Illness

It has been almost a decade since I have been ill enough to warrant taking time off of work. Normally I just use my sick leave to extend my weekends, so coming back after an illness is not something I’ve had to do very often(thank goodness), and after an amazing year of racing(for me), I’m both upset and glad with it’s timing.

On the negative side, getting sick takes a toll on the body, so I will lose a decent amount of the fitness that I’ve been able to sustain this late into the year. Granted I will have only been off the bike for a week, but it will take at least another week before my body gets back to being able to do regular workouts. Traditionally I would enjoy a break from being on the bike, but I haven’t wanted one. I’ve been enjoying my offseason rides, exploring new roads, and rediscovering some that I haven’t ridden in awhile.

On the positive side, the timing couldn’t be better. My race season is over, and I was just starting my offseason training. I have raced more this season than any other, almost twice as much as previous years, and have made huge gains in my mental and physical prowess. If I had gotten this sick during my trip to TOAD, I would have been devastated, mentally and physically.

It’s hard to accept but with the mentoring of my coach, and some good drugs, I will get back on the bike soon enough and start working towards my 2019 goals once again.

Off season/ base training

This week kicked off my off season/base training after a much needed week of very easy pedaling. I ended my 2018 race campaign after the Maryland Gran Fondo, and now my coach has dialed things back as I start my base training for 2019. We talked last week and decided to start running twice a week again, along with weight training.

I must admit that I was not looking forward to the running as much as I was hitting the weights. Years ago I wouldn’t have minded but I had taken off for several years. So last year per my request, my coach had me running again, and it was rough but I was pleasantly surprised. My coach started me off with a walk/run/walk, with the run portion lasting 15 minutes. I was nervous after not running for about 10 months, but it went very smooth.

After my run I hit the cable machines and touched on all the major muscle groups. Starting off with my legs, as they were still warm from the run, I did leg extensions, leg curls, and lastly the leg press machine. My coach asked me why the cable machines instead of the free weights? Well, it’s because I didn’t want to embarrass myself after not doing any weight training for a year. Yes, I am that vain.

Now it was upper body time, and again I used the the cable machines, for the same reason, my vanity. I did chest presses and fly’s, moved onto triceps, biceps, and finally some lat pull downs. I was truly expecting to be pretty sore after this, but I was only slightly.

Wednesday was a nice endurance pace ride, and then Thursday was another run day. Thursday I ran for 20 minutes, and then hit the weights. This time I did upper body first, as my legs were a little tired from the run and wanted to give them a break before I started that workout. I did a little more upper body than Tuesday, but not too much as I’m still working them into weight training. Now it was leg time, and I wanted to mix things up a little. I started with leg extensions, leg curls, as on Tuesday, but then I decided to do lunges while holding 20lb dumbbells. I started with 12 lunges per leg, then 10, then 8 and my legs were on fire! So naturally I did some light leg presses after that.

I was anticipating being crippled today, but alas, I was only somewhat sore! This was a surprise, and I believe a good sign as I’m just starting off my weight training. As I am a masters athlete, I feel that maintaining muscle strength is a must, and I’m hoping to improve upon this years gains for 2019 and hopefully finally hit that podium!