01 December 2011 No better way to finish the season
Team bizhub finished their season on a successful note winning the overall ladies elite category in the Omnicane Southern Tropical MTB Challenge ...
My Diary ... Yolandi du Toit
This past month has been a rather quite time in terms of racing and formal team
requirements.
I completed my first half of the season (January to June) at the Kremetart cycle
race. Thereafter the team was given the month off of racing in order to prepare
for the second half of the season (July to December)
When I say off it doesnąt mean we were given the opportunity to let our bikes
gather some dust for a change. It only meant that for the rest of the month we had
no racing on our team calendar.
Following Kremetart I actually did hang up my cycling shoes for a few days and then
returned to base period in my training. (Base period is the first period in training
where one focuses more on quantity than quality.)
My first week in Base period was slightly tougher than usual with the extremely
cold weather we had up here in Gauteng. Everyday on the bike I asked myself the
same question over and over - am I really gaining fitness from this or am I just
fooling myself. For me it felt as if I was going out on my bike to torture myself.
After hardly an hour on the bike my muscles started to get sore from all the contractions
to keep them warm which only resulted in me taking double the time to cover the
same distances.
Luckily the frosty spell was soon over and I could get back to some proper training
without too many layers of clothing. A small training camp in warmer climes was
also well worth the travel and a few days of riding in sunny conditions was all
my muscles needed to thaw out a bit.
At first it didn't really bother me not having a month off but now I cant think
of not having at least one month a year to recover mentally and physically from
racing weekend after weekend.
I truly enjoyed the whole of June, I feel fresh and excited for the new season ahead
of me.
My first weekend back into racing will be on the 17th and 18th where I will be competing
at the XCO National championships in Pretoria and the Walkerville mountain bike
challenge respectively.
Following Kremetart I actually did hang up my cycling shoes for a few days and then
returned to base period in my training. (Base period is the first period in training
where one focuses more on quantity than quality.)
My first week in Base period was slightly tougher than usual with the extremely
cold weather we had up here in Gauteng. Everyday on the bike I asked myself the
same question over and over - am I really gaining fitness from this or am I just
fooling myself. For me it felt as if I was going out on my bike to torture myself.
After hardly an hour on the bike my muscles started to get sore from all the contractions
to keep them warm which only resulted in me taking double the time to cover the
same distances.
Luckily the frosty spell was soon over and I could get back to some proper training
without too many layers of clothing. A small training camp in warmer climes was
also well worth the travel and a few days of riding in sunny conditions was all
my muscles needed to thaw out a bit.
At first it didn't really bother me not having a month off but now I cant think
of not having at least one month a year to recover mentally and physically from
racing weekend after weekend.
I truly enjoyed the whole of June, I feel fresh and excited for the new season ahead
of me.
My first weekend back into racing will be on the 17th and 18th where I will be competing
at the XCO National championships in Pretoria and the Walkerville mountain bike
challenge respectively.