Training is going quite well. I feel a fire that hasn't been there in quite a while. A lot of that has to do with changes at work which I will mention later. I've been on my mountain bike a lot more and getting in longer rides. It has been a really cold winter so far, but I have been out there most days. I broke a record for my coldest ride ever with a ride that never topped 16 degrees. As of now, I have ridden three rides this year of over two hours in length where the temp was 17 degrees or less. The beardcicles are becoming a regular sight. I even saw four snapping turtles frozen in the pond along the trail. I knew they froze this time of year, but I had never actually seen it.
Frozen turtle
Another frozen turtle
The trainer has been ridden quite a lot. My normal trainer ride is 1.5-2 hours now instead of the 45-60 min rides of last year. Watching action movies and shows have been key to keeping me interested on the trainer. I've been in the weight room often, trying to add some muscle while also eating better to get leaner. My goal is to drop down to 152 lbs. I was a fat 166 following our trip to Utah and some binge eating in October. I've currently dropped 11 lbs. and am steadily declining despite a few hiccups of stress eating. I'm already down to the weight I raced at last season and the pounds are still coming off. I actually think I might can see 150 if I keep working hard.
Snow on top of the frozen pond. Recent rain had the pond over the trail before the snow came.
There was ice on the pond, but not enough to hold me up.
Video of me attempting to walk across the frozen pond to stay on the trail. I made it, but things were a bit sketchy!
As the snow melted, it melted on the leaves first, leaving a white strip of trail to follow.
Snowy singletrack below
I was running often to train for the Cedars Frostbite Half Marathon on Feb. 8. Training was going good. I was getting faster and more comfortable with 7-9 mile distances. I overdid a bit with a very difficult run three weeks before the race. I ran over to the trail, taking the hilly route for 4.2 miles, then raced a lap on the trail with Shannon. She rode and I ran. That thoroughly destroyed me. I was sore for 5 days. I attempted the same run the next week and could not complete it due to pain in my left calf at mile 7. I took a week off, then tried a short run one week before Cedars. The pain was still there and after 2 miles I could not run. It took me a few days, but I finally diagnosed my pain. I had two separate issues. My left hamstring and my left calf were both inflamed and spasmed. I had to miss Cedars. The pain had started to affect my riding, but now it is gone on the bike. I took a few weeks off from running. I tried to get back out there with a 2 miles run last week, but the hamstring pain still returned right at the end of the run. I will keep working on it. I plan to get back out there very soon to keep me in shape for XTERRA events.
Things are looking better for this season. I'm not where I want to be, or even where I was a few years ago, but I'm getting close. I feel good on the mountain bike and am way more excited for mountain biking than road racing this year. I may once again live up to my blog title! Race season begins just one week from today. I will kick off my season in Ocala, FL with the first race of the South Eastern Regional Championship Series. I'll be mixing mountain and road this season, hitting various trails around the southeast and the biggest crits I can get to. I recently rebuilt my fork and put a few new drivetrain parts on the old Racer-X. I did some laps yesterday and this morning on my backyard trail to make sure things were set up right. The bike feels brand new after its makeover and should be ready for some Florida sun next week.
We are struggling a bit with the race budget. Buying the new road bike really drained our funds. Entry fees are going up this year and gas is always a problem. I still have not managed to generate a single ounce of interest from a team. I've had local teams interested in me in the past. They always want the same thing. They want you to wear their jersey, but they don't want to help with any expenses. This year I didn't even get interest from local teams. I think most people have written me off as a has-been. If they don't see you at local races, they think you have quit riding. I just didn't do well enough at the big races to earn the attention from a bigger team. My results even cost me sponsorship deals. Both Maxxis and First Endurance are sticking with me as sponsors for 2014, but I lost all my free product. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful to still be getting a discount because both tires and nutrition products are very expensive. It is just frustrating to be trying so hard and losing the battle. We may race less this year, but I plan to make them all count with 110% effort.
Stocked up and ready for a season of racing even with having to buy the tires myself. The Maxxis pegboard lives on.
Work has also been a pain in the rear. I've talked before about Ashley and I trying to become co-directors of the clinic and all the ordeals that have come with that. We definitely received more resistance than support. Ashley has now moved to North Carolina. She finally gave up hope that the company would ever come through on actually making us co-directors. And she was right. The day before I left for the vacation to Utah, we were both informed that our clinic was getting a new director. They acted as if our co-director training never happened. They bashed me and everything I have worked so hard for, saying that I was a mere assistant and no doctorate level therapist should ever have to work under an assistant in any setting or capacity. They also said that I "just show up to work" and did not work hard enough to overcome my reputation as "the guy who ran off the last boss." And then came the dagger. "You will never be focused enough to be a director because of your bike racing. As long as you ride, I don't see how you could focus on work." What?!!! I feel like I gave them my last two years and my bike racing suffered. I sacrificed the things I care about most and nobody took notice. Not even once.
I was pleased for a while after vacation. I realized I could never get along with the higher-ups so not being a director was really a blessing. Ashley got her dream job in NC, which was great and horrible at the same time. I lost my work buddy. She and I worked so well together and people liked coming to our clinic. The atmosphere is not the same now. And I don't feel that our outcomes are as good either.
It's amazing to see how much the stress of trying to become a director effected my riding. I realized what it had done to me while I was in Utah. When I'm stressed, I want to fix the problem causing the stress. I hate waiting around for things to unfold. I lose my desire to train because I want to go solve the problem. With less problems I am now able to focus on riding more. I might as well live up to my reputation of only caring about bike riding!
Like I said, things were better...keyword is were. Now there are new problems arising. Our company seems more and more focused on numbers and dollars, and less focused on patients and people. Recent changes to government-funded insurance plans have caused us problems and the solutions we are being presented with are not exactly peachy. The latest plan to deal with these changes is to move either Shannon or myself out of Clarksville. I love my clinic and I am well-suited to it. The clinic specializes in work comp rehab and sports rehab, both of which I have worked hard in. But it seems as though I have been nominated to go to another clinic in another town, away from the clinic I have been a part of since day 1.
Also, our dream home is looking more like a dream every day. The owners called us about moving, but their price is sky-high. I still wanted to go see it and at least make an offer, but now they are taking their time to fix up some things. I think they realized that their price is ridiculous and are trying to spruce it up in hopes we will go with it. In the meantime, we are keeping our eyes peeled for other homes in the area.
The next few months will be interesting. But we will get through it no matter what happens. I am working on a plan that would dramatically change what I do every day. We went to the Nashville Temple yesterday to think about it and now feel that it is worth pursuing. We shall see in a few weeks time...
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