Ode to Froyo =>Coaching => Recovery Week

One more race weekend to go! My anxious thoughts are paradoxical and jumbled  in my head. Things like:

I love racing.  I don’t want to take a break until November.  God, I need a break.  I can’t wait to take a break. Running and plyometrics will be fun.  I can’t wait for the break to be over so I can start training in earnest for next year. Ft Hood NEXT WEEKEND! So lots of tapering this week.  But, am I tapering too much?  Actually I’ll fit in a hard workout for good measure.  Or maybe I should consult WKO+. No, just enjoy it, you know what to do.  I love racing. Bikes……

Okay, so then if you rinse and repeat this washing machine cycle, you have what goes on in my brain all day while I track oil production losses and trends at work.  And I’m not talking about the nice industrial strength red Kenmore appliance that everyone wants from HomeDepot. I’m not that classy.

This internal struggle and amalgamation of conflicting thoughts going into my training reminds me of how I buy Froyo.  I love Froyo, and love saying “Froyo” just as much, mostly because it bothers Ally.  ”Why can’t you just say Frozen Yogurt?” she asks.  Because I like to party.

Froyo philosophy starts out easy, just like racing philosophy.  In the most simplistic form, you get a flavor of ice cream and you ride your bike.  Then there is the thing that can make or break the ice cream.  If not done correctly it could easily destroy the universe’s teetering balance.  It could easily destroy millions of people with one false misstep.  I am, of course, talking about the toppings.  Annnnd bringing it back to cycling, this equates to training ideas.  Should I go fruit, all chocolate, mixed nuts, pistachios,  AND marshmallows? There are as many training ideas as there are froyo toppings.  Which to choose?

Moral of the story: I need a coach.  I need experience to keep me on the right track and prevent me from using training that will not help me reach my goals. I need someone to tell me if pistachios really go with marshmallows, and how many to take.   Matt Kessing of Credo Racing (check out his blog)  said it well on TXBRA forum the other day:

“Too easy? Too hard? Too much volume? Not enough volume? That is really hard to do with a book because it is more complicated than following a formula. Joe Friel admits that on his blog regularly. The book is very general, and it takes experience to really fine-tune things. That’s what you’re paying for when you get a coach: the experience it takes to fine-tune training plans based on how you are rolling for the week or month. “

He’s slightly stronger than me, so I’ll listen.  And he quotes Joe Friel like he’s Jesus.

But seriously, my last race weekend is this coming weekend, and I’m excited about the closed course with no cars. And the race is hilly, which I never seem to mind.  This week I have been taking it easy and enjoying bike riding, but not too much bike riding.