What you can control

There are things in this world you can control. You can take charge of the situation and make it (or try to make it) work out for you.

On the other hand, there are things in this world you can not control. There are times you just have to relax and accept that you have no control over the situation. It is what it is.

For example, I had a travel day yesterday where I was in control of the situation for less than 1/3 of the day. But that 1/3 made the 2/3 of the rest of the day no problem.

-Wake up early to ride the trainer (just in case I am not abale to ride when I get to Redlands).
-Prepare food/drink for the flight and day of travel (my food is better than airport food).
-Play with dogs and boy and enjoy the last hour at home (I love home).
-Drive to the airport, get there early to check in and to see my Dad (chill time=happy time).
-Board the plane.
-Sit on the plane for 2 hrs without ever leaving DIA (broken valve=something I can't control. Packed lunch= happy belly).
-Change planes
-Fly to CA (packed snack=happy belly, again) and ride with host Mom to Redlands.
-Arrive at 6:30pm to host house (no time to ride. Good thing I rode the trainer in the AM), go to dinner with teammates, grocery store, host house, bed time.

Thanks to my preparation in the morning, my "less than ideal" travel day, turned out to be no problem. I took control over what I could, didn't stress over what I couldn't control and it was a no problem day.
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Priorities

Remember the goals you set for yourself? (if you have not set goals yet, you are way off the back)
Remember what your top priority is?

Now is the time to keep these two things in mind-goals and priorities. It's easy to get caught up in the racing, the riding, and the general bike riding dorky-ness that is March.

Some people come out of the winter "flying", while others emerge slowly from the winter only to "fly" later in mid summer.

What are your goals? When are you hoping to race and ride at your strongest? Keep that in mind as you are either racing, riding or still taking your skis out to "shred the gnar".

More ways to follow!!

ALP Cycles Coaching has moved into the 2010's. Follow us on Twitter!
@alpcycles

Webpage too (though it just links to this blog)!
halfwheel.com

Ride hard!

Race time in Colorado!

After a winter of training, it's time to be put to the test. That's just what Coach Alison did on Saturday.

Athlete Kimberly came to the race to not only provide moral support, but to learn about the racing and about the girls who race in Colorado (she is a new Colorado resident).
In less than one month time, she too will be racing and talking race tactics/results.

Race time!

March...tis the season. For many of us, March signals the start of the race season.
Many feelings arise when we think ahead to our first race of the season.
Nerves, excitement, anxiety, fun, and mostly, "how will I do"? "Will I be good enough?"

The first races of the season are here and though many of you may not feel you are ready for them it's important to race. Enter the race, do the best you can, and most importantly, learn from the race. What did you do well? What could you improve one? What were your strengths? And what were your weaknesses?

After the race, re-evaluate your training plan. Plan to work on and train what challenged you most in the race. Maybe the length of the race proved too hard on your legs and lungs, or the multiple hard efforts left you gasping and unable to recover.

Train your weaknesses so you can improve for the next race.