Going Lone Ranger!

Going Lone Ranger was the attitude that I was forced to take when I moved to New Orleans in 1995 to take on a private coaching job for table tennis. That was the first time in my career that I was without a team to lean on for motivation, moral, and just overall camaraderie.

I had absolutely no friends when I was there, and it really was a 1 year contract in solitude. I lived a couple of miles from The French Quarter, but I don’t party or drink so that didn’t work. There were no good players anywhere in the state or surrounding areas, so I couldn’t get any good training.

That was the first time I forced myself to run, as I needed to find a way to burn off this anxiety. I was making great money for being a single athlete, but I needed my environment to get back in my groove. So I started running, and running and running. I even ran the Cresent City Classic which is the most popular 10K in New Orleans, and it starts in the middle of Jackson Square. Every now and then when I’m riding my bike and I have a good flow going I’m able to replicate that same breathing pattern as those times and it takes me back to running up and down Napoleon Ave next to the trolleys.

Then I bought a mountain bike. It was a Trek 800 Sport with no suspension, and it was on. I would ride all around the town, and that was when I first got the cycling bug. What was more important was I learned to be self-sufficient from a emotional standpoint. I learned that I could do it without anyone else making it easier. When you have a group of people to lean on, it is truly culture shock to go off on your own. So my brother called me the “Lone Ranger” minus Tanto ever since then.

That is probably why I do most of my training with only one practice partner in table tennis, and almost all my training by myself on the bike. I believe that being by yourself is the only way to deal with yourself on every level. Getting in with a group later is a way to test yourself inside of the group dynamic atmosphere, and to see if you have improved on any aspects. I think you do need it too, but your program can be done without.

I was kind of dreading my return back to the mtn bike, because it's always a shock to the body to go back to taking that abuse. I got off work on Wed, went home packed up and took my bike to the Active Cycles to have the new Agilis crank put on with my 34-44 chainrings. I actually road very well with the 33-45, but I know that it is in my best interest to have that extra teeth.

I got the crank on, and headed out for Markham. When I got there it was a small group of riders already there. Andres, his son, Richard D, Bob, Steve, and Dean where out, so I went in with them. My intentions was to get dropped, so I could find my mode, but I was riding ok without going too deep. I had not really lost much of my skills, but the hands and butt seemed a little tender. Bob and I walk away from the bunch, and I realy have no intentions of staying with him, but slower riders up the trail kept me in contact.

By the time we got to gun range I was feeling my back ache just a bit but the legs and lungs felt neutral so I decided to keep pushing the pedal, but not to bury myself. I keep things steady in the gun range and when I come out Bob is about 10 seconds ahead of me. Last summer I would launch an all out offensive to get back on his wheel, but I just continue at my pace. I think it's too ambitious for me to ride any faster. At this point is when I normally get dropped by for some reason Bob is keeping me in his sights. At this point Andres jumps in as he had fixed his flat and cuts in the course to ride with us.

I don't make an attempt to bridge to Bob, and nor does he decide to ramp it up. By the time I finish the lap he had pretty much allowed me to bridge up to him. The time was 34mins,4 seconds, which is the fastest time that I have done since last May. I really didn't want to ride that fast as I was just getting back on the bike. Markham is a very tough course to come to after 6 weeks off the bike and to ride that speed. I was a little happy with the effort, but I would take it easy the next lap.

We go back in and I immediately let Bob go, as I hate giving in to the Peer Pressure of going all out. I also let Andres by before the Rock Garden and I settle into my own Speed Pacing. Richard and Steve are behind me, and I keep it steady as I don't want to ride like I'm racing. I really just want to enjoy being back on the bike and enjoy my mode.

Coming out of the gunrange I'm about 1 minute off the last lap time and I was keeping the heartrate under 160bpm. I make a mistake in Outback Extension and I let Richard and Steve pass me. Before I know it, they are both gone. See, why does the riders have to race all the time. Funk That! I'm going to just ride and finish the lap without acting ignorant. Richard's going to get a hard on if he drops me, so he just might get that hard on today.

I keep it steady and I'm determined that I just need to push the pedals without overextending the legs or lungs. In Bermuda Triangle I can see that Richard has slow down like someone put a parachute on him. I look down, and my heartrate is 162bpm. I didn't lift my pace, he dropped his anchor. By the time we finish the lap, my heartrate is 147bpm. He just outright went backwards for the last 6 minutes.

After we finish the lap I say "You son of a gun, you lifted the pace". He first denied, then said he saw some daylight and tried to put it down. I said it's ok to do it, I'm not offended. He even said he wanted to say he dropped us. I guess it's good to have that environment to train in. I'm pretty tempermental about when I'm in the mood for that kind of intense riding. I'm just not into burning matches when I don't need to.

I ride around the park to cool down while putting together the rest of the week of training in my head. On Thursday, I'm meeting with a guy in my neigborhood that races Rosewood, and we are going to ride around this circle next to where I live. It's an awesome 1.7mile loop and you never have to worry about traffic and you can hit the pedals and never let off the gas. I used to ride the Hiatus/Old Hiatus Loop, but I the turns onto Broward and Sunrise have too much traffic. So this loop is great to just put your head down and time trial to the max. To make this kind of workout more productive and specific, I gotta go ahead and get the polar power meter.

Friday, I'm going do the 1hr CTS "One Legged Drills" on my trainer with the hypoxia mask on at 9000ft Altitude. I still think that there is nothing better than continuing to improve the rpm's. I had a huge improvement last year when I focused on this. In fact, on Sunday when I rode with the Weston Flyers group, I was the only rider rotating at 29mph that was NOT in the big chain ring. I've done one workout on the trainer with the mask on, and I could feel that I had to really breath much deeper. Note to self: Get Power Meter.

On Saturday I'm going to do the Sheridian Ride, and put in a couple of hard pulls at the front. The ride was bananas last week as the avg spd was 27.6 for the ride, which is the fastest it has ever been since I rode it. After the ride I going to do the same route as last week that has me going 85miles total. My goal is to stay under 150bpms, as that is going to be my required heartrate zone to prepare for the Santos 6 or 12hr. It's on the other side which is the Vortex side which has wider, longer single track. I haven't done that course since 2004, I don't remember it being that jagged, so this may be my the best type of course for me to do.

If my legs feel ok, then I'm going to go over and funk with Oleta to the tune of 30-miles of selective singletrack. I don't see a need to do Rocky Mile if I'm preparing for Santos. But I do want to ride at this course just because it's longer, so I get to ride more uninterrupted.

Some thought I have for 2008 so far on:

The Water Ionizer!
That shit is the bomb. I could tell the difference the very first time I road while drinking 8.5 water. I came home after a hard 51 mile road ride, and I felt great. The legs were not tender, or sore. I had done 5 days in a roll, and put in big efforts all those days, and I have not need to take a rest day because of the acid build up. If you are drinking water that has a ph of 8.5, that has a negative ORP, then acid can't exist. Digestion is way better now. I'm actually eating less food in one sitting, and drinking more water during the day. My % of water weight on my scale has gone from 58.2 to 61.1. I can't say enough about this purchase. I have decided that for the first week I'll drink 8.5, the 2nd week I'll moved up to 9.0, then the third week I'll settle into making 9.5 my permanent water to drink. I look forward to seeing how it affects my body once I have moved up to drinking 9.5 water on a regular basis. I'm so stuck on this because I really do think that water is the key. I read this book called, "Your not hungry, your thirsty", and it some of the most intense, but simple reading that you can ever come across. Why don't more people know this? He state that the body should be 70% water, and that we are only as healthy as the fluids that our bodies bath in. Enough on that, I could go all day.

Hypoxia Altitude Tent!
It can get hot and stuffy with 2 people and a dog in it. The weather is cool right now, so it's going to be ideal for the next month or so. Every time the altitude gets to 9300ft, I wake up. My body does not like it to be that high. If we go to bed at the same time, the altitude goes down faster, and I wake up sooner. If one of us hits the sack first, then I normally wake up later.

I know you are probably wondering why I’m reaching to every single corner to get better as a rider now that I want to do it like I did table tennis. One phrase sticks in mind from 1988, is “You ain’t doing jack”. That is the subject of a post that I'll put up next week.

Pacer Out!