The Road to Somewhere

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
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xc62701

Well-Known Member
So for the new year I'm looking forward to Marty's Fat 50 coming up in less than two weeks. That's where I started my training off last season and I was hurting the whole race. I did pretty well but I didn't feel that great most of the time. I was barely hanging on for most sections. I'm hoping this year goes a little better. I did look back at my log from last year and saw that I was 196 at this point last year. I'm definitely not there right now but I have put on a few unwanted pounds with the holidays, injury, and Lucky's passing. It wasn't that great of a finish for 2017 and really 2017 can go SAD. But anyway I feel like I'm in a much better spot even with a few extra pounds right now heading into 2018.

After the 50 I'm looking forward to the short track races, H2H, some random endurance races, NYS stuff and a full cross calendar. I'm getting more pressure at home and it's for a good reason - with the little one I don't want to be away as much. So I'll be doing less of the full weekend away events and more stuff I can drive from home. That should keep my racing fix happy and the family happy. The ass situation is still in play and is still very annoying but is shrinking VERY slowly. My original baseball has now shrunk to a golfball, and still in the worst place to be on a saddle. I've just been saying screw it and riding anyway. It's awkward and I try to adjust as much as I can without it wrecking my knees but so far so good. I've only been riding 1 or 2 days a week but now I'll be ramping it up more. I'm aiming for 8 hours a week until March where I'll try and get 10-12 hours a week in.

That is all...
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Ok so I decided to take the plunge and hit the scale this morning to see what I"m at. It's been calling to me from the corner of the room but I've stayed away since if you don't put a number on it how bad could it be? Since the riding has been sparse, the eating has been not regimented, and mentally I've been exhausted I wasn't hoping for any good results. I stepped on the scale and I was 181 this morning. Better than I thought. I was 196 this time last year so I'll take that. I hope that means as we get further into the season I can shed more weight and get even lower for this race season. I raced most of last season around 170 so that's not horrible. At my low point I was 163 I think. Maybe that means I can break into the high 150's again. That's a number I haven't seen since 2013? Maybe... that's a big maybe. I love food and beer waaay more now than I did back then.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Ok so I decided to take the plunge and hit the scale this morning to see what I"m at. It's been calling to me from the corner of the room but I've stayed away since if you don't put a number on it how bad could it be? Since the riding has been sparse, the eating has been not regimented, and mentally I've been exhausted I wasn't hoping for any good results. I stepped on the scale and I was 181 this morning. Better than I thought. I was 196 this time last year so I'll take that. I hope that means as we get further into the season I can shed more weight and get even lower for this race season. I raced most of last season around 170 so that's not horrible. At my low point I was 163 I think. Maybe that means I can break into the high 150's again. That's a number I haven't seen since 2013? Maybe... that's a big maybe. I love food and beer waaay more now than I did back then.
I hear ya. I keep going through bouts of no booze. I am 204 now(189 low). I was 217 this time last year. I’d like to be 185 in the beginning of the season. Doing SS I definitely lose strength when losing weight but I floated into a nice power/weight ratio around June. I may see you out there again for marty’s.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I hear ya. I keep going through bouts of no booze. I am 204 now(189 low). I was 217 this time last year. I’d like to be 185 in the beginning of the season. Doing SS I definitely lose strength when losing weight but I floated into a nice power/weight ratio around June. I may see you out there again for marty’s.
Yea there is definitely a fine line to walk with power and cutting weight. That's why I didn't try to go super light last year. In 2012/13 I raced really well in the upper 150's and I realize that's probably not gonna happen. I'm ok with mid 160's though.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Yea there is definitely a fine line to walk with power and cutting weight. That's why I didn't try to go super light last year. In 2012/13 I raced really well in the upper 150's and I realize that's probably not gonna happen. I'm ok with mid 160's though.
I am going to work on the mental aspect this year. As much as I think I am racing hard my fitness says otherwise. I always feel like I can do another lap when I finish so not pushing hard enough.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I am going to work on the mental aspect this year. As much as I think I am racing hard my fitness says otherwise. I always feel like I can do another lap when I finish so not pushing hard enough.

Start pushing the edge of bonking. Then you'll know how far you can go...and how much you can cripple yourself ;)
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Has anyone had good luck with epsom salt baths? I'm currently trying this for my sitbone issue and using a sitz bath and hoping it helps relieve the swelling that's been a pain in my ass for the past two months - pun intended.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Has anyone had good luck with epsom salt baths? I'm currently trying this for my sitbone issue and using a sitz bath and hoping it helps relieve the swelling that's been a pain in my ass for the past two months - pun intended.
doctor? That sucks.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
doctor? That sucks.

I've been going for the past month and a half. They have been draining the area but the last time I was there they said I don't need to come back unless I want to - which I think is complete BS. I'm on the verge of going for a second opinion. I still have a bump the size of a golf ball under my sitbone that is getting smaller but it's taking it's sweet time. I want it gone yesterday.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I waited til the harshest morning of the new year to get my first ride in. The ride started out at -5 and went up to 5 degrees by the time I was finished 2.5 hours later. I had plenty of layers so I was actually too hot for the first bunch of the ride.

I did a bunch of Patriots Path over to the West Morris trail and through Dickerson Mine and home. I had to break trail for a bunch of it and got to ride some other tracks over by Dickerson but I would rather have had to break trail. Riding on other tracks made it more treacherous for the most part. It was a good 4" on most trails.
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xc62701

Well-Known Member
Well the Fat 50 came and went. I usually use this as a good early season kick in the pants but that was not this year. I know that Marty's has been trying to get away from this being a "race" and they did that more so with not having an actual roll out this year. It worked. I heard a few small groups went out but nothing materialized. I started out at 9 am hoping I would have a bunch of guys to put in a consistent hard effort with and that didn't happen. Thank fully I had two teammates out there to keep me entertained and give me some company. Early on I knew it just wasn't the typical day so instead of going hard the whole time I picked a few stretches to pick up the pace and see how the legs were feeling. It was good. I didn't overextend myself and the hotter sections felt like I was ready to do more. When I got back to the last rail trail after 206 I put in a good effort to finish up the event and I was happy to be done. The empanadas hit the spot and the firepit was a spot I didn't want to leave. So all in all it was a good day on the bike. I think the average temp was 25 degrees and if I wasn't doing the event I doubt I would have been out there for almost 4 hours on my own.

The real win seems to come in the next days following the event. I hit the trainer Friday, Fat 50 Sat, trainer Sun, then 3:20 in Mooch yesterday. Four days in a row of riding and being able to "almost" comfortably sit. My situation is still there and getting better but at least it's getting better. This would not have been possible since November so I'm making progress towards being healed from this evil situation.
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xc62701

Well-Known Member
Of course since the last update I've had a respiratory infection and been on meds and just feeling miserable. I think I'm on the upside of things at this point. Of course in the interim I've been feeling crappy and eating everything I want and that's no good for the race weight. Things went in the wrong direction but now I've got the diet back on track and the numbers are getting back down where they should be. Well still higher than I want but at least I'm going in the right direction. The strategy for me for the most part has been eat healthy during the week and then have some cheats on the weekend. That usually keeps me going strong into the race season and then I modify it as needed from there.

Looking ahead there are no races in the next month but I'm already looking at the short track races as great prep for the H2H races that are looming shortly after that. I'm conflicted though. I don't know if I want to race Cat 1, Fat, Endurance or a mixture of them. I think the races may help me decide that as the order and times of the categories has to work in with family time. So there's that... I'll see more as I get closer.

I did get to ride outside in the upper 30's and low 40's. It was nice to not be freezing my balls off for a change...
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
This week has been nuts for me with crap going on. Between my family, my mom, meetings, work, riding, ski racing, etc... it's been nonstop each day from 5-11. That probably helped out since I told myself I would kick start some weight loss by eating super clean and cut some calories and being busy I haven't really had time to snack.

I wanted to do 2 or 3 days of this but now I'm on day 5. I definitely feel a little less energy but not as bad as I should. I'll start adding in more calories but I'm going to use the same pattern I did last year. Eat clean during the week, and have some cheats on the weekends. That worked well last year and has been going well so far. I'm getting closer to where I was during cross season before all the shit hit the fan this fall/winter.

Things are looking up and I'm trying to be active as much as possible and really just get into a healthy routine. Believe it or not I haven't had ANYTHING bad since Sunday. My giant tub of nutella is getting lonely.

The first short track is 5+ weeks away!
 
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