New Workout Schedule

The summer finds Phoenix, well…hot and rainy.  Yes, rain.  I know the perception of the desert is that it never rains here, but this time of year we get big, and rather violent, electrical storms (monsoons) that tend to roll in late in the afternoon and make a mess out of everything.  Generally, that’s a very bad time to be outside.  So, outdoor training proves difficult this time of year.  5 AM to 9 AM is really the only window when you can actually train outside without risking heat stroke and/or electrocution.

The triathlon season went pretty well.  I was able to complete the SuperFrog Half Ironman in just over 6 hours, and I was happy with that time.  Honestly, I was happy to finish!  I did not make my goal to finish the San Diego International Triathlon in less than 2 hours, but that was ok.  The Half Ironman really took it out of me and I decided to spend the last few weeks of my training period for the SDIT surfing on my stand up paddlboard, rather than running.  I had a fun day and that’s the important part.

Now we shift gears to bike racing (see what I did there? shift gears – bike racing…anyway).  The Tour de Scottsdale is a 70 mile race on a fairly hilly course that takes place in early October.  The date, combined with the weather, makes it a bit too early to start formally training here in at the end of July.  I’ve noticed that endurance training does cause me to lose muscle mass, unless I eat a lot more food than I’m comfortable with, and so I like to mix in strength training routines when I have time.  I rarely have enough time between races to do a full 90 days of P90X, or one of the other programs, but when I can I like to get back to them.  With that in mind, here’s my schedule for the next four weeks.

Monday – P90X Chest & Back/ARX

Tuesday – 30 mile fast ride (Tri-Scottsdale/Gainey Ride)

Wednesday – P90X Legs & Back/ARX

Thursday – Yoga

Friday – P90X Shoulders & Arms/ARX

Saturday and/or Sunday – Long ride. Basically looking to build long distance endurance here.  Rides will be about 4 hours long and I’ll be riding in the hills.  This is the big day of the week to be sure.

So, basically we have P90X with a twist.  That’s the basic schedule, but I’ll have to make adjustments as I go. I’ve got a few trips planned, and Monica does too, so I’ll have to adjust as I go.  That’s perfectly fine with me.  The key element for me is to have a base schedule to work with.  As long as I have that, I can make adjustments to work with what’s happening in my life.  When I don’t have any schedule it is pretty easy to just blow off workouts or waste time trying to figure out what I need to accomplish with my training.

4 weeks of strength training will do me some good while I build up some base cycling fitness.  Chest & Back starts today and I can’t wait to get back on the bike.  After a 3 week vacation with the family driving from Arizona to the Oregon Coast and back (hitting Sequoia, King’s Canyon and Yosemite National Parks on the way) I’m ready to get up early tomorrow and hit the road.  After this four week session is over, I’ll take a recovery week and then probably go to a schedule that has me riding the bike four days a week, doing yoga and doing some sort of upper body weight training, like the Insanity Upper Body Weight Training DVD.  Once I figure out what that looks like, I’ll post it here.  If you have thoughts on this schedule or anything else I’d love to hear them.

Dave