...that, at 28, I'm almost thirty. I like to point out that he is old enough to have a daughter who's almost thirty. I think I win.
Wait, of course I win. Because it's my birthday! It's been wonderful so far: Mitch sang "Happy Birthday" to me first thing in the morning, sent me beautiful flowers at work, let me eat a piece of birthday cake before dinner, grilled melt-in-your-mouth venison tenderloin steaks, and got me a light for my bike. Now he's downstairs setting my NEW ROAD BIKE up with a computer so I can do some spinning and start getting comfortable with her. (Note: The bike was not a birthday present. I've been saving my pennies, though I didn't anticipate making the purchase so soon. But these things happen...)
"So take this broken offering and make me whole,
Set my feet upon the road that leads me home,
let me walk as one fixed upon the goal,
even though I've got a thousand miles to go..."
Set my feet upon the road that leads me home,
let me walk as one fixed upon the goal,
even though I've got a thousand miles to go..."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Training Motivation
Last week was a really good training week: I went to all three strength training sessions, did (a very painful) half of the CTS criterium DVD on Tuesday and did an easy half hour spin on Thursday. I also shoveled our entire driveway - does that count as cross training? :)
Everyone motivates themselves in different ways. I need some sort of competition to keep me enthusiastic, which is one reason I love mountain bike racing: I can do something I really enjoy, but it also speaks to my competitive spirit and helps me push myself. One of my main problems, though, is that in all my athletic experience, I've never trained for anything that required endurance. Cheerleading (no joke, one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I've done) was a bunch of isometrics, a healthy set of lungs and a perky smile. Skiing was a technique thing, though our coach seemed to love making us hike the hill. In track and field, I was a sprinter and a long jumper, and the training for all my events focused on drilling technique into me. This mountain biking thing, on the other hand, seems like it's all about being fit and having endurance. And yes, a certain amount of technical ability, but I think we're safe to say I'm used to developing technique and can handle it easier than endurance training.
I've hit on three training maxims for myself to help me, mentally, as I continue training. The first is that I'm training so I can learn to suffer better, for longer. This is never going to be easy. This is never going to be automatic, like learning the hang style for long jump. This is always going to hurt, because I'll always be pushing to be faster or go longer. My goal, then, is to get better at suffering on the bike.
Second, I can't cheat myself. If I'm not working hard - if I'm not suffering - I'm cheating myself out of a good workout. I won't accomplish my goals by cheating. And third, I always have to keep fighting for it. Not cheating myself requires that I fight for that last interval, for that unattainable cadence, for that final set of lunges, squats, push-ups, whatever.
I'll probably fight this mental battle throughout the entire training season, and then through the race season as I seek to maintain fitness between events. But maybe, just maybe, there's a secret weapon in the basement to help. Maybe she's shiny and blue, with skinny road tires...
Everyone motivates themselves in different ways. I need some sort of competition to keep me enthusiastic, which is one reason I love mountain bike racing: I can do something I really enjoy, but it also speaks to my competitive spirit and helps me push myself. One of my main problems, though, is that in all my athletic experience, I've never trained for anything that required endurance. Cheerleading (no joke, one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I've done) was a bunch of isometrics, a healthy set of lungs and a perky smile. Skiing was a technique thing, though our coach seemed to love making us hike the hill. In track and field, I was a sprinter and a long jumper, and the training for all my events focused on drilling technique into me. This mountain biking thing, on the other hand, seems like it's all about being fit and having endurance. And yes, a certain amount of technical ability, but I think we're safe to say I'm used to developing technique and can handle it easier than endurance training.
I've hit on three training maxims for myself to help me, mentally, as I continue training. The first is that I'm training so I can learn to suffer better, for longer. This is never going to be easy. This is never going to be automatic, like learning the hang style for long jump. This is always going to hurt, because I'll always be pushing to be faster or go longer. My goal, then, is to get better at suffering on the bike.
Second, I can't cheat myself. If I'm not working hard - if I'm not suffering - I'm cheating myself out of a good workout. I won't accomplish my goals by cheating. And third, I always have to keep fighting for it. Not cheating myself requires that I fight for that last interval, for that unattainable cadence, for that final set of lunges, squats, push-ups, whatever.
I'll probably fight this mental battle throughout the entire training season, and then through the race season as I seek to maintain fitness between events. But maybe, just maybe, there's a secret weapon in the basement to help. Maybe she's shiny and blue, with skinny road tires...
Friday, January 08, 2010
Brag Time
I fought off a cold. That never happens, but I put my mind and body to the task, and it worked!
Laurie's Recipe for Fighting the Common Cold
-Airborne, three times a day. Mmm, fizzy Gatorade!
-Lots of water. If you don't get annoyed with how often you have to pee, drink more.
-A bit of physical exercise. I found an easy 30-minute spin on the trainer to be perfect...as long as it's combined with excessive hydration.
-Time in the sauna. Clear those pores, release those toxins, soothe the chest and sinuses, elevate that temperature...just be sure to hydrate! (And yes, friends, you can come use our sauna. Because who realistically has access to one of those on demand? Oh, you do! Because we have one in our basement!)
-Periodic rest time. Take half an hour and relax every so often, especially if painting bathrooms is really starting to tire you out. (Can you tell what I was doing when my most recent cold started coming on?)
I am proud to say that, for once in my life, I was actually able to defeat a cold before it hit me full force. Yeah, I still had a night or two of minor congestion, but that is worlds better than the usual weeks of misery. If I can go all winter without a monster cold, then I'll really have reason to brag!
Laurie's Recipe for Fighting the Common Cold
-Airborne, three times a day. Mmm, fizzy Gatorade!
-Lots of water. If you don't get annoyed with how often you have to pee, drink more.
-A bit of physical exercise. I found an easy 30-minute spin on the trainer to be perfect...as long as it's combined with excessive hydration.
-Time in the sauna. Clear those pores, release those toxins, soothe the chest and sinuses, elevate that temperature...just be sure to hydrate! (And yes, friends, you can come use our sauna. Because who realistically has access to one of those on demand? Oh, you do! Because we have one in our basement!)
-Periodic rest time. Take half an hour and relax every so often, especially if painting bathrooms is really starting to tire you out. (Can you tell what I was doing when my most recent cold started coming on?)
I am proud to say that, for once in my life, I was actually able to defeat a cold before it hit me full force. Yeah, I still had a night or two of minor congestion, but that is worlds better than the usual weeks of misery. If I can go all winter without a monster cold, then I'll really have reason to brag!
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Happy New Year!
I feel like I'm required to post an entry that kind of wraps up last year and looks ahead to 2010. Well, here are some of the most memorable things that happened in 2009:
*We took an awesome ski trip to Searchmont with our friends (and we're already scheduled for an encore later this month)
*I visited a friend in Colorado, where we skied both Vail and Beaver Creek.
*We joined the On 2 Wheels race team and had a great mountain biking season.
*God especially blessed us during Mitch's period of unemployment: he was able to work for my brother over the summer, which provided him with a dark tan and plenty of time for miles on the trail.
*We spent a week mountain biking in Northern Michigan and had all sorts of adventures.
*Thanks to Mitch's new job with ETX, Inc. in Alma, we bought our first house! Blessings in disguise, folks: we never would have considered the location while he was working in Mason.
We can never plan for everything the future holds, but I do have some definite things to look forward to in 2010:
*I'll finish my MBA in March and officially graduate in May.
*Thanks to our first-time home buyer tax credit (!), our basement should get a bit of a face lift.
*We're in for another race season with On 2 Wheels and have already started training: Mitch hopes for strong performances at the expert level and I'd like to improve my times in the sport category.
*We'd like to take a few summer vacations this year, like a week of biking in the U.P. and at least a weekend at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. Oh, and a fall trip to the New River Gorge!
*It's time to start rock climbing again (in preparation for the aforementioned trip to the New)!
*I want to get more involved with our wonderful church and the MMBA. After all, I'll need something to keep me busy once my grad work is done!
To top this off, I'd like to say that I'm not really a resolution person. I don't need to wait for an arbitrary point in time to make positive changes in myself; however, a sermon about finding peace (the last one of 2009, in fact) really made me think hard about how I handle challenging situations. I would like to seek peace more in 2010 by praying more and spending more time building my relationship with God.
So here's to 2009, with all its joys and struggles. And here's to 2010, with the promise of peace.
*We took an awesome ski trip to Searchmont with our friends (and we're already scheduled for an encore later this month)
*I visited a friend in Colorado, where we skied both Vail and Beaver Creek.
*We joined the On 2 Wheels race team and had a great mountain biking season.
*God especially blessed us during Mitch's period of unemployment: he was able to work for my brother over the summer, which provided him with a dark tan and plenty of time for miles on the trail.
*We spent a week mountain biking in Northern Michigan and had all sorts of adventures.
*Thanks to Mitch's new job with ETX, Inc. in Alma, we bought our first house! Blessings in disguise, folks: we never would have considered the location while he was working in Mason.
We can never plan for everything the future holds, but I do have some definite things to look forward to in 2010:
*I'll finish my MBA in March and officially graduate in May.
*Thanks to our first-time home buyer tax credit (!), our basement should get a bit of a face lift.
*We're in for another race season with On 2 Wheels and have already started training: Mitch hopes for strong performances at the expert level and I'd like to improve my times in the sport category.
*We'd like to take a few summer vacations this year, like a week of biking in the U.P. and at least a weekend at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. Oh, and a fall trip to the New River Gorge!
*It's time to start rock climbing again (in preparation for the aforementioned trip to the New)!
*I want to get more involved with our wonderful church and the MMBA. After all, I'll need something to keep me busy once my grad work is done!
To top this off, I'd like to say that I'm not really a resolution person. I don't need to wait for an arbitrary point in time to make positive changes in myself; however, a sermon about finding peace (the last one of 2009, in fact) really made me think hard about how I handle challenging situations. I would like to seek peace more in 2010 by praying more and spending more time building my relationship with God.
So here's to 2009, with all its joys and struggles. And here's to 2010, with the promise of peace.
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