Training Reports

It’s Been Awhile…

Long time, no post… I say post vs write as I’ve started writing something multiple times over the past few years and then just never finished them up. There are a few race reports in there that I should circle back to. I may circle back to them still, along with a few other thoughts…

racing again

Training Notes And Looking Foward To Racing Again

It’s been almost 6 months since I’ve entered any type of race… The last being the Marji Gesick 100 mountain bike race in Marquette, MI. I missed the American Birkiebeiner ski race less than 2 weeks ago due to a rib injury, but am looking forward to the Fatbike Birkie coming up this weekend. The…

mid winter training

Mid Winter Training Report

It’s mid February and I’m nearing the end of a recovery week, at least from the bike. I knocked out a pretty awesome 3 weeks of tempo and sweet spot base work and I’m starting to feel good again about training and cycling. I am happy overall with what my numbers look like right now…

weight training

Rebooting Training With Strength Work and Aerobic Base

This past year was not good for me from a fitness and nutrition standpoint… Throughout the summer, I was down to 1 to 3 rides a week and doing almost nothing from a strength standpoint. I completely ignored a rational diet and gained a lot of weight. In fact, I’m currently the heaviest I’ve been…

Weekly Training Schedule

Planning A Weekly Training Schedule

Putting together a weekly training schedule can be a tough one for people, but it’s important to get an actual schedule and stick to it from week to week. I’ve experimented with training schedules that were independent from a standard 7 day week, but it can get cumbersome and hard to manage. I’ve done it…

winter base training

Winter Base Training Report – Bike & Run

This winter base training report is going to start with the first week of January and run through March 19th. December was a pretty terrible month as far as being sick, where I went 2 and a half weeks without doing anything. I missed the Solstice Chase Fat Bike Race and then started doing some…

fall training transition

Fall Training Transition – Biking & Running

It has been an interesting fall training transition during my offseason, if an offseason from biking actually exists anymore…  I should have been indulging in a bit more solid recovery after the Marji Gesick 100, but I really wanted to start sorting out how I was going to train in the future for both running…

beginning to run

My Introduction To Running Again

Simplicity and a change of pace are the first couple things that come to mind when I sit down to write about my introduction to running. I have some previous running experience, but there was something  new and different about putting on a pair of shoes and working my way thru the woods by foot that…

cadence impacts power

How Cadence Impacts Power Output And Knee Joint Stress

I am going to specifically talk about how cadence impacts power output and stress loads on your knee joints. Pay attention, because this could save you from a knee injury and help you become more energy efficient at the same time. I’ll nerd out with some equations and calculations, but stay with me and I’ll…

marji gesick race taper

Lessons From My Marji Gesick Race Taper

I’ll keep this short, but I thought it was relevant to take a step back and discuss the good and bad of my taper weeks leading into the Marji Gesick 100. I finished my last training build week with 3 weeks left before the Marji. I took a Recovery week, 1 peak week and then…

marji gesick training

Marji Gesick Training Report – Part 2

This is part 2 of my Marji Gesick training report. If you remember, I had put out a part 1 training overview after finishing my first training block, about a month ago. You can find a link at the bottom of this report to that first article in case you missed it. No worries, you…

marji gesick training

Training For The Marji Gesick 100 – Part 1

This write up is a breakdown of my training for the Marji Gesick 100 over the past month or so. I have included some good data related to training zones, high level analysis of some of my workouts and where I think I am sitting at now. I basically broke the report down by types…

mohican 100

Preparing For The Mohican 100 Mountain Bike Race – Training And Nutrition

Here I am, a few days out from the Mohican 100 Mountain Bike Race. It has been 2 and a half months since the True Grit Epic Mountain Bike Race and I am not 100% sure at where I stand. I backed off of riding quite a bit this spring. I had been riding and racing quite…

Why And How To Find Heart Rate Threshold For Cycling

I believe finding heart threshold is important for a few reasons when it comes to your cycling training and racing.  The first and foremost reason is so I understand where my safe zone is without blowing up.  Secondly, and just as important as the first, is to set more precise heart rate training zones to follow…

My Monthly Endurance Path Update – April 2015

Welcome to the my April 2015 Endurance Path Update! I started doing monthly updates last year, but did not follow through.  I am going to start them back up and see if I can refine them enough for it to make sense to keep them going.  As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated.  If there is…

4 Tips For Mountain Bikers With Spring Fever

Who doesn’t love spring time after a long winter?  There is something about spring time with the bright sun, longer days, warmer weather and snow melting that gives me all kinds of energy!  I just can’t wait to get the bikes out.  I have a road bike now, but before I had a road bike,…

Finding Your Winter Endurance Exercise

Do you live in snow country?  Have you found your winter endurance training activities?  I found mine just a few weeks ago; cross country skiing. My summer activities are mainly mounting biking or road biking.  I will occasionally run or hike, but I love the bicycle. I’ve always struggled in the winter months as I…

Training While Traveling

I know how it is to travel for work and at the same time, training while traveling.  You spend all day working, meeting people or traveling; then are suppose to meet people again for dinner and then go back to your hotel and catch up on your normal work and answer all of your e-mails.…

2014 Training Ideas

I have kicked off some strength training for the month of January to build up some leg and core strength.  Last year when I was in the Chequamegon 40 and riding the Color Tour, I felt good from a cardio stand point, but felt low on leg strength and fatigued my muscles early in the…