Laying the Foundation and Building the Base

Becoming a coach for Team in Training is such an incredible honor and responsibility.  The Team has been so good to me.  Without it, I would never have pushed myself to accomplish the things I have.  It's interesting here in Wisconsin starting the season with snow on the ground.  But this is where the journey begins.  We had a great first team spin last Saturday, and I am so looking forward to the next one this Saturday.   This is where it all starts.  As a Team, we will explore a lot of topics over the next few months, but today I want to talk about the foundation.  That starts now.  Remember the way a pyramid is built, the bigger the base, the higher the pinnacle.

We are beginning the physical part of the training, getting our bodies used to the exercise, preparing it for all the work to come.  Just as we are building the physical base, we also need to start building the mental base.  Endurance events are not only physical challenges, but mental ones as well.  You must be mentally prepared for the difficulties you will experience.  There will be days where you have doubt.  These are the days that the mental preparation is paramount.  You must get into the mindset that you will not quit, even when your body wants to and your mind wants to let you.  Start that preparation now.  The mental mindset needs to be brought along slowly just like the physical.

It's the same with nutrition.  As we are preparing mentally and physically, we also have to know what works for us to fuel our bodies.  Hydration is incredibly important. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.  Also start to think about what you are going to eat pre ride to fuel up, and post ride, to maximize recovery.  Make sure you are taking in some calories within 30-45 minutes after your workouts.  That is when the body is primed and ready to absorb nutrients.  Now is the time to start trying different things to see what makes your body perform and recover at its peak.  Nutrition for endurance events can be a trial and error process.  Now is the time to make the errors.  We don't want to leave anything to chance on event day.

Coming from the Gulf Coast I am learning how hard it can be to start preparing our bodies and minds during the winter.  It's tough to get up before daylight with snow and ice and freezing temperatures to train.  Remember, if it were easy, everyone would do it.  We have all decided to take on this task.  To train our bodies and our minds to accomplish great things.  If that were our only goal, it would be enough.  But we also have our mission.  Taking the time and effort to fund raise, and train to find a cure for blood cancers.   You are all very special people to take on this task.


As we start our season, remember that success at Lake Tahoe is the icing.  We start baking the cake now. Train Hard. Train Smart.

Go Team!