This week kicked off my off season/base training after a much needed week of very easy pedaling. I ended my 2018 race campaign after the Maryland Gran Fondo, and now my coach has dialed things back as I start my base training for 2019. We talked last week and decided to start running twice a week again, along with weight training.
I must admit that I was not looking forward to the running as much as I was hitting the weights. Years ago I wouldn’t have minded but I had taken off for several years. So last year per my request, my coach had me running again, and it was rough but I was pleasantly surprised. My coach started me off with a walk/run/walk, with the run portion lasting 15 minutes. I was nervous after not running for about 10 months, but it went very smooth.
After my run I hit the cable machines and touched on all the major muscle groups. Starting off with my legs, as they were still warm from the run, I did leg extensions, leg curls, and lastly the leg press machine. My coach asked me why the cable machines instead of the free weights? Well, it’s because I didn’t want to embarrass myself after not doing any weight training for a year. Yes, I am that vain.
Now it was upper body time, and again I used the the cable machines, for the same reason, my vanity. I did chest presses and fly’s, moved onto triceps, biceps, and finally some lat pull downs. I was truly expecting to be pretty sore after this, but I was only slightly.
Wednesday was a nice endurance pace ride, and then Thursday was another run day. Thursday I ran for 20 minutes, and then hit the weights. This time I did upper body first, as my legs were a little tired from the run and wanted to give them a break before I started that workout. I did a little more upper body than Tuesday, but not too much as I’m still working them into weight training. Now it was leg time, and I wanted to mix things up a little. I started with leg extensions, leg curls, as on Tuesday, but then I decided to do lunges while holding 20lb dumbbells. I started with 12 lunges per leg, then 10, then 8 and my legs were on fire! So naturally I did some light leg presses after that.
I was anticipating being crippled today, but alas, I was only somewhat sore! This was a surprise, and I believe a good sign as I’m just starting off my weight training. As I am a masters athlete, I feel that maintaining muscle strength is a must, and I’m hoping to improve upon this years gains for 2019 and hopefully finally hit that podium!