The Grind

A training day in the real world:

I don't like to refer to the "real world" too often because we all determine our own lifestyle, but a training day in the "real world" does not involve an 11am start, a 2 hour visit to the bike shop, a coffee and pastry stop, or golf in the afternoon. 

I'm not sure what blogs you're looking at while bored at work, but that is the kind of day most of them will be describing.  For a solid 95 percent of us that like racing bikes though, a training day is more along the lines of this:

5:30am - Alarm goes off.  It's obviously early and still dark out making it pretty hard to wake up.  Breakfast is rushed because the sooner we're out the door the better "ride time" we can get in.

6:15am - Out the door.  Still a little dark and cold but at least traffic is light for a little while.  A couple hours of peace on the bike.

8:30am - Arrive at work.  Change into clothes stashed in the office the day before.  Pound a hopefully healthy snack. 

11:00am - Tired and hungry, this is a tough hour to push through before lunch.

12:00 - Lunch, and if lucky, a few minutes shut eye on the office floor.

1:00pm - Back to work for another 4+ hours.

4:00pm - Tired and hungry again!  Trouble staying focused.

5:30pm - Short ride home in a bunch of traffic.

6:00pm - Time to make some dinner and crash on the couch.  A precious couple hours of rest before prepping the stuff for the next mornings ride and hopping into bed early.

Of course, any one of us with a job and the health to race bikes is living a pretty blessed life!  A little longer nap time at lunch would go a long way though...