Back to Spinervals

I decided to make a move back to Spinervals workouts today.  I've been avoiding them, because they typically involve a lot of shifting on the bike, and I am just not really able to do that very well right now.  There is typically a little pain when I try to use those muscles.  But when I went out to the garage today, I realized that both kids were logged in to Netflix, watching whatever crap they usually watch, so I wasn't able to log in.  I could have just told one of them to log off, but rather than deal with a crying kid, I just decided to try one of the files that was stored on my tablet instead.

And it actually went pretty well.  I learned that I can easily shift into the harder gears.  Not too much pressure required to click the lever.  Shifting into the easier gears is a little more difficult.  I have to push the other lever quite a bit harder, and that causes some pain.  But I found that if I put my hands down in the drops instead of on the hoods, I can push on the very bottom end of the lever, where it requires significantly less effort.  Aside from having to switch hand positions more often than usual, it wasn't that big of a deal.  I'm sure it will depend on the specific workout.  Some require more shifting than others.

Regarding just generally putting weight on my arm, I am typically avoiding that while on the trainer.  Sometimes, I ride with my right arm hanging down by my side, so there is no pressure at all.  Sometimes, I just rest my right hand or forearm on the handlebar, keeping the majority of the weight on my left hand.  It seems to work pretty well.

This afternoon I did Spinervals 24.0 - HILLacious.  I figured I really needed to get in a tough workout to make up for the kind of lazy workouts I've been doing, as I've just been watching TV recently.  I just looked to today's workout compared to the previous times I'd done the same workout, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my results were basically the same as my other workouts.  Same average pace, same average speed.  My overall calories burned were significantly higher this time, but I think something screwy happened to my Garmin last time I connected it to Garmin Training Center, and I think it uploaded some incorrect heart rate data to my device.

So, while I was pretty disappointed yesterday, I'm feeling a lot better today.  Looking forward to some good training tomorrow, too.

Food:

• Breakfast:  Couple scrambled eggs, with diced peppers, chorizo, and cheese
• Lunch:  Chipotle, steak salad
• Dinner:  CB & Potts, buffalo chicken salad
• Dessert:  Small serving of froyo

Exercise:

• 60 minutes on the trainer, Spinervals 24.0 - HILLacious.  Very happy with my results.

Today's weigh-in:  177.0