90 day summary...

It's been just shy of 90 days since I began the CYCLO90 training plan; I'm in the final week.  I have to admit, this is probably going to be the most challenging week because it's a recover and rest week.  I don't do "rest" very well.   My last week of rest was the week that I had my wisdom teeth pulled, so it was much easier to sit on the couch with my feet up.  Not to mention, I wasn't eating much, so I didn't really have the energy to go tear up any trails anyhow.

So,  yesterday I started my rest week off by taking a slow hike with my daughter and some friends, and I followed that up with some really easy yoga.  I don't have any special yoga skills or anything; I just used a DVD.  Instead of a trainer workout this morning, I sat by the wood stove in the basement soaking up the warmth and reading.  For the past couple of weeks, I've been doing my training early - 5am!  A full-time school schedule doesn't allow for much else, and I've been trying to work as much as possible after classes.  Saturdays are workdays too, so there's another day I tend to train early.  Every other weekend my daughter is at her father's so I can ride Saturday afternoons when I get out of work, but the weekends that I do have her, I'm either on the trainer, or finding her a play-date for a couple of hours so I can get a real ride in.  (I have to thank Amy Biscup right now, because she has been my #1 person to help me out with this.)

Obviously, I'm hella' busy.  But, who the hell isn't?!  This is why I started CYCLO90.  I have a tiny tiny tiny amount of time for training.  That little scrap of time has to be used wisely, and it looked like that's what that plan was all about.  At this point, it's working wonders.  Every time I actually get out and ride, I feel like I've brought my "A" game.  There are no more of those rides where I get out there and feel like I have to make excuses because I don't have time to ride.  Honestly, I don't have time to ride.  Riding requires getting dressed, going somewhere, bringing a bunch of junk with me, and cleaning it all up after. I do have time to train.  Training is just from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, in my basemen,t with no helmet, a pair of cycling shorts, and a tank top.  No tubes in my pockets.  No tools.  No mud to clean up (at least I hope not.)  There's just a whole lot of intensity and a salty mess of perspiration.

I knew my legs were getting stronger.  My quads had started to change shape a little bit.  Even with all of the cycling I did last summer, they hadn't gotten as defined as this.  My weight is the same, and I don't really think I ought to be losing any anyhow.  But, my body has definitely transformed.  Not to divulge too much of my private life, but I was told that my body feels different... in a good way.  (sweet).  Compliments like that make me want to see if the "bounce a quarter off it" statement is true or not.  I have a good support system in my life right now - a man who knows how to compliment me in the right ways.  I appreciate that, and I appreciate that he is supportive of my decisions.  Plus, he doesn't think I have a mental disorder for wanting to do a 100 mile mountain bike race.  When I told him I signed up, he said, "Good!  You can do it."

What's next?  90 days!  I'm doing it again.  I might add some things to the days where I'm doing hard workouts, but for the most part, I'm following the plan to a T.  When I'm supposed to rest, I'll rest.  When I'm supposed to ride a lot, I'll make it work into my schedule somehow.  The first race I have planned is April 22 in Farmington, CT.  The course has not been my forté in the past, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to bring some brilliant skills to the dirt this time around.  It's one of those road-racing meets mountain biking courses.  There's a lot of fast, wide terrain with not a whole lot of technical aspects.  Yuck.  I am a tech junky.  (Rock gardens for life!)  I'm looking at it as a challenge; that's helping me to look forward to it.