Ohhhhh My Abs

I really haven't been doing much strength training, abs or the exercises that Kevin prescribed in the last couple of weeks. I've also been worried about my cycling as I believe its the weakest link. I talked to Scobie (IM Germany 10:04) and he said that his workouts are generally heavily weighed towards cycling which my definition is the leg that is the longest of a triathlon. He also mentioned that he does the one-legged drills (which I hate) and riding out of the saddle even when he's riding outside. Since the weather has been warm enough, I've been riding outside and ditching the drills. Well this morning it was about three degrees with a nasty wind chill so I decided to ride inside and concentrate on the drills. I really hate doing the one legged drills (did I mention that?) but did them anyways. Two minutes each leg three times as well as three times out of the saddle for two minutes (they are as bad).

After the ride I decided I needed to start working on the core muscles and strength training so i really nailed the abs and as I sit here watching the crappy Leaf's last game of the season, I can feel my abs so I have a pretty good idea what they are going to feel like tomorrow.

I emailed the coach about my concerns about cycling and he responded that I should be doing the drills inside (for safety reasons) and I also read an interesting article in Cycling Magazine

CyclingMagazine.ca � Preparing for the season: "Jourdain borrows something called 50-50 training from cross-country skiers. The athletes ride hard for 50 seconds then ease off for 50 seconds, repeating it for eight to 10 minutes. They will repeat this after a short recovery break. It's a workout that can be done in an hour.

'You choose a good terrain to do this,' Jourdain says. 'You're not doing this on the hills, you are on flat terrain, without wind if possible and without a big gear. You need to manage your intensity. 'That is the new philosophy. It means you don't have to wait a month doing slow long distances before introducing interval training to increase fitness.'"

This sounds ideal once I resume riding outside as my one hour outdoor rides are pretty tame (ah more like lame) and this sounds like a great way to build up my endurance although I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to hammer it for 50 seconds when I'm riding outside at 5:30 in the morning as I can't see anything let alone my watch.

Tomorrow is my dad's 80th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!