I'm Back...

Exciting news today from USA Cycling. 2019 Masters Road National Championships will be held in Colorado Springs, CO from August 8-11. This is my Super Bowl. Not often do you get to race Nationals in your backyard and have home court advantage. My best shot for a high placing will be racing the criterium but I'm going to give it full gas in the road race with a much lighter version of me. I haven't raced consistently for years now so this will be a huge huge huge goal of mine. I'm going to enjoy the journey and share my progress over the next 300 days. Game On.

I started training last week on October 1st like I use to when I was competitive in my 20s. The goal for October is pretty simple with consistency in my training and weight loss. I've been floating in fat between 190 and 200 pounds the last few years and it's time to get back down to a healthy weight. By the end of October I hope to be 180 pounds with 27 days of working out. November will be more of the same with more weight loss, training consistently and surviving the holiday binge of amazing food, snacks and drinks. The goal is to keep it simple and fun.

Doing This Starting Now!

https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/

Glendale, AZ

I was hoping to get some trail runs in but it turns out Glendale is far from any mountains.  I'm not a fan of pavement when it comes to running so I was lucky to find the Grand Canal dirt trail down the street from the hotel. Here are some pics from my two runs. I was eager to get more miles in but late nights and lots of beverages put a damper on it.

Sunday Worlds Group Ride. #dropped

Did not know this ride went straight up into the mountains. This being my first group ride in months and being overweight I was dropped rather quickly.  I enjoyed a nice solo ride afterwards. I'll be back to hang longer on this group ride in a few months.

PR

Today's trail run was a great workout.  The goal was to simply run the entire course without walking any of the steeper climbs.  I managed to successfully run all the climbs and create some new Strava PRs. Today's run will be a good baseline for the rest of the winter and spring. 

Cubs Win!!!!

On the trainer during game 7 of the World Series.  Exciting to see my home town team win after a 108 year drought. As a kid I spent many afternoons with my brother and mom at Cubs games and although I never got into playing baseball I do believe it sparked an interest to be athletic and competitive.  I went on to play competitive football, basketball, wrestled, track & field, high school volleyball, XC mountain bike, ultramarathons and of course road cycling.  Tonight's game was a great reminder to never give up, believe in yourself and with a little luck you can come out on top. Oh and a ton of hard work and sacrifice.

Day One

Awesome day for a trail run. No complaints with 70 degree weather in November! Stepped on the scale and I'm starting off at 195.8lbs. which is heavy. Lots of work to do!

Not bad but not good

After a few years of pretty much no riding I decided to get my road bike back up and running last February.  It was a slow start but eventually got some great rides in, some long rides, some racing and some results too!  November 1st marks the beginning of my training for next season and I'm more determined, focused and motivated than ever before.  With life only getting busier and crazier it's going to require a strict nutritional plan like never before, and structured workouts with minimal time to train.  Last summer I learned a lot about what I can achieve with limited training.  I was able to be competitive in some races and fast group rides last summer and I look forward to taking it up a notch.   I want to be fast!

 Time to reflect on my weight. Based on the graph below...I LOVE FOOD!  In fact too much of it.  No reason why I shouldn't be skinnier and leaner compared to a year ago.  Those that know me know that I ride to eat. That has to change for next season.  My goal is 164lbs by the beginning of March 2017.  We'll see what happens over the holidays and what kind of serious effort I need to make in January and February but it's going to happen.

Definitely looking to improve on these personal bests! Something about long solo days on the bike that I absolutely love.  Who knows maybe I'll recruit some buddies to bust out the Grand Tour again in June. That 200 mile ride with 3 mountain passes in a single day should take care of these personal bests for 2017.

Looking at this graph the last 12 months I want CONSISTENCY for next year! Maybe a couple bigger months during the summer but definitely no blanks months.

Look forward to updating this blog more often with my progress. Game on!

Denver Fall Visit