Getting Through the Holidays in Race Shape

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas yesterday!! The future wife and I were scrambling to get everything done in Blacksburg to leave to come to Charleston, WV yesterday and Christmas Eve, so there was no time to blog at all. For those of you who don't know, we are getting married this Saturday.

So on top of the holidays and the large amounts of not-very-healthy food everywhere for Christmas, we are extending that by a week until the wedding. Then we are going on our honeymoon in St. Lucia for 7 days. All in all, there will be no routine for over 2 weeks and tons of temptations to slip off of my fitness and nutrition plan that I've been on, preparing for Florida.

I decided this would be a great time for a post on the fitness/nutrition aspect of race preparation.

I figured that some of you guys might be going through the same thing. A lot of people get extra time off of work this time of year, and there is not much riding with all of the family to visit. Just because you have extra days off of school or work doesn't mean you take days off of training. At least to me, it is very important to get some type of cardio workout daily and watch what I eat. I have been trying to eat a light breakfast and lunch so I can snack on some of the sweets and dips that seem to be everywhere. I also get up every morning and do an hour of cardio, at the same intensity I was doing when we left Blacksburg. It's what I need to do to get through the holidays in race shape.

When it comes down to it, we are endurance athletes. To succeed as a racer, we need to keep our fitness and nutrition as a top priority if we want our bodies to perform well when the races start. I, for one, have worked very hard the past few months to get into top racing shape, and I don't want these weeks off of routine to jeopardize the work I've done.

See, the working out and eating healthy are as much a mental thing as a physical thing, at least for me. Because I want to win, I already push myself to do better all the time, but if I fall behind, I will really begin to lose confidence in myself. Even if you're not doing as well with your fitness/nutrition plan because of the holidays, just doing a little can go a long way towards building your confidence and making you feel good about what you're doing.

Realistically, you could physically take off a week for Christmas, but you might be surprised at the mental and confidence strain that puts on you. Some people need a break from routine, but any more than a day or two, and you risk forming new routines that include unhealthy eating and no exercise. So really, a little is better than nothing. The holidays are not a time to be training to get into better shape, but as racers, we need to at least maintain the fitness we were in before.

Most of you are probably like me, in that you cannot ride your bike daily. But you can keep your body in race shape so that when you do get back to riding regularly, you don't have to struggle.

So I'm curious, how do you guys make it through the holidays in race shape? Do you say 'forget it' and just deal with any back pedaling once January hits? Do you keep doing the same routine as usual, or do you do something in between, like I do? Email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com or comment on the blog with your thoughts. Also, if you like this blog and want to read more, subscribe in the box on the right and you will be emailed when I post again, and follow me so I know you are interested. You can also email me or comment with questions about any part of racing or race preparation that you are interested in knowing more about.