Team in Training, Winter 2009

I like going fast!

2009-09-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Had a 50 miler this Saturday.
15 (?) miles in, we came across a set of rolling hills.
I love hills!
So yah, I rode too fast for my own good, and got wiped out early.
I finished the ride strong (for me) though.

We rode with the triathlon team. Those guys are fast! They were leaving the SAG stops before I even got there!

I picked up a bike computer on sale this weekend. Installed pretty easily. It detects that my bike wheel is moving, but I don't know if it's calibrated properly for my wheel size; I'll have to take it out somewhere that I'm familiar with, and see if it works properly.

I've also started eating more fish. I'm totally obsessed with single serving tuna packets. They're just so darn convenient, because I don't have to refrigerate them. Of course jazzing them up is kind of hard; once the package is open, it needs to be refrigerated! And picking fix-ins that require refrigeration sort of defeats the whole purpose! So, I'm thinking maybe a bit of seasoned olive oil? Ooh! I could get achar! Or perhaps just a dash of Mrs. Dash.

awesome ride

2009-08-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Polished off a 45 miler this morning.

Felt great during the whole thing!
I got a lot of rest during the week, and I hydrated like crazy.
But (I think) what really pushed me through was that I kept on hydrating, and eating throughout the ride. I ate

1) 160 calorie pack of cheetos
2) a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
3) a snickers bar

and drank a whole mess of water!

I think what's going to make or break this for me- nutrition. I should start paying more attention to my meals between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning (or, you know *gasp* all week!)

Zube park is a great place to start off a ride- there were probably hundreds of bikers around the area (we got passed by 3 or 4 groups of 20).
The third leg of the ride started off with rolling hills. It was so exciting. Exciting is a synonym for painful, right?
Haha, seriously though, hills get the blood pumping! And people got to play around with their gears, so they're more familiar with that!

45 miles!

2009-08-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

So, I'm good and ready for tomorrow's ride. I packed up my bike, and made a breakfast that I can eat on the go.
I've also got stuff in my car for the maintenance workshop afterward, so... go me?

Still feeling dumpy

2009-08-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

I can't shake off this tiredness/thirst/sadness!
I'm drinking water, and have been eating a well balanced diet. I even went to bed at 8 pm last night!
But my eyes still have that same painful feeling that came on Saturday morning, and I still don't want to get on the saddle.
That's the worst part. Not wanting to ride.

I love riding, and I know that as soon as I get on the saddle, I'll be in a better mood. A few people are meeting up to ride this evening. Maybe I'll try to track them down.

The Rider

2009-08-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

A boy told me
if he roller-skated fast enough
his loneliness couldn't catch up to him,
the best reason I ever heard
for trying to be a champion.
What I wonder tonight
pedaling hard down King William Street
is if it translates to bicycles.
A victory! To leave your loneliness
panting behind you on some street corner
while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas,
pink petals that have never felt loneliness,
no matter how slowly they fell.

I guess my loneliness caught up to me yesterday.
It was a physically and emotionally draining week.
After not getting enough sleep, and skipping out on breakfast, I got to the meet up spot, and started riding. I felt fine up until about mile 28(ish)
At that point, I was out of energy, hungry, dehydrated (I believe because I was still getting used to using the water bottles I recently purchased), all around feeling craptacular. I made it to the end of the ride, but wasn't really up for the equipment clinic, or lunch.

It took me all day to recover (actually, I'm still kind of dehydrated), but I'll definitely be ready for next week!

Today, I'm going out to get some road slicks, and this week will be dedicated to staying hydrated, and well rested! Next weekend's ride will go better, for sure.

Fund raising isn't picking up, which is unfortunate. Hopefully, I can figure out some interesting ways to get donations, but if it comes down to it, I guess I'll hit a few liquor stores or something.

tired, tired, tired

2009-08-12T08:11:00.001-07:00

So, I think I might be coming down with a cold!
I went to bed at 8:30 last night!

I think it's my body trying to warn me that I'm being too awesome, with all this cycling, and stuff. I may have to punish my body for trying to hold me back (hurray, over distance days!)
Not looking forward to riding in this crazy weather (where there might be a thunderstorm at the park where I'll ride, but not at my work, or anywhere else!), but whatevs, I'll deal.

If anybody wants to buy some ("gently used") DVDs, or books, let me know. I got an email suggesting I try that in order raise funds. I was originally going to donate the books to the Houston library, and just take the DVDs to a pawn shop, so w/e. Also, you should consider donating books/DVDs so I can sell them!

second ride, equipment update

2009-08-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

So, we finished up our second ride yesterday. It is a lot of fun riding with my team mates. They're a diverse group, so conversation is never slow, and neither is the pace!
We met up on the outskirts of Houston- the drive was kind of long, but there were fewer cars, so it's worth the trade off. The nice thing about it was that one of the coaches mentioned it was the furthest out that we would ride, so I know I won't be late to any of the other rides (not that I was late to this one...)
The ride ended with a visit to another tex-mex restaurant, and some more conversation/fraternizing. I hope I can sit with everyone at one point or another, because I really like the 'team' aspect of Team in Training.

After the ride, I got home, ate some shredded wheat (the hippy in me loves the fact that it's seriously just whole grain wheat, (and preservatives... ew!)), and started cleaning my bike. Cleaning my bike is one of my favorite activities. It's really relaxing, almost zen-like. I guess I feel that way about cleaning in general, even though I hardly ever do it!

After thinking about it for a while, I threw on some clothes, and went off to REI to grab some gear. 20 minutes and $60 later, I was home with a small pack for under my seat, a smaller (CO2 powered) pump (which is really just a valve for the cartridge that has threads for my tire valve), 2 water bottles, and 2 water bottle cages.
It's nice to have a SAG vehicle; now I don't have to worry about running out of water (which is the only reason I carry a 3L CamelBak). So, now my back won't get as sweaty and gross, AND I get to show off my sweet TNT jersey!
What's great about the pack I got is that I can still cram in everything I had in my CamelBak- cable, knife, (a new, smaller) pump, tire tube, tire lever-thingies. It's a tight fit, so I might end up getting a larger one somewhere down the road, but for now, I'm dandy!

TNT trains to finish the Century ride, which is great because I could use the endurance work! But I also want to build some speed. I know I won't be competitively fast, but I like going fast, and plan on riding at a 'race' pace. So this week, I'll probably get some interval work (hurray) in on the treadmill (ew), and maybe an over distance day Wednesday.

wednesday, wednesday, wednesday

2009-08-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Super busy today, 101 errands to run after work! Unfortunately, that means I won't be able to make it to the fundraising informational meeting, which really bites.

I do have some plans for weaseling money away from my friends and loved ones, but I haven't heard back from the mafia, so those are in a holding pattern for the time being.

Today, I'm doing a distance workout. Probably a run. Ugh, it's so hot, I'll probably end up doing it on the treadmill! I can't stand treadmill running. Don't get me wrong- it's great for pacing, and/or doing interval work, but the lack of scenery is just... blah! On a treadmill, I actually get bored with running before I get tired with it.

If you feel like supporting me, here's my link! http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/tucson09/mathar
I'm still pretty far from my goal, so go ahead, and contribute!

Intro, first ride

2009-08-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is blog for Mohammad Athar's 2009 Winter training season with Team In Training.

So, quick run down of what I've done so far-

Gotten an awesome practice jersey.
Met my team.
Went on my first ride with them. I didn't really like stopping every five miles, or riding around a mile-long loop twenty times, but hopefully that'll change, and we can focus on riding!
Met my Honored Team Mate. This was interesting. He got up and told everyone his story at this kick off party. He really made me feel it- the struggle he went through. Right at the end, when he talked about his third day in to treatment. How he had such little strength, that he could barely walk, and he couldn't see himself living like that. But then he said that it IS doable, if you don't think about the coming years. And you just focus on the next step. And I guess that's the lesson I took away- just focus on the next step.

There's lot of other stuff, but I don't really remember it all (me and my lack of attention to detail)

Our honored team mate talked about being selfish- that we (the riders) should be selfish- and be proud of ourselves for what we're doing. I guess I really took that to heart, because I really am doing this for selfish reasons. I want to get more into cycling, and I want other people to ride with, so I don't get bored!
But, I'm going to man up, and do my part in the fund raising- I have no idea how I'm going to raise $4500 (by the way, if you want to contribute, you can do so by going to this website), but I'll figure out a way!