Sufferfest - A Very Dark Place...

Went to my brother Nick's 'Barn' yesterday to do an indoor ride.  I wanted to do "A Very Dark Place" I call "The Dark Side".  We set up the "Torture Chamber" upstairs, here is the picture:

Nick's Torture Chamber

This was only the beginning of the pain to come.  As this was our last indoor ride of 2011 together, I thought I would mark it with a photo.  As you can see the Sufferfest flag flies to remind ourselves why we punish our bodies so...IWBMATTKYT...The Dark Side as I call it, has 4 X 4 minute intervals of intense agony at or above threshold.  Working out with Nick always gets me motivated to work at a higher level, add to that the sufferfest challenge, and bam....PAIN!
Well here is my Gamin file to prove my pain...

Year's End...Time to start a new...

Well this year is about to be over, and last night's ride at Nick's was the final ride of the year for me.  Nick and I did a Sufferfest video - The Dark Side, which was a very HARD workout indeed.  I nearly reached my personal best MaxHR of 167 bt/min with a 166 bt/min burst in the second interval.  My goal for this years indoor rides is to build a tolerance for both higher heart rates and higher riding cadences.  I tried very hard yesterday to stay at the recommended cadence, but by doing so worked a bit harder than the recommended perceived exertion.  Here is my Garmin File:



This ride capped off a very tough year for me, and I look forward to a new one.  I am not going to dwell on the difficulties of the past, but set goals for the new.  Here are my stats from last year:

My Goals for 2012

1. To get over 3000 total mile for 2012 by doing over 200 activities.  
2. To average over 14 mph for 2012
3. To beat my Personal Best Max Avg Speed by 1 mph to 18.5 mph
4. To improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm.

To achieve these goals I need to have good luck with the weather, but ride indoors even on inclement weather days.  Also to improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm I will need to gear up a bit using larger rear cogs or the small front cog more often.  This will also take a higher tolerance for higher average HR as push my pedals faster is harder for me to maintain.

To achieve a higher tolerance for both HR and Cadence is going to require a concerted effort during this years indoor training season to keep my cadence over 90.  I must be diligent when working on the trainer to work at or above my threshold for sustained period of time to change my fitness level and tolerance.  

In addition, I need to watch more carefully what I eat and cannot eat pizza with my son Ben.  I need to pre-make my meals ahead of time for the evenings during the week, so temptation is not as likely to overcome my will power.  

I will also have to work a bit harder on my recovery rides and make sure to average at least 14 mph on all rides outdoors.  I will need to work a bit harder during rest intervals indoors to keep my avg speed higher for indoor rides.

I must also start keeping track of my weight again on the WiScale.  This helped a great deal this summer, and I should begin again a new.

So basic strategy:

• Work at higher cadences (90+ rpm) at or above my anaerobic threshold (150+ bt/min).
• Ride on all scheduled dates weather permitting or not.
• Track my Weight and prepare my meals ahead of time on workout nights.

This will hopefully yield better results in 2012 so I can reach my goals.

Wish me luck!

2 Hours Indoors at Newington Bike...

2 hours indooors at Newington Bike...Garmin File > by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

So I went to Newington Bike this Sunday Morning at 8:30 am for a 2 hour ride while watching the A-Team...Nice! I road real easy, and just wanted to get the time on the bike. 2 hours is a long time in the saddle indoors...Ouch! My legs felt great, but coming of a resent illness I was somewhat uneasy about pushing it, so I went for a light spin and mixing the ride up when I got board. The movie kept my interenst for most of the ride, and kept me focused off of how miserable my behind felt.

I do feel I could have road harder, but wasn't sure whether I could do the 2 hours if I road hard in the 1st hour. Now that I have done a 2 hour indoor ride, I know what my body can handle, and will try to work at an avg HR of 130 bt/min on the next Sunday Ride. That is well below my anaerobic threshold (some 20 bt/min) and within tolerance for a long ride indoor for me.

Tomorrow is an active rest day with some weight training and abs mixed into the workout.

Are you ready for some football...getting my ride in and a shower before the Sunday games is awesome! Now I can sit back and enjoy the afternoon knowing my work is done for the day...

Just keepin'em turnin'!

Washing Machine...Fixed!

I love the internet!  You can learn just about anything on the internet these days.  Last weekend while working on my new Mobile ready web application, I looked into the laundry room and found that the washing machine was spitting out water from the laundry detergent fill drawer.  Panic immediately set in, but after a minute I went upstairs and got on my Media Center Computer and looked up my washer.  Low and behold on one of the websites that caters to DIYers I found the exact problem I had, and was provided the Manual on how to fix it.  Thank you fixitnow.com and the Samurai Repair Man.  I did not have time all week to get to it, and figured I do it Saturday morning. 

Well Saturday came, and was a bit sick still, so I did not get to it until noon, and will my trusty pdf displayed on my iPad, I got the job done in about 1 1/2 hours.  Had to take the top off the washer, then the control panel, and the door gasket, and finally the front panel to get at the fill tube.  Took of the fill tube and found 2, yes 2 silver coins from Big Y stuck in the tube...Big Y strikes again.  I was wondering were they went!

I am now washing the dirty towels from  the mess from last weekend..Sanitary Cycle!  I am hoping this will get rid of the stink, but most likely I will have to wash them twice.

Job done with no COST to ME!  Ya buddy!

New Mobile Enhanced Web Application Online...

I have been writing web applications for years using asp.net, along with other earlier technologies.  This time around I thought I would tackle new languages and strategies for optimizing web applications for multiple scenerios including mobile devices, asp.net's mvc 4 with jquery mobile. 

There was a bit of a learning curve, as I also switched languages from vb.net to c#.  In addition there were other language syntax that needed to be learned, like; jquery, javascript and razor.  Not to mention having to learn the whole MVC strategy for seperation of concerns without the application itself.  Since MVC is a code driven language instead of controls, more code meant more time upfront in development, but less in actual page creation.  However, enhancing sites through code was more difficult, the MVC templates and available documentation made it tolerable. 

I also took my time to view many web casts and tutorial on the require technologies.  The research took time to learn but I think the end product will be worth the wait. 

The first mobile enabled web application is a "Test Bed" for the technology to demostrate its usefulness to the final product.  Activities, as it is called, is simply a web application that displays physical activities from the compedium of physical activity numbering more than 800 entries.  Right now the application list them both as a whole, and by type.  Both application have CRUD functions, (create, read, update and delete), while the mobile application has the ability to search dynamically the various activities and types.  The jquery Mobile environment is only an extention of the regular browser app instead of having to be its own application.  Thanks to MVC I did not have to recreate the logic for the pages data, but just the view for the page in HTML 5.

Next steps will be create a "My Favorite Activities" app where users can create a list of their own favorite activities from the compedium.  This will be useful in the first stages of create an activity plan later on in Fitness 1st.

As of 12/7/2011 you can view the application at :  http://fitness1st.net/activities

On the Dark Side - Sufferfest!

Tonight Dave and I did the Sufferfest's On The Dark Side training video, and it Rocked!  But literally the sound track had some pretty great rock tunes, and it was a great workout at the same time.  I love the sufferfest videos (http://www.thesufferfest.com/).  They are all great, one workout at a time, making new art of suffering on the trainer.  The great thing about Sufferfest video's is that they keep you entertained while maximizing your effort, check out my garmin file:


If you view the details, the ride was a great interval training session with enough rest to allow me to maximize my work intervals.  My Anaerobic Threshold is about 148, and if you look at my Heart Rate Graph, you will see HR's in the 150's peaking out at 160 during most intervals.  What this means is that my legs were butter when I got off the bike!  But it also means I might gain some power on those hills I dread so much in the spring when I reamerge on the road again...
I have done most of the sufferfest video, and have equally enjoyed all of them.  You can arrange their use by interval types in if you want.  Some are shorter bouts with pyramid type workouts, while others have longer sustained intervals.  Check them out for yourself, you will never go back to instructor lead video again.
Thank you sufferfest!

PowerBeam Pro by CycleOps Review

The PowerBean Pro Trainer by CycleOps

On my way home from work today, I remembered that winter indoor training was about to begin at Newington Cycle.  So I stopped by to see if they were still holding the session, and if I could try out the new  PowerBeam Pro trainer by CycleOps  that combines the smoothness of a CycleOps Trainer with the power meter in a PowerTap Sensor.  Since I was there so early Dave said I could give it a go, first come first served.

Photos

I went home and got my bike cloth on under my sweats, put my Tommaso on the back of the truck and was back at Newington Bike to meet Jon Lewis from Seris Cycle Group (CycleOps Rep).  He was as excited to have someone trying the unit, and I was to test it.  For a techno geek like me, this was heaven. He and Dave set up my Tommaso on the trainer and set up the PowerBeam head unit next to my Garmin 800. This set up the perfect situation for that geek in me...information overload.

The PowerBeam has many optional modes which you can set on the head unit, or control through the desktop software provided. A very cool feature is that you can send Garmin files to the units desktop software and link prior ride dynamics for simulated rides,  AWESOME! You can also set up your own interval workouts manually in the software. , However, since I was doing a Spinerval Training Video with Coach Troy, I decided to use it manually.
In manual mode you use the toggle button provided to adjust the power target.  The trainer automatically adjusts the tension of the fly wheel accordingly.  The PowerBeam Pro Trainer increases the tension if your power output is lower than the setting, and decreases the tension when you go above the setting.  I set it for 120 watts. On a bike watts or "Power" = Torque X Cadence (You can learn more about power at PowerTap's website: http://www.cycleops.com/en/getting-started/why-train-with-power.html ).

We were watching the Spinerval Workout: Recovery and Technique, so there was a lot of spinning.  No matter how fast my cadence, the tension adjusted to always provide 120 watts of resistance.  So when I pedaled slowly, the tension increased, and when my cadence increased above the 120 watt threshold, the tension decrease until 120 watts was achieved.  Working this way leveled my Heart Rate during the workout somewhat, never allowing it to dip to low during recovery bouts.  This provided for a great workout even when spinning.  For you monsters out there, you would need to set your threshold much higher.  I adjusted mine so that during hard spins my Heart Rate did not surpass my anaerobic threshold.

A plus for the PowerBeam is that it is Ant+ compatible, so I worked great with my Garmin 800.  I merely enable power in the setup, and it automatically detected the PowerBeam...Nice!  The Garmin then recorded my power curve, and after adding Power to my main screen, displayed my current power output in watts.  You can view the Garmin Connect file below and if you view details you can see the power curve that the PowerBeam provided. For us data junkies this is an outstanding addition.


The PowerBeam Pro trainer was silent and smooth, and was a joy to ride on.  It is basically the same unit as a CycleOps Pro with Power variable resistance.  It require a power to the training unit via wall plug, not a big issue for most situation.

PowerBeam's head unit is quite large, but has small font size on it readouts, making it hard to read while riding.  There is probably a font size adjustment somewhere, or should be.  This is a downer, but not a deal breaker, as I could read the power output through my Garmin 800, thanks to PowerBeam's Ant+ compatibility...HUGE!
The only other down side to the unit was the cost.  Like most Power Meter units, it has a heavy price tag, which for the recreational cyclist might be a deal breaker.  For the serious enthusiast looking for a leg up, the PowerBeam Pro would make a great addition to their arsenal. According to the CycleOps website, the PowerBeam Pro will set you back $1,199.00.

The good new for the rest of us looking to get into the power meter game is that CycleOps is coming out with a low cost alernative, the CycleOps PowerStrap Heart Rate Strap that is also Ant+ compatible for around $200 dollar sometime around January.  I know that I'm in.  The down side to this alternative is the accuracy. However if calibrated and used with the other Ant+ tools from Garmin, (speed and cadence sensor), this will provide a good alternative for the recreational cyclist.  Thank you CycleOps!
The advance club racer, olympic athlete and pro cyclist/triathlete may opt for the more accurate PowerTap Hub, or PowerBeam Trainer, but I vote for the PowerStrap HR Monitor.  Some say I'm cheap, I say I'm frugal!
Pictures of the new PowerStrap: (Jon I want to test one!)