been away

So I've taken a week away from the blog, but not the bike. Last week I got 2 great workouts in, and then last night I got another good one in!!! I'm pretty stoked. I didn't quite get as much in last week as I'd like in terms of volume, but it was still a quality week. I had to take friday off as we were traveling to Nashville, TN for a meet. The meet was great!! We had a bunch of kids either set school records, or set personal records. So like I said, it was a great meet. We only have 2 more left, and the season will be over for us...thats when the real training for me will begin!!!!!

I'm looking forward to getting back into the racing this sunday at forest park. I feel I'll do very well. The form is coming. I'm still a couple of pounds over the fighting weight, but I will have most of those shed before Joe Martin which is less than 3 weeks away. I'm getting excited!!!

back on the bike!!

I took 4 days off the bike, and now I feel great. I've got the movitvation back and ready to roll. In all honesty though, physically I probably didn't need the break. Even emotionally, I probably didn't need the break. It did feel nice to not ride though. I had a great debate with myself all of last week while I was taking the down time. Typically at the beginning of May I've struggled with my form and needed some time off....so to avoid that I took some time off now. However, I've never had this kind of base before, so I don't know if I would have struggled in May. Either way, I took the time off, and I got back on the bike Sunday. I just went for an easy 1:17 so I just got the legs going again. Yesterday was more of the same, about 1:11 of ride time. It may not sound like a lot, and it really isn't but until school is out, it is hard for me to get much more than 1:45 a day in. I have to go recruiting tonight, so no world championships crit for me. I'm planning on racing the Forest Park Crit of the Tour of St. Louis. That means about I will not have raced for about a month. Damn near 2 months for a crit...oh well...I'll be ready. After the HS meet tonight I plan on doing about an hour's worth of TT work...nothing like big ring repeats!!!! If you've read Daniel Coyle's Lance Armstrong's War you'll know...thats "the shit that will kill them!!!!!" Gotta love it baby!!!

time off

I decided I needed some time off, and with the rain and cold this week it has been pretty easy to stay off the bike. I rode Sunday and Monday, but haven't ridden since. Mentally I've been stuck between a rock and a hard place. Knowing that Joe Martin is a month away, and I still don't quite have the fitness I want/need, I know I need to ride more. However I know from previous seasons that typically the first week or second week of may has been brutal for me. I do have a larger base than I ever have before, so I could probably ride until then with no problems, but I'm going to err on the conservative end. I'd rather take a couple days off now, than be feeling like shit the days leading up to Joe Martin.

In other news, I've had a busy week at the gym, which is good...I guess I can pay my bills this month!!! We cancelled our meet this weekend at Illinois, and decided to head over to Wash U tonight. I'm thinking we are going to have some decent performances. We need them. After looking at the Atlantic 10 performance list, we are no where to be found. That is very disheartening. Yesterday was the first day of the late signing period. We have some committments from some decent athletes, which is a good thing. I've also been in contact with a good recruit from the Dallas area. She is trying to decide between SLU and Vanderbilt. I think we will have a good chance of getting her!!! She would definitely help us out.

The most important news...I guess this is important news, at least that is what everyone keeps telling me, I don't see it, but I'll take their word for it....Matt Helbig of Big River Running Company has set myself and Thomas up with some chics from the St. Louis Marathon...I guess we're going on a double blind date at some point...apparently that is big news.

tv at work

So this is the first saturday that I've had to work, and it is also the first time I've had to close. I've never been in the gym at this hour, and it's actually quite nice...there aren't too many people here. So to pass the time, I put one of the TV's on the US Open Pro Cycling championships...not bad eh??? Get paid to watch cycling!!!

The workout the other night was slightly above average. It started out not so great. I warmed up, started doing the tamm hill efforts, and I was just tired. I produced power, but going into the wind, and the lck of sleep was hard. When I got over to Forest park for the 1:30 efforts, they ended up being a little shorter because I had a tail wind, which felt nice, but made the workout a little too easy. I then finished up with 2 x 2 mile tempo around a loop that starts at central fields. I hammered those, and felt great. The sections with the wind felt great, and the sections into the wind, I felt strong. But since the first part of the workout wasn't so great, I'd maybe give the workout a B-. What the hell is up with the weather???? The beginning of the week we were in the 70's yesterday and today in the 20's??? What the hell?? I rode last night for about 50 minutes and I was frozen by the end. I am happy with my week of training. I would like to get a short ride in tonight, but we'll see. I'm not going to feel bad if I take tonight off.

not important at all

Nothing really new to report on. The meet at Mizzou went great on friday night...we had a bunch of kids set some new school records. After a late dinner there was a group of us who did not get to bed until late, which sucked. The next day did not have a great start, as the times were slow. We had a girl run pretty well in the 400m, and I believe that when she runs a smart race, she is going to run pretty fast. Shortly after her race, it started to pour, and the meet had a 2 hour rain delay. Totally sucked balls, but what can you do?? I guess god didn't like track and field on saturday.


The training has been going well. Last week in only 4 days of riding I equalled my best week of the year in terms of milage. This week was off to a great start, until yesterday when I decided to take the day off. I was just too tired and really not in the mood to ride. I know that kind of attitude isn't good, but I needed some rest. So I went home and watched a couple of episodes of American Chopper. Talk about a great show!!! I watched a lot of it when I was living in Emporia, but then I pretty much stopped watching it when I moved back to utah. My brother got me the first 3 seasons on dvd, so I've been watching it lately. The no commercial thing is great. I'm hoping the weather holds off today, so I can get a workout it. I plan on changing the stimulus a little today. The planned workout it the following:

10-15 minutes warm up
4 x Tamm Hill HR @ 170
4 x 1:30 efforts HR @ 165-175
2 x 2 Mile loop (w/in forest park)
30 minutes cool down.

This should be close to 1:45 of riding which will be a good workout. This is the type of stuff that will make you fast, or at least make me fast. Even though the results haven't been so great this year, my confidence is very high. I'm really looking forward to Joe Martin. I'll probably take a couple days off just knowing that I tend to hit a rut at the beginning of May, but then again, I've never had this kind of base on me before either...we shall see!!!