The spirit animal of that bike is a hot dog...a little bit of every meat mashed into a fat tube casing with the red ketchup and yellow mustard creating a weird orange glow.

You do you.

Don't fret over the nicks in that top tube...Aaron Judge could hit home runs out of the stadium with that thing and it would still be fine to ride

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/post-season-break/

"What Should Athletes and Coaches ‘do’ beyond not following a plan during a Proper Post Season Break:

Athletes First:

#1 Relax. There’s no pressure to complete 3 x 10 min of x,y, & z watts. Seriously, relax.

#2 Fix the nagging injury or heal from the one that ended your season

#3 Reconnect with you enjoyment of the bike (see Soul Rides**). Just reconnect with all aspect of life.

# 4 Meditate.  This can be thru Yoga which has additional benefits.  Read Dr. Keim’s 4 reason athletes should meditate here

A post season break is the time to address the complicated injuries that require time off from training.  Back and knee pain are common for us endurance athletes but its whatever is an area of opportunity for when you ‘fix’ it.  By taking a physical break from training, you will lay the foundation to start building upon for next season. Without being completely mentally and physically refreshed before beginning your training again for next season you will likely run into motivational or physical problems later on when it’s ‘go time’ for training and racing."

mugwump said:

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/post-season-break/

"What Should Athletes and Coaches ‘do’ beyond not following a plan during a Proper Post Season Break:

Athletes First:

#1 Relax. There’s no pressure to complete 3 x 10 min of x,y, & z watts. Seriously, relax.

#2 Fix the nagging injury or heal from the one that ended your season

#3 Reconnect with you enjoyment of the bike (see Soul Rides**). Just reconnect with all aspect of life.

# 4 Meditate.  This can be thru Yoga which has additional benefits.  Read Dr. Keim’s 4 reason athletes should meditate here

A post season break is the time to address the complicated injuries that require time off from training.  Back and knee pain are common for us endurance athletes but its whatever is an area of opportunity for when you ‘fix’ it.  By taking a physical break from training, you will lay the foundation to start building upon for next season. Without being completely mentally and physically refreshed before beginning your training again for next season you will likely run into motivational or physical problems later on when it’s ‘go time’ for training and racing."

Thanks for posting. I always appreciate being reminded to meditate and appreciate those who understand the benefits of having a daily practice.  

I took a class in compassion a few years back. The girl I was seeing at the time bought it as a gift (yikes). I was working at a bank at the time, hundred hours weeks. You know the drill. 

I thought it would be helpful from a career perspective. As I get more senior, success seems to become less about technical ability and more about thoughtfulness and leadership. Analogous to a popularity contest. Pairing technical ability with people skills. People gotta like you. 

I went into the class thinking we'd receive text books and read up on how to be more understanding, mindful, etc. It turned out to be something very different. I spent the next 6 weeks entirely focused on developing a daily mediation practice. 

What I learned was that compassion is predicated on acceptance. acceptance of a given moment, situation, the present. being aware of all your senses, thoughts, and feelings. 

although not an explicit form of meditation, mindfulness in everyday life is analogous to secular mediation (eg controlled breathing). for example, the act of washing dishes. the idea is to be solely engaged in the moment. wholly present. awareness starts and stops with all things connected to that act: soap on your hands, muscle tension while scrubbing, sound of water, feel of the sponge, seeing soapy bubbles, etc. 

What I discovered firsthand is how mindfulness and meditation releases dopamine and serotonin. it increases overall happiness. it helps me be less reactionary. to create space between events and my response / reaction. it promotes calmness. 

Endurance sports to me in a form of meditation. suffering on the bike. at whatever mile that starts, it's an opportunity to become singularly focused on the act of turning the pedals, aware of pain, continuing to push, perhaps in a well-oiled pace line. For a longtime I found that point of exhaustion, when all the bullshit falls away, the act of suffering, to be nirvana. Absolute bliss. 

bike racing in NYC is fantastic but different than long distance endurance events. racing here is short, explosive and arrhythmic. the workouts are typically the same. and reaching nirvana rolling up the west side highway just aint happening. still trying to find the right head space since moving to BK but excited to do a few things differently this off season.

Great post Greg. 

while it would be the opposite of resting, racing cyclocross provides a very similar singular focus experience. The speed at which challenges come at you, while at a 175+ heartrate, allows barely room to focus on that and only that.

Some crits are similar too. But I've found nothing that quite matches the required focus of cx.

Heal and come race.

Cranks.

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/crank-length-forget-leverage-power-fit/

I get email blasts from FasCat coaching.  I put up with it because they generally post some pretty reasonable advice.

They just sent link a link to another article worth considering. 

It suggests to people who aren't crossing to start considering next year's training now.  Why I like this is it gives one time to think about dealing with the layoffs that holidays can bring as well as your successes and failures of this season might be fresher in your mind.  
https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/annual-training-plan/

Ahem (slides thread discreetly across table)

https://kissenacycling.vanillaforums.com/discussion/867/goals-for-the-upcoming-season

Jules said:

Ahem (slides thread discreetly across table)

https://kissenacycling.vanillaforums.com/discussion/867/goals-for-the-upcoming-season

Thanks.

Are you recommending I cross post? 

Or should someone (nudge nudge) bump up that old thread?

Train your brain, yo.

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/finding-your-fight-the-mental-side-of-bike-racing/

Jules said:

Train your brain, yo.

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/finding-your-fight-the-mental-side-of-bike-racing/

thx for posting @Jules

I liked this book, although I "knew" 50% of it going in it's nice to have it all in one place and an enjoyable read. Price is $25 so I'm ok overpaying by the price of a couple of beers.

#ymmv

https://www.velopress.com/books/the-brave-athlete/

https://www.cxmagazine.com/training-tuesday-preventing-addressing-cross-back-chris-mayhew

Please! Take care of your lower backs!!

Low back pain (muscular, thankfully) has been my limiter ever since I did Night Weasels - a race up a ski hill in the driving rain.
#allthetorque

Sleep, yo.

https://cyclingtips.com/2015/03/sleep-like-an-olympian/

CX Warmup from FasCat Coaching.

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/how-to-warm-up-for-cyclocross-racing/

"FasCat’s suggested 30-minute cyclocross warm-up:

1. Begin with 4 minutes at 60% of your FTP
2. Move on to 9 minutes at 72% of your FTP
3. Interval #1 is a 3-minute effort at 80% of FTP
4. Spin for 30-seconds
5. Interval #2 is a 3-minute effort at 90% of FTP
6. Spin for 30-seconds
7. Interval #3 is 3-minutes at 100% of your functional threshold power
8. Spin for 2-minutes in zone 2, 72% of FTP
9. Interval #4 is a 30-second sprint at 140% of FTP
10. Spin for 1-minute in zone 2, 72% of FTP
11. Interval #5 is a 30-second sprint at 140% of FTP

Finish with 5 minutes of zone 2 while timing your lineup."

Obviously, it takes a trainer or a quiet road.  

It's a little too rigid for my tastes, and I rarely have the inclination to bring a trainer and road wheel with me to a 'cross race, but for those who need a specific warmup, it looks good.

Worth a read even if you're not Gen X...
https://cyclingtips.com/2017/11/11-mistakes-self-trained-cyclists-make/amp/

Looking back on 2017 & ahead to 2018, i've come up with some goals:

Achievements (2017)
	Race Weight (lb)	182	82.55	kg
	20 min (W)	271	3.28	W/kg
	5 min (W)	326	3.95	W/kg
	1 min (W)	579	7.01	W/kg
	5 sec (W)	886	10.73	W/kg
Goals (2018)
	Race Weight (lb)	180	81.65	kg
	20 min (W)	307	3.76	W/kg
	5 min (W)	355	4.35	W/kg
	1 min (W)	645	7.90	W/kg
	5 sec (W)	1,253	15.34	W/kg

What are some useful goals to have aside from the typical power numbers that everyone is used to seeing?


*Note that all but the 20min effort in 2017 were 'planned.' The 5min, 1min, & 5sec efforts were recorded post-season.

@JohnOlsson

I used Coggan's power profiling chart (https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/power-profiling/) to gauge where i stand & figured i'd shoot for being near the upper power profile range for my racing category. My sprinting has always kind of fallen short of where I feel it should be. The 30%+ jump does seem like a lot now that you mention it. I suppose setting some 'sprinting goals' wouldn't hurt. The top of the hill & sprint finish in prospect park (last lap) always seem to get the best of me.

@JohnOlsson

Setting goals this time of year is great. Two thoughts for you (doubtless covered in this thread many moons ago)

1) What is your realistic training budget in terms of hours/week and how does it compare to 2017?

2) I like to set three types of goals every year:

1. Race
2. Power
3. Skills

You can't always get the luck you need in a race, and you cannot always be sickness/injury free so splitting goals into these categories leaves you room to work on improving at all times - albeit in different categories.

#YMMV

While somewhat elf-serving, it is interesting food for thought.

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/seven-habits-of-highly-successful-masters-cyclists/

I'm not sure what the fuck Phil G knows about being a masters athlete, but it all sounds like sound advice. Also, love me some #elves

Another article from Frank Overton.  This time on dealing with sickness and training.

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/what-to-do-when-you-feel-sick/

mugwump said:

Another article from Frank Overton.  This time on dealing with sickness and training.

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/what-to-do-when-you-feel-sick/

Definitely seasonally appropriate - I'm sitting out a few days with a cold myself

Sudafed makes you go faster.

David Yang said:

Sudafed makes you go faster.

but you're breaking the rules if you use it in competition.

mugwump said:

David Yang said:

Sudafed makes you go faster.

but you're breaking the rules if you use it in competition.

You're braking the rules if the pseudoephedrine ( Sudafed active ingredient) concentration is higher than 150ug/mL in urine ( WADA directives)

Thierry Bonnaire said:

mugwump said:

David Yang said:

Sudafed makes you go faster.

but you're breaking the rules if you use it in competition.

You're braking the rules if the pseudoephedrine ( Sudafed active ingredient) concentration is higher than 150ug/mL in urine ( WADA directives)

If you're really curious there are WADA smartphone apps that list common medications and their limits.