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Friday, September 22

I'm not a dope(r)

Jeebus.

I guess after getting a very well thought out and lengthy comment from "anonymous" on my last post, I should clear the air.  I won't be doping or looking to do anything unethical or perilous to make more great bike race in 2018.

Seriously.  Aside from my unhealthy love of beer and certain processed foods (Pringles and Peanut M&M's, I'm looking at you), I don't put a lot of crap in my body.  I don't even like to take ibuprofen.  It has to be a pretty extreme circumstance for me to consider putting a pharmaceutical in my body, like when I rolled my toe under almost a year ago.  Even then, I didn't go to a doctor, because I knew they would just prescribe a narcotic pain killer... which I just don't wanna take.

I still can't bend my right big toe.  Dammit.

I allow myself a few supplements.

My regimen.
Multi-vitamin.  Because.

Iron.  I live in a mostly vegetarian household.  It's hard to get my daily intake in my diet, and after being anemic in the past, I don't wanna do that again.  Ever.  Check the iron content in a bag of spinach, figure out how many bags you'd need to eat daily, get back to me on that.

Magnesium.  Google it.  Being an older "athlete," it's super important.  Also, hard to just get it in your diet naturally.  Meh.

Vitamin D.  When you're young, you can get it just standing in the sun.   As you age, your body loses that ability to synthesize it from UVB exposure.  So I take it.  Double meh.

I hate having an old person "pills of the week" box, but I've accepted it as a part of life.

I did use CarboRocket Rocket Red this past "season."  Once again, the semi-vegetarian lifestyle thing.  My lab work is never that great when it comes to all the factors involving the transportation of oxygen to my muscles.  I feel zero guilt using it.  Beets are still not on the WADA banned list so okay.

Lab work?  Am I so interested in performance that I go see a doctor and get my blood drawn in the interest of making great bike race?

No.

I've just settled into the somewhat adult concept that if something's going wrong, catching it sooner rather than later might not be a bad idea.  Almost annual physicals aren't a terrible thing, I have insurance that pays for it, and the doctor's office is only two blocks from where I work.  I have no excuse to not go.

Other than my fear of needles (so much for transfusions).

The only other thing I do during the "season" would be chocolate milk with some L-Glutamine.  Once again, google it.  Another thing that your body doesn't do so well as you get older.  That and I love chocolate milk.

In 2018, I've got two (or three) options.

1. "Train" smarter.  Not just head out on the bike with no agenda other than saddle time.  Hill repeats and other such silliness.  Something my body would need to recover from, which means the next day I can just sleep in (also bueno) and just do my short commute and my job.

2. Keep doing what I'm doing.  I want to be strong enough that I can enjoy longer rides, so that's what all the junk miles have been about for the last few years.  It gets the job done.  But it's probably stupid.

3. I guess I could not do anything, but that won't work.  I still wanna enjoy long summer days in the saddle.  Big Pisgah rides.  Mancations.  I can't pull that off if I take it easy, so... not really an option.

I already know that I'm leaning towards the first option.  It seems like a better use of my time.  It just requires more planning and and follow through.  Fortunately, it's free, legal, healthy, and still involves riding a bike.  Which is all I want to do in the first place.

The last time I can say that I was actually motivated about making truly great bike race was July '13 at ORAMM.  I went there with what an "athlete" would call "goals," and I achieved them.

My only lasting regret from that experience would be the cargo shorts.  Like Cher said, "If I could turn back time, I'd wear jorts."

Those were the days... and I'm okay with that.  I cared about something enough to be a "trier," and it worked out just fine.  Since then, it's been all about fun.

And I don't think doping ever helped anyone have good time.

But when I turn fifty in '19?  It might be time to race my age group peers on even ground... on a single speed... rigid... because you can't untrain stupid.

Tomorrow (unless I change my mind), I hop into the local cyclo ross training race and compete "pan y agua."  I hope I can go the distance.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couple more supplements to help you not dope.

terrestris, mucuna pruriens, Ashwagandha, L-arginine

Anonymous said...

I see deadlifting and power meters in your future.

Anonymous said...

Real athletes wear cargo shorts.

Anonymous said...

Shoulda gone to the doctor for that toe. If like my pinky finger, you broke a bone. At least I have a slightly stiff, enlarged reminder for next time.
If you can get over the needle thing, the Red Cross checks iron levels every time you give blood. Plus, snacks.

Anonymous said...

I really did not think you'd be a dope(r) either. Also, thanks for sharing some of your strategies for dealing with aging.