The "Pro" Life...

so i'm hanging out with my fellow Trek Canada Team mates in Tremblant for the Canada Cup race... and it has become VERY obvious that my life as a master is different from the Pro Life... after pre-riding the course we got back to the condo, ate, showered... and everyone gets on their laptops for almost 2hrs.... i was getting all twitchy looking for something to clean, kids to discipline, toys to collect and all the other things that seem to endlessly need to be done at home... "You guys are so much more boring than my kids at home" was my response to everyone after 30min of sitting still reading... but a nice change, that's for sure.... if you plan on heading up to the Canada Cup at Hardwood Hills this weekend, you may want to look into some events happening on Saturday.... there is a "Pre-ride with Trek Canada" happening for kids at 11am and another at 1:30pm for adults.... the whole team (including Emily Batty) will be on hand to take people out, ride with them, give them advice and tips, and just answer questions... and there's also a Meet and Greet with the Team at 1pm so it should be a great day of events and activities... you can check out all the details at www.trekstorecanadacup.com for more info.... hope so see you out there!!!

The Faster Master Part 4 - Suffer

okay... so i know that i told you last time how important it was to rest and recover.... but it's equally important to be willing to turn yourself inside out, let sweat drip from your nose, put your head down and grit your teeth, and fight your way through burning legs, aching backs and inadequate lungs....

doesn't sound like fun... i know... but the truth is, the more you are willing to suffer during training rides, the better your future rides and races will become... if you are able to squeeze out 2 more hill repeats or extend your TT but another minute, your legs will feel that much better next time, and those hills won't seem so hard....

the easiest way to do this? find a training partner who is equally fast or faster... and challenge them on training rides... "first one to the top of the hills wins".... "race you to the end of the double track"..... "sprint you to the blue sign"..... they all help.... and it's an easier way to get in the dreaded intensity that is so hard to do on your own....

i'm lucky... i get to spend time with Eric and Mark Batty... both faster than me... so i'm always chasing them ... or just trying to stay on their wheel... but i've also put in a lot of time doing 1-and-1's in the winter.... 1 minute at above threshold, 1 minute to recover.... they're great intervals for building up your body's ability to flush lactate without sending your HR through the roof....

find a friend.... go out and hurt each other... and THEN recover and rest... :)

Oh how quickly things change...

From good to bad.... that was 3 days of my life last week.... i made a tough decision to NOT race the 2nd O'Cup at Albion Hills on the weekend.... i was riding great last weekend.... did a 2x30min tempo that felt really good.... almost easy.... and followed that up the next day with 4 sets of 1 and 1's at my highest wattage yet... and again felt in total control... i ran Track and Field Day at my school on Tuesday so i decided to make that my rest day... and came home on wednesday feeling bloated, achey, tired and had a stomach ache... "don't worry Barnes... you're just tired..." and then it grew into the 48hr flu.... which i passed along to my wife (Happy Mother's Day honey...) and was finally back on my feet on saturday.... but not feeling like racing in 0 degrees and wet... so i went from feeling great and loving riding my bike.... to feeling like chain smoker with an affliction for dutchies..... rode on sunday but felt gross.... it will come back.... and hopefully soon since i have Tremblant's Canada Cup on the long weekend and then Hardwood's Canada Cup on the 29th.... need to have my A Game for those... eat, ride, rest eat, hydrate, sleep.... repeat....