idea about how hilly it will be and the temperatures of late June could be an issue. I have about 17 weeks to get ready whichever route I choose. I will continue using the same mixed conditioning approach of strength training combined with speed and long-distance rides. The only thing I need to change is my riding playlist... I think an electronic/dance mix tape would help me maintain that 90rpm pace

Music

"Take it to the Limit" The Eagles

"Wake Me Up" Avicii

#24) Damn you, Walter Mitty (with special music dedication for Richard Sherman)

01/25/2014

You were meant to go further.

Scifit Handcycle: Duration: 1:26:00 Dist: 16.30mile 859 cal 

HR: max 167 (102%) avg 144(88%) Level 5 resistence

Remember my entry "Know Limits > No Limits" a few posts ago? I talked about how, with my new heart-rate monitor, I would now be able to better track the intensity of my workouts and back off when needed.....I said that at 56 years of age my maximum HR is 164 and I posted graphs and diagrams to illustrate the various intensity levels 

that one should strive for during a workout...I also might
have mentioned that ever since my system has been compromised by MS I learned that I can't challenge that proverbial wall...
After my first few exercise sessions with my heart monitor I realized that I might be pushing myself too hard. If I rode 10 miles in one hour on level 4 one day, the next work-out I would  try to better that achievement ad infinitum ad infinitum. I realize that not only is it impossible to maintain this trajectory it is also counter-productive.

I had almost convinced myself to ratchet back the intensity of my sessions to the moderate range of 70% (115bpm) to 80% (131bpm) and slowly increase the distance of my rides. But then I saw this "Walter Mitty" poster at the same time I came to the realization that The Tour de Farm MS bike ride is only 5 months away and I have never ridden 35 miles in one day. The furthest I had ridden indoors was 12.5 miles so I decided to shoot for 15 miles. On the machine at my gym you can't  set a specific distance as your goal only the riding time so I just estimated that the ride would take around 90 minutes. I started out on level 4  for 5 minutes but I could tell that I needed to pick up the pace so I moved up to level 5.  The intensity level is set in WATTS, (the slower you pedal/crank the greater the resistance and as your speed increases the resistance decreases) and I found a sweet-spot at around 85rpms. Staying in that sweet-spot had my heart beating at around 144 bpm (88%) but my arms and shoulders felt fine. Once I reached the 12mile mark I decided to move up to Level 6 just to make sure that I met my mileage goal. There were still a few minutes remaining on the clock so that's when I maxed out at 167bpm as I sprinted into the end.


After all is said and done I am encouraged by this last ride: I peddled approximately half the distance of my 35 miles target in 01:26:00 at an average speed of 11.5mph. I will switch to a training module that incorporates rolling hills with flat stretches in order to more accurately reflect actual riding conditions.

My next step is lay out a plan that incorporates strength training while gradually increasing my distances so I can build up my endurance.

Music

"No Thugs In Our House"

#23) Walter Mitty, LSD & Me

Today's Workout

I) Warm-up: 15 min of Abs, assisted chin-ups/dips

84 cals HR Max 139 (85%) Avg 107 (65%) 

II) SciFit Handcycle 75 mins@ Lvl: 5 13.95 mile 

791 cal HR Max 137 (84%) Avg 127 (77%)

I guess I have some explaining to do about the title "Walter Mitty, LSD & Me". First and foremost, I'm not talking about that electric Kool-aid LSD. that you're thinking of... I'm talking about a training program referred to as Long Slow Distance (LSD). This exercise routine is used by long-distance runners or bicyclists to improve aerobic endurance. The work-out is performed at constant level of moderate intensity for an extended period of time.

Forgive me if I have mentioned this in an earlier post but one of the limitations I face is fatigue brought on  because of MS and I hope this will help me work around that issue. I realize that almost all people who exercise get tired and hit the "wall". Improvement is achieved when they are able to break through that wall. With my MS, once I hit the "wall" my muscles (legs especially)  turn rubbery and shut-down.

This past season most of my rides were about a 1hr to 1.5hr in duration and covered less than 15 miles. I am hoping that with the combination of weight training and gradually increased training rides, I will be able to work around the fatigue issue and ride further and longer, or longer and further, I really don't care which.

This is where my "Walter Mitty" reference comes into play.  The  Prairie Path offers a number interesting 20 to 30 mile long rides. If I were really adventuresome I could try to ride the entire 149 mile route (Red line). However my goal for this summer is more reasonable.

I have signed up to ride in the Bike MS Tour de Farms 2014 in the latter part of June. There are a couple of different distance options to select from: 12, 35, 50, 75, 100 or 125 miles. I have chosen to ride the 35 mile course for now, but if my current training efforts are successful, I might try to ride the 50 mile route.

My 27 mile excursion around Nantucket last fall is the longest ride I've done to date. That was an all day affair that included a couple of beach side rest-breaks and browsing around the fishing village of Sconset, but the actual riding time was a little over 3 hours.
If I remember the ride correctly there was one long (2 mi?) gradual uphill section, some time spent sightseeing   and a couple of detours along sandy unpaved beach trails which accounts for the 9mph average speed.



The routes for the 2014 Tour de Farms ride haven't been posted yet, but I found the 2013 route on Mapmyride.com. Not surprisingly, the route follows paved roads and highways as it runs through relatively flat north-central Illinois farmland. Although this ride is not meant to be race, the Mapmyride review notes that best time for this route was 2.75 hours which equates to an average speed of 12.68mph. (Presumably by a bicycle) I feel confident about the 35 mile route and I still have 5 months to try to build up to the 50 mile ride.

Earlier this week I watched a movie that really has my Walter Mitty imaginary juices flowing.
 "Ride the Divide" chronicles the 2700 mile race along the Great Continental Divide from the Canadian border down to the Mexican border. I realize that this is not in the realm of possibilities given my age and condition but it sure is something to dream about.


MUSIC
"On the Road Again" Canned Heat
"Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way" Waylon Jennings

#22) Pocketa Pocketa Pocketa

First things first:

Today's workout

So I can better track my progress, I broke my exercise session down by activity:

I) Matrix CrossTrainer (pseudo running):

20mins; 1.05 miles* (pr); 243 calories; HR max=156 avg=138

II) Weights

26mins: 234 calories; HR max=141 avg=121

Abs, chest, deltoids, leg press, quads

III) Scifit Handbike (sprints level4.5)

32min; 408 calories; HR max=169 avg=144

Why the pocketa pocketa pocketa "Secret Life" allusion?

I'm afraid that my imagination may be "running" ahead of my capabilities.

I realize that I have used the cross trainer only a handful of times, but I can't help but fantasize about one day running again. The reality of my limitations (spastic weak legs, balance and fatigue issues) might be too difficult to surmount, but one never knows unless....

Anyway, I'll give myself a few more weeks of training before I take the next step.

Today's Music  

Slap And Tickle Squeeze 

(The video is so 1979)

I'm Going Home (Live Woodstock) Ten Years After 

(OK I admit it, I spun this track over and over again, playin' air guitar a la Walter Mitty) 

#21) Know Limits > No Limits

I know it doesn't seem like we have turned the seasonal corner, what with the recent "Polar Vortex" phenomenon of record low temperature readings and heavy snowfall that has all the climate change deniers crawling out of the woodwork, but if you  take a moment you can see that each morning daybreak comes earlier and evening the sun dips below the horizon a minute later than.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I will be outdoors riding any time soon, but it's a comin' so I feel the need to become more disciplined with my training routine.

I continue to alternate between strength training of my slow twich muscles and cardio workouts. My primary focus is on my arms, shoulders and chest but I throw in some abdominals and leg exercises. To help motivate myself with my weight-training routine I think back some of the hills I encountered last season and how tired I got as I neared the crest.

The Polar heart monitor I received as a Christmas gift is helping me monitor and refine my cardio training efforts. Hence the title "Know Limits > No Limits" (As in, it's better to know your limits than to blindly forge ahead.) I have had little experience tracking my heart's performance prior to getting the heart monitor gift.

Using the standard 220-age=Max Heart Rate, my MHR is 164bpm.
And what I am learning in writing this blog is that I might be pushing a bit too hard. Take my last 60 minute spinning only workout. I rode 12.30 miles, burned 848 calories, my maximum HR was 167bpms and my average hr was 143bpm. Meaning my training was at the upper end of the anabolic threshold range, nearly to the Red-Line zone.

I don't know why but every time I go for my 60min spin I try to increase either the distance traveled or calories burned. On some days I combine a mini-strength workout with a 30 minute interval training program....

I have just begun using the elliptical cross-trainer for  a change of pace. Damn, it's almost like running but the stride
motion doesn't require you to utilize your hamstring muscle when you lift your heels while taking a step. Its more of a sliding shuffle or maybe like cross-country skiing. I loved running, but MS induced spasticity in my hamstrings makes that impossible. I never thought that I would be happy with a twenty minute mile, but that's what I did on my second session.

I was so disappointed with my performance that I tried to do a 30 minute interval session at level 5 instead of level 4... I made it through (barely) but it took a full 5 minute cool-down 

before I felt like standing up...

Again KNOW LIMITS is of greater importance than NO LIMTS

MUSIC

Billy Idol White Wedding Live

Fleet Mac Tusk