2026 Here we are!!!
Hello there, it’s time for a little update as we’re only one week into the first week of 2026. First off, happy to note that I’m back to my normal training. I was having some nagging shoulder discomfort on the left guide for about a month. I have noticed that there are some activities that trigger it and cause it to increase. I’m not sure if it is a rotator cuff tear or just a really tight proximal section of the long head of the biceps. There’s definitely a knot in the upper biceps and it’s point tender. Things like bicep curls And lateral deltoid raises caused discomfort in that one spot. Going through some special tests for the rotator cuff it’s negative. There might be some issues on the attachment of the subscapularis but still trying to figure it out. As I mentioned just a bit ago the most discomfort comes from a point on the anterior delt and proximal biceps muscle. When the discomfort started it was not restricting my cycling which was comforting. It was typically after I would ride and do things like transfers or other activities involving in my left shoulder. Hopefully the discomfort will continue to decrease and then also some of these new activities I will be doing on the massage table will help manage the discomfort. Ultimately though, it did start when I changed my riding position just very slightly and noticed that my left arm is doing the majority of the work in my pedal stroke.
The volume of my training has increased a little bit since December. I’m now riding for five to six days per week and strength training once or twice. If I do one day per week of 30/30 intervals I need to only do strength training one time per week. It’s too much intensity if I try 2 days of strength and a day of 30/30 intervals. I started flirting with a couple longer intervals two weeks ago and then repeated it again last week. I will do one day of those at the latter part of this week to see how I’m feeling. It’s not nearly as difficult to hold my power in zone 4 as it used to be. I typically do my intervals in upper zone 4 and zone 5 when they are 5 minutes in duration. For me, personally, I believe it’s necessary to push yourself hard one time per week with some race pace efforts. It doesn’t have to be every week but I will also do mock time trials to understand how I’m feeling at Max capacity for a specified amount of time. The remainder of my time is spent in zone 2 sometimes moving into zone 3. Gotta be careful though because it’s sometimes tough to tell yourself to slow down as zone 1 is not gonna cause detraining when it’s done every once in a while. The first time trial for 2026 on the road will be in just over a month at Valley of the sun stage race. By the end of this month USA cycling said we would know who is selected for the first World Cup in Thailand. The season is coming in hot! You just after Thailand will be Belgium and Italy.
Other than trainings I’m starting to teach 2 new courses this next week at the university. I will be teaching introduction to kinesiology and exercise for special populations. I’ve taught both of these classes before but the first of this year. It’s kinda nice that I’ve taught these before because I’ve got past materials already repaired so less preparation is required. The most difficult thing is making sure that all lessons are delivered in a professional manner. It’s only difficult because when we’re busy with training and other things it’s not always easy to prioritize. The difficulty comes because I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best athlete I can. We have a long ways to go until Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics. The Paralympics are the ultimate goal. I’m gonna do my best to gradually progress, the tortoise approach 🙂 you have a great month and I will update you either the end of this month or in February on how I’m feeling before the first race or how I did after.
