More Book Inspired Motivation

Another book I found motivating this time of year is (hear me out now) Chris Carmichael's book 'The Ultimate Ride'. It is basically both a training guidebook and a platform to promote his Carmichael Training System program and DVD's/Tapes, along with his Power Bar tie in.

I did find the book useful however. It bascically follows a lot of the program that Edmund Burke covered in his books. It help me better utilize a Heart Rate Monitor, help to regulate energy output along with caloric input. It sounds stupid but just his lecture on rest is something that is overlooked but I found very helpful nonetheless.

The emphasis on carbohydrate and protein is also discussed along with when you should increase amounts of each. In the book he also talks about setting short term and long term goals as well as visionary type goals. It has forced me to be more deatailed in my training and record each training session. We will see how it goes.

Early Season Inspiration

Well January wasn't much of a kickoff of the season. It has been wet in the Bay Area and it is just to congested and crazy sometimes to any serious riding. I only did 5 rides for a total of 140 miles during the whole month. Not very encouraging. During the month though I read Mike Magnuson's book Heft on Wheels. Mike is a graduate English professor out of Carbondale Illinois who started at over 260 pounds with a need for beer, nicotine, and greasy food. He describes in the book how he sought to better his middle age health through cycling. At the end of the book he is down to a svelt 165 pounds. The hook to pick up the book at the store was his front cover picture showing him at over 250 pounds on his bike completely naked....and on the back cover he is in his team uniform standing while climbing up a hill at a very skinny 165. I though it was a good read and very motivating. Just what I need this time of year.