Our workout life & goals have just undertaken a huge shift.  I’m just now getting my mental-arms wrapped around the changes in store, but the bottom line is that our cash flow picture has changed significantly so we are curtailing expenses where possible.  Among the things on the “discretionary expenses” list that are to meet the budget axe are:

• Weekly Tuesday night training with Luka at Hocevar Performance, and
• My date with the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification Workshop in April.

This is a huge shift.  The RKC was my next big goal.  Tuesdays were the highlight of my workout week, my chance to “lift heavy shit” and mold my aging  protoplasm into something that looks halfway decent when naked (no, there will be no pictures).  I was just feeling like I was “turning the corner” on my recovery from the pre-Thanksgiving nerve injury, so now this second dose of adversity forces me to do a complete reboot on the training regime.  Terri is as devastated as I, as she was seeing changes in her body that she has never had in her entire life.  We are determined to get back to the gym as soon as possible, but short of holding a “Send a Calnan to Training” telethon on the public access channel (maybe this is where I should sell those pictures), the timeframe for our return to Prowler-Pushing and Tire-Flipping on Tuesdays is not clear.

The new training regime isn’t established yet, but it’s basically going to be Terri and I training each other 3 or 4 times a week.  I still have 5 weeks of bootcamp training to go, so my Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings are scheduled for the next month.  With the equipment we’ve managed to acquire over the past year, we should be able to devise some pretty good kettlebell complexes, bodyweight sessions, and the occasional heavy lifting on our own (accepting donations of an Olympic Trap Bar, if you’ve got one laying unused in your garage).

With Spring apparently upon us (things are blooming, and the frogs are back!), we may even dust off the bicycles and start putting in some saddle time.  We haven’t led any rides in months, and I owe a friend or two a hilly ride to Black Diamond/Green River Gorge.

The next few months will probably be more of a mental than physical challenge.  We need to stay focused, even when the future gets foggy.

I miss doing 3-4 strength training sessions a week with the kettlebells, but with the grip issue still resolving itself I don’t think I can go there quite yet.  So this bootcamp-challenge of Luka’s has been a good way for me to get more active following the injury, yet still giving me time to heal.

From the sound of it, the bodyweight workouts that we’re doing at 6 a.m. should be way easier than, say, deadlifting 300 pounds.  Not so fast.   Due to the rapid-fire nature of these workouts there is little or no chance for rest, putting a big load on the cardiovascular system to keep up.  Here’s the circuit that Luka had us doing yesterday, after a quick warmup:

Tabata intervals – 40 secs work / 20 seconds rest – 4 mins (twice thru 2 exercises) per station:

• Station 1: Sprint 40 yards up-and-back (I managed 2 “laps” per 40 sec interval) & V-Ups
• Station 2: Kettlebell Deadlifts & “Prisoner” Jump-Squats
• Station 3: Dumbell curl & press & bent-over rows
• Station 4: Burpees with a lateral jump in between reps & Planks in a pushup position, alternating touching the shoulder with the hand.

The workout “finisher” yesterday was descending reps of two alternating exercises, 10 reps down to 1:

• Jump-squats
• Pushups

So yeah, lifting heavy is hard physically because you are testing the limits of strength.  This stuff tests/pushes your endurance, as well as your mental fortitude.  You just did your second set of 40 second v-ups and your abs and hip flexors are burning.  Your 20 seconds of “rest” gives you just enough time to drag yourself to your knees, then your feet.  How fast you willing to sprint, old timer?  You going to let that 23 year old girl beat your ass?  (The answer is YES, but only by a few feet).

The injury rehab is progressing.  I’m now maybe 50% back to where I need to be.  It no longer wakes me up and I don’t have to sleep flat on my back with no pillows! Woo-hoo!!  I’ve tapered my ibupofen back to less than 50% of what it was.  I’m continuing my regimen of stretching/physical therapy/z-health stuff that seems to be helping.

I don’t envision any cycling in my near future until my grip improves a bit… that one ride I did revealed that I can’t squeeze the front brake lever with much force.  Lack of stopping ability doesn’t make for safe group riding.

The weighing-in every morning is a bit maddening, since my water-weight seems to fluctuate so much.  Yesterday I was 3 pounds heavier than I am this morning.  That means I’ll probably be a couple of pounds heavier tomorrow even though I’ll spend today eating bunny-chow.  It’s all about the averages, and the trend over time.

Stay Below The Line!!!

At the recommendation of my Family Physician, I had an MRI done on my neck Wednesday night.  Cool machine, if you aren’t claustrophobic.  I wasn’t, until I got into this machine.  A coffin has more space that this thing.  I was actually cool until about 20 minutes into this 25 minute ordeal, then I got a very strong urge to getthehelloutofhere.  I had to calm my breathing, and think “happy thoughts” (mine was the bicycle descent from Sunrise/Mt. Rainier).

The results today:

It looks like you have quite a bit of degeneration of the discs between your vertebrae. Please make a telephone or in person appointment to discuss

FuckityFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck.

I knew something was wrong, and I had pretty much assimilated that I may have had a slight bulging disc in the neck, but I wasn’t quite prepared for “degeneration”.  I’m hoping it sounds worse that it is, but when I look at it I just feel old.  Not good.

I’m determined to work around this thing, and still accomplish my goals.  In order to do that, I need to

• Rehab the current injury/symptoms (neck/shoulder pain & lack of grip in left hand)
• Improve my posture and movement patterns so as to avoid further injury
• Strengthen the neck and improve it’s flexibility
• Train consistently on the strength and endurance I will need to pass the RKC certification in April.

I am in week 1 of a 9 week “transformation contest” at Luka’s gym.  Three mornings a week, I’m rolling in to Renton at 6 a.m. for 40 minutes of hell.  That’s in addition to the 1 night a week of strength training I’m still doing.  I love the strength stuff, lifting heavy shit gives me great joy.  40 minutes of consistently hard bodyweight exercise amongst 20 heaving bodies is probably more difficult for me.  Bonus points that some of the bodies are pretty nice, even at 6 a.m.

Stay tuned to the ongoing saga of John’s pain-in-the-neck.  I’ll try to be more consistent in updating y’all.  For the sake of accountability, here’s the link to my FitDay stats, so you can see how the transformation is progressing:

John’s FitDay

Understanding that everyone is different, and what works for one fellow does not work for another, here is the scoop:

When I started exercising in January of 2005, I had let myself go until I weighed close to 280 pounds. I managed to take off about 25 pounds over the course of a year through spin classes, weight machines in the gym, and riding outside. Many of the folks in the spin group set a goal of riding in the RSVP in August 2005. I made it, but it was a mighty painful journey. Since then, I’ve continued to put in more and more miles (if riding 1000+ miles is good, then riding 3, 4, or 5000 in a year is better, right?). Because I was riding year round, I was also carb-loading year round. My body adapted to the increased output by demanding increased input. Consequently, I’ve been stuck around 250 for a couple of years.

In prior off-seasons I took the “ride and ride” approach, but no matter how many soggy miles I put in, I really got “nowhere” in terms of real improvement to my cycling ability.  two years ago a did a few months with a coach from Cycle U.  Last year I did a 14 week High Intensity Training session with a dozen other cyclists in one person’s garage. Great cycling-specific workouts, but no shift in my body composition. Bottom line is your body can easily adjust to more and more mileage, while only making subtle physical changes.

This year I decided to “divorce the saddle” to some extent, and try something completely different to shock the metabolism. I chose kettlebell training because it appeared to build overall strength and tone without bulk, and it’s very old-school, Rocky IV in nature (according to the January cover of Men’s Health Magazine, Lance A. has followed my lead!).  I tried 3 different trainers until I found the combination of location and motivation that worked for me, and I see that person once a week. Finally, the trainer put me on the “warp-speed-fat-loss” diet, which is a very high-protein/low carb affair of very tightly controlled portions.

The results: I have lost 16 pounds in a little over a month.  My body is starting to build some lean muscle mass, and my core is way, way stronger than it has probably ever been.  I still have quite a way to go, to be sure.  Although I haven’t lost but a pound in the last week, changes continue to manifest themselves as my waist shrinks, and my arms & legs get more tone.  I went to California a couple of weeks ago, taking my bike along.  I rode the 55 mile loop of the Tour de Palm Springs, and definitely felt the difference in my power-to-weight ratio on the hills of the Coachella Valley.

The downside:  Last year, while I was heavier and less in “shape”, I was able to complete the 100 mile loop of the same bike ride.  Perhaps I could have done the same this year, but I doubt it.  My long-range endurance is way off the mark, and my ass was quite sore after the 55.  “No Mas”, and Roberto Duran said.

Now it becomes a matter of starting the cycling training again while maintaining the kettlebell/diet regime.  I’m setting a rough timeline of Memorial Day weekend, since I have a 3 day ride planned then (including 100 miles on day 1).  So it will likely be kettlebell workouts 3 days a week (Tues, Thurs, Sat), HIT training twice a week (Mon, Weds), and then some distance riding in the great outdoors once a week ( Sun ).  The goal will be for the line on the weight graph to continue to descend, while the cycling fitness line continues to rise, and the two lines meet on May 22.

Better than 2006 by 100 miles. However I have dropped my mileage considerably since last month.

I fell short of my goal of 400 miles for September. Not by much, but enough. Weather was crappy, I had other stuff to do, and I just didn’t feel like it. If I had my act together, I would have organized myself a trip to Walla Walla to do the wine ride there, but no.

The year’s goal is 5,000. That’s an average of around 250 a month. That should be easily do-able, if I would stop typing and go throw my shorts on already!

If the long-range forecast looks reasonable, I will drag Terri to Ellensburg next weekend for the Manastash Metric. The 13th we’re co-leading a Newcomer’s ride here in Kent, then on Sunday the 14th is the brewery ride I’m co-leading from the Issaquah Brewhouse. Between these rides and (hopefully) a little peer pressure to ride in the evenings, I’m hoping for at least 300 miles in October.