I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my trainer workout, today; but I seemed to go into automatic pilot when I got home. I slipped on my cycling gear—the bonus being that it’s a hell of a lot less than what I would wear if I went outside—and mounted my green steed for an honest effort over the usual 60-minute period.

As I warmed up, me debated with myself over what to do, but it was I who recommended something completely different: a pyramid! This came to me 10 minutes into my workout when I shifted into a harder, although moderately easy gear to spin for five minutes at a cadence of 80 to 90 rpm. When I realized the progression of my workout up until that point—warm-up at 70 rpm in an easy gear, progression to 90 rpm at the same gear, shifting into a harder gear at the same cadence—I decided that I would progress to one more harder gear, which just so happened to be Jake’s second hardest gear. I think my cadence slowed a bit, but it remained respectable, and well over 60 rpm. Unfortunately, it got the best of me, so I had to stop pedaling for a minute, drink, and then finish the remainder of the five-minute interval.

I was so spent after that interval that I had to hop off my bike to go fill up my glass, and quickly return for a five-minute easy spin. Afterwards, I finished the pyramid by repeating the second hardest effort, and proceeding in the reverse order of the first part of my workout.

I pedaled at a moderate effort at an 80 to 90 rpm cadence for 10 minutes and then decided to finish with three sprints. Each was in a harder gear, as fast as I could pedal while maintaining a little control, and for 30 seconds with 90-second rest periods in between. I then finished with 10 minutes of moderate spinning, because the easy cooldown that I had been doing over the past week now felt too easy.

The good news is that there was a noticeable improvement over my last workout! This is the golden carrot dangling in front of my face, encouraging me to continue my training. My new goal is to complete that pyramid without having to stop. Any bets on how long that will take?