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Season around the corner... |
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Friday, 01 January 2010 09:21 |
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January is here now. I feel very good to have made it to this month with good motivation, and a lot of consistent, and quality work under my belt to hit next season's races. January is always fun. Its right when you can learn what you have built over the winter, and start getting the feel of what the season will bring for you.
2009 is now in the past. I cannot be more grateful than to know that I have made it to 2010 with great motivation to continue pursuing my passion, and dreams in cycling to achieve great things in the future doing what I love doing. Ride my bike... I have been lucky to meet great people that have helped me keep moving forward wherever I am... When everyone tells you that you can't, or you shouldn't. There is always some that will push you, and inspire you to exceed yourself and become greater than you have been before.
Living in San Diego has been awesome. Especially during this time in the year. I am not dealing with snow on my rides like some might be in Europe, or other places in this country. So that has allowed me to get out there, and put the training in day after day, week after week, month after month... And now I am here and I am ready for the next step.
This year January brings lots of specific work between 160-175 bpm. Lots of work on time trial bike, mountains, some group rides, and training camp in Solvang! Can't wait for that actually. That's one of my favorite things about this month. Is getting together with everyone. Touching base, and talk about what will be the team's program for the season, and what will be our focus as a team.
All and All January is a great time to look around where you are. Take a good look at what you have, and the preparation that has been done. Set up maybe more goals, and enjoy what you have with who you are with, because once the races start, it's time to get back to the routine of racing/resting/training life.
Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as I did. Looking forward to see you in the races
Until next one....
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You are the sum of all the people you have ever met... |
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Thursday, 10 December 2009 07:41 |
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I feel motivated to write something this morning, right now! Might be the awesome cup of French roast I am having, or just inspiration from thinking about awesome people I have met in my life! I once read this amazing quote that I entirely live by it: "You are the sum of all the people you have ever met”. They change you, and you change them...
Coming into Holidays, I start remembering more of all those positive persons I have met in my life that have changed me, and made me a more positive person. They taught me to believe in my dreams, and work for them. I want to thank you if you are one of them, because you have pushed my drive go one step more toward my dream.
Life is beautiful, and short. And it's always about the present, and the moment. That's everything we have right now! I would only take the best from the past, and learn from the worst. The future will be whatever you are working for in the present... For all of you that have high dreams, and no matter how many ups or downs you go through, and keep going, I admire you, and wish you the best. Thanks for being there to inspire me, and I will do the same thing.
Coming into next season makes me feel a bit more relaxed, since I have changed my perspective, mindset, and outlook of many things in my sport. I am excited to share this with the teammates I will have next year, and will be there to help them win a lot of bike races. My team will be awesome. Eder Frayre, and Freddy Cruz will be joining us. Amazing talents and friends from my hometown Ensenada! Watch out for these two kids. I am sure we will see them in the Tour one day.
Training is going super solid. Putting a good strong foundation for next year. Just finished 2.5 months of weight/ cross training, then jumped into more riding in the mountains now and yoga. I am not riding hard as I used to do it before in previous winters. All my rides are at my AT zone (140-165bpm) in the mountains for about 3-5 hours pushing the pedals... January will change a bit with more tempo, and some threshold. I might do a group ride or two before getting into the races, but I think those will be at my team training camp in Solvang halfway through January...
Hope everyone is having a solid winter, and all your projects are moving forward. I will see you in the races very soon. Best of luck.
CHEERS!
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Monday, 16 November 2009 08:09 |
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Relax time ??? Training time ??? Both ??? Other ???? All of it ????? No Offseason ?????
Hard to know what goes on in every cyclist’s offseason, if they ever have it? Hard to know if there is a proper protocol that everyone should follow soon after they are done with every season. For sure… Some rest is always good, but it really just depends of how the year went for you.
I have found this time very interesting for me, and very exciting part of every year. It’s time where we see what went good, what went wrong, etc, etc… And from there, we make adjustments so we can go better for the next season. Maybe add this, take this off, ride more, ride less, eat more, eat less, and all that…
There’s all this different activities you can do at this time of the year that will make you come back to the bike stronger than before. Just the resting itself will make you better, mentally and physically. So whatever changes you do, I think as long as you are pretty burned up from the season, you will improve soon after.
I have read, and approached in many different ways every single offseason I’ve had. Some go better than others, but it’s always an interesting learning process, and I believe is where you get to know more about physical preparation, and when your mind works better than any other time.
When I am racing, and traveling, it’s hard to have the mind together, and I mostly just want to race my bike. But now… I have all this winter to do whatever I want until I hit my first few races in January!. Until then I can train as much, or however I want, without worrying I won’t recover for next week’s race, or anything else. I can just put the work down knowing its purpose for the present, and future, and enjoy it.
Off the bikes activities are always enjoyable. Things that I have found so far that increase your performance on the bike offseason are: Yoga, Weight Training, Running, Swimming, Hiking, Core Work, and having FUN!. Being careful with the last one is always good too….
Besides training, there are also other things that come into place during the offy. Some of them like staying at one place for a while, seeing family members, and friends more often, and enjoying the time with them. I don’t know about everyone else, but personally I like saving up traveling energy for the season during the offseason too. Trying not to move around too much during the winter always helps me be very excited about the long trips that every season brings!
All and all. Offseasons are fun, enjoyable. It’s where you spend the most time with yourself, and with the bike on the roads, and where you put a good amount of hours out there! I am looking forward for a very exciting winter, and very exciting 2010 season now. Hope everyone is on the same boat, and I wish you all the very best!!! |
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Saturday, 31 October 2009 10:03 |
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Time just seems to fly sometimes, and then I realize I haven't written anything for more than one month... Sorry...
Anyway... Life is good... I moved to La Mesa, Ca. a little while ago. Just right after my offseason break which was spent in Mexico pretty much.
Then October came... And since then, I have gone through lots of changes... In lifestyle and preparation for next racing season. Job, Place, Training, etc, etc...
Why La Mesa??? Well, it just came all together here... My coach Tommy Nelson, and his wife Sarah recently moved here, and they had a spare room they could rent me at their place which fitted perfectly. I got a job at www.bigringcyclery.com with my friend Joe too, which is only a couple of miles from home, and the roads are just very good around here.
Plus… There is a Cosmos Cafe !. If you ever around here, you have to go there, and spend sometime enjoying the awesome atmosphere of that place. I go there almost everyday, before, or after training. Good stuff !! www.cosmoscoffeecafe.com . We also meet there every Wednesday at 8 am to do a training ride into Alpine Mountains. Feel free to join.
Everything is so close that I just ride my bike everywhere… Can’t beat that... Been meeting tons of cool people too. So… It all seems like a very positive change overall.
As far as training goes. This month I have been doing Yoga, Hikes, Runs, Weights, Core Exercises and of course, Biking… I am feeling pretty solid going into November to peak things up a bit.
Changes, changes, changes… My website has also gone through some small changes too. I added a new section called “Vision” too which is not up yet, but it’s from a project I am working on at the moment. More to come later…
Hope everyone is having a wonderful month.
Cheers |
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Monday, 21 September 2009 14:09 |
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I have ended my season a little sooner than expected, and now I have been taking a little bit of a break from the bike. It has been a long season... Not so much racing as usual, but long because of everything that happened along the way. I went through a lot of situations, and experiences this year, that will help me guide myself a little better for later in the future.
2009 wasn’t the year I was hoping for, or expecting. But I definitely learned a lot more from myself than I thought I would. I was only good for two months out of seven. And that’s not fun…But it's how it went, and time to look forward... Anyway, Now I can only think about the work I will do this winter towards 2010. I can see a lot of work ahead of me, and I am very motivated to do it as well as possible.
Time to think, and plan the activities I will do this winter besides biking. Yoga, Weights, Running, Hiking, Work, Pilates. There are so many things I will mix this winter. I am very excited. Maybe some cyclocross racing too… Who knows, but it should be always about keeping it fun, and doing good work. |
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