Am I on track?

Am I on track?

Saturday 1 November 2014

The Plan - Phase 1

Its the first of November today, which also happens to be day 1 of 'The Plan'.  Its a long-term plan, with the goals I am working towards a good 14 months away - but you have to start somewhere...

The Overall Goal

What I want to do is get back to racing again. I really miss mixing it up on the bike in a speedy peloton. But what I don't want to do is to just jump back in and take up where I left off.

I've held a Cycling Australia racing licence for the last 10 years or so.  There is no getting around the fact that I have not been competitive in a race throughout that entire time.

Don't get me wrong - I have loved almost every minute of racing I've ever done. Whether I've been dropped in the first few minutes and ridden 95% of the race solo off the back, or wrung myself dry trying to just hold on and make it to the finish of a race, it has been a sensational experience and I wouldn't swap it for anything.

What I really want now though is to actually be someone who enters a race and is competitive. Someone who can mix it up near the front, and actually make some the racing. Someone who on the odd occasion even stands on the podium.  This would be a very new experience for me, and I want to make it happen.

So I've decided that the best way to be a competitive racer is (somewhat ironically) NOT to race in 2015...

The plan is to lay down a tonne of mileage and training time over the next 14 months, and focus exclusively on building myself up to be the best Masters racing cyclist I can be in 2016. Whether that's a competitive cyclist or not remains to be seen - but I'm going to give it my best shot and not die wondering!

Phase 1 begins

That brings up to Phase 1 of the plan, which covers the last 2 months of 2014 - November & December.  These two months are completely unstructured. It doesn't matter what sort of training or activities I do during this time.

What these two months are all about is time and consistency.  The plan is to log as many hours as I can, and to try and do something (no matter how brief) every day.

I can choose whatever activity I want, whatever I think I'll most enjoy on that particular day. It could be cycle-commuting, mountain-biking, a long road ride, running, swimming, weights in the gym, core strength work, or whatever else takes my fancy (or presents itself as an opportunity).

I have a rough goal of logging 50 hours of activity over the two months.  That isn't a hard & fast rule or anything, but just something to work towards...

Let's get to it!

I've already started, with a 1-hour run this morning around my local suburb.  I'm feeling excited, and looking forward to seeing how far I can take myself ability-wise over the next year or so.

I;m looking to sharing the journey with you all. See you out there!!

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like an awesome plan! Very inspirational!

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  2. You should do some SE Qld Audax rides.

    ReplyDelete