Perfection in November
First, the picture posted is from an event where the Los Angeles Tribune gave me an honorary reward for Exceptional Resilience and Courage. I was very appreciative and grateful someone submitted my name without me knowing. So, I definitely feel like a tenured paracyclist. I have been in the sport for 10 years and I have met the criteria to be a tenured athlete after attending the world championships in 2023. I submitted my name to be an athlete rep for US Paracycling but did not really want it that badly. The two people I was hoping were selected got it! Hoping for better communication, competition notice, relations, and selection over the next 4 years towards the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Since Team USA can earn up to 15 spots if they maximize points over the two years leading up to the Paralympics why not get it?!?! If the Paralympics are on US soil let’s maximize that roster! It is exciting taking this dream another 4 years.
With respect to the paragraph above I feel really good! I had only been riding 3 to 4 days per week with mostly zone 2 and one day with some tempo and threshold until last week. I’m now doing one longer day on my ebike, 2 hrs 45 minutes, with a variety of tempo, threshold, and VO2. One day of 40/20’s repeated 4 times with 5 minutes easy between and 2 days of zone 2. The riding is not too much volume at all. Next month I may go to 5 days unless I wait until January. I also strength train 2 times per week. I am hoping the US and UCI race schedules are out soon to help prepare. And lastly, fingers crossed for being selected back to Team USA in January. I was, still am, disappointed in the team USA director and performance coach for their poor selection of alternates to the roster for the Paris Paralympics so I want to make sure they will not add any unnecessary stress to my training and racing. Mental stress can tarnish performance.
Other than the above I’m enjoying teaching nutrition right now at the university. It truly is my favorite subject. I think reducing oxidative stress with proper nutrition and other healthy habits is probably my favorite area of interest. Another area of interest is the journey to find the best food combinations for digestion, recovery, and muscle growth/maintenance. With a spinal cord injury many things can be different. We manage are bladder and bowel differently, recovery can take longer, getting enough calories can be difficulty with appetite not as normal as it was, among other items. I am lucky enough to not have to take any prescription medication which can affect performance and I have been sleeping 7-9 hours a night without interruption over the past year. I have seen my testosterone significantly increase which is typically much lower in those with a spial cord injury lesion as mine. A tip from one of my teammates, Cody Wills, was the ticket to sleeping through the night and not having to restrict fluid intake anymore. SO GRATEFUL!!!!! That is no little thing but a MAJOR thing.
Overall, things are grrrrrreat! Looking forward to the possAbilities winter celebration Dec 8th. I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving.
