Mid winter blues

There is still snow on the Boland mountains, but it is official that the shortest day and the longest night has just passed as the winter solstice occured on 21 June in the Southern hemisphere.

My training has been progressing really well on weekends. Complements must also go to my very dedicated training partner who is making sure that we ride every weekend. We have been riding frequently, but a quick analysis of my HR monitor made it clear that our friendly rivaly on the hills turned our intended 2 hour aerobic rides into rides with less than 30 minutes in the aerobic zone!

Fortunately there are some flat routes in the area and a route change made for a great aerobic ride during our last workout.

My biggest challenge is to stay committed in the week. This year I opted for garage sessions (I'm sure that the UK riders also have stationary trainers in garages or bedrooms!) and following my favourite training DVDs, but I found it difficult to maintain regular training. My fatal mistake was that I started with an advanced core strength program. Week 1 went super good, but in week 2 I could barely complete the workouts. I could handle the advanced program 4 years ago when I was participating in top level competitions. This made a huge difference to my condition, but it is now clear to me that I need to build up slowly and that my goals have changed.

Luckily I spotted my mistake after the first week and since I'm cycling to stay fit and healthy as my main goal it was back to the drawing board with a program that is less intense. Now I look forward to getting those core muscles back into shape and building my strength for the summer season.

My first track cycling meeting is in two weeks time and it will be good just to get onto the bike and to work on my handling skills before we go into peak racing season.