Now the semester is out, and there's more time.
I currently lift weights every other night and have been riding about 2 hours a day during the week and 4–5 hours on weekends. That work built the base. Now the semester is out, and there's more time.
In the past, I have sometimes used a week-long gravel bikepacking trip across Iowa, right after the semester concludes, to level up quickly. But this year I’ll be away from home for 38 days, and that is a very long time. So instead, this time I think I will simply be here. And, preparing for a bikepacking trip by first doing another bikepacking trip has not always turned out to be the best-placed effort, especially as far as the distribution of time. Right now, I'm trying to throttle the desire to go on a short adventure. We'll see is I can hold back from going either to the UP or home to Kansas/Missouri.
Especially because I'm 68, the goal of training is durability.
This what next week looks like.
Everything eventually comes down to habit and behavior, not really discipline. Discipline gets a lot of mythology attached to it. For me, jogging, lifting, and riding have been part of my daily routine for roughly 45 years. Looking back, I probably miss doing one of them only three or four days total in an entire year. And honestly, I do not think that has much to do with discipline. I’m not waking up each morning and staging some internal battle over whether I should train. That negotiation largely disappeared a long time ago. You stop asking yourself whether you feel like riding, lifting, jogging. The hard thing becomes not doing it.
Goal: durability.
Week 1 Daily Structure
Saturday
Jog 1.4 hrs + Ride 6 hrs loaded + pushing/carrying. Mobility at night.
Sunday
Jog 1.4 hrs + 2 hr easy spin or 3 hr walk. Mobility.
-Jog 1.4 hrs + Ride 2 hrs loaded. Strength: Step-ups, lunges, deadlift 5x5, split squats. Night: Front squat, DB row, press, curl bar RDL, hammer curls, plank.
Tuesday
Jog 1.4 hrs + Ride 3 hrs loaded. Night: Farmer carries, pushups, rows, curls, side plank.
Wednesday
Jog 1.4 hrs + Recovery ride + 3–4 hr weighted hike. Night: Bulgarian split squat, goblet squat, lunges, calf raises.
Thursday
Jog 1.4 hrs + Ride with 20/10/5 ride-push-carry pattern. Night: RDL, single-leg deadlift, shrugs, renegade rows.
Friday
Jog 1.4 hrs + Ride + carry work. Night: Hammer curls, overhead press, lateral raise, reverse fly.
Weeks 2–6 Progression
Week 2: rides 2.5–3 hrs daily; Wednesday 4 hr hike; Saturday 7 hr monster day.
Week 3: rides 3 hrs daily; add one lifting round.
Week 4: rides 3–4 hrs daily; Saturday 8 hr expedition day.
Week 5: Peak week; Saturday 9–10 hr simulation; reduce lifting volume 25%.
Week 6: Iceland simulation: 5 hr ride + 2 hr walk + 1 hr carry.