Definition of insanity

"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Who said that? Just some guy with a sweet mustache who doodled on chalkboards.

Some of you might remember that on January 4th I announced that the reset button had been pushed. You might have wondered what I was talking about. Well, what I am doing is beginning my whole new "training program" which is based on the theory that I can do better by doing less. Case in point?

I've been eating less.

At least on some days. My weight loss pattern always looks the same every year (thus the title of today's post). I do pretty well during the structure of the week, fall off the wagon on the weekends, then saddened I return to food for solace at the beginning of the week only to turn it around and start all over again. Insanity, I know. I thought that I would have a chance to get a serious foothold this January since I got The Pie to agree to a cease fire on desserts for an entire month. She has thrice brought food style pleasantries into our dwelling, and I have thricely engaged in the overeating of said pleasantries.

Notice that the chart ended last Saturday. This is not because I am no longer tracking my progress (and occasional regress). It's just that I made the chart on Saturday when I had time to kill. I assure you that the nachos on Sunday brought me back up to an alarming weight yesterday morning, so I am back in the cycle again.

The weight loss is only one prong of my multi-pronged attack on training better by doing less. I am also spending less time awake, meaning I am sleeping more. Last year at this time I was waking up terribly early to blog and head to the YMCA to run, workout, and see naked old men walking around the locker room. After I finished with that phase of training I continued waking up early and riding extra miles before work everyday until I burned myself out in May. This is not the plan for 2011. I will be getting as close to eight hours a night, and if possible, even more. Riding is great, but I am convinced sleep is better.

As far as improving my recovery goes I am also going to start using this thing:

Ilan and Charlotte phenom racer/coach Andreas Raab talked me into purchasing a foam roller one day while I was at their shop looking for cable ends. I've seen plenty of people using them in the past, I've played with one a time or two, and I'm convinced I'm missing out on something. How convinced? Enough to throw down near $30 on a piece of solid styrofoam pipe insulation. So after races and hard rides I will be doing less standing around chit chatting and roaming around the house aimlessly and more rolling around on the floor like a circus animal. Unless my recovery happens to occur during the period of time between dusk on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Everyone knows I don't fucking roll on Shomer Shabbos.



One thing I do have an issue with concerning this whole "training smart by doing less" and "taking care of myself" thing is the fact that most experts agree that alcohol is bad for proper recovery. I get the concept, but I don't want to abide to that kinda rule. Beer can play an important role in recovery if the circumstances call for it. Take for example two Sundays ago when I totally sucked ass at the short track race and DNF'ed with my skipping chain. On the way home I realized a couple of beers would dull the pain of utter humiliation. Then a week later when I came home delighted with my fourth place finish I celebrated my improved performance with three beers. I don't think I would have felt complete in either case had I rushed home to pound a liter of Recoverite. No, I just wouldn't have felt anything at all. This will not always be the case, but I will not be made to feel remorse for my actions because of a few "experts" and their "facts."

So this is the new plan for 2011 in a nutshell. I recommend it to all my readers although your results may vary... a lot.