Take on your weaknesses

Somewhere in between not racing road bikes at all and bodybuilding, some mild depression along with 26 pounds of fat and too much muscle from the neurotic weightlifting, I’ve come to realize I’m not what I think I am anymore.  I am really being honest.  I’d look in the mirror or at the photos people took of me and think, “I know I let myself go a little but not this…God…”

So with the help of a video cam and a desire to change myself I took some home movies of myself riding, did a little body-fat and body mass index measuring.  So, here is the hard truth.  First, I look very muscle-bound for a cyclist.  Two…I really am the not-so-proud owner of 28 pounds of excess fat.  Three.. .I talk about doing things too much, rather than doing them.

And here is the white elephant folks. 

I am a hypocrite.

I know better than this.  At one point over a year ago, my diet got so bad my cholesteral was over 450.  That’s Elvis on the toilet seat bad.   I’m a fitness PROFESSIONAL, so  what’s with all this self-destructive behavior?!  Its call labeling. For example, “I’m a cyclist.  I am a bodybuilder.  I am a dad.  I am a songwriter”…and so on and so forth into eternity.  In some way, we all have these self-imposed lables.  The weight of these titles is often so much that it causes a crack in the psyche.  For me personally, I’ve put so many expectations upon my goals that I no longer am present in my own experience as a human-being (limitless and without labeling).

Recently, I’ve decided to ditch all the titles and just start riding for the love of it.  Two months later I have done a hard reset.

So then, how do you start again?

1.  Don’t reinvent the wheel.

I got real good at doing training for 6 months.  I’d win some races, have fun, get fit, and then miss riding for a week.  Suddenly, I would feel behind in my training and then lose interest in cycling all together.  You don’t start again because you’re not that person any more.  You are someone new, in this moment.  You are still a cyclist, but the cocoon is gone now and here, before you, is another longing for a new experience.  This isn’t just an affirmation!  This really part of you.  Desire is a flower of fire and it is consuming.  Desire is just one part of this new life and approach you take each time you “start again.”

2.  Eating the right foods for the kind of rides and post ride food and rest is more important than anything else.  Don’t separate and compartmentalize your life rather just have the lifestyle that mirrors your desire.  After you’ve done something 10 times, psychologists call it a “habit.”  Not that hard when you think of it in these terms, right?

3.  Don’t be what your not.  Please don’t be a Cat 3 lifer.  Don’t isolate the people in your life that want you to be in the best shape you can be in by having an elitist attitude.  The people you owe responsibilities to make a series of personal sacrifices in their lives because then BELIEVE in you.   And for God’s sake, get some non-cycling friends that you and your wife can hang out with (and who can help balance out your lust for the sport with a beer now and then).  They have this wonderful way of reminding you that there is a world outside of all this focus.

Face your weaknesses and overcome them with planning, preparation, and the love of those around you that share the same profound drive.

Love to ride..TAKE IT ON:

Click on the pics to enlarge

Lane

AKA The Highway Man

[Via http://akathehighwayman.wordpress.com]