After some experimenting, I have come up with my super excellent training schedule which will make me a super excellent fast cyclist in no time at all. Or?

Monday: BodyPump
Tuesday: vilo
Wednesday: S Core 45
Thursday: Sportlife's running night
Friday: BodyPump
Saturday or Sunday: A nice long run

No matter what the result, this is what I can manage with work schedules and stuff so this is my plan for the next 3-4 weeks. Then I can switch over to more cycling.

Billingeracet, my first 'real' race of the season, is 16 maj so I am not too worried that it is snowing right now...still...

I remember a spinning instructor in Uppsala who always ended her 75 minute endurance pass with the song Alive by Jennifer Brown. And when you really exhaust yourself for the full 75 minutes, a cheesy pop song like is pretty appropriate.

Yesterday about halfway up the first hill of death, I remembered that song. And right now while every muscle in my body is settling into cement-like states, I can't help but think of that song again.

Isn't training wonderful? =)

It has been exactly one month since I was riding my bike outside. Honestly, that sucks. But I am hopeful that this cold spell is over soon so I can get back out again.

Because of total upper body paralysis, I will postpone my gym pass until tomorrow. So it was a nice 35 min TC pass here at home.

10 min warmup
5st 1 min intervals, low resistance
Alternating sitting 1 min, standing 1 min for 10 min
3st 15s 'starts'
1st cramp-like feeling in my calf muscle
And a cool-down

In other words, I pushed myself enough.

Today it was only -4C so I could have went running. Instead I took my first pass at Sportlife. My first impression of the 'Sunday 12.00' crowd was a mix of absolute beginners, a few too many kids and some big weightlifters. A pretty lagom mix for someone like me.

I will follow the Nautilus Method again since this worked for me in Uppsala. The idea of this is you set the machine to the weight for which you can do 12 reps. When you can do 13, you increase the weight to the next level. But if at the next level you can only manage 8, you go back down a weight. Over three months I was able to increase on everything.

Warm up was 10 min on the ass machine. Okay, I guess it is called elliptical or cross trainer but this is the machine those American commercials claim will give you a smaller and firmer ass. I like it as a warm up because it gets the arms moving.

Then I did a couple leg machines but honestly I will just do the leg press, partly because I can lift so much on that (good for confidence) but mostly because I would rather build leg muscles on my trainer or at MCK.

Next on the list was that chin-up machine for 'cheaters'. You don't have to lift your entire body weight but can set the amount. For biceps I did 12 reps at 50kg which is basically what I did 1.5 years ago. Good. The dips for triceps I did 40kg worth but could probably increase that. The military style was bad since I only managed it at 35kg. And that was not great news since it means my back is weak.

So then I did the usual sets of machines for chest, lower back and abs. And, once again, the shoulder press is my worst machine. Which was crap because at that point I was being watched by a lovely woman. Typisk.

Upstairs I was pleased to see one of those SkiErg machines. What a brilliant thing that is for someone who needs more upper body strength. And what a pain that gave after only 2 min. This will be my machine...I can tell.

Finally, some rowing. This I was strong at...so strong that I managed to slide off the seat on one stroke. So this will be my explosivity interval training, assuming I can stay on the thing.

But now, after a fine workout, I can sit and watch skiing on TV.

After a couple days of pushups and attempts to actually stay on my pilatesboll, my strength training is in trouble. So to decide what to do, I did one of those pros/cons lists that are nice for vuxenpoäng once in awhile.

Convenience: Home 1 - Sportlife 0
Home is where I start and end most days so this is a clear win for Home. But the new Sportlife here is only slightly farther than where I buy food. So that is also convenient.

Expert advice: Home 0 - Sportlife 1
There are no experts at home but I do have the internet so I could eventually manage to set up a good program. Or better yet I could go to MCK and get the best tips for cycling-related exercise...if only my car was not frozen. At Sportlife I will be able to watch and observe others and that is the fastest.

Cost: Home 0 - Sportlife 1
One would think that Home would take this category easily but nope. The Sportlife deal was 325kr up front and then 299kr/month which I think is quite reasonable. For my home gym I need freeweights which would be 500kr for a pair of 4kg ones plus 250kr every time I need to add more weight. Then I would like a chin-up bar but I can't figure out how to easily attach that without pulling down a door. Of course from May to September I find things like spinning classes at the gym rather useless. But I should never stop weight training.

So this was a pretty easy choice...vi ses på Sportlife!

Finally, I have officially trained for the first time in 2010 and it feels great to be back at it.

This is my Tacx Satori trainer holding my all-to-familiar Merida cross bike. Is there anything I can't use this thing for? And the 70s-inspired futon in the background is naturally from IKEA.

This 30 min session was supposed to be a series of kort-kort intervals but because I had problems with tire slipping, I could not accelerate so fast. Instead, it was a gradual increase in speed and around 1 min instead. Have to fix this.

And then I went for a nice walk in the forest where I actually could have run since there was enough new snow to cover the ice. But sometimes I just need to take in the nature at a fast walking pace instead.

Just how is it going with everyone's winter training? Mine is going crap, to be honest. At first I thought that it was okay to take a little jullov from training but this is getting out of hand. The temperature here in Göteborg is a constant -8C so running is not all that safe. I am tempted to just go buy some spiked shoes because then, by fate, it will be warm again and I will have no use for them.

Tonight there is a testcykel pass at MCK so if I had planned better I could have actually went. Still, there is no excuse now. I have my cross attached to a trainer, afterall. I would just rather be outside enjoying the nature.

Maybe tomorrow I will take a nice walk to compensate for having to train indoors. Yes, that sounds like a plan. Or should I dust off my skis which I haven't used for 3 years? Skiing would work if I had any technique...

Since monday it has been enough below 0C that everything is pretty frozen. So running was out of the question and I have no dubbdäck for the bike. So winter is here and I celebrated with a TC session on the trainer.

And this was quite a festival of sweat if I may say so...
10 min warmup
10 min of 1+1 min intervals on increasing resistance (last was 2 min)
5 min of jumps on a count of 4
5 min cool down followed by complete exhaustion.
Yes, I need more training. A bit of food may have helped also.

I suppose I should not be surprised. Running 9km on the hills here without any preparation is bound to give one nice dose of träningsvärk. So like after all good running passes, I am like a slow gubbe when it comes to stairs.

My genomtänkt training plan says that I should repeat the same run again today. But now I think I will stay inside and take a few intervals on the trainer. Maybe I might even try a few pushups if I feel for it.