Thursday, January 14, 2010

Clunking...what?!

I ride my trainer a lot in my garage (winter time people) so when coach’s training plan arrived on Monday I went home and set up a station that I could keep in place knowing that I would be spending A LOT of time on it in the coming weeks.

Monday and Tuesday’s workout went great. Wednesday brought the dreaded words I have avoided in the past….

Spin Ups and Isolated Leg Drills… all in one workout!

The Spin Ups were completed without problem. Although I was drenched in sweat I was very satisfied with my effort and outcome. The Isolated Leg Drills did not come so easy. Coach had written in the workout description to avoid making the “clunking” noise. Did not take me long to know what this noise sounded like. I made it a lot. As the time passed I did get better BUT I have work to do on this one. And yes, I still think these SUCK.

It is often noted by those riding with me that I do this rocking motion on the bike. An awful habit I am working on getting rid of. It is a pure waste of energy and something I am trying very hard to correct. For the most part I have corrected this but if I am not conscious I easily fall back into it. Last night I had Scott video me while riding my trainer. Let me just say that we are not meant to see ourselves from a backside view. I was going to post the video but NO WAY. LOL!

Having lost count of the weeks that I have been incorporating strength training I will report that I have been able to move up in weight and am now actually seeing results. This is the first time ever that I have STUCK WITH IT long enough to see improvements. Makes me excited to keep on going.

On the running front: PUB run this past Monday was extra special. I had the pleasure of running with a new friend and with all of our chatter the miles passed by in a flash. Funny how running can be a love/hate relationship for all of us. Sometimes you just need to talk it out to find the love again. She is right on track!!! A true treat for me to share the miles with her.

Robin

14 comments:

Chris said...

single leg drills are tough for sure! Avoiding the "clunk" is VERY tough.

I remember when Katie had me doing these and I hated, no LOATHED them and remembered thinking "what good are single leg drills going to do since I never ride with one leg, duh". But, during the season I started noticing a higher pedaling efficiency and noticed that coming out of T1 I was able to crank harder on one leg when I couldn't get my damned other food clipped in the blasted pedal! :-) (also helpful for starting off uphill from a dead stop when trying to bolt across traffic)

Do you have heat in your garage now? (I mean pother than the heat you generate riding?) brrrrrr Robin!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

I quickly discovered the clunking too! Ugh! I'm so happy I'm not the only one that has to work on that, and the rocking, although, I'm not sure I'd even be BRAVE enough to be filmed from behind! HAHA!!! You're awesome!

Anonymous said...

When I do the single leg drills, I oftern hear the clunck, but it is getting better. Sounds like an intense workout. Glad you are finding your running groove again.

Marlene said...

Sounds like an intense workout. Keep at it and you'll get STRONGER!

Great idea to watch yourself cycling on video. I've been told I should do that with running.... I have this terrible backward lean while sprinting which does nothing for me.

Lily on the Road said...

jeezzz, clunking? I've never heard of that, now I'll have to make myself aware of it in future.

It is always great to run with friends, sometimes hearing a new take on an old situation works wonders!

When I rode horses professionally we'd often video a schooling session...you really see your bad habits being repeated over.and.over again...hope your video helps you!

Judi said...

one legged drills are horrible. i do 5 minutes each leg (in the little ring up front and 15 in the back) x3! sucks ass! hips hurt like a MF after. :) keep it up girlie!

come and do the tour of red river gorge (3 day stage race)in june. me and suzanne are both planning on this one.

Dave said...

I have to admit...I can't relate to a lot of this...just the sweating and suffering parts...but you sound like you know what your doing...;-)

Bob said...

Not being a biker, I have to know - how do you keep the other leg out of the way?

zanne said...

Isolated Leg drills are really tough! My coach always advised to avoid that "dead spot" at the top of the stroke ... never heard it being called a clunk, but that is defintely what it sounds like!!

It takes a while to get rid of it, but it will happen & it does help smooth out your spin. I used to count my strokes until the "clunk". I could only do it for 14-20 at first, but finally can now do a minute.

I'm supposed to hold them for a minute each leg - and do it 7-10 x per leg in a 1.5 hour workout. I have never had IL & spin ups in same workout! THAT would be a killer!

Wes said...

what kind of crap is that? Clunkers UNITE!!!

OtterPop said...

You are doing GREAT and I am so proud of you for keeping up that training so religiously this week! You are kicking butt and will continue to kick butt when the season rolls around!

And I know that you already know this, but I am still thankful for our run together on Monday. It helped me think about things from a different perspective and got me through my longer run today... and will likely get me through many runs to come. :)

Grey Beard said...

I have never done a 1-legged workout, as my cadence developed very nicely on its own, but since my calf tear, it seems to have become a problem, so I'm going to try it.

Hope that garage is cold, and you have a good fan. If you make heat like I do you need it.

New goals for me this year, and I am still ferreting out the training implications of that, but it has really reinvigorated me. Your last post on planning for 2010 was most helpful in that regard.

Stuart said...

Gotta get the clunk in the junk!

Tough workouts for a tough chica!

You can make ILT's your bitch!

Kevin said...

Sounds like some solid training. I am looking forward to getting back on the bike in about a week or so