Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Week of R&R (Rest and Recharge) and It's Working

About mid-way through my 'cross season with nine races under my belt and it's time for a week of easy recovery riding, skip a weekend of racing, and then recharge the system for another extended run. I feel pretty good fitness wise, my handling is better than ever before, and the racing has gone well so far with only one 'bad' day (Cross Out Cancer). The second half includes a couple big events (Jingle Cross - 3 days of racing and then the MO State Champs) and if all goes well will snag 10-11 more races.

Monday after work I jumped out on the Frisco Trail for 1:30hrs of easy spinning. The coolness in the air and changing of the leaves made for a great ride until the rain started pouring and the final two miles became and full on TT session. Pretty lucky to the FT just 200 meter from the house.




Tuesday was totally off the bike and a full on rest day. After work Ian and I had basketball practice and afterwards one of his teammates spent the night with us; the boys had a fun evening.

Earlier in the day the cabinet guys finished the upgrades in the living room and kitchen, so I re-worked our home entertainment setup and TV; looks sweet. So now we have an electrician coming on Thursday to install some under-counter lights in the kitchen then hopefully on Friday the tile guy will put in the back splash tile and that will be a wrap. Deb has done a great job getting this all lined out and it all looks night and day better (updated).

Wednesday was a 1:45hr non-stop bike driving session at SBU (split between the Library and Ball Field Loops) on the 'once rolled' tubies and had no issues at all. Nice outside, but a tad on the warm side. Super low intensity as I am enjoying my rest week. Amazing how constant turning, climbing (short ones), and general adjustments during 'cross practice burn your core; that's why no matter if I go low or high effort I am always getting a minimum of 1:15hrs per driving session in order to discipline my body for the 1hr MO State race. So far it's working as I have yet to feel tight or fatigued core wise at the end of any of the races.


After work Deb and I decided to make the most of the beautiful afternoon so we jumped on the tandem for a little over an hour. She got quite the laugh at one point while I almost dismounted mid-ride when a wasp/bee stung my inner thigh (right below the shorts line); it's been some time since I've been stung and it hurt like thunder. Except for the whelp this time, I always enjoys my 'junk miles' with her.

Some lite yard mowing and shrub work at noon on Thursday then Dale and I headed off to Sac to meet up with Ira for a some trail mtb'ing fun. Nothing too serious and after an hour we bailed as Dale's tires couldn't take anymore flats (bummer for him). Were there long enough to grab a burger and beverage from the A&B crew (thanks).

Couple hour gravel ride at noon today; hard to hold back the legs as they felt incredibly rested and ready to go. Two more days of lite riding before firing it back up, but so far this rest thing is working wonders. Bet you had no idea I actually do 'takes' when shooting my impromptu videos...

Off tonight to our season opener at The Courts (double header); fun day. Saturday looks to be a 3hr gravel ride with Dale and Sunday a lite tandem spin with Deb. This active rest week has been awesome and just what the body and mind needed.

This weekend our church youth group are taking two trips to a Corn Maze near Verona, MO (one with the middle school'ers and the other the high school group) and Jake is the main speaker. He is giving a personal testimony to God's use of his cross country injury (missing his senior year) to bring Kingdom work from what was a devastating season. Instead of turning bitter and asking God why, Jake surrendered his pride and self, focused on supporting those who were running and led by serving their needs. As Jake and I has spoke of often, it's easy to be a 'good guy' when you're winning, but true character is forged in the tough times. Coach Bandy told me he has never had a team captain like Jake (committed and supportive) in all his years of coaching (he has had multiple All-State runners). Like I have said before I could not be prouder of how he faced adversity and disappointment throughout this summer and xc season, but not complained once. He has missed one (alarm clock malfunction) 5:15am practice this entire season while not being able to run most. His maturity in dealing with all this at 17 blows me away and I pray his testimony tonight (and tomorrow) impacts the lives of others.

Making plans to hit the road with JB and ACoe for the New Belgium Ft. Collins USGP in early November; should be a great trip and races.

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