Ramping things up ... slowly

These last two weeks have been filled with beautiful views, smiles, headwinds and so much sweat.

I’m now 7 weeks out from the big event (which should, hopefully, be announced soon)!

(By the way, I apologize that I keep alluding to said event and haven’t been able to say anything about it yet. I am so, so ready to talk about it, but I gotta respect the organizer’s wishes. Thank you for being patient, it’s incredibly annoying, I know.)

I’ve migrated away from my TrainerRoad plan. It got kind of weird while using Plan Builder. I started in on build and then adding in events and my training didn’t make sense. After putting in a couple of century rides and then still having an entire week of hard efforts afterward, I just thought it didn’t quite understand what was going on.

I still have it as a backup in case the weather is dreadful, but I’ve mostly just abandoned it. It has without a doubt helped me get stronger and boosted my fitness, but I just couldn’t balance the training plan with the need to spend longer days outside riding, working around my gym teaching schedule, and then of course not wanting to follow up a century with 3 hard efforts the next week.

I recalculated and recalculated but I just didn’t feel good about it.

I know that Plan Builder is in its beginning phases, but I don’t think I’m going to use it again until after it’s worked out some of the finer details. Back to basics, for me … except it’s too late really to change things at this point.

My goal now is to just boost mileage, throw in some long easy days, some shorter intense days, some random stuff where I don’t quite know how things are going to go. Fat bike, gravel bike, road bike … keep it interesting! It’s helping to keep morale high and the fun factor high, too, which really helps when things get repetitive.

The diet is going well. I’ve really cleaned things up a lot. Reaching for more vegetables and healthy calorie choices rather than cookies and sugar overload. I think my blood sugar has stabilized. I’m not as hungry as I have been! That whole idea that bad food makes you want more bad food is absolutely true.

My weight has been more stable. I’ve prioritized hydration and electrolytes since it’s been so much hotter out. I’m still eating a ton, making sure to fuel before, during and after training so that I don’t ever feel drained and so I can fully recover.

That’s probably the most important thing. Increasing your training and not properly giving your body what it needs is the precursor to injuries and unhelpful body stress that really just sets you backward in the long run.

So we are figuring it out. I’m still so new at this, not only the training but being in tune with my body’s needs.

If I need a rest day because I’m feeling overwhelmed and sore, I’m going to take it. Get out there tomorrow instead. Not feeling the heat? I can go to the gym and do SPRINT instead. Being consistent is important, but I need to be realistic, too. My overall goal is really just to ride 5 days a week in some form or fashion.

So far, so good. I’ve got to keep it together for just a little bit longer! Time is flying faster than I anticipated. But I think I’ll be ready. I hope I’ll be ready.

In some ways, I feel like we can never really know! You just have to stick to your plan and also be ready for everything to fall apart at the same time.

All I do know is that the journey has been amazing, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Plus, the best is yet to come!