The Plan

It's been a long time since I've followed any kind of structured training plan on a regular basis. Oh sure, over the last several months I've been riding my bike and lifting weights at the gym once in a while. I've gone on some really fun, all day long (some would say epic) MTB rides, and even took the road bike out and let all of the roadies whoop me in my first TT. In my defense though, I think that there's a learning curve associated with doing time trials, and I'm pretty sure I picked up a lesson or two on that first attempt.

In other words, I've been having a lot of fun riding my bike and playing at the gym on my lunch break during the week. But no real structure, no training regimen at all. Which is ok for a while or to just maintain your current state of fitness, but if you want to see real improvements than you have to have a plan.

The plan is set. The workouts are loaded on the Garmin and the bike will be back on the trainer tonight. I'm starting out using a 7 week plan designed by Chris Carmichael. I've done these workouts before with excellent results, so I'm sticking to what I know. Two reasons why I'm using the indoor trainer for this. First, I have much more control over my efforts on the trainer than I do out on the road. And second, probably the main reason, is the time of day. Most of these workouts will be done early in the morning before work and before I wake the kids up for school. The other side of the plan is a training circuit two to three times a week consisting of weights and machines at the gym.

I will also try and do a better job at keeping this blog updated with my (hopefully) progress.....we'll see how that goes!