Yesterday I crossed 10,000 miles ridden in 2020. Yep....I live in Wisconsin so lots of Zwift miles. But because I live in WI I also log plenty of nice and slow fat bike miles as well as daddy daughter MTB miles :) 457 hours logged just in riding this year so far. 544 miles per week average the last 11 weeks since my last race. I also do a fairly reasonable strength program....I'm 42 after all :)
In the sense of humility I share this not to look like a brag, but rather to show my enjoyment for the process and share what I've learned. Racing so far is cancelled for 2020. My last race Fat Birkie. The one biggy I really looked forward to in 2020 was Rift Iceland. I no longer swim and run. Gravel, MTB, Road. I try to do it all. The cancellation of Rift was very hard mentally, but after about a day I got back into my program :)
I look at things like this as a science experiment of sorts. I used to see the pro peloton and long course pro triathletes as untouchable. Even back when I was doing long course tri (1 IM finish) I couldn't comprehend how those folks could do so much work and race so often. Now with huge volume and meticulous....everything....I get it. My body has become robotic. I have not had a single bad day of training in 2020. I've ridden back to back huge days a few times (300 this weekend). No issues. That used to be unfathomable. I truly believe volume trumps everything. I think I'm living proof of that. The pro peloton is proof of that. Same with the long course pro triathletes. The ability to recover becomes amazing. And again I'm no spring chicken!
For 2020 the one change I've been mostly successful is sleeping a bit more and holding myself accountable to that with a Fitbit. All I use it for is to track sleep. I believe that gives me yet another marginal gain and further reduces the risk of bad training days. My diet is mostly diverse. I have lost about 10# in 2020 to get to "race weight." Race weight for me is veins showing in abs. I spent 4+ months losing those 10#. Slow. Methodical. Some days it hurts a little bit, but I believe we can lose weight and not power. I can get to these super cut weights and not lost watts. I only count protein from animal sources in terms of meeting my protein needs. I eat a ton of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, but do not count that as protein in terms of meeting my feeding needs which for me is a full 20 shot about every ~2 hours while away. Am I doing it wrong? Maybe. But I keep on ticking like this. And 1000g days of carbs are fun....
As I age up I'm less driven to race so hard. I'm looking more to help others by volunteering as a personal coach to several and I'm currently acquiring my NICA license. I am looking to empower, inspire and give back when I can. I want to be able to share what I've learned and continue to watch folks I guide do things they never thought possible. It's actually an incredibly wonderful circle. I inspire them. They inspire me to continue to push the envelope.
What's next? I'm going to be less consistent with huge mileage. I rode 23,500 last year. I might get there again, but not by riding 80 miles every day. Rather I might get there through some monster / stupid type rides. 100 mile day of single track? Target a fastest known time across WI? Everesting? It's all on the table. The harder the better.
I hope everyone else here is having an awesome journey in 2020 as well!
24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
In the sense of humility I share this not to look like a brag, but rather to show my enjoyment for the process and share what I've learned. Racing so far is cancelled for 2020. My last race Fat Birkie. The one biggy I really looked forward to in 2020 was Rift Iceland. I no longer swim and run. Gravel, MTB, Road. I try to do it all. The cancellation of Rift was very hard mentally, but after about a day I got back into my program :)
I look at things like this as a science experiment of sorts. I used to see the pro peloton and long course pro triathletes as untouchable. Even back when I was doing long course tri (1 IM finish) I couldn't comprehend how those folks could do so much work and race so often. Now with huge volume and meticulous....everything....I get it. My body has become robotic. I have not had a single bad day of training in 2020. I've ridden back to back huge days a few times (300 this weekend). No issues. That used to be unfathomable. I truly believe volume trumps everything. I think I'm living proof of that. The pro peloton is proof of that. Same with the long course pro triathletes. The ability to recover becomes amazing. And again I'm no spring chicken!
For 2020 the one change I've been mostly successful is sleeping a bit more and holding myself accountable to that with a Fitbit. All I use it for is to track sleep. I believe that gives me yet another marginal gain and further reduces the risk of bad training days. My diet is mostly diverse. I have lost about 10# in 2020 to get to "race weight." Race weight for me is veins showing in abs. I spent 4+ months losing those 10#. Slow. Methodical. Some days it hurts a little bit, but I believe we can lose weight and not power. I can get to these super cut weights and not lost watts. I only count protein from animal sources in terms of meeting my protein needs. I eat a ton of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, but do not count that as protein in terms of meeting my feeding needs which for me is a full 20 shot about every ~2 hours while away. Am I doing it wrong? Maybe. But I keep on ticking like this. And 1000g days of carbs are fun....
As I age up I'm less driven to race so hard. I'm looking more to help others by volunteering as a personal coach to several and I'm currently acquiring my NICA license. I am looking to empower, inspire and give back when I can. I want to be able to share what I've learned and continue to watch folks I guide do things they never thought possible. It's actually an incredibly wonderful circle. I inspire them. They inspire me to continue to push the envelope.
What's next? I'm going to be less consistent with huge mileage. I rode 23,500 last year. I might get there again, but not by riding 80 miles every day. Rather I might get there through some monster / stupid type rides. 100 mile day of single track? Target a fastest known time across WI? Everesting? It's all on the table. The harder the better.
I hope everyone else here is having an awesome journey in 2020 as well!
24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
