Busy times

Whew!, it's been a hectic couple weeks. My wife and I have a business called Eastern Shore Kids Market (www.easternshorekidsmarket.com). It's a consignment business that we do twice a year. Last week we held our Fall/Winter sale. It's a few weeks of madness. In a nutshell, we rent the Fairhope Civic Center for a week. During the week, we receive sale items from over 450 contributors. With the help of volunteers, we display over 20,000 clothing, toys and kid and mom related items starting on Tuesday. The sale runs from Thursday afternoon to Saturday at noon. Then, we resort all of the items so that the contributors can pick up all of their unsold items on Saturday evening. Afterwards, we process checks for all of the contributors and pack everything away until the next sale. It's a wild event that we started just after our first child was born. Over the years, it's grown by leaps and bounds. We could use a larger space but the Civic Center is the largest facility in Fairhope.

Needless to say, my training has taken a back seat. I typically take on the role of mom, manual laborer and computer guy during the sale and just after. It's about this time when I start to get the jitters because I haven't been riding. I feel like the kids on the Honda motorcycle commercial. I keep walking around the house mumbling, "I wanna ride!".

This period will end and I'll be back out on the road again soon. Hopefully, Saturday.

Experiencing movement

There are many things that go into the kettle that make an athlete successful. Experiencing a wide scope of movements and their results or failures is very important. Our brain/body learns by repetition and exposure. Take young children for example. When they first learn to get up on their hands and knees, they practice it over and over and over. They rock back and forth and fall. Then they learn to rock back and forth and react to prevent the fall. Then they practice it over and over and over. So, having a broad scope of movement experience gives the body a large library to draw on. Crosstraining is highly regarded because is provides alternatives to the typical movement experiences that we have during our primary sport. Crosstraining also provides a good mental break from training.
I say this to set the foundation for the following statement. The body also has the ability to become very good(effective/efficiency) by practicing specific movement patterns. It takes thousands of repetitions to "hardwire" movement patterns. If you train for one specific set of movements during training and then change to a different set of movements for competition, you will not perform as well. Your brain will have to work harder to perform the same set of movements. Your neuroreceptors/mechanoreceptors will have to work harder to report joint position and muscle tension to the brain. Your muscles will have to work harder to accommodate for errors in movement.
Cycling has it's own unique set of circumstances because of the huge number of repetitions. During a typical one hour ride, a cyclist will perform 5000-6000 repetitions. These patterns are very well established. Changes have significant effects.
Cyclists should be working hard to become effective pedalers at all levels of exercise intensity.

On making a high performance sports car

I'm sure this analogy will breakdown at some point, but I thought it was worth the effort of expounding.

Within the sport of competitive cycling, there are several camps that take various principles as supreme. There's the aerodynamic camp, the power camp, the mileage camp, and so forth. But tucked away without a voice are a couple other camps that determine the extent of success or potential for failure.

Now, to my analogy...
A sports car has all the elements of a cyclist. It has to breathe, it has a source of power(engine or muscle), it has joints and it has a source of control(electric circuitry). For the point of this discussion, we will leave out the gears.

If we were charged with the task of designing the sports car, we would have to start with such basic elements that most people over look them. Somehow, we have to connect the power source to the wheels in the most effective, efficient means possible. The power from that engine would have to be delivered in a manner that the transaxle could handle it. Also, we would have to design electrical circuitry to provide control of how the power is delivered. Without these elements, power and aerodynamics are useless.

In the world of cycling, this is biomechanics and neuromuscular control. Biomechanics encompass the various aspects of bicycle fitting. It deals with joint positions, length tension ratios of muscles, weight distribution and breathing. Neuromuscular control has to do with pedaling efficiency, balance and bicycle control. Without these elements, power and aerodynamics are ultimately useless. Without laying the foundations of biomechanics and neuromuscular control, there will be a greater likelihood of discomfort, injury and ineffectiveness.

What about power and aerodynamics? Which one comes first within the priority scheme?

Here's how I would answer that. Get on your bike and get in an aerodynamic position but don't apply any power to the pedals. Now sit up straight. What is the difference in your bike speed?

You have to be able to apply power first before aerodynamics becomes a concern. The same thing applies to our sports car. If we design an aerodynamic sports car without an engine, how fast will it go? I'm not saying the aerodynamics are not important...I'm just saying that they are lower on the priority scheme.

Power: Power is developed by your training program(miles, intensity, durations etc.). Everyone wants to go here first. Everyone wants to ride fast. I like to ride fast. But, before I ride fast, I have to lay the foundations. This discourse is getting too long to include principles of training.

Aerodynamics: Finally, we are here. Let's return to the sports car analogy. If we apply an aerodynamic chassis that causes the engine to change alignment with the transaxle, what's going to happen to performance? It will either diminish or destroy performance. If we apply a chassis that limits air intake to the engine, what happens to performance?

So, when we return to the aerodynamic setup on the bike, what happens if I assume the aero postion and alter my ability to effectively pedal? Or, what if my position alters my ability to breathe? We will get diminished performance.

Here's your priority scheme. Biomechanics reigns supreme followed by neuromuscular control. Then power followed by aerodynamics.

Get fit to your bike, learn how to pedal, train hard, assume aerodynamic positions that respect higher priorities and win.

I guess I wasn't the only one getting some extra training

I decided to get in some extra miles this morning. I wasn't the only one that was in for extra work. I crossed paths with Gus and Kirby. They were on their way to a secret dojo where they were going to be working out by lifting 100# kettles of boiling grog. I didn't think I could handle it. I headed out Zigler to Tanner Williams and made the loop on the "bumpy road". All in all, I ended up with 100 miles. That's a first for me this year. I don't think I've ridden over 60 miles in over a year.

I want to stay consistent with my opinion

While this hasn't been my fastest year as a cyclist, it's still been satisfactory. Meaning, it's met my satisfaction. I want to be consistent with my opinion of some of the faster local rides.

In the past, riders have complained that the Rooster Ride is too fast and it's not a ride that fosters community. In the past, I was one of the guys in the lead group. It was easy for me to say, "Other riders need to focus their training and ride faster". Now, the tables have turned. I think the Rooster Ride is faster than it's ever been. I've been dropped the last two weeks simply because the faster riders rode away from me. This past Tuesday, we were doing 32mph and I was way above red line. The check engine light came on and I had to slow down. One of the riders mentioned that he averaged 25.5mph for the entire ride. That included red lights and the re-group point at the gas station.

After I got dropped, I hooked up with another rider and we averaged 23 all the way home. I remember when 23-24 was the maximum speed on a Tuesday morning. We need to remember that the Rooster ride is 25-30% faster than it was 8 years ago.

So, here's my opportunity to be consistent. It's time to take a look at the training, re-focus and ride faster. I need to go back to the basics and assess Biomechanics, neuromuscular control, my training plan, nutrition, rest and motivation. When you start to consider everything that has a impact on your training, it's mind boggling.

I spoke to a friend on Monday. We were talking about athletes who take time off to re-group. He mentioned Tiger Woods.

2-3 years ago, Tiger took time off to re-address how he played the sport of golf. Everyone thought that he was over and done with. Tiger knew that he could improve and he did. If you watch golf, you know that this has been a very impressive year for him.

The time is coming, during the off season, to re-address the things that limit performance. Strength, flexibility, balance, coordination etc. If these are missing, you will only rise to the level of mediocrity. Take consideration of everything that impacts your performance. Correct it if it's out of line and perform better in the future.

Then, ride away from the crowd on the Tuesday morning Rooster Ride.

Here's a thought...

"If the brain is the engine to accomplish all that is possible, motivation is the fuel."

What motivates you?

I just heard about an IMAX movie called Wired to Win. It's a documentary about the Tour de France and the neurophysiological aspects of suffering. Unfortunately, it's not showing anywhere around here. They have a pretty good website. www.wiredtowinthemovie.com . I hope they release a DVD. I undstand that the cinamatography is very impressive.

What's the motivation? Is is noble, shallow, personal etc.

Need to get back on the plan

Here's something to consider when you are on a training plan. Life tends to get in the way! Family, job, sleep and on and on and on....

Recently, life has started to move my focus off my target plan. It's important to remember that, in many cases, life is more important and has greater value. Cycling is not the end all, be all. Life is about those people who are around you. Don't let your obsession take you away from the things that are of the greatest value in life.

So, here's the goal: Make training time as effective as possible. This is where I've fallen in a bit of a slump. I've continued to ride on a regular basis but I haven't be tracking my progress to determine if I'm actually benefiting from it. So, it looks like I need to change some things around. I need to get back to the Computrainer on a regular basis. It gives me the most objective information about my riding capacity. I was making steady gains when I was using it on a regular basis. Now, who knows.

I hope to have some new information soon.