Off-season…

The off-season officially arrived when I crossed or rather crawled across the finish line on Sunday morning at Limestone. 2011 has been a tough year for me. I upgraded classes for the mountain bike season, learned I am not meant to go fast during cyclocross season, and struggled with a nagging knee injury that I finally decided to go to physical therapy for.

I am a fierce competitor, more so with myself than with others. I get down on myself very easily, especially in these individual undertakings. Growing up playing team sports I had my teammates to depend on, but now I have just myself. It is kind of surprising that I struggle with this because of the positions and roles I had on my teams growing up. I play goalie for soccer, catcher in softball, and was a point guard for basketball. All positions where you are thrown out there on your own and your teammates expect you to make things happen. I’ve also been naturally good at these sports, having played soccer in college. It all came naturally to me. And I’m finding with bike riding I need to work hard if I want to see results.

So this off-season I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m going to train. Sure, I always attended practices, camps, and private session training. But I’ve never had to train to gain fitness. That used to just happen with all the activities I participated in. I don’t have a precise plan or training schedule worked up but I do have activities and goals. Here’s some of the tools I plan to use:

• Indoor trainer – There will be no excuses that the weather is bad or that it’s too dark to ride. There’s always light in my basement and it’s usually somewhat warm and dry (I said usually). I will be downloading some Sufferfest workout videos. I plan to try and do this 2-3 times per week.
• Spin Classes – I attended these last year and they were fun! And I think they helped in the beginning of mountain bike season. However, they don’t fit in the schedule during the week. I plan to go to at least 1 each weekend.
• P90x – Yes, I have the DVD’s and I’ve done most of the workouts. I’m not following the program but I think the workouts are great and will help me build some core strength.
• Stretching and Yoga – Since going to physical therapy I have discovered that many of my muscles are very tight and this has caused some of my knee problems. I’m going to continue my knee exercises and maybe throw in a yoga class or two.
• RIDE MY BIKE! – If the weather is nice, I need to get out there and ride. I need to either hit the road or the trails once during the weekend. If the weather is bad then subbing a spin class in will do.
• Eating healthy – I’m usually a healthy eater but I need to cut back on the things I crave like french fries, chips, and Wawa hoagies!
• Run – I hate running. I really hate running. But it’s a quick and dirty workout. Plus the dog enjoys it and it’s a good way to get him some exercise. So I’ll try to run some too.

My plan for starting this new routine is after Christmas. I have off of work between Christmas and New Years thus providing some extra time to start training. I will be easing into this so that I don’t burn myself out before the new season starts but I’ve got a lot of building to do. During all this training I do hope to loose some weight but most importantly I hope to be on the podium a few times next season. I’ll be sure to check-in and update my progress on my new “training plan”.