Cicero in action. Early defender of natural rights.
In writing to his friend Atticus, Cicero, the great Roman orator, begs a question by starting "How much longer must we ..." in reference to the direction of the soon to be doomed Roman Republic. As I listened to the lecturer go on about this example in reference to realpolitik throughout the course of history, I found myself pondering the same question "How much longer..." in regards to the ridiculously long, steep hill that I was climbing that seemed to never end. The Jacksonville trails are a blast to ride downhill on the Grammo Toa but can cause a mountain of negative self reflection on the way up.
Amazing how much fitness a person loses in the course of a year. I suppose an over indulgence of Standing Stone's sweet potato fries (and that dip is so good!) and a bounty of homemade cookies help get me here. I haven't been completely inactive however, but certainly not in a training mindset. Riding and training do not even belong in the same sentence as far as that goes. Sure you ride while training but you train to race. Training is specific targets that must be reached day by week by month and then cross your fingers in the end and hope that you got it right.
Where riding is fun, training is sobering. Training brings a grimace, riding brings a smile. Riding is good for socializing, training makes breathing hard let alone talking. Training takes as much mental exertion to stay focused on goals as it does physical energy to push the body towards those goals. Riding is a stress reliever that brings one back to our natural state as human beings.
I am a big fan of the periodization training technique that Joe Friel preaches using 3 building weeks into a 4th recovery week. Within the 3 weeks, time and intensity increases each week until the 4th week where the body tries to make sense of the pounding incurred over the previous 3. All the while counting calories, trying to get enough sleep, and oh...live the day to day. I am by no respect a coach and will not even attempt to offer tips, but it points out the scientific nature that can go into training.
Leaving transition at Granite Man with Toa in hand
I have started doing some races locally like the J-ville STXC, that caused me extreme pain, suffering, and brought me to the closest I ever signed up for vomiting while in race mode. On Saturday I produced the fastest bike split at the Granite Man Off Road Tri in what amounted to an off road TT for me, as I was just the bike leg of a relay. In the latter I felt some good turnover, merely brief reminders on the racing fixation.
So the questions begs to be asked to myself, "How much longer?" until I have the fitness of yesteryear. I don't know the answer right now, but I am crossing my fingers and hoping I get right for cross.
