LoToJa TRAINING RIDE #9 – END OF THE ROAD AKA BETTY CROCKER TIME

DID YOU KNOW A 20 OZ BOTTLE OF DR. PEPPER CONTAINS 250 DELICIOUS, REFRESHING CALORIES?  After 6 hours on the two-wheeler the cupboard was empty – 6 waffles gone, 6 bottles of GQ6 drained.  The Shell at Crown Valley and Niguel is a trusty dealer of sugar and fat.  I cracked open the bottle and settled on 2 Tiger’s Milk bars vs BBQ Lay’s.

So cold.

So good.

So many calories.

My formula, well Paul’s CTS formula, was perfect.  300 calories/hour.  With the Dr. P and 1 bar, 400 more calories would get me to Kaylani’s… where all great rides end in celebration.

Garmin says today was my longest day ever.  It wasn’t, but it was close.  LoToJa will take about 3 more hours, and I felt like I could easily do that… but there’s no point.  I’m ready, well as ready as I’m going to get.

It’s Betty Crocker Time now.

What I mean is, all the ingredients have been mixed and it’s time to put the cake in the oven:  nutrition is dialed, bike is dialed (got my rear wheel warranteed and back, shifting perfected, saddle figured out, etc.)

3 weeks out, I’m not going to get any faster or fitter… but I can certainly get slower.

No more big, long rides like today.

I’ll be resting more.

Trying to sleep a lot.

Maybe a few efforts, and a couple of sprints.

But right now, it’s so easy to overcook the cake.  You can undercook it too, but it’s much more like to be overcooked.  It’s time to really trust the training, and let the body heal and recover.

Work on your brain, too.

Everything for the next 3 weeks is going to be about feeling fresh.  Building mental confidence that I’m going to have a great day.

I’ll go over the bike.  Inspect the tires, pads, chain, etc.  Replace anything that could go bad next week, and have 2 weeks to break it in.

I’ll stretch a lot.

Roll the legs.

Get a massage, or 2.

But mainly, and this is the hardest part, resting will be the big focus.

Days off.

Days spinning.

Days surfing.

Long walks on the sand at sunset (wait, that’s my Tinder profile).

One last way to really screw up all the hard work… blow the diet.  It’s gonna be hard to stay on track there.  But, a little discipline never hurt anyone.

Feeling hungry?, drink water, eat a few minutes later, eat slower.

That’s it.

The end of the road.