Now The Serious Training Begins.......

It's time for me to get real serious about training….

It’s the middle of April and the push is on to get some serious training going…..enough of the leisure stuff – the snow is gone so we will put the skis away until next season. We did enjoy 3 days of excellent spring skiing at Mt. Tremblant during the last week of March, after we came home from Florida. We were invited to join some fellow cyclists from the 2005 ride along with one other couple who is doing the 2008 ride as well – it’s interesting how you meet up with people who do the same activities that you do. On the last run down on the third day I did twist my knee and once I arrived home, I needed to see a chiropractor to get it so that I could exercise again. This meant no doing the stairs or walking too far. Cycling isn’t hard on it but getting on and off the bike did cause some pain so he suggested to take it easy for two weeks. He promised to have it better so I could start cycling again by the end of this week. I have been doing the spin classes at the “Y” but at a relaxed level. Skiing was well worth it…..wouldn’t have missed it so will live with the pain and inconvenience. A personal trainer has set me up with some programs for both my upper body and legs so this will also help to get ready. Just over 3 months from now Joe will be bringing me out to Denver to start.

I met up with some of the local cyclists at one of their fund raising events last week and this weekend some others will be making and selling pies so I will try hard to get to that as well. It’s neat to hear what others are doing in regards to fund raising and training. Hopefully in the very near future some of us can get together to do a ride locally.

Last weekend I celebrated my upcoming, big “60” with family and friends – the actual date is not until next week so I can still say I’m 59. It was great to have some fellow cyclists there as well. My children, who sent out the invitation, suggested donations to the ride in lieu of gifts and I will admit that it was an excellent idea.

Monday was a cool day, only got up to 7 so I decided to do a spin class instead of cycling outdoors. Today Joe and I did get out after lunch and we did a 29 km tour up country from where we live. This was my first time outdoors since Florida. The knee held up so maybe tomorrow we will add a few more kilometers. By the end of this week the temperature is supposed to be up to 21 degrees so we should get some long, outdoor rides in. Today’s Hamilton Spectator had an article all about fitness and how we need to make our training plan public so others can hold us accountable – I have encouraged some family members to ask me from time to time how the training is going.

The Hamilton Spectator featured the attached photo last Friday - I thought it was priceless – after this summer’s ride, Joe and I should be able to pull our trailer with our bikes and go on vacation that way so it’s actually our summer vacation 2009. Who knows what the price of gas will be then….we usually head north to Killbear Park so it may take us a week to get there……

Enjoy the training, take it one day at a time, be safe on the roads…..