Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Finding some form...

In cycling, the term for when someone is really riding well is called "having form". Form is a weird thing in that it comes and goes. Since cycling isn't the most skill oriented activity around, how well you do is mostly dependent on two things; one's physical abilities and tactics. I'm still learning the second which makes the first very important. Form is more than being in shape; it's having your body be able to act at the peak of it's output throughout a race. It's something you build up to, hold for a while and then let go of so that you can build it again. No one has great form all the time; the body can't operate at it's peak for more than three or four weeks. So cycling is all about building up to form, using your form to win races or at least do well and then resting for the next cycle.

I finally feel like I'm developing some form and man is it good. My rides this last week have been really strong. Yesterday I did 62 miles at almost 22 mph solo. That's almost race pace but by myself, not in a pack. Earlier in the week I did a TT training ride and ripped off a 25 mph effort without my TT helmet, my disk wheel or shoe covers. I was flying. I did a hill interval session where I was really climbing strong and decending solidly. The best part is that I'm not anywhere near my peak yet. I won't hit that for another six or seven weeks. So if I can keep from overtraining and stay healthy I should be good when the April races come around, which is when I planned to be in my best form. After that I'll take a short break and then build up to a peak for Nationals. I needed 6% to make the top ten at nationals and I definitely feel like I'm a lot better than 6% better than this time last year.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Monday, February 21, 2005

Finally...An Update

I've been meaning to get out here for the last two weeks and have struggled to find the time and energy to do so. Lots of little things that eat up my free time plus a new outlet for my thinking have conspired to keep me away.

Cycling
I took 3rd again in the second race in the Tundra Time Trial Series for an overall place of 3rd. Not too bad considering I was racing in Masters 35+ but it was hard to not do better. I would have won in the Cat IV catagory. Looking at some of the guys who were flying made me feel like I was behind but once I talked to them I found out they all started back from their off season earlier than I did because they didn't try to race past the end of September. That means they have about four weeks more trianing under their belts than I do. That made me feel a bit better. Next year I want to shoot for the overall podium and one of the really cool glass-blown trophies. I'll probably changge my training routine at the end of next year to try for this. It will mean I won't finish the MTB season this year and Claxton will be an early season century rather than the last ride of the year but I be set for the next race season with excellent early season form.

Bass
Things are coming along. I still have a lot of improvement to make on keeping a steady rhythm but I am learning a lot about creating good bass lines. I'm beginning to do some real basic improvization within a chord which has been a lot of fun. I long to play with folks but I need to improve more before I do. I've found that the most difficult thing in making music with others is communication. If one person knows a song they don't always do a good job communicating the info everyone else needs like key, chord progession and time. People just want to play and they don't always like to take the time to help others play with them. It shows me that creating in community is a lot harder than creating individually in some ways but it always seems to be a more satisfying experience.

Emerging Church
We're still looking for a church home. I've come to the conclusion that I really would like to find an emerging church to worship with. An church we previously attended contacted me. The guy was a deacon at the church and he and I had a good relationship when we left. I felt comfortable letting him know some of my struggles and he's willing to look at the EC movement to see what it holds. I doubt that the church will adopt this model but the fact that there's someone else will to talk with me about it is encouraging. I've been spending a lot of time out at The Ooze talking with others interested in the Emerging Church movement and doing ministry to a postmodern world. It makes me long for a congregation that shares these values in doing church creatively.

Hopefully, I'll update again soon. Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Time Trialin'

Did the first race of the two race Tundra Time Trial series yesterday. Didn't do as good as last year but did better than the first year. I took third in Master's 35+ so that's three years in a row in the 15K podium. This year is a bit different in that there are two races with the second one being about 24K. I'm out of second place in M35+by 44 seconds which is a lot of time to make up. In the other hand, I've got more distance to do it in and hopefully I can do a better job of prepping for the race in the days ahead. I was able to get my heart rate up no problem, but I didn't have the power I needed. I have a feeling a lot had to do with how I ate and trained the last couple of days last week. If I can do a little better there, I think I can do a good bit better.

It finally looks like we'll get a some better weather so hopefully I can get some real trainign in. The days are starting to get that little bit longer and that makes a big difference. The biggest thing I need to do is be more disciplined in my scheduling to I can maximize my training time. after yesterday's race my quads felt like goo and I felt whipped all day. A 24 minute effort like that kills me right now but by summer I'll do an hour at a faster pace than that and feel good at the end. It's amazing what training can do. The last symptoms of my cold are fading away so that'll help as well.

Anyways, thanks for reading and more to come soon.

The Physicist   Link Me    |