Quentin Muhlert | Online Marketing Professional

Thanks, el nino!

Winter training is never easy.

Layered up with smartwool, lycra, and a nylon windbreaker over the whole deal just to be sure, us cyclists lumber out of the garage feeling more like the michelin man than Andy Schleck. Thanks to an unreasonably warm winter, though – any cyclists in the pacific northwest are getting treated to spring training weather a couple of months early.

While the organizers of the 2010 winter olympics don’t like it, I couldn’t be happier. 30k on the training loop today under a brighter and bluer sky than we usually get at the height of summer.

I’ve managed to get myself a trainer and nutritionist helping me out in exchange for services, which is also going to help me get a running start at this year’s cycling season. I cannot really overstate the value of seeing a nutritionist for at least an initial consultation. As people of the internet, it so easy to fall into believing whatever we read online, and it’s great to get the straight goods from a doctor.

I also got my lactate levels teste which, although painful, is really fun and interesting.

I’m off to brave the olympic tourist crowds, so wish me luck. I’ve got the wordpress for blackberry app working now though, so look forward to more regular updates.

Fall / Winter

Winter is not a good time to be a cyclist.

Rich foods and a lack of dry open roads (at least here in the NorthWest) make it easy to pile on pounds, and almost impossible not to lose form. I’m a bit of a stickler for riding in the rain, in that I bloody hate it.  You’re cold and miserable the whole time, and you know you’re wearing down your drivetrain tremendously. Plus once you get back home, you’ve got to clean the whole bike once you’ve dried yourself off and warmed up.

And that’s without going into the whole vehicular danger issue.

I’ve been managing well this winter though, mind you I’m sick right now and can’t do much for the next few days – but I”m on a regular program of stair climbing and power squats that seems to be keeping me from getting fat too quickly.  I have a trainer as well, but I’ve found that trainers tend to rub through your tires quite quickly, so I only am on that once a week.

Keeping weight off in the Winter is a challenge for anyone, but when I start being able to hit the mountains again in the Spring, it’ll pay off.