MarkyMark's Funky Training

You don't need to defend Norm😛
Do you ride to the start at Park Ridge? If you do I ride to Westwood and go up Kinderkamack road to Park Ridge. I would guess you come up Pascack maybe. Anyway I usually am coming through Westwood around 7:30 or so if you want to ride up there together.
 
Not making it to Park Ridge tomorrow, future in laws need help. I may wing up doing the Arocket Ride on Sunday instead.
 
Jesus I am way too busy lately. FINALLY updating this. Last week amounted to a lot of NOTHING and some long rides due to work obligations. My boss of the last 3 years who hired me left our company and it was a major blow to morale as he was very well liked and probably the best manager I've ever worked for at any job.

Aside from that I went out on a mt bike ride on Sunday with a few guys and Pete and Steph from Knapps. I got to ride last years Specialized Stumpjumper Comp FSR. All I can say is WOW. My last mt bike was a hardtail with only 3 inches or front travel at best. Its amazing what you can roll over with these things and this wasnt even a 29er! The full suspension is great but I'm not sure if I like how it handles different. I probably just need to get used to it. I started getting a little cocky towards the end and had to mentally back off a bit so I didnt end up a crash test dummy again. So now Im pretty much sold on getting a new TT bike AND a mt bike. I definitely want to do some mt bike races now after this past week.

I think this week will mostly be just getting some miles in and enjoying riding before I have surgery next week and get wiped out for a week or two.
 
I'm back! Kinda...

So I had my follow up surgery on the 2nd and man was this one bad! They removed bone from my skull to graft for my eye socket and cheek. This one definitely hurt the most and I spent 3 days in the hospital. I spent the week or so prior just riding and enjoying my miles, nothing really structured. Saturday I actually got on the trainer and spun for an hour to get my legs moving, again the same thing yesterday but only for 30min. Today starts the beginning of the recovery and getting ready for next season! It'll be interesting to see how I progress. My goals are the NJBA TT Cup next year as well as a few RR and Crits. Currently I am 170lbs and looking to get that to 155 by March for the Branchbrook series.
 
Last edited:
Tuesday
Easy 60min ride on the trainer, as most training routines will be at this point in the year with it getting dark so early. I did a total of 6 Sprint Grinds and felt reasonably well.

Wednesday
Today is another 60min but with a few tempos with my HR around 145. This doesn't sound bad at all but anyone who loves their trainer knows that the perceived effort on the trainer is much higher...I'm not looking forward to those.

The legs do not seem too bad, hopefully these next 3 weeks can get them back in form to begin a real solid base starting December 1st. I should be heading to Knapps in a week or two to put a deposit on my new TT rig. Good thing is that my HED wheels were not destroyed during the accident and they just need to be slightly trued. I'll definitely post picks once I have it in, I'm sure I'll make a couple of your dirt heads drool. Once the TT bike is taken care of I'll be looking to get the mt bike.
 
Doing a light ride to Nyack and back on Saturday morning. Let me know if the doc says you can ride. This will be my final ride on 9W for a long time.

Any of you MTBNJ guys live around Madison? As of this Sunday, that will be my new home.
 
So training has taken a bit of a back seat the last week or two since surgery. With surgery, buying a house, and also it being the busiest time of year at work I'm exhausted. Also, my plastic surgeon told me to stay off the road till after Jan 1st. Apparently the bones they reconstructed in my face need about 8 weeks to solidify. If I ate it now, Id basically destroy all the work they did. So my ass is stuck on the trainer until further notice. Good news is I look way better and I should only require 1 or 2 more surgeries and then it will be just cosmetic work they need to do on me.

Good news is I bought a Cycleops fluid trainer which is light years ahead of my Blackburn magnetic which is about 10 years old. I finally have something that gives me enough resistance and is somewhat enjoyable to ride...but its still a trainer...which sucks.

Next week will be shot to hell with Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day my dad and I are flying to Savannah GA to see my grandfather and then DRIVING back on Saturday. I'm not looking forward to the flight or the drive, but once I'm back the serious base training for the spring begins. I'm making it a point not to miss a single day of training whether I have to do it at 5am or midnight. Starting December 1st it will be 3 months till Branchbrook and 4 till the first race of the TT Cup since it usually starts in April. My goal will be to upgrade to 3 and the TT cup. This will be pretty hard with the TT Cup the main priority and the only way to upgrade is through points which means I need to perform well in the crits and road races also...not an easy task. Basically I need to kick ass at everything I do, this will definitely be interesting. 🙄
 
Monday
Holy jesus this trainer is AWESOME! Last year I trained all through the winter on a 10 year old Blackburn magnetic trainer. I'd say it has ok resistance but not whats needed to train for racing. I picked up the Cycleops Fluid 2 from Knapps on Saturday and have gotten to use it for two days now. All I can say is that if the Blackburn had me ready for racing by March last year, this thing is going to make me deadly! The legs are toast! Yesterday as a series of Grinds and Sprints. The resistance is fantastic on this trainer, plus while doing 100% efforts there is absolutely no backing off on the power unlike on the road if you hit a slight dip in the road you get that quick moment of recovery. I can definitely say this has been the most important tool I've picked up in quite some time.
 
Wow its been quite some time since I posted. Long story short, bought a house, moved in, still squeezing in trainer time now that we are settled in. I missed a few days due to the move and work....piss poor excuse if I do say so myself.

In other news I need to get my weight down. It went up a tad due to eating out so much since we were not cooking in the house but thats over with. Time to get back on the horse. If I dont get my weight down Ken L is going to kick my butt. Im aiming for 165 by the end of Jan, 160 for end of Feb, 155 for April just in time for Battenkill and the major portion of the road season to kick off. I climb like a slug but over the year I have gotten faster and with lower weight I should be flying.

To help with the weight loss I think I'm going to blend in 45min of easy riding each morning just to get a few extra calories off and prep my body for the day. From what I've heard your body will keep burning calories all day at a faster rate if you start the day with some cardio...so lets see if that works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom