Thursday, October 01, 2009

let the "offseason" begin...


before i get into anything concerning me... well not directly. gordon just got a killer new bike and it has sparked my interest. he just built himself a 2010 Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper Carbon HT 29er! I checked it out yesterday and it's sick. I plan on riding it very soon. there is no question i want this bike... either in the 29 or 26 version. check the B&L blog for gordon's review and description of the bike.

the last race i had on my race calendar for the year that i was actually training for was the innagural SoCal Epic 50 miler and since i am not doing that anymore the season is over! kind of...

it's different for me this year. i actually raced a lot less and it was mostly all on the bike. it definitely didn't beat me up the way racing and training for xterra did the past 3 years. in years past by the time i hit october i was burning out... fast and my body was getting tired/rundown. this year i don't have that feeling. my body feels good and I am really looking forward to hitting up the 'cross circuit.

my plan for the the fall is to race a lot of cyclocross, do the last 3 dirt dog XC running, races, and have fun. i am not going to follow any specific training plan or put together some master plan to peak for any of these races. that's the beauty of these races. they are short and just anaerobic hammerfests (my favorite type of racing). the CX races for cat 3/4 are 45 minutes of hell on the bike and the running races are no longer than 4 miles... but super hard.

so it's simple. not much prep is needed. no need to worry about nutrition, race planning, or tapering. just show up on the weekends, throwdown, and have a good time.

so i am going to back off the bike miles a bit, but still get out on some group rides, try to hit the trails with beth as much as possible, and go long on the weekends if i have time. for the run i am just going to try and get back at it. for the last month i have been running 1-2 days a week and not fast... and not really having that much fun doing it but i think that will change if i start getting some more miles in my legs. beth is convinced i will find my love of running again as soon as i starting getting out there more regularly. so for right now i am just going to try to run 3-4 days a week, mellow, and try to build a long run back up to 90 minutes. i haven't run over an hour since may.

so this is the start of my "offseason". no race focus, just having fun and staying in shape... and hammering on the weekends! it's nice that it's october and i have no big races looming. i just want have fun riding my bikes and running (not training), watching football & the MLB playoffs, and drinking good beer!

10 comments:

GZ said...

One word ... A-effing-men.

Ryan D said...

"just show up on the weekends, throwdown, and have a good time."

awesome.

ll said...

yeah dude!

Charisa said...

I like your plan - I think it's awesome. FUN and some racing thrown in. I bet you do great at the races because you aren't burned out too.

Unknown said...

Congrats on a killer season! Your off season will be fun to watch so keep us posted on your events. Oh and that bike looks so sick -- go for it!

Unknown said...

Your 'offseason' sounds great. I don't know much about MTB, but I was JUST at my bike shop and I saw that bike on the wall, it looks amazing.

Tawnee Prazak, M.S., CSCS said...

Cheers to that!

Hope to see you at Mission Bay Sunday morning.

Carolina John said...

cross has become quite popular down here as well. have fun with it, i might get suckered into a cross race in the spring.

MJ said...

Sounds like a plan... especially the baseball, football and beer.

I think Beth's right on the running... I know if I'm not out there enough it's hard to run at the level where 'enjoyment' kicks in... maybe you're the same?

Cheers to the offseason!

GoBigGreen said...

If you ever get towards MN you need to pick up some SURLY ...best beer...Summit is good locally too but the SURLY is worth traveling for. ( not the bike manufacturers) enjoy the off season and good luck with the wedding plans!