My latest Backyard Training report shows some pretty good hours put in, and in the right zones, probably targeting my goals with savvy precision.

I've done several hours of logging, hours of brush-dragging, hours of gravel wheelbarrowing, and hours of digging a frog pond. This has to be power work. So I'm on track. I'm at about 3-4 hours/wk. 

My injuries from Highland Games action are gone, thanks to targeted rest. But I plan to get back into the Boulder Toss, asap. I'll start off easier. Same with spear-throw. 

I'm sure that my one-leg Spenst hops around the house (outside) are making me snappier, fiestier, too. Thanks Pete for the great idea! I found that my left leg is much weaker even though I'm lefthanded. I figure that it can't run or hide with this exercise, so I'll keep doing it. Hopefully it'll catch up! I'm doing more of them on the left than the right.

In the spirit of Untraining, I decided willynilly to do a bike race. That's right, it wasn't part of any plan and may even be Ill-advised and thus go against everything cherished by Planning. We'll see if it's smart for me or not, tho! Untraining, backyard style, lets you decide to do things as you please.

When the weather got warm I remembered that there's just one good bike race in Michigan: the Kensington Road Race! It's on a great, hilly course. And even lowly Citizens get to go 30 miles. So I decided it would be fun to do it. Then I looked up when it was. Oops! In only 2 weeks! Well, that's one week to go now. I've put in a few days of small-ring spinning to get the bike-feel again and yesterday did my first big-ring outing. All my outings so far feature hills. But there aren't many around here, so I've been doing them multiple times. I've gone out .5-1 hr every other day. On my off days I've been doing the upper body exercise with the digging, chopping and hauling.

Two years ago I did this event without any prep (and forgot to take off my pump and spare) with the goal of finishing with the pack, and I did so and was pleased but cramped after the finish. That hurt. I also was impressed with how utterly and miserably boring it was. A bike race is a quiet, focused event. No fun at all if you're just trying to keep up with such quiet guys. Bike racing is only fun if you have something up your sleeve. So this time I'd like to try to do something. We'll see if I can. I was thinking that my skiing has me in OK shape for hills and that maybe the bikers are still in weak early season flabbiness. Ha. I suppose at the halfway point I can try to get away and see what happens. I'll probably be quickly caught. Ugh, I hate the idea of waiting even that long. But if I can worry them a bit, that might be fun. To stay away even for one lap would be amazing. No one does anything in Citizen/Cat-5 events. They all chase immediately. Citizens always finish as a group sprint. It really is too short of notice. But we'll see!

My goal is to build-up to at least 2 very hard rides before the race. By 'hard' I mean a hilly hour or two in the big ring going all out. My latest and best HR average so far is 160 for one hour. My early season cycling is weak so I can't push much, but I sure can't go any harder. It's been a little miserable so far having this untrained-for goal. I'm not sure if I'll do it. It's a great course, but so what. Why push it, why not let the biking season just roll along. Doing a race too soon is just a bunch of pain. I typically only ever feel ready for a race around September.

I am looking forward to paddling, to learning how to roll the kayak and to setting a benchmark for my early season Backyard Decathlon which will act as my every-other-day backyard circuit session. I'm interested in seeing my first numbers compared to what I can do a couple months from now.

That's the news!

Jeff Potter

Jeff Potter runs *Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
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