Wetter Wonderland -- Log

So the rain has returned... We've been experiencing 'weather' the last week..eeep..

And in worse news, Clif appears to be making a Banana flavored bar...blech!! The fact they didn't have a banana flavor was one of their most outstanding traits!!

Also found this neat site called 'zoomed in food'...just check it. I especially like the pic on the left..hehe.. (Full size on their site. ;)

Had a nice string of 'holidays' there, hosted a small get-together and attended a couple as well, nice to see some people i haven't seen in a while.

Training has been good, i've actually started running a bit.. Last week i was somewhat dreading the notion of getting on the bike (despite it being a nice day), so i figured i really gotta mix it up. The run actually felt okay..!! I just took it easy, kept my HR under 175, and surprisingly my breathing didn't increase significantly..i guess i've gotten a little bit of fitness in me now. Besides mixing things up, this should also help strengthen the stabilizers in my legs...tho i haven't noticed that to be a problem any more. I'm also gonna look into doing some off-road riding, i really need to change things up a bit more.

Oh, my weight is back down around 151lbs. I won't discuss where the extra few pounds were..hehe

My race is coming up pretty fast...next weekend..!! I'm feeling as prepped as i'll ever be..hopefully i've gained some speed since my last race.. Oh, speaking of which, i did the annual Boxing Day TT on Monday, results below. =)

Tue (Dec 20th) - was actually a little sick this week...my nose would start to run while riding, and i wasn't quite as peppy.. Did a 1hr EM with 7x30s Speed Intervals. Was supposed to do two, and a longer ride, but decided to take it easy for the cold.

Had my get-together this evening, so took the night off the gym.

Wed - 20m run!!

Thu - 40m EM on rollers

Also went to the Rec Centre, and pounded the legs one last time before the race...even did some negatives on the Leg Press.

Negatives are where you do more weight than you can lift, and it's all about a slow eccentric motion, ie, the opposite of the push. I do one-legged presses on the Leg Press machine, and so i choose a weight that is 10-25% more than my 1 Rep Max, and use both legs to 'lift', then remove one leg, and let the weight down as slowly as i can...and repeat. The theory is that the eccentric motion can 'damage' more muscle fibres than the concentric, and so by doing this, you'll 'tell' your body to grow more muscle.

Also did more killer lunges..

Fri - rest!

Sat - 2.25hr EM w/Kevin, was a really nice day!

Sun - rest! Stupid holidays. =)

Mon - did the Boxing Day TT, which was pretty fun. A bit shorter than the Sydney TT, and a lot more hilly...tho not really hilly. It's about 14km i believe.

I was a little confused when riding, as usual, i just raced the course, and didn't bother checking it out beforehand..hehe.. (Besides, it was windy on the way out which slowed us down!) So as i'm pressing on, i'm waiting to see other riders (it's an out-and-back loop) but i don't...even tho i'm in the 8th position (ie, 8 people go before me.) I'm wondering if i'm even going the right way (which would be weird, since there weren't any turns!) and i finally see someone coming my way - woot!

I managed to catch and pass three of the people in front of me, and stayed ahead of the tandem. (Yes, there was a tandem! Pat and his daughter, speedy team!) I came in third, after a guy who actually brought aero bars, and the tandem of course. ;) This is also my first race riding for OrganicAthlete - woot!

Tue - 20min run - back at 'er..

Also did a light leg WO at the gym. Abs are getting stronger, managed to pull off two full sets of 15 hanging kickups...i've recently been able to do 15, and was stuck at 15/12 for a week or two.. I guess i'll have to start doing more than 15..heh..stupid progress! Or straight-legged kickups..ouch.

Got an hour lined up on the bike today...will likely do 30-40mins on the rollers instead, due to undesireable conditions outside. The rest of the week is quite easy too, 1.5hr tomorrow, 2hr on Sat and 1hr RR on Sunday. I'm excited to see how this proper 'build' will turn out...!!

Tunes, surprisingly, have remained the same. Am absolutely loving Angle Dust, and i can never get enough of Goo (she always knows just what to do..Goo Goo Goo..)

In the words of FNM:

And i'll tell them what my daddy told me: you ain't gonna amount to nothin'.

PS - I've also posted my Top Albums of 2005, aka Dave's Fave's, lemme know whatcha think! (Appreciating the suggestions as well.)