As the gray, New England fall transformed into a winter wonderland, the hours on the bike diminished to a life at the gym. An unfamiliar zone for an outdoor cyclist, I soon found the change rewarding and inviting as it was the signal for the beginning of another road season. For people who are unfamiliar with road training, weights are used during the off-season as a way to build strength and power on the bike. Weight training is very structured and is completely focused on the leg muscles and core strength. Time and time again, I am asked how much I’m benching….IT’S IRRELEVANT TO GETTING FASTER ON THE BIKE!! I shake my head.
A couple of weeks ago, I woke up and my lower neck felt as if I’d slept funny on it. It was the holiday and Aaron’s parent’s were visiting so we were in the city (Boston). I had a few days off the weights so I shook it off. That Sunday, I went to the gym and did my routine, except I was exceptionally sore and slightly pained from the squats. I cut them short. My shoulder hurt. The week went by and I just did my routine and completely cut out the squats…finally Thursday came and I addressed this to my coach, Frank. He was beside himself!! “Melissa!! I don’t know how you can trust yourself to take care of yourself. You should have told me immediately so I could have adjusted your training!!” He was so upset, but someone needed to tell me. “Imagine you had a Mercedes. You would put the best fuel in, clean it, and never eat in the car. If the ‘check engine’ light came on, you would IMMEDIATELY take it to the shop, wouldn’t you.” I nodded my head over the phone. “Just pretend you are a Mercedes and you’ll be fine.”
The ‘Mercedes’ theory immediately became a joke between Aaron and I. Every Mercedes he’d see on a movie, he would point and remind me…”Melissa, what would you do?” In the mean time, Frank grounded me from the bike until I got examined by a physician. It would be another week until I’d find out that it was a strained neck. Aaron was antsy for me to ride again, so he emailed Frank:
Frank,
hope everything is going well in Colorado! I have three questions
composed in an “A”, “B”, and “C” format.
The first “A” questions is: can Melissa ride a bike yet? She is
driving me “crazy”, and biking will help mello that out.
“B” question: Mercedes? Melissa is not that high maintenance, but when
she ‘breaks” everything is expensive, so I propose to call her an
Aston Martin. There are not really any Aston Martin dealerships
around, which makes fixing them very hard plus they are way more
expensive to fix and run.
“C” question: I have been riding zone 2 for a little while (this week
12 hrs,next week 14-15, week after that 16hrs) how much zone 3 should
I do, and/or, I dont know what I am doing but it seems to work? Will
bourbon help? What is the alchol per mile ratio? I just became a cat 3
last year, now I am almost a “2″ so does my gut instinct work for “my”
training plan?
Thanks,
Aaron
Frank’s reply:
Hey Aaron -
Good to hear from you. Thanks for making me laugh, Hahahaa. Let me
answer those in reverse order:
C) 12 > 14-15 > 16 hrs sounds awesome. I’d add a easy 6-8 hrs regeneration
week after than 16 hr one. Then begin the tempo work. Tempo in February and
Sweet Spot in March. Drop the hammer in April or mid-March. Without an on
the bike BAC “bicycle alcohol content” it’s hard for me to estimate.
However if what you are doing is working, by all means keep it up. Early
European bike racers used to drink whiskey 10k before the spring finish.
They thought it was one of the original performance enhancers. Turns out all
it did was lower their inhibitions so that they sprinted (and crashed) more
crazy.
B) I agree. I kinda made that up on the fly and afterwards I offered to
make her a Ferrari, but she declined. Let’s go with an Aston Martin – those
are sweet!
C) Too funny. I am keen to hear what her Dr. says today and if she gets the
green light A OK bill of health “back is alright” then I’ll load up her
hours and she’ll be outta your hair. A lot. Your 12 > 14-15 > 16 hrs
sounds awesome.
Have a good one and let me know if you have any other training and/or car
questions!
-Frank
So, needless to say, after all is said and done, I’ve become an Aston Martin. WHOO HOO!! Would I have figured this out if I hadn’t hurt myself lifting…not so sure. But now that I can relate to a James Bond machine, I will know how to act in adverse situations. The lesson here is: A) When the ’check engine’ light comes on….take the damn thing to the shop!!
Aston Martin