Monday, October 23, 2006

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.

Return to:
http://teamwalker07.com/

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home