Damnit

Injuries have a funny way of sneaking up on you when you don't want them to.  I've been running "kinda" steady for the last week or so.  Nothing more than really about 40 minutes at a time.  I've been taking things fairly easy (for me) and have been careful not to do too much too soon.  I've even gone as far as to limit my running to 2 days on, 1 day off.

Everything was going along swimmingly until yesterday.  About 3/4's of a mile into what was only going to be about a 30 minute run, my calf seized up and forced me to hobble back home.  It's not the first time I've dealt with this same injury, and it's equally as frustrating as the first time it happened about a year and a half ago.  At that time I was SUPER irresponsible with my volume, and begged for the injury. This time though, even being decently careful, it snuck up and bit me in the ass.

Oh well, such is the life of an athlete I suppose.  The good news is that I did come back home and get a wicked workout on the rollers.  Nothing fuels a hard, "kick your own ass" indoor bike ride like being angry that you can't do something you wanted to.  For me, running is not the end goal.  It was a cool thing that I was enjoying in order to gain some different fitness and loose some lbs without having to change too much of my human trash can diet.  Now though, I'll really have to batten down the hatches a bit more when it comes to what I shove in my mouth (something I really should have been doing all along!) and get to work on pedaling the bike to nowhere inside the house until the snow and ice subsides.

Another positive note about this injury is that it took place a couple weeks out from our trip to the UK and Spain.  While it doesn't' bother me much when cycling, this will allow it ample time to recover so that it's 100% gone (hopefully) from my cycling when we touch down in Spain.  That's going to be a great opportunity to build something for the coming season, so I absolutely don't want anything to come in it's way.

That's it for now.  Off to conquer the day and hopefully find some kind of inspiration to get on the trainer a bit later.  Nothing says awesome like riding your bike inside...

Time to move the ball

Time to get the ball rolling.

Been a bit of a down time here in terms of writing on the blog I'm afraid, but for that we've got tons of fun stuff happening!  First and foremost is our move to Charlottesville, Va. coming up in March.  Both Anne and I have been offered jobs at Blue Ridge Cyclery and accepted.  We'll both be working in the shop as full time employees, and happy to know that we'll have full medical insurance too!  Finally we won't have to worry about getting patched up after crashing our bikes!!!  :)

Also going on, before we more down to Virginia is a trip over to the UK to see family, combined with a mini training camp/friend visit to Southern Spain.  It'll be great to get over to the UK to see family (of which Anne hasn't had a chance to see in nearly a year!) and it will of course be AWESOME to get out and ride bikes in the sunshine of SPAIN!!! Getting a chance to get into the sun and warm temps on two wheels will be a welcomed thing, especially after all the snow and cold temps that have been thrust upon us here in New York these last few weeks.  I think at this point our only concern is going to be how much it's gonna hurt "earning" fitness there…those mountains are plenty bigger than anything we've ridden in a while!

In the mean time things are just moving along.  We're putting our heads down to work and get as much done before our trip and our move, so being efficient (Anne's strength!) is of great importance.  Training has been a bit hard lately with the snow, but for me personally, I'm enjoying a bit of running time and a break from pedaling.  It's always a good idea to challenge yourself in different ways, and running usually helps me keep off any additional weight I gain as a result of being a human garbage dump.  My feeling is not only does it keep the body fresh, but the mind as well.  Heading out for a run in sub freezing temps is often a lot easier than strapping the bike to the indoor trainer and pedaling nowhere for hours on end.

So that's the haps for now.  We'll try and keep the blog updated as and when time allows.  We've got a lot of exciting things planned for the coming months, so surely there will be some interesting content here in the near future.  For now, stay fit and get ready to hold on-it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

To Train or NOT to Train...

Dave here…

One thing that I think is a HUGE factor, particularly as the season winds down to and end and a long season of training takes its toll on a body, is training when you're not feeling well.  There's a fine line between benefit and taking a turn for the worse when a slight illness arrives, and you've got to think with your head over your heart.

Today I'm sick.  It's been brewing for a few days and I'm not at all surprised it's got to this point.  Anne and I did a long ride this past Sunday, and I put in a lot of threshold work toward the end (in the 5th and 6th hours).  It felt great at the time and I'm sure I've benefited from the effort, but I didn't allow enough time for my body to actually absorb the training.  Monday I hopped back on the bike for a recovery ride, which was all well and good, but Tuesday, still not feeling up to it, I got back onto the road bike for some hard, steady-state work.  I knew from the get-go that the body wasn't feeling up for it, but I pushed on anyway.  All my times were off, my heart rate was probably way too high (I don't know for sure because I wasn't wearing a HR strap), and I just generally didn't feel like being out there.    Looking back, of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I can see that had I just chilled out a bit, I wouldn't be in the predicament I find myself in now.

With the final race of our season coming up in a little over a week, it's time to shut things down for today.  I'm being pro-active in NOT being active and hoping that my body will come back around in time for a training session tomorrow.  At this point in the season, the cards are already pretty much in place.  Not a whole lot will happen in the time left before the race, and my only hope is that I'm smart enough to realize that for me, it's probably better to go into it being a bit more rested than trying to be a hero right now.

Nevertheless, even with this little illness, I'm feeling overall strong on the bike and looking forward to racing.  Getting back into endurance mountain biking this year has been great, my only wish being that I'd planned it over last winter instead of hopping on the wagon mid race season.  Still, it's great to be back doing something I love, and I'm super excited for what's to come next season.  There's a lot in the plans and when it's finally cemented, things are going to be lots of fun next year.

Maintenance Time!

Loyal readers (I know there is SOMEONE out there), as you can tell, we're doing a bit of upkeep on the blog.  Not sure what the final format will be, but this space will be changed to accommodate our most newest thoughts, ideas, and generally anything related to what it is we do-most notably, endurance mountain bike racing.

Both Anne and I will be posting here on a consistent basis.  Hopefully having a "partner in crime" on this blog will keep things up to date a bit more than they have been in recent past.  

Anyway, we're both looking forward to sharing some of our adventures and we hope that whoever is interested in reading about a crazy and wacky couple will enjoy it!

So this is what it feels like...

Training hard on the bike(s) for the first time in I can't remember when.  It's not like i've been unfit in my time away from endurance training.  I've done plenty of strength training and trail riding.  I wasn't off the bike for anything more than a few days, but still, it was not focused, "time in the saddle" type training.

It feels good to be back. I'm still a bit hesitant though as I don't want to give up my (to me) much more fun trail riding, full of jumps, drops, and technical sections.  I will say though, there is an aspect to feeling very fit that drives me to push a bit more and scratch the itch of longer distance XC racing.

So the race schedule, even though small, looks right now that it will include 2 Xterra races (the first of which is next weekend), and a 6 hour endurance race in late November.  The Xterra's will be nice little tune ups, nothing overly long, just more for fun, with the 6 hour race being the focus.  The last time I did said race I came in fourth.  With the way things are going, I'll be disappointed with anything less than that.  My technical skills have grown in leaps and bounds, and by the time late November comes around, I'll be just as strong if not stronger from a fitness point of view than I was years ago when I raced.

One of the oddest things, from a training standpoint is how quickly my body has adjusted to riding for extended periods of time.  I've lost a pretty substantial amount of weight in the last few weeks, and I'm looking "skinny" like an endurance racer again.  When I last raced seriously, I was 168lbs.  This past spring I was tipping the scales at about 205lbs.  I'm not about 180lbs 'ish, and feeling faster by the day.   Fun to see that my body is following in line.  Almost as if saying, "Ok, if this is what we're gonna do..."

Equipment wise I'll be rocking a Niner Air 9 29er XC hard tail for my adventures.  It's odd riding such a big bike after being used to the long traveled, 26 inch wheeled variety for the last couple years.  While I enjoy the smaller wheels and the more cushioned ride much more (not to mention I feel like I ride those bikes much better), there is nothing better suited for XC riding and racing that a 29er, hands down.  I'm not going to say I love the big wheels, but it's a necessary evil for what I'm choosing to do.

So that's about it for now.  I've just been stuck into my training, working as much as I can, and trying to keep my wife happy. :-)  Hopefully the future will hold more time for writing and sharing some of my adventures as they happen.  Time to head into work!

Rest Day

Pretty self explanatory really.  Rested today.  Put together a solid three days of riding at the end of last week so, as my custom in the past, Monday is a day to catch up on life stuff and give the legs a rest in order to prepare for more training to come.  Did I totally need it today?  Probably not, but I think it's a good habit to get in the mode of taking at least one full day of rest-weather I feel I need it or not.

Tomorrow is back on the XC bike.

False Start

Not exactly the start I wanted to get off to regarding my endurance training.  I've gotten in a couple good road rides the last few days, a sluggish run, and an ok weight training session, but my lack of adequate rest has already created a bit of a road block.  Simple fact is, you can't train what you don't recover, so I had to take a bit of a step back this morning and sacrifice good free time I planned to use for training in favor of getting some well needed rest.  Once I've got the sleep part of things figured out, I'm sure I'll hit the dirt spinning.

On an exciting note, I should be getting my new (new to me anyway) race rig tomorrow.  Though I said I'd never straddle another 29er, I'm getting a great deal on an Orbea Alma Carbon bike from a really good friend.  The frame is a smaller size that I'd usually ride, but in checking out the geometry and fitting standards on the Orbea website, it should just about fit.  Either way, the deal is so good it's not worth passing up, even if after getting it I need to make some other arrangements to get a larger frame.  Nothing like getting some new wheels!

Focus wise, it's really interesting swapping over, back to endurance.  The good thing, as I see it, will be that I'll be fitter for any downhill/enduro races that I do.  In addition, my bike skills are the best they've ever been, making for what will be an interesting combo if I can get my fitness back to where it used to be.  After my last stint in XC racing, I realized that though I was fitter than most other racers, my skill were seriously lacking.  In fact, that's what got me into the whole downhill thing.  I had so much fun trying to improve my skills for XC, I fell in love with DH and just kept it moving from there.  Now though, in deciding to pull off a piece of the pie from every angle, it's going to be a whole new ballgame.

At the end of the day, I'm just at my happiest when I'm riding bikes.  I've got a long travel bike, a dirt jump bike, and (soon to have) and XC bike.  Why in the world would I choose to limit myself to riding and racing just one???