Thoughts on Training

Well its almost October and its been a while since that I have updated the blog. Cycling has been put on hold for the remainder of the year, save maybe a cross race later on in the season. I am not retired, just taking some time off of structured training for a while. Foremost amongst my reasons revolves around the fact that I have very little time to sit on the bike and secondary is still this burnout bug that I still am dealing with. Burnout is something you can put off, and put off, and put off but you can never escape it. Like death, taxes, and hangovers, it always will catch up with you. I think I've been putting burnout off for a couple of years. The thing about burnout is this - when you are in a burnout phase all one can do is train to maintain fitness. Workouts/rides become work, they become stale and over time nothing could rejuvenate myself to be excited about riding for more than three days at a time. This is the part of burnout that is so difficult to manage, having a string of good workouts clustered in a short period followed by another short period where I became bored and uninterested in riding. This makes for inconsistent training, and thus mediocre results. Mentally this leaves a schizophrenic training paradigm where I was reflecting and excited about the few good workouts, believing that burnout was over and then falling back into the unmotivated trap once again only to repeat the cycle. All the while I was internally giving myself a hard time because I know I can train properly and get results. Racing is a blast but not meeting my expectations is not acceptable.

So in an effort to cope with this I've put cycling on hold and I started running. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be racing and cycling a lot I just can't get to it right now...next year is going to be my year. Running is far less time intensive than cycling. I bet that I can control my weight and improve as a runner on nearly four hours of running a week opposed to seven hours to achieve the same goals cycling. I know that I need to ride four days a week for at least seven hours minimum to maintain (and not build) any cycling form. Ten to twelve hours is what I need to race somewhat competitively (which is like 10th place for me) in gently rolling road races and fifteen plus hours a week is what I would have to do if I ever decided to go for broke and try to upgrade another category. I know I have to ride a lot to improve. There is no substitute. Furthermore, I know that each ride has to have a focus and that I am 100% committed to that focus every day that I ride. That is 100% committed...not 75%, not 90% but totally focused on training. Four hours of running a week for me is about 30 miles a week, give or take (probably take). This is my goal from now until the end of February. Along with this is my goal to lift weights 3 times per week. The hour run mark has been broken as of last Thursday, up next is a ten mile run. My first 5K was last weekend which was really a lot of fun.
Yeah, I was just looking at my last post about being sick, I'm not kidding, I was sick. I was sick for five days (100F+ fever for three, 99F for two) and had a cough for two weeks after. This is it for tonight, more news forthcoming...

H1N1? & far too detailed post about TV.

My TV and I are getting much more closely acquainted as I have alternated between the couch and my bed proper for the past day and a half. I've still got a 101F fever which I've had since yesterday morning. Honestly, I don't feel like doing anything (this includes moving more than one foot at a time) - I've got the worst sore throat I've had in years, slight nausea, I'm totally congested and I can tell this disease is now getting into my larynx. Last night I went to bed at 830PM and awoke at 0900. There was no dinner involved. I got a call earlier and I answered the phone but could not speak. I guess getting this on the long weekend isn't all that bad b/c going to work like this would suck. Last week I got digital cable because they were running a deal - only costs 10$/month x-tra and I get Showtime for 5$/mo. I have watched 4 channels on digital cable today: G4, Nat Geo, the extra history channel and the military channel. Occasionally I'll watch something else like sports. This on-demand stuff is new to me, so far today I've watched the latest Rambo movie and Rescue Dawn. I actually enjoyed Rambo, Rescue Dawn was good but a bit long. Right now, Lockup Raw is on.
Why is there so much stupid UFO shit on? Come on, this stuff is ridiculous! Anything with Nostradamus = a stupid program. 9/11 conspiracy stuff = really totally stupid & kind of offensive actually. There is actually a two hour program dedicated to 9/11 conspiracy nonsense.
Anyway, in two weeks I'm running the CVS downtown 5K. This will be my first running race - ever. Cycling is just too time intensive right now with my internship and my job. My last run was on Wednesday, I'll probably have a week off of running because I can tell I'll be sick for a few more days.

Lamest Summer Ever

2009 has played host to what is quite possibly the lamest summer ever experienced by this author. Several factors have contributed in making '09 lame.
Factor 1: Economic recession/depression. Economic Depression related issues get my number one vote for why this summer has been so lame. Many good, talented people are sadly out of work or working at jobs which have no prospect of offering much in the future. Those with jobs frequently have anxiety about losing them. On a personal note the great recession has impeded any attempts to go away.
Factor 2: Weather. It rains too much. While rain has great rejuvenating qualities to it and psychologically it has a soothing effect it has rained far too much for comfort this summer.
Factor 3: Cycling burnout. Just not into training at this point. Racing yes. Training no. Taking some time off the bike. Going to the gym, running the track and treadmill in place of cycling. Running 20 EZ miles a week without awful muscle soreness. Is 40 miles/week a possibility? And another thing - how quickly one forgets what kinds of freaks of nature inhabit gyms? Example: While benching 315 lbs is admirable, using really bad/heinous form without a spotter is just plain stupid. What is the point? Another really common practice one will witness at the gym is the fact that just about nobody does legs or lower back. Personally, this is a benefit because those pieces of equipment are always open.
Factor 4: Summer job. Far more stressful than it has to be. Details are not needed because they will be offensive.
Will 2009 turn around? Time will tell. I will repost later on with other factors relating to the lameness of 2009.

Chinese Man Vandalizes Cars That Run Red Lights

Chinese Man Vandalizes Cars That Run Red Lights

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Wow. Its July.

July is almost half over. How did this happen? Despite all the complaints, I have enjoyed this weather we have been having. Cool and rainy is fine with me. I'm not really a fan of tons of bright sunshine and hot weather. Anyway, my training miles have been on the thin side lately. I did Attleboro last Sat. which was my first race in about a month. It was great to see some folks I haven't seen in a while up there. It was fast and fun and sort of re-ignited my love of bike racing. I love racing, although training can be a drag sometimes. Hopefully I get to make a return to Ninigret on Wednesday. This is possible now because I bought a car. I was without one for about a month, which wasn't really all that bad but it really wasn't that cool either. Believe it or not it actually became more difficult for me to get rides in although my commute miles went way up. Apart from cycling I've been playing golf once a week and doing a bit of running - about ten miles per week. I feel as if the running I have been doing has helped me considerably on the bike. I'm psyched to do some triathalon days this summer: maybe swimming at the beach, a solid training ride, and a decent run.

Self Absorbed Post About Cycling

So I got the second 4 hour plus ride done in a week. Jerimoth Hill and its environs. I'm psyched for this as I've almost gotten 200 miles in this week. I hope to near 250 by the end of tomorrow. Prior to this block of training I've managed only about 150 miles max per week. This year actually 150 miles would have been an epic week. My motivation is coming back big time, I'm getting more focused and excited to ride and race. Not having a car is helping me get the training in I need. Just got the hot water heater fixed which is cool because not having hot water kind of sucks. I went to the Y to take a shower but my membership expired when I changed my bank card and they told me that it would cost nearly 100 bucks to reactivate it. So I had to ride over to my brother's and take a shower. I did the cold shower thing for the past couple days but it really sucks and I wanted a hot shower after riding. The benefit to this is that I got an extra half hour of riding in. Everyone wins in this situation.
My plans to go up to Wells tomorrow have gotten complicated. I still might ride if I get up early enough but I'm not sure if I want to put in a 50 mile ride before the race itself and then another 10 miles to sit in the sun and wait for the train to Providence. Especially since I just got invited to a BBQ which I did not plan for. I've ridden up, raced and ridden back before but it was kinda awful - almost 140 miles and almost 8 hours. Honestly though, it was one of my best races at Wells Ave. If I can't get up there I'm doing a 4 hour ride to the flat lands of eastern MA. I changed my position and this has made my knees feel better but there still is some pain so I don't want to really push it on the hills. My knees hurt like hell all week.
Car news is forthcoming. Soon enough Mr. H will be flossing around the East Side in a phat whip.

Sunday of Memorial Day

I finally got lucky and rode away from a rain shower today. I was riding about and it started to rain. Thunder was heard and a few streaks of lightning lit up the sky. The big drops of rain were just beginning to fall so I decided to turn around and attempt to go towards the blue sky in the distance - like at red zone intensity. In the past every attempt at this operation has failed, except for today. Yesterday was Stafford Springs. Millwork One had a strong field out for this race - we had six guys in the 1/2/3 and five guys in the 35+. How about some 30+ races folks? On a personal note, I have decided to boycott all 35+ races for the next three years. I wish I was in it though because one of our guys bridged up to a strong break with three to go and overtook the riders in the break, which destroyed the break when one of the riders attempted to stay on Alain's wheel and he couldn't. Matt Kressy got fourth in a strong finish while Murat came through with a 7th place. The 1/2/3 race was characterized by a blistering first few laps which resulted in the stronger guys forming a series of splits which subsequently lapped the field with 17 to go. Millworks had three guys out in the break which was great. Honestly, I just wanted to finish the race so I guess my low expectation was met, although I'm starting to feel stronger and more confident. I'm going to put in some solid training over the next few weeks as my schedule lightens a bit, hopefully getting five solid days per week in. Three of these days should feature LT+ intervals while at least two should be longer rides at a reasonable pace. One of the days of LT+ needs to have sprints, not that they will ever help my sprint as I'm probably the shittiest sprinter around but they might help. This might be the last summer where I can really focus on stuff like this so I have to dedicate myself to it now. Tomorrow its a long ride - maybe to the Blue Hill to do some repeats. We will see...