Only 175 days to run now until the start of the world's toughest bike race. It is looming slowly upon us. All steam ahead with the training for us all. Gordy reports symptoms of over training and has been forced by yours truly to rest up!! Gordy we need you fit for the start of the race, now is the time for base stuff. JC managed a mere 260miles!!! Good on ya, that is spectacular. I have managed 7 hours so far this week, with the potential to get in another 8+ over the weekend weather permitting.
I suspect Duffy will be on it big time as per usual, so he needs little publicity.
Oh how we wish the snow would feck off and find somewhere else to fall. It confines us cyclists to the inner sanctums of our garages, conservatories (so they actually have a use!!) and the bedrooms to take to the horrendous monster of pain that is the turbo trainer. However what does one think about when facing the brick wall of a garage or staring out the conservatory window as the scenery does NOT pass one by??? Well, check out the picture at the top of the blog for inspiration!! No seriously the turbo is a great place to refine one's mental skills which include self-talk (what do you say to yourself to motivate yourself to when the legs are screaming??), visualisation and imagery (using sensory information from ones past to recreate images of success and achievement, or finishing particular stages of a race etc... all of which can be modified with some simple training techniques which I can help you with). BTW Mental skills encompass a lot of other aspects than the ones above and I will blog about those in later entries.
The turbo is also a great place to practice your distraction control to ensure you remain focused on the task in hand, and are not busy focusing on the non-essential tasks that you will tend to after the training session. One must stay in the moment and focused on the present. Some of the greatest golfers talk about distractions and the temptation to think 2 or 3 shots ahead. This strategy is not relevant at that time, rather the focus on the one task that you have to deal with is the key to success. One must also consider the process and the performance goals that you may have and think about these at the appropriate times. More to follow on goalsetting and their importance and significance in the context of performance.
Other than the joys of the turbo, Team Survitec Epic has been putting the finishing touches to the team strip/jerseys/shorts. There have been many debates and changes to the original design and I think we are almost there. The decision has been made that 'white will be the new "Black"' for the team.
We now have a doctor on the support team. His addition and inclusion will give the team the dynamic and support that we have been missing. With him we will be better equipped to deal with minor and serious incidents that may affect the health and well-being of the riders and the support team. We are waiting on EPIC to decide if they wish to take our offer of one of their employees joining us. We also have to choose the last remaining member of the support crew. That is likely to be another sports therapist. We are grateful for the offers of help and support that have been incoming for the last 3 weeks. We will be able to finalise those last few slots after Christmas.
I had a trip to Survitec to meet up with the Survitec Group Technical Director Stew Gregory. Stew was a great host and showed me round the factory in Birkenhead. It was a very insightful visit to find out what exactly goes into the back-end of the all the survival equipment that I used to use in the RAF. It was also amazing to see the 150-man dinghy and escape systems in use with the large liners around the world. Maybe Stew willl set up for us to experience the 'helter-skelter' escape chute that the big ferries use!! Only kidding Stew, you are welcome to keep it for those bags of water that you exchange for humans!! Many thanks for all the help and support from Survitec. Without your interventions we would not be able to achieve this challenge.
I was also contacted by Stephen Auerbach who was responsible for making an incredible documentary called Bicycle Dreams which features the Solo riders in the RAAM. We look forward to working with Stephen to assist him to promote his movie in the UK. It is a privilege to be able to connect with one of the solo champions from the Race Across America. Check out his website by clicking on the link for this blog entry or go to www.bicycledreamsmovie.com for details.
In the interim between the day-to-day stuff (ie work), family, training and some business development work which has been ongoing, I have been focusing on my dissertation for my Masters in Sport and Exercise science. I have had some quality dialogues with my University supervisor in which we outlined the way ahead, and some areas that I should look for inclusion in the project. I will be calling on Multi-engine pilots in the not too distant future to help me and provide some data for the research I will be conducting. All looking good to write up a really great project and get it published.
Phew..... condemned to the turbo for tomorrow and Sunday due to snow and icy roads...so we will get acquainted some more I am sure!! I reckon a few sessions of one in the morning and another in the evening to simulate RAAM conditions!! Bring it on!! See you next time!
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