training, training and more training!
You just don’t wake up one morning and say “yea, I think I will do a century bike ride tomorrow”. Well, some people might and if they are in great shape that is all well and good, but when I decided to do my first century, I knew I had the fitness of a Butterball Turkey, so I knew I had to do some serious planning and training. I immediately immersed myself into books on heart rate monitoring, fitness, understanding on how the human body works – respiratory system, cardio system, etc. That stuff is really, really difficult! I remember being a business major in college and thinking that people majoring in things like “exercise physiology” were wimps. Hey, they didn’t have to take Calculus, Physics, Economics, Accounting, Statistical Analysis, etc. Reading all that stuff on heart rate, optimal muscle recovery, etc. was pretty intimidating. Yes, I have a new respect for exercise physiologists and people who make a living by helping athletes train and recover. I also have an incredible respect for endurance athletes and people who push their body to its limits. The human body is an incredible functioning thing that is so complex I get a headache when I try to understand all its functionality.
Below are a number of references I am utilized to get into shape and am still utilizing and read and re-read until it sinks in.
- The Lance Armstrong Performance Program, St. Martin's Press, by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael
- Optimal Muscle Recovery, Avery Press, by Edmund R. Burke, PhD
- Cycling Health and Physiology, Vitesse Press, by Edmund R. Burke, PhD
- Bicycling Magazine's Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills, Rodale Press, Inc., by Ed Pavelka and the Editors of Bicycling Magazine
- Bicycling Medicine, Simon & Schuster New York, by Arnie Baker, M.D.
- The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling, Bicycling Magazine, by Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D., and Ed Pavelka
- Spinervals Cycling Videos
- Cyclo-Core
Most of these books were ordered from Amazon.com as I have been a good customer of Amazon.com over the years. Between my purchasses of computer and cycling books, I should have bought stock in Amazon.com.
Click here for a detailed table of my cycling and Bowflex TreadClimber miles, calories burned, etc.
Click here for a list of upcoming rides that are of interest to my training.