Season Overload

Time is thin. Or is time is short. Either way... I need more of it. Time is precious and it always seems like we
could all use a few extra hours in a day. Whether that be used for rest or to jam a few more things in our already busy lives. I was quite aware that this "season overload" was going to happen. It is a point in the season when training and racing reach a peak. A point where rest days are used to do everything else in a normal life rather than used for resting legs, cleaning bikes, and writing blogs. Sometimes cleaning the house, cutting the grass, and tending to family becomes more important. At this point we become more than professional cyclists. We also become professional time managers.

Here is a little run down since the Keweenaw Chain Drive back on June 15th. 

• WORS #5 - Red Flint Firecracker: 9th overall. Had a good start, almost too good. I put in an effort 1/2 way through the 1st lap and paid for my effort after a counter effort from another rider. I hung with the lead group of 8 for the first 2 laps but small yo-yo efforts put me in a hole and I moved back fast. 
• WORS #6 - Pro XCT Subaru Cup: 29th in the Cross Country and 18th in the Short Track. I entered this weekend with no expectations other than racing within myself after blowing up the week prior at the Red Flint. I felt like I had good legs and better yet I rode my race. The results are not stellar but sometimes its more about the ride rather than the race.
• USA Cycling MTB Nationals: 34th in the Cross Country and 35th in the Short Track. Once again, these are not the results I was looking for. I wanted to go top 20 in both events but things didn't shake out. I did have good legs but some other things didn't fall into place. I got a 32nd call up in the XC and wasn't aggressive on the start which shot me back to about the last 10 riders for the start. After a 30 sec stand still into the single track it was all make up efforts from there. My chase was good considering a hard over the bars crash on lap 1. I chased back up from the high 40's into 34th. It was almost the same deal for the Short Track. 40th something call up out of 55 and then got caught behind a broken chain. Worked my way but up to the 30's before getting pulled. The positive note was I was feeling good working my way back up. I'll take it as another experience in the book considering I know I can finish higher with the previous weekends national results.

That leads us up to this weekend where I'll be in Green Bay for Packers family weekend with my wife and family and then onto WORS #7 Sunburst for Sunday. This time of year is my favorite. The Ore to Shore is in the air and you can always feel the buzz around the community. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world for the next 2 weeks.  Although, ask me yesterday after training in rain and 48 degrees and I might of said otherwise. But as always I survived and I'm here to train another day.

Gadget Update: I purchased a Jawbone while out in PA for Nationals. It's an interesting little gadget you wear on your wrist. It marks your steps and motion for the day but the reason I purchased it is because it supposedly tracks your sleep/rest. As stated above, time is very thin and one thing that I sacrifice sometimes is rest/sleep which is a huge "no-no" as a endurance athlete. I'm hoping this will help me appreciate and pay attention to my rest at night. So far through the first 7 days I'm averaging 6:40 of sleep a night but it is kind of screwed being I only got 3 hours the night I traveled back form MTB Nationals. Most nights I'm getting close to 8 which is my goal. The data also shows how much of that is light sleep vs. deep sleep. Cool stuff!