Today I made a few bad choices...I have no excuses...I just plain messed up. But that is what I have all of you for...right? You are there to provide a sense of accountability and to encourage me when I make mistakes...right? I know, I know, you want to know what mistakes I made today huh? Well, let's see...I forgot to bring my protein powder to work this morning, so I knew right away I was going to have a hard time with snacks. You see, I drink two protein smoothies during the day; one as a mid-morning snack, and the other as a recovery shake after I work out. Not having the protein meant that I would not be able to make my smoothies, and that I would be searching for something to snack on...which is never a good thing at a fire station, because there always seems to be some sort of cake, pie, or cookies lying around!
My second mistake was when I opened the fridge and found a scrumptious looking carrot cake. That wasn't actually the mistake...the mistake was not shutting the door of the fridge and walking away. Mistake #3...taking the cake out of the fridge. Mistake #4...cutting a piece of the carrot cake and placing it on a plate. Mistake #5...eating the cake! I think most people would say that I really only made one mistake...eating the cake. I prefer to look at it as a series of mistakes that ultimately led to me eating the cake. Why, you ask?. Like I said...it was a series of small events that lead to that cake crossing my lips...not just one. By looking at it this way, I can identify individual mistakes, create strategies to corret these mistakes, and be successful at doing so the next time I am in a similar predicament.
In hind-sight it's really pretty easy. When I saw the cake I should have simply closed the door, walked away, and involved myself in something else. Problem solved. But no...I didn't walk away...I chose to make the next mistake by taking the cake out of the fridge. Solution? Leave the cake on the counter and walk away. It's a fire station...there's always some probie who will see it, and put it away so it wont spoil! Again...problem solved. Nope...not that easy! You see where I am going right? I had plenty of opportunities to prevent myself from eating the cake...I just didn't recognize them at the time. It's like anything else really...practice makes perfect. By looking back on my mistakes and writing this down, I am (in a sense) practicing to be successful the next time.
Yesterday, I rode again...shhh! It was great! I rode well, and felt pretty comfortable back on the bike, taking opportuities to bomb some downhill runs at near full speed. To get to those fast downhill sections though, I first had to pay a steep gravity tax...and I do mean steep! The trail I picked was only about six or seven miles total...but at least two-thirds of it was very steep, rocky climbing. To my surprise I climbed really well, and scooted up a very technical section that caused two riders in front of me to dismount their bikes and walk up...and they were 20-somethings! That felt great!
Tomorrow I'm back on the therapy table, and back on the trainer in the garage. It's time to give the elbow some much needed rest, so that I wont end up off the bike for a few weeks again!
Thanks for reading...and practice, practice, practice!
For those of us who have wanted to mountain bike a's cross training where and how do you get started?
ReplyDeleteAlso, give us a rundown on what you eat in a day outside of carrot cakes?
ReplyDeleteJerry, I'm not sure what you are asking in the first question...
ReplyDeleteAs for the second question...
I'll answer that in my next post.
Ahh...now I see what you were asking in the first question...simply a misplaced apostrophe.
ReplyDeleteMountain biking is a great cross training tool. I prefer it to road cycling simply because of the total body demand. Road cycling, pretty much has you locked in to one position (aside from the varying hand positions on the bars...drops, hoods, etc.). Very little energy is expended on movement outside of the sagittal plane (what is directly in front and behind you). Mountain biking however, provides a much greater demand on the body to work within all three of the planes of human movement. For this reason alone, I think it is more beneficial as a comprehensive cross training discipline.
How do you get started? Go out and by a mountain bike...I have found this very helpful for the sport! :) You don't have to spend a fortune, but I wouldn't recommend something cheap either. The trail is much less forgiving on bikes than the road is. You will tear up a cheap mountain bike in no time, then be forced to spend more money to buy another one.
The next question is hardtail or full suspension? I would recommend a full suspension bike if money is not a big factor. To get a good full suspension bike, worthy of riding on Arizona trails, you need to spend at least $900-$1000. There are others out there for less, but the old adage "you get what you pay for" really comes into play here.
If you are old like me, or have had any back issues, full suspension is what you want. Riding on trails can really be rough, and until you have honed your skills somewhat, the full suspension bikes will help to dissipate some of the forces that would otherwise be dissipated throughout your spine. Good suspension systems are so efficient these days, that many pro racers are using them instead of hardtail models now.
There are plenty of trail systems in our area, of greatly varying levels, that learning to ride is quite 'easy'. All you have to do is give me a call, and I will ride with you anytime.