17 Days...

It's been a few days since I last checked in and blogged.  Since my last post, I have begun to slowly taper my training down, which means that the intensity and volume of my riding has now begun to slowly decrease.  I will continue this progressive taper for the next two weeks, as I begin to actively rest my body before my race.  At this point, I am in as good of shape as a I can be.  Could I be in better shape?  Absolutely.  But I am pretty happy with both my weight and fitness level at this time.  I am holding steady at 185 pounds, and my body fat is somewhere in the 11% area.  This means that I have not leaned out as much as I had hoped, but that's ok...I still have nearly two weeks to lean out a little bit more.

All along my plan has been to finish this race, then take a nice deserved break.  Those plans have changed a little now...you see...I have committed to riding as part of a 4-man team for the 24-Hours of Fury race in November.  I swore I would never do another 24-hour race...only 12-hours, but I was sort of talked into doing this one by my buddy Mike.  I'm in really good riding shape right now, so I figure a couple more months of training wont kill me, and it will allow me to complete the 24-hour challenge without killing me like it has in the past.  So you all might have to put up with this blog for a little longer than you had expected.  My training will change somewhat, as I will have to gear up to turn 10-mile loops, once every three hours...for 24 hours.  If all goes right, I will successfully complete a total of six ten-mile loops over the course of 24 hours.  It really doesn't seem that bad...60-miles...but on a mountain bike, its a lot of riding.  Especially on the course where we will be competing.  It's pretty rocky, and there is a good deal of climbing...and you all know just how much I love love to climb!

Anyway...I had a good ride this morning, cranking out about 13 miles all in all.  Nothing to intense, just enough for the beginning of my taper down phase.  Between now and September 1, I will actually begin to focus more on strength training, rather than riding.  I don't think I will ride more than twice per week...just enough to stay technically solid on the bike.

Time is ticking away very quickly...don't touch that dial...keep it tuned right here for up to date info!

Thanks for reading!

BTW...my friend Scott's travel blog was expected to hit 10,000 page views today!  Very impressive!  If you haven't taken the time to check it out yet, you are missing some great stuff.  Click here to be taken directly to his blog.