I’ve held this domain name for quite a while now. It came to me when I was thinking about the gaps I see in the endurance sports world. I had become frustrated because there are thousands of sites and articles that are dedicated to the two ends of the sporting spectrum: the rank amateurs and the most elite performers.

Sites dedicated to learning are usually focused on the newbie who has just bought their first bike and is trying to figure out what a “derailleur” is. I totally understand, I was there too and I found those articles useful and, if I’m honest, still read them as a brush up on the basics every now and then.

Then you have the other end of the spectrum. Forums are littered with huge swaths of posts on “marginal gains” and the life of ascetic bike racers who – if their posts are to believed – are hermit monks who eat a nutritionally perfect diet, achieve 15-20 hours a week training and are pushing 5 W/kg.  Their lives are consumed by racing and have basically sculpted their daily existence around that lifestyle.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all and, frankly, if I had the time I’d probably be trying to do the same thing. I love reading their posts and greatly admire anyone who is that dedicated, single minded and fit.

But, unfortunately, I’m not in either of those groups. I no longer need the beginner “how to pedal your bike” posts nor do I really care to train as if I’m going to get picked up for a World Tour Team (trust me, I’m not). Hell, I don’t even really want to race criteriums and there are few road races in my area.

So if I’m neither of those things, what am I? What do I want?

I’m a husband, a son and a friend. I’m an Engineer with a 40 hour/week desk job and a mortgage. I love whiskey and beer (I’m also a homebrewer). I love food in all it’s glory including everything from well planned, meal-prepped breakfasts, lunches and dinners with the perfect macro composition to artery-hardening concoctions at a diner at 3AM after a concert and closing down a local bar. I am passionate about riding my bike long distances quickly but not so strenuously that I’m working too hard to enjoy the view. I don’t have aspirations to become a Pro nor do I really want to mix it up in the criterium circuit.

I try to eat well most of the time. I like to ride my bike, sometimes hard and fast. I also like to trail run, lift weights, do yoga and hike with my wife and dog.

There dont seem to be a lot of resources or logs in the middle ground I inhabit. Which really seems like a shame because I’d imagine that I’m not the only person out here in this seeming no-man’s land. What I’ve wanted, and what I will try to create here, is a log of my work on honing my fitness through cycling, proper nutrition and enjoyment of an array of active pursuits. Along the way I’ll talk about what works for me and what doesn’t as I try to fit in as much training time as I can so I can continue to improve fitness and health, all without hampering the other areas of my life. I’ll cover finding time to fit in training as well as how I choose to be flexible with plan while still remaining as consistent as possible. I’ll also relay what I’m learning through the process. I’m not a coach, dietitian, or expert in anyway but I’ll try to pass on interesting nuggets as I come across them and then show how I try to make them fit in my own training life.

I’ve spent a long time coming up with what sort of content to put out on this blog but then, as I was doing my usual daily Training Log entry it hit me. I’m already writing the posts! Every day I do morning assessment on how I’m feeling, what training I have scheduled and how it goes. I review my nutrition and write some notes on how to improve both training and fueling. It’s all right there – and maybe it’ll be useful to someone else.

So here are the parameters for this blog:

1. I will workout 1 hour per day 5 days a week.
   1. Before anyone has a fit and starts complaining that I need rest days, I get it. When I say “workout” I mean I will spend 1 hour per day doing something to improve my fitness. This could be dedicated high intensity trainer sessions, easy recovery rides, endurance rides or yoga. Considering I only have 1 hour per day (7 hours per week for those that need the math done for them) it’s not like I have massive volume I need to recover from. The idea is consistency and follows the don’t break the chain model popularized by Jerry Seinfeld
   2. This doesn’t include time for transition to or from workouts (setup, showering, etc)
2. I will use TrainerRoad for my cycling workouts and will use TrainingPeaks to track other workouts as well as my health metrics. (Don’t worry, I also have Strava and will upload all my ride and runs to that platform as well.)
   1. I am an avid TrainerRoad user and am using their Sweet Spot Plans.
3. I will train for whole body fitness.
   1. Cycling is my passion but having the “T-Rex” look of tiny arms and giant legs is neither the model of health nor the aesthetic I’m going for. Yes, I’m going to be vain and worry about aesthetics, because, why the hell not?
   2. This means I’m going to run, lift, climb, hike and generally do active things and may even do them in place of cycling workouts.
4. I will eat a balanced diet that focuses on fitness promoting macros the majority of the time but will not stop myself from enjoying “unhealthy” foods when appropriate.

Lifting is an important component of that to support strong connective tissue and bone health in addition to helping the areas of my body that don’t get worked while cycling. It also helps improve body composition and overall functional strength. I will cover my strength training plan in another post. 

As of 11/01/2019 my personal stats are:

Let’s see how I can improve these numbers month over month.

This blog is my commitment to being more diligent to these goals and will hold me accountable. This is a process though and I don’t expect that I’ll achieve perfection. Instead, consistency is the key – small wins every day toward becoming better than I was yesterday, toward Optimizing Average.