"And so it begins..."

I created this blog to allow me to narrate my training and journeys through the 2009 Cycling Season. I'm sure there will be postings on here addressing my point of view from inside various races, musings on different training ideas (and the frustrations of acting as my own coach), and the occassional observation on the sport of cycling in its various states of being.

I had a 2008 season of returning to cycling after a very long layoff (7-8 years) and delayed by a couple injuries and illness unrelated to cycling in 2007. 2008 was mainly a fitness year - lots of riding (nearly 13000 km), general weight loss and addressing some overall fitness issues including some increasing general strength and cross training cardiovascularly. My riding was mostly to get back to the basics, the joy of riding my bike, a couple little training races here and there and competitive group rides. Honestly it was for me to get back to the point, on a confidence level, that I could still race competitively after the extended layoff.

So today's ride was a simple one, going out for enjoyment and the beginning of the building a base. Nasty winds as a nor'easter comes rolling through NC. I rode with a power meter mostly to track heart rate and found that my power hasn't dropped off as much as expected it to over the past month. Though through this early period I am not looking to do too much with it regarding power specifically, its good to occassionally make sure I am not pushing the heart rate too high as well as insuring my cadence stays in a good range of 95-105 for large portions of the ride. Total ride time of 2 hours with average heart rate of 146. Not bad, felt great throughout except for a little tightness in my back and abs which I always get after an extended time off the bike. Tomorrow's plan is 3+ hours if the weather cooperates (possibility of very high winds).

My goals this year are centered around starting much earlier in the season so that by the beginning of the 2009 calendar year I am already transitioning to much more difficult workouts and building power and speed, timing this for early spring races. I have started over 3 months prior to the end of the year to ensure a really good base as I could feel in previous years the breakdowns that come from not having that and the difference I believe it will make on my system not having the several years "in my legs" that many opthers will have. A two peak season is planned hopefully with a second peak for the mid summer Master's Nats and some racing up north potentially. Additionally, after taking nearly 3 weeks off prior to today with a little weight gain and some previous weight that never came off over the past summer, some weight loss through a much improved diet (more on this in later posts) as well as more specific cycling training.

The Bug