When we last left my transmogrification I had just caved in and bought a pair of the spandex biking shorts, which from here on out we're going to call high performance wicking power lycra cycling gear, because spandex is for people who do Jazzercise :) I also bought some clipless pedals and bike shoes. I was becoming a real cyclist at this point and I found that I was getting treated a lot differently. Now when I was out for rides, other people on bikes dressed in colorful high performance wicking power lycra would smile and wave to me when they went by on the other side of the road. These are the same people that would shun me before when I was dressed in my sweats and sneakers. It was like my clothing gained me access to some cult of strangely dressed fitness freaks. I was accepted. On the other hand, I was now the target of every redneck, homophobe in a pick up truck (excuse the redundancies).. The people who probably have Country Felix blasting on their 8-track player. I've been sworn at, spit at, had beer cans (with varying amounts of beer left in them) chucked at me, and I've been nearly run off the road by countless assholes that want to see how close they can get their rear view mirror to hit you in the ass on their way by as they rev the engine and blast the horn. I have visions of how funny it would be to drive by a 5'6" 150 lb cyclist in spandex kicking the crap out of some flannel clad trucker on the side of the road some day. It could happen, I have chased some of these people down. Last year I was almost taken out by a guy towing a horse trailer. I caught up to him as he was taking a turn, got in behind the horse trailer and drafted him for the next 4 miles at speeds up to a little over 40 MPH.. When he finally had to come to a stop I came out from behind the trailer and rolled up to the driver's side window where I politely told him to be more careful and that he almost killed me about 4 miles back.. He almost swallowed the cigarette hanging out of this mouth. It was classic! But I digress....
Now, as a full fledged member of the cycling geeks cult and target of the redneck truckers, I was starting to put in some serious miles. I was doing rides of 30, 40, 50, 60 miles. I completed my first century (100 mile ride). My legs and lungs were getting ridiculously strong. I stopped going to one of those crappy Globo Gyms and started complementing my riding with functional conditioning workouts. Pushups, pullups, trail running, jumping. Having fun and getting in better shape than ever before!
Up next in "The Transmogrification" series, developing mental toughness to get me through the toughest period in my life...
I've put myself through a very difficult two weeks. I've started to crank up my miles (330 in the past 2 weeks) and I've continued to push it with my functional strength and conditioning workouts achieving 5 new PR's in the last two weeks. Yesterday I did 100 Hindu Pushups in a row for the first time! My body is in dire need of a rest day so today is the day. I will do nothing. This is what me doing nothing looks like, haha...
Taking a day off is the toughest thing for me to do, I have a voice in my head that tells me I should never let up. But I also know better, and I know that if you don't let the body rest once in a while you will burn out and continued intense workouts will have an opposite effect of what you're going for. I can also tell you from experience that when I come back the next day after taking a complete rest day I am completely recharged. One of these days I might even take two days off in a row :) For now, it's all I can do to take one rest day per week and I think it's working pretty well for me...
Best,
kevin
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