By Dennis Pedersen
So, yeah, what am I up to anyways? The last time I posted here was almost 2 years ago, though I did post a few race reports on my team's blog. I guess it's time for a quick update.
In a few words, I'm doing whatever I want, which happens to be hilariously similar to what I was doing back when I was really racing.
- Lifting weights at the gym, usually three times a week.
- Riding my road bike, usually twice a week.
- Mountain-biking, usually every Saturday.
Haha, yup, I do actually enjoy all of these things, in various ways and for various reasons.
And for some reason I still really like going to the gym and doing power-lifting workouts. I am being unofficially "coached" by Stacey Otlin, the owner of Santa Cruz Strength. It's just a general program though, not a personalized one. Still, it's a great framework for maintaining my strength and bone density, which so many cyclists badly lack. I typically do workouts in this order, every week:
- Mondays: Back squats, plus various accessory lifts, e.g. Bulgarian dumbbell split squats, cable machines etc.
- Wednesdays: Bench press, plus e.g. overhead press, rows, etc.
- Thursdays: Deadlifts, plus e.g. lunges, cable machines, etc.
- Other day: Variations of the above exercises. I rarely do this unless it's raining, as cycling would be compromised too much.
The program usually runs for around 20 weeks or so, starting with lighter weights in the first few weeks, with higher reps (repetitions) per set. Usually something like 3x6 (3 sets of 6 reps each) at 65% of 1RM (1 rep max) for the main work sets. I do a lot of brain workouts calculating each set too (you know, match). And then progressing over the weeks to lifting heavier weights with fewer reps, ending with single rep sets at 90% to 97% of 1RM. After that, in the last week of each program, we then try to test for our new (hopefully improved) 1RM.
I've tracked my power-lifting PRs (personal records, or PB for personal bests) over the last 10 years or so, and here's where I'm at this year:
- Back squat: 305# (139 kg)
- Bench press: 235# (107 kg)
- Deadlift: 390# (177 kg)
So, not too far off where I used to be, mostly, if you compare with my previous years. I'm 63, so I really can't expect too much. Especially since my back is the part of me that most feels like it's 63 years old (I may have to write a separate blog about that).
I enjoy road cycling a lot, and really like that working hard rewards me with high speeds, zooming along the road. My rides are usually just for an hour, during my lunch break from work, which I often did in the past too in order to be able to fit my workouts into the daylight hours, and within my life's demands. There is no structure to these rides, they're just at whatever pace and route I want for that day. A few times a year I even ride with friends on the semi-organized group rides in the Santa Cruz area, on the weekends when the trails are too muddy for mountain-biking.
I have also been mountain-biking a lot, usually with my friend and former teammate Russ, whenever he feels up to it between his chemo infusions. Yeah, it's a bummer, but it's so great he can still get out there, albeit on an e-mountain-bike. We usually ride somewhere around 3 to 4 hours, for about 29 to 35 miles with about 2,500 to 4,000 feet of climbing. Since he is a huge fan of the trails in Nisene marks Park, that's pretty much always where we ride. The trails there are, in fact, awesome, and almost too challenging for me, though over the last two years I have almost become proficient at riding even the most technical section of trail.
Sometimes I mountain-bike by myself, or with other friends, at the UCSC campus, Fort Ord, or elsewhere, but it's not very often lately. I also raced a few XC races last year, and almost entered some this year, but never quite pulled the trigger. Maybe next year, as my new Ibis is world-class for XC racing.
There is no grand conclusion from all this, I just like to keep this blog updated for my own reference mostly. But if anybody else reads it and finds some value in it, that's great.
Comments