The Power of Beans

It feels good to be back to training. Going an entire month without a ride over 50 miles left me feeling a bit jittery. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a time to recover and rejuvenate, and in the long run it would make me stronger.

About the title, in addition to starting my training last week, I also met with Hilary Warner MPH, RD, LD of Nutrition Works! LLC. All the aspects of my training have been very deliberate except my diet. Hilary is helping me put together a nutrition plan, so my diet will be as thought out as the rest of my program and help produce the best possible performance.

One of the changes I have made to my diet is that I am eating a lot more beans. Black bean soup, lentil soup, pea soup and baked beans are now part of my standard lunch menu. I have already notice the benefits of these super fuels. Unfortunately, the addition of all these beans to my diet, has somewhat eroded my wife’s support for my RAAM effort.

This being base building time, the miles are still very modest. Yesterday, Phil and I went out on a hundred mile loop and explored some new roads. We rode up to Grantham, determined to find and ride the bike path that runs along 89. For years I have seen the bike path as I traveled up the interstate towards Lebanon but I had never seen anyone riding on.

Phil and I discovered the reason why. The north end of the trial drops you off in Enfield on Eastman Hill Rd. Eastman Hill is one of the nastiest hills I have seen in NH. The back side of the hill was about a mile and half long and the sign at the top warned of an 18% grade. I will definitely be back to ride up this nasty wall (future riding partners be warned.)

This week, I also started weight training. I am concentrating on my shoulders and neck in addition to core strength training. By the end of the Adirondack 540, my shoulders were sore from riding on the aero bars and neck problems are a common issue for RAAM riders. I thought you might get a laugh out of my neck exercises so I included a picture. There are 9 lbs of weight tied to my helmet and I am doing three sets of 100 head lifts.

Fund raising is going a little slow, but I am hopefull it will pick up.

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Play Time is Over

Well play time is over. Since qualifying for RAAM, I have used the last month to taper and recover. The biggest training week this month was 9 ½ hours. It really seems like a vacation compared to the ramp up to the Great Glean 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race and the Adirondack 540, which included 20 – 30 hour weeks.

This Sunday, October 15th it all starts again. I have put together a periodized training program, designed to peak in 34 weeks, just in time for the Race Across America on June 10th, 2007.

This year’s program follows the same structure as last year, but it is based on a 900 hour year, verses a 700 hour year last year. Once again, my training will focus on long weekend rides. During the 16 weeks of base building, it will be centered on 2 long weekend rides. Then I will switch to 3 consecutive long rides (every other week.) Each cycle, the rides will get longer until a month before RAMM, when in culminates with 3 consecutive 300 mile rides.

I am hoping that these 3 day mini RAAMs will give crew members (and me) a chance to practice some of the skills and jobs they will need to perform during the big show. Hopefully we can work out some of the kinks before we get to the starting line.

The remaining training hours will focus on speed, strength, hill intervals and recovery. Here is a graph showing the breakdown of training hours over the next 34 weeks.

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