A BRIEF OVERVIEW

MY TRAINING (OR THE LACK OF IT)

    I did a century yesterday. Proud of that. I also know I could have done much better. My training for the last two months has sucked (my diet sucked for most of the year or I would have been at least 50 lbs lighter)

     In February I lost my job and was out of work for about 8 months. At the time I lost my job I said to myself "well I will just realx a little from working and spend more time in the gym". And I did For the better part of 6 months it was like a religion to me. I was in the gym 2-3 hours a day 5-6 days a week. Stairmaster, Elliptical, Life Cycle, Spin Class, walking 18 holes of golf. I went hard at these things. Then in about April I signed up for the RTC Viva Las Vegas Century and I started riding again. Mostly on the trainer initially and then started adding a couple of road rides as I got in better shape. I built up the rides from a base of about 40 miles to a high of about 85 miles by late July. Trust me that is hard in the heat of Las Vegas. And I hate mornings but I would force myself up at ungodly hours so that I could be done before it was hot enough to melt your skin.

About the time I did that 85 mile ride I think I came very close to heat stroke so it knocked me out for a week or  so and the workouts suffered for it. August was okay..but no great. AT the end of August and the beginning of September I spent about a week getting ready to move into a new apartment. That took about 5 days out of my training.

About the middle of the month I started doing freelance photography for a local newspaper again as well as starting a graveyard position at a local convenience store chain. This resulted in a grand total of 11 workouts in September. None longer than an hour and a half. Most 1 hour or less. Most on my trainer.

October was definitely not any better. I had a grand total of 3 workouts before my Century ride. 2 of these were  a long ride on Monday's and the third was a trainer ride. My longest ride was just under 60 miles.

As the time without a job grew longer and longer my drinking kept increasing. Which increased my eating and decreased my motivation for the gym. Not a great combo when you are trying to get in shape and lose weight. I am so glad I am working because it has severely decreased my drinking. Mostly due to a lack of time. But also because I have less stress in life.

All this being said I am proud of the fact that I went thru with the Century and completed it in a respectable time. My goal for the next year is to find a way to fit in my workouts, get in better shape, actually lose weight and do a century again next year. The goal will definitely be to do it in under 6 hours of riding time.