Racers and Chasers Black Mountain

Saturday was another great event by Racers and Chasers in San Diego.  I wasn't at my best but still came away with a solid 2nd place to start the season.  I'm motivated to have even greater rides in the coming weeks!  The Race

 Hal hanging with ESI grips

Pro podium 

Tim Z - earned the top step on the expert podium

Thanks to Pro Bike Supply for getting me all set-up for the season ahead!

2012 Race Schedule

It's hard to believe the 2012 race season is already here!  I've been blessed with some great health this winter and I look forward to making the most of it in the coming months.  Balancing riding with the rest of life will be the key for me this season.  There's some great local racing in California in the spring, a trip to Canada in July, a baby on the way in August, and God willing a trip to the World Championships in October.  Here we go!

Fed 25- Racers and Chasers Winter Series Final 

Mar 4 - US Cup Vail Lake 
Mar 25 - US Cup Fontana

Apr 1 - US Cup Sycamore Canyon 
Apr 7 - The Vision Quest!
Apr 21 - Sea Otter Classic
Apr 30 - Whiskey 50 Prescott, AZ


May 5 - Idyllwild Challenge
May 20 - US Cup Sagebrush Safari (USA Cycling Pro Endurance Tour)

Jun - Jul - Over the Hump Series
Jun 3 - US Cup Big Bear (USA Cycling Pro Endurance Tour)
Jun 9 - SoCal Endurance - 12 Hours of Temecula 
Jun 17 - CA State Championships Big Bear 

July 1-7 - BC Bike Race Canada
July 14 - Orange County Parks Tour Santiago Oaks

Aug 25 - Orange County Parks Tour Oneil Park

Sept 15 - US National Championships - Marathon Bend, Oregon


Oct 7 - UCI World Championships - Marathon  Ornans, France 
Oct 12-14 - Roc D Azur Mountain Bike Marathon and Festival, France

My morning commute

THURSDAY MORNING

WEDNESDAY MORNING

40 Days

Riding has been great this week.  I backed off the endurance a little and made a tempo ride and a threshold ride my main workouts of the week.  Yesterday doing the threshold effort I surprised myself and matched my best ever time up the 40 minute climb to old camp.  Speaking of 40, I just finished up this post that I started writing about a week ago.

40 Days is a spiritually significant amount of time in several stories throughout the bible.  Saddleback Church uses a 40 day campaign each year to build the spiritual growth of it's members.  A couple weeks ago as Pastor Rick was teaching about the 7 principles behind the current "40 Days in the Word" campaign, I realized they all relate to physical training in the same way they relate to spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth / physical training is:

1. Intentional: You have to want it and decide to do it.

2. Incremental: Growth and training takes steps.  You can't reach your goals in one big effort.  You need to take multiple steps and make multiple small improvements.  This is hopefully common sense to most people into endurance sports.  It's refreshing spiritually though.  We might be saved as soon as we receive Christ, but it can take a lifetime of small steps to become more like him.

3. Personal: Everybody is different and we all need to do slightly different training to grow stronger physically and spiritually. Some of us respond better to endurance training while others get more benefit from short intense workouts.  Spiritually some of us need to share and talk with others about their experiences, while some of us need quiet reflection and time to reason through things.

4. Habitual: To improve you need to train enough that it becomes part of your daily routine and part of your lifestyle.  If you aren't consistent you aren't going to get very far.  

5. Relational: You can't do it alone.  We all need support and feedback from others.

6. Multi-dimensional: Both spiritual and physical growth will overlap with many aspects of your life.  You can't do everything else the same and add in an extra hour of training 5 times per week.  You also need to adjust other things like rest and diet.  It's the same spiritually, the stronger you become, the more your faith will start to affect how you work, who you hang out with, and more.

7. Seasonal: Obviously there is a main competitive season for all sports.  Endurance athletes are also familiar with periodization in training and resting.  I've recently been learning that the same can be said for spiritual growth. That's pretty cool to hear if you're like me and the strength of your faith varies sometimes.  It's normal to sometimes feel closer to God and other times feel farther from him.  Sometimes this goes on for days, week, or even months.  What's important is that God is who you ultimately turn to for grace and strength and that each time you turn back your relationship with Him grows stronger.

Rest Week

Rest weeks can be challenging for me, I definitely get some good and bad energy swings throughout the day.  This week has been a good one though.  Besides work I met with our real estate agent, got my teeth cleaned, got a massage, and my mornings and evenings were still more restful than usual.  A couple good rides followed by good naps this weekend and I'll be ready to go.  

One afternoon last week I felt like I was snacking a crazy amount so I wrote down everything I ate that day.  It seems like a lot at first glance, but calorie wise it was probably a little less than what I actually burned that day.

Bowl Honey Flake Cereal

3 Turkey Sausage links

1 Toast with Jelly

Grape Juice

Bottle Cytomax

Clifshot

Scoop of Whey Protein

Bagel type energy bar

Banana

Bagel sandwich (ham, egg, cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato)

Chips

Iced coffee

Clifbar

Large apple

Cup pretzels

Trader Joes Fig Bar

Salad

3 slices home made pizza

Mac and Cheese

Orange

Walnuts

It's time to get back to work for me.  And only 3 weeks until racing kicks off here in Socal!