After 16 days of doing nothing but eating and drinking a lot in Tuscany, I'm back. Actually, I returned on the 16th. I put on 10 lbs and I'm back to my normal steady state weight of 140. I spent most of the race season at 130.
I did the Thrasher Hill ride the next day after my return, and boy was I hurting. I can't believe how quickly you loose fitness/form. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, my chest hurt, my neck hurt, my triceps hurt. My whole body just hurt. I completely popped half way up Anglers and just struggled to keep my legs turning the rest of the ride.
On Saturday I did the 10am ride and I felt much better then on Wed., but no where close to how I felt during the summer. I had no snap and my legs felt pretty heavy after high intensity.
On Sunday I did the Bicycle Place Shop "A" ride. Legs are starting to feel a lot better, but still need to work on the cardio.
So what's my plan for the rest of the fall and winter?
- Keep the extra 10 lbs on, enjoy eating whatever I want.
- Train through the winter at a heavier weight than my race weight.
- Get my legs and cardio back into semi-good shape over the next couple of weeks.
- Build a really strong cardio engine through the end of Dec.
- Spend Jan and Feb cutting weight and start doing high-intensity workouts.
