coaching... finally

So I did it. Today, I finally "signed" with a coach, my personal good friend and a great, professional cyclist Kim Geist (http://www.kimgeist.com/). Long time due, I was able to figure out what type of budget I should have for the next few months and decided to go with her coaching services on a consultation base. This will hopefully only be temporary, just until I start working in March at a paid internship. When I figure I can afford it, I'll go with the full-blown coaching service.

When Kim told me she was going to make a "business" out of her coaching, I knew I had to sign on with her asap. Why? While the both of us attended DeSales University and raced for the cycling team, she has done me and the rest of the team huge favors by giving us free training schedules, tips, words of wisdom, etc., and it has all helped me out big time. And yes, I did say free. Let's say Kim was just practicing for when she started doing this as pretty much a full time job after we graduated this past May.

Unfortunately, and understandably, she wasn't able to provide me or anyone else with free training schedules, but I have paid her several times over the summer to write me up 2 or 3 week plans. Each time I came out stronger than before. If she could do that to me in just a few weeks, I can only imagine what she could do for me from now until the spring when I start racing again for the 2010 Road and Track season. But, like my momma always said, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

On a last note, Kim will be using TrainingPeaks for all of my training schedule. It's an interesting web application/program, as I was just getting myself familiar with it. The free account stuff is good for me for now, but I may eventually upgrade to the Premium.

So, I'll let you know how the coaching comes through in a few weeks! Until then, enjoy your Thanksgiving Day leftovers!

It's Late!

Well, as I did the last two years, I wanted to post my end-of-season rankings. However, being Category 5 at the end of the year it is kind of not accurate to what I was at the official end of the season. By this time, many Cat 5 who are better than me would have upgraded to Category 4, pushing me up to a better ranking than I really am. I did have a decent season though, having once reached top 120 in the nation, and top 20 in the state if I remember correctly. That is on account of placing 4th out of 4 riders in a race that I did pretty well in compared to the other riders in my category. So, let it be known that my official ranking does not reflect my actual capability.

I got big plans for 2010. By the end of this month I will be meeting with a friend of mine, professional cyclist Kim Geist at http://www.kimgeist.com, which we will be discussing coaching. I've pushed off coaching for too long and it shows in my racing results. While I may be a smart cyclist, I'm not a very strong one and without the strength needed, I'm not winning races. Now is the time to start coaching and training for the 2010 season to start somewhere around April or May. I also want a coach so I have a schedule to follow and it will "force" me out to ride. I haven't ridden much in the last 2 or 3 months. At most, I'd say I was on my bike 10 days out of the last few months, which is pretty sad, despite a scheduled 3 weeks break in August/September.

So, this is it for now. I will update about my coaching once I get that set away and started by the end of the month. 2010 shall be a great year for me, and I will reach Category 4 by the end of the season in both road and track!