Friday, January 28, 2011

On the road again

Finally got out onto the real road today for the first time in 2011. It was a really nice day out and I was very excited to go. I decided to go down to Columbia IL to be able to get some real easy flat roads. There are no real flat roads here to ride so I would end up doing too much work. I did a very hard day yesterday, doing a lot of weight lifting in the gym and then some hard intervals on the trainer. My legs were really hurting today but I know that I just need to get a lot of work into them over the next few weeks and then ease back. I know that some would say that I have to be careful of over training, but I know a little about my body and it's tolerance for exerciser and I know that I can push it right now.
Tomorrow I don't think I will be able to ride so doing a long (60 miles) today is for the best I think. I think I will also get in another 60+ miles on Sunday when I ride with the Wild Card gang and French.
My legs were so sensitive today after my ride that I needed another massage bad! I had gotten one on Monday or Tuesday but the guy didn't really do what I had asked him. I had a nice girl tonight and she did a much better job of hitting my glutes and hamstrings like I asked her. She even did some stretching on me which was good. Hope I feel better tomorrow. Going to Monticello after work, Katie is up there visiting her family and celebrating her birthday.

Out

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Contador Busted

Man I did not see this coming, I thought for sure Contador was going to get off on his positive testing for clenbuterol. I mean Spain protected Alejandro Valverde for years while he was under investigation and even after he was banned in Italy for his role in Operation Puerto. And then I guess too if you want to believe that the UCI has done all it can to hide Lance Armstrong's supposed positive test from a 2001 race, then why would it not want to hide it's star athlete now? An athlete, by the way that they were touting as the new generation of clean athlete. I wasn't a huge fan of Contador really, I am a big LA fan and the media in the US did a good job of pitting the two of them against each other. But after getting over the fact that this rivalry was really mostly in the media, and yeah they did have some disagreements. Contador is really a very hard working guy, I thought. If he did take this drug on purpose, which I am of the opinion that he didn't, then he is a cheat and I have no pitty for cheats. Now that will come and bite me in the ass if LA is ever found to have cheated, and it can be PROVEN. If you could show me and the rest of the world thought that Contador, and every other athlete in the peleton is still doped to the gills, which it appeared to be at the heyday of LA (hey that rhymes) then I would say it is still a level playing field.
I dunno, drugs and sports, cheating and sports, finding the last loophole in the rules, all of that stuff has been around since the beginning of sports. Heck the stuff that is still allowed today is just called something else, gamesmanship. Sounds a lot nicer that cheating doesn't it, but really that is what it is. A form of cheating that is expectable to all that participate in said sport. The thing about doping is that it is not acceptable to all that participate. There are always those chances of serious physical harm to those that use these drugs. Granted they are often small chances and a majority of those who use these drugs do so without any consequence. But there are those athletes that have worked hard to get their bodies in to the peak condition they are in. And these athletes do not wish to pollute their bodies with drugs of any kind. So then it becomes an advantage to these athletes that will win at any cost. And I guess that is why drugs cannot ever be accepted. They do take away from our view of these humans who have sacrificed everything for the pure athleticism, almost super human ability that we all dream of. If anyone could take a pill and run the 100 meter in under 10 seconds, that would make things a whole lot different. We could have a world without heroes. And most of us couldn't take that.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Back in the saddle again

Two looooonnnggg days on the trainer and I am not looking forward to tonight. The part that gets me through is that I am doing some kind of interval. Last night it was a ladder set with tempo paced riding and endurance paced riding. I wanted to quit so many times and at one point I did have to rest for a couple min because I was getting very over heated. I took off my shirt thought and pumped up the fan and that took care of the heat problem. I did a ten minute tempo set then ten min endurance, fifteen min tempo, ten min enduro, then twenty min tempo and then started working my way back down. The last ten min tempo set was torture, and I think my trainer was getting to warm because I had to crank up the resistance on that thing to be able to hold the watts that I needed. Maybe I will need to upgrade the trainer next year as I am running out of resistance settings that are hard enough for me.
The racing season has started at the TDU, but for some reason I don't really care about that race this year. Maybe it is because I know that Lance is not going to do anything down there. Perhaps I am ready for him to retire and the sport starts to move on, just like Favre. I feel like the investigation into LA isn't going to go so well and that makes me very sad. I don't think that it will deminish my overall feelings about him as a great person to people with cancer and if everyone he was racing were doped to the gills then I guess it was all a level playing field and doesn't really matter if he was doped. I just wish it would all end though.
I really need to get outside to ride but there has been so much going on that it has been hard for me to go before work so that means riding the trainer from 9pm till almost midnight. I know that doing some long nice rides outdoors would really help me with how I am feeling on the bike. The last few times I was out was on the TT bike and it does not ride like my road bike, not as fun.
Going to Indy this weekend for a big gymnastics meet. Very excited to being going and I feel like a majority of my girls are ready to go. One more practice tonight and then we leave tomorrow at 2pm.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Windy City Fun

Just got back from Chicago and saw the 41st annual Windy City Invite. It is the largest boys gymnastics meet in the Mid-West as well as a great season opener for the collegiate teams in the Big Ten and UIC. The U of I, my alma mater kicked some serious ass on there way to what I hope is their first National Championship in over 22 years. I was on two teams that were a hair's breath away from winning that title but we came up a little short both times. The first was really hard to lose because we were at home, the second was tough but I was ready to be done with gymnastics, and it was my Sr. year in college so I was able to get past it pretty fast. The guys on the team look really strong and talented. I really don't know how they do it. I only retired 5 years ago and the things that they do now make my cry inside for how hard they have to work and suffer to achieve those skills and routines. The one event that I thought the U of I was laking was on rings. We were very strong on rings back when I was at school. I was one of the lower guys in the ring lineup and I still would have had a harder routine that everyone but the top two guys. But that is how the sport works, some events get better, some worse. It is not like club where you are good on an event year after year because you raise these athletes. The college kids come from all different backgrounds. So when you are recruiting you have to work hard to make sure that you are getting guys to fill spots your are weaker on. Easier said then done though.
I spent the weekend also catching up with old friends from college. That was the best part of the weekend. My life is spent in the gym so seeing the U of I win was fun but I was not as excited as others who really only see a meet or two a year if not less.
Tonight I am going to get back into my hard riding again. I am leaving for Indianapolis on Thursday for Circle of Stars, so I want to make sure I get some serious miles in. I think I will try to bring my bike and trainer to the meet and ride in the hotel if I can. I am also going to rush home Saturday night and try to get a ride together with some of the team on Sunday morning. Kurt has suggested a hilly route that is about 2.5 hours long and if we are feeling it we can stretch it into another loop. I have been working the hill climbing a lot so I hope that it pays off and I see a little improvement on the ride. Not going to hold my breath though.
Well I have to get ready for the gym now, I am excited that the gymnastics season has started. I like the season until we get to state. Then it starts to wear on a bit. But that is in April and for now it is all new and shiny with that new car smell.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

It doesn't get easier, you just go faster.

Been a few days since I posted, don't really know why I have been gone but I have.Things right now are really hectic, I have my gym's big home meet this weekend and a large group of parents are working hard at getting it ready. For the most part I have been very happy with what they have been doing, but tonight I started to notice that for some reason they had asked me for my opinion on a few points of the meet but it turned out they did the opposite of what I told them to do. Maybe that is part my fault because I was not as involved as I should have been. Next year that wont happen, I will know everything that is going on and things will be done the way I want them done. I think that will actually help with some of these parents fighting each other. If there was someone who just said this is how it is going to be rather than all these votes and hurt feeling I think it would be better. I know this weekend will be a big success though I am not worried about that.
This part of the year is also stressful because I am trying to get things organized for the cycling team. I am putting together kit orders, budgets, sponsor money, art work, and putting together a race for the team. This part of the year is the second most stressful time of the year behind JO Nationals, and Westerns for my gymnastics team. Those meet take up two weeks of my time, it is hard to get out on the bike, and the stress builds up. I talked to my boss this year though and she said the gym would pay for me to bring my bike this year, score!
So talking with Kurt about the team, he really wants to bring over his eco friendly ideas that he has for his clothing business. I think that this is something that we could really capitalize on! Kurt thinks so too, he even talked to a possible sponsor today that said we were on the right track. That guy didn't end up coming on board but he did point us in the direction of another man who might, soooo fingers crossed. So on the eco friendly front I thought well lets do it up then. We have water bottles that are made of plastic, not good for the environment, so lets find a water bottle sponsor that works with biodegradable plastics. Lets look for a sponsor that does all natural, no fertilizers, energy foods. Maybe find companies that are trying to figure out how to recycle carbon fiber, a big deal in cycling, and see if they would like to partner with us. There is never any harm in asking.
I am still waiting on my bike to be finished with at Mesa Cycles. They are still waiting on my broken part's replacement to get in. Chris over there gave Sram a call for me and he thinks my part will be in, latest Monday. So that is good news, they are awesome guys so they will get it turned around and back to me right away as soon as that part is in. I am really glad we partnered with those guys and I hope that we are able to get them some kind of return on their investment. I do just about 90% of my cycling shopping there now. Just about anything I need, even if they don't carry it, they will get it special for you. So since my preferred ride is not workable I am still on my TT bike. This could be a good thing and help in the 3 or 4 TTs that I plan to do this year. Most people don't spend much time on their TT bike unless they are triathletes. Most road racers hate their TT bike as they are uber uncomfortable. I like riding it when I am racing it, it is easier to focus on the pain and know that the pain is for a reason other than training. If I hurt more I will be done faster, will be happier with my effort, and may even have a chance at winning my race. Not that I think I am any good at time trailing, but reading about Fabian Cancalara racing in time trails he says that you just have to put in the time on the bike. He said he once road a 180km ride on accident on his TT bike. It was on accident because he was riding with a couple other guys who were motorpacing and they just never turned around. I don't really like to go farther than 30 miles in the cold, 40 in good weather, at a time. I don't plan on racing any farther than 13 miles in a TT so those extra miles really don't matter. In the past when I have done my TT training I have been VERY specific with that training. So once I have my road bike back I will go back to that and just hope that the miles that I have done so far this year will be a big kick start to my time trial racing this year.
Well time to get some dinner and go to bed.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

I have an itch!!!

Holly crap I feel the need, the need for riding my F&$K(&G bike! I don't get my riding my TT bike isn't doing it but it isn't. It's just not as fun and it has been really nice outside and I want OUT! I keep reading about all these people going out and getting some great rides in and I am sitting here just waiting. I think tomorrow I will go outside no matter what. I think I will take the TT bike down to Columbia and put in some good miles on the flats. That should be a good workout as the wind has been pretty stiff for the last few days.
I am really glad I am feeling so anxious about riding. I was getting a little over done by the middle of December and was having to work hard and keep going. But make it hard for me to ride when I want to ride and the desire and the need starts to bubble up. And that is not good for everyone else out there who has to race me this season. I am going to be strong! I didn't have a power meter last year but some of the things that I am doing now I know that I am MUCH stronger than last year. Also I have done a few medium hard intervals that I thought would be harder and turned out to be pretty easy. These are shorter intervals though so I don't know if I have pushed my threshold power up at all but it looks like my weight lifting has raised my sprinting power.
My parents, brother and his family were here for the last couple days and just left. It was great to see them and get to play with my new nephew. My wife and I are holding off on having kids for a while still. We are having a good time living our lives the way we are and we could not live like we do with kids. Also I feel like I raise hundreds of kids everyday so I don't feel like I am missing out on anything.
Time to watch the Bears vs. Packers game. Most of my family are Packer's fans while I like the Bears. Really I like to cheer for a few teams in the NFL so at least at some point one of my teams is winning. Go Bears!!!