With the weather turning colder, I knew I had to pick up a trainer for our bicycles. I know I'm a pansy when it comes to cold weather. We haven't bought the right gear for much below 55 degrees. Why? Here in Texas, we don't deal with long stints of cold weather enough to justify it.
At one point in my life, I loved the cold. I didn't mind being out in it and I didn't have to bundle up in 13 layers to be warm. That point was about 25 pounds ago. Since losing the weight, I've found myself constantly seeking warmth and counting down the days until it's 100 degrees outside again. Call me sick and twisted, but I do look forward to those days.
Since starting to ride the trainer indoors, I wanted to get more out of that time. I tried to work on intervals outdoors but found it to be difficult in our area. Traffic, stop signs and stop lights, turns, etc. all made for a difficult time keeping time as well as maintaining a consistant effort. Not to mention, when you don't have someone there telling you what to do, you tend to relax a bit. I figured with the trainer set up in front of a TV, it would be the perfect time to really hammer on the structured workouts.
Naturally, a few of our friends are also cyclists. Being friends with them on Facebook, I frequently see what their workouts consist of. One day I saw where one of them posted up something about The Sufferfest and how the workout completely anihaliated him. Having peeked my interest, I decided to head on over to Google and take a look. After watching just one of the videos, I knew I had to purchase. These videos had me pumped! I couldn't wait to get home and get to pedaling! I realize that to an outsider, this might make me sound like one sick, twisted individual. However, if you've ever been involved in any kind of athletic venture, or if you have any sort of competitive bone in your body, you should know the feeling I'm referencing here.
I purchased two videos and started downloading immediately: Revolver and Fight Club
I popped the bike on the trainer, suited up, downed my pre-workout drink, threw my water bottle in the cage, started the Revolver, and got to spinning.
The Revolver is a pretty simple idea for a work out. Structured intervals: 1 minute on, 1 minute off. 15 times. Go as hard as you can, then recover. I knew I wanted to work on intervals and I knew I was weak in that regard. This is an area I wanted to really hit in the off season and come out ahead on once spring came back around. Thus, I figured it made perfect since to purchase this video for training purposes.
Plain and simple, it kicked my ass.
I made it through roughly 11 intervals. I say roughly because on a few of them, I didn't last and instead did a longer recovery.
Have I noticed a difference? Absolutely. After just one time doing the video, I went out 2 days later when the weather had warmed up and managed a 20 mile ride in an hour. Something I've never been able to manage in a ride on my own before. I finished the ride and wasn't completely gassed.
Since then, I've completed Fight Club and most of The Downward Spiral. I have yet to ride to The Hunted, it is next on my list.
I should note that after completing 2 videos, I found the Sufferfest Facebook group, joined it and started reading some of their past posts. I found this little tidbit, which would have been nice to know in the beginning:
I suppose it's nice to know if I can make it most of the way through the hardest workout, then I'm in a little better shape than I initially thought. I'll be honest, after that first video, when I was about to hurl, I was beginning to question my own mental judgement.
All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the videos and can't suggest them enough to friends looking to take their training to the next level. For anyone looking to improve their cardio, THIS is something they should look into!
