Ridin' in the snow.

One the guys on the team has started a regular sunday ride and will keep going out until the snow is too deep to pedal through. here is a little video ( not made by me) of the ride. I bought some roller skis from a guy online, they finally arrived and are all ready to go. may go give them a madden voyage today.

I have decided to race the American Birkebeiner this year I know it's a big leap but I think it's better to give it a try then to be scared off. for those of you not familiar. http://www.birkie.com/ It's 51k and big hills all day long. It, if I'm really having a good day will take 3-4 hours to complete. So not bonking is going to be a real challenge. X-country skiing is easily 900 calories and hour. If you do the math it's pretty easy to see that you could get in trouble. And bonking in freezing cold is nothing to take lightly.

But if as I've said this experiment is about challenging assumptions.... one that I've held is that the birke is too hard for me. So lets go see.


Here is the video from sundays ride:

Does a bunch of bricks ever become a house?

An interesting mood has been creeping into my thinking about my riding and whatnot. I've been at it now for a little under two years. For the last few months I have been responding differently to my regular training. In the beginning i saw training as a bitter pill you take 5 or 6 days every week knowing that it's good for you. That you get faster on the bike and that was something I wanted and the discomfort and pain of training as the price you pay to get what you want.

Lately I have noticed that I am craving to be faster less than I used too. I am craving more the workout itself. No longer is it a biter pill but a comforting friend. Someone I miss if they are absent too long and am truly happy to see again.

I am choosing to see this change as positive for two reasons. One I think being focused and driven on the workouts themselves may make them more productive. Two I think it is difficult to be solely focused on very long term goal and not have short term rewards and failures along the way.

So I am trying to build a house here... Then it makes sense to make each brick with care. If the house this made of bricks then how well you make each brick matters. Obviously you need a master plan or you end up with a pile of bricks and no living room. But I am finding the growing interest in the process and less focus on outcome freeing a bit.

Am I prepared to accept an unknown outcome that is inherent in this sort of process? If i do the best i can, will I be pleased with the results?

While I am intrigued by this evolution in my thinking but I am worried it could indicate a relaxation of focus. I guess we'll just keep an eye on this and see where it takes us for a while.

Friday something funny....

Here is a bit by David Cross, a tremendous smarty pants.   Enjoy

I have a handful of visitors!

hey all,

When I started this blog I was doing so knowing I would be talking to myself and that nobody would read it... ooops.  According to the stats thing I look at from time to time, I have a handful of visitors. Which it amazing and great! I know someone that reads the blog in real life other than that I don't know who visiting my blog. Please feel free to leave a comment and introduce your self if you like I would love to know who's visiting.  You don't need to leave personal info if you don't want to, maybe where your from and how you found the blog?  if you have a blog too?

To my mystery viewers .. hi,  and say hi back if you want.

Bits and pieces

Fall is in full force and comfy outdoor riding opportunities are getting thinner. We had a couple of warm relatively dry days in the last week so got a couple nice rides in. Short .. but nice. Cycling class with my coach has started and will run for 10 weeks. She starts the session with a threshold test. two 8 minute max effort intervals with a 10 minute easy spin in the middle. My perception of discomfort has changed for sure. Last year(my first year) I thought I was going to die.. this year ... It was hard but.. ok. Are the nerves sending less signal to my brain or is my brain ignoring some of the signal?

I borrowed a friend roller skis yesterday to try them ... Thinking about getting some. It was really fun. I could have stayed out there all day. oh to win the lottery and bike, roller ski or ski all day. Maybe in my next life : )

I have my training schedule in mind for the winter but need to get it down on "paper". I rode indoor trainer last night for about 2 1/2 hours watched tv and "rode". I am hoping to log a lot of low and moderate effort time on the trainer this winter. In the outdoor season almost all my riding is very high effort stuff and I am coming to believe that logging lots of moderate effort is a necessary component to building a really solid fitness base. Once again I am trying to figure this out on the fly here. so I am trying different things and seeing what effect they have.

so the winter schedule breaks down like this roughly.

2 days indoor trainer ( bike) 2 to 3 hours per
2 days skiing. maybe more if I can 1 to 3 hours per
1 day weight room ( I'm being told I may need some strength stuff). 1 to 2 hours

Total time per week: 7 to 14 hours a week ... pheew, does that sound like a lot to you too?


So now I am just waiting for the snow to come... tick, tock. the methadone that is you tube skiing videos will not hold off the heebee geebees to long.

here is one of my favorites.. check out the how fast they are going.... good heavens.