The Training Chronicles

December 15th 2008:

Taking the step up from the weekend warrior to the dedicated racer has brought with it a number of significant changes in my daily life. Of coures, the sheer amount of time per week that must be devoted to training simply skyrockets, but there is a change on so may different levels from appetite and mood, to the declining figures in your bank account and simply what you see and experience everyday. The changes are worth mentioning because for me they have been almost entirely positive!

Four days out of the week I flop out of bed at dawn for a ride. I am in the early phase of the training regiment I set out that is designed to develop a base level of endurance centered around mellow rides gently increasing in distance but not in intensity. The hope of this is avoid serious taxation of the cardiovascular system so as to stimulate gradual development of blood supplies to muscles and tissues as well as overall muscular endurance.

My favorite thing about my morning rides is that by choice or by chance I have taken a very unassuming appearance. I ride an early 80's steel touring road bike converted to a single speed and I wear very basic clothes on top of the comforts that make riding pleasant (ie spandex, chamoix pads, wind stopper jerseys, etc.). A ragged windshirt from my rock climbing days still sporting sliced nylon on the sleeves from ski edges, ragged cargo shorts and a baseball cap make me appear to the average person as...well...an average person. I like this because in Santa Cruz, this is standard street attire so generally people barely give me even a second glance, which is exactly how I like it when I've just dragged myself out of bed on a winter morning for a ride.

It's Cold!: January 5th 2009:

The holidays are done, and what do I have to show for myself as a cyclist in "training"? A bike gathering dust, that's what. But the holidays were meant to be a resting time, so I happily set the bike aside for family and rest time.

Now, though, with the holidays over, all I'm left with is my out of shape body and this damned cold weather!! It's in the high 30's at night (yes I realize that others have it far worse, but we in Santa Cruz fall to pieces in that temperature). Waking up to ride, or lift weights is PAINFUL!

The more time riding on the road I spend, the more I realize that people just DO NOT see bicyclists... During a random ride in late December, I was just about run off the road by someone drifting into the bike lane. The car came inches away from me, and there wasn't much I could do to defend myself. I hoped I would come across that driver down the way at a stop sign so I could tell them to watch what the F they are doing.

Training amidst stress: January 14th, 2009

The last month, and well, the last four years have been devoted to passing the CA state board exams. Definitely in the last month, studying has been all I have done...all day long. Getting out on two wheels is the only escape I have, though my adherence to any training schedule is sporadic at best. A friend of mine recorded herself reciting information from the multitude of text books we are required to know for the exam, and with the help of my ipod I import that information into my ears the entire ride. After two hours of listening it starts to feel normal to hear Zoe constantly talking to me, telling me points to use for prolapse of organs or jaundice. After enough time I start to talk back to her. Especially strange are the downhills, where I cannot devote all my attention to the information in an effort to avoid being wrapped around a tree, the wind picks up and I only get her voice in dotted increments like a broken drive-thru speaker. That's when it gets really strange... I can actually hear her voice saying, "Jess, are you even listening?"

I find I like uphills way more than downhills during these times. Somehow the pain of just cranking non-stop uphill feels better than the joy of going downhill. I'll have to analyze that one at another time, but, it does wonderful things for the satisfaction of getting a good workout. My rides lately consist of a trip up the tracks, then a long steep connector to the entry trails of UCSC. This allows me non-stop single track all the way to Empire Grade. A perfect time and place to study on the bike. A trip down on of the favorite trails, and a climb back out, maybe another run, or just pull wheelies toward home. Today, literally at my wits end with the material I was listening to, I switched to some lively hip hop, put the bike in full suspension settings and went about having some fun! Jamming in and out of corners, manuals, stair cases. It all capped of with the UCSC bike trail, and as I crested the second rise (the one any former UCSC student knows about) pulled a wheelie with the view of the entire Monterey Bay at sunset in front of me.