balancing life and the bike

[Bron]

Well, I find I need more sleep when I am training too, so I just tend to socialise less at peak training/racing times. The two gaps between tri/row season and ski season are when I get out more.

A couple of questions: are you periodising your training so that you get a rest week every three/four weeks?

Have you had your iron levels checked? Anaemia is not uncommon amongst female athletes and it's easy enough to test for and correct.

[girlracer]

Hey!
Thanks for all the opinions and comments!! To ehirsch83, I feel the same way! My friends on the bike have become my best friends bc we share so much in common and I dont feel that I have to explain why I dont drink or go out on a Fri nite cause I am resting up for a 5 hour ride the next day! The friends I used to go out with even when I first bought the bike just dont understand why I cant stay out all nite or drink like i used to. I guess I have different priorities now. but you are right, I cant live both lifestyles and the bike, which is the thing that makes me sane, comes first.

To Bron,
Yeah, I have now started to periodize my training. I dont have a coach but the woman who is director of my team has been really great in helping me set up a good training plan and I think those rest weeks are important! Of course, it always hurts the first big ride after a rest week, but that is part of training! I do have anemia and take iron pills regularily and make sure my daily iron intake is sufficient for a healthy athlete. It is funny in that it was much worse before i started riding a bike and has gotten much better after I started training/racing.

[Tuckervill]

I think this is a collision of the effort people are designed to put in and the modern life. My grandmother worked the farm from sunup to sundown, and I am certain she was bone-weary at the end of the day. She only went "out" on Sundays, to church in the a.m. and p.m.

Those of us with regular jobs, expected to be conscious and alert for 8 or 9 hours of every day, and THEN go put in the hours on the bike or in the gym, should expect to be tired. We're doing more (not we, you, since I have a stay-at-home job and can rest whenever I want) than the average regular job folks, but more akin to that which was required in "simpler" times. (pre-industrial revolution?)

If I had to do the work my grandmother had to do, I would never have to go to the gym, I'll tell you that!

Karen