Sunday, July 02, 2006

Le Tour, Dope, and a New Training Program











My new training program began yesterday. While it's not very scientific it will be hard, fun, and lead to something when it's over. I'll explain the "rules" over the coming days. For now, all I know is that it will mirror the Tour de France, which may lead to some discussion about doping in sports, something this is almost entirely misunderstood by the general public.

In my chat last week, one of our members was complaining about lack of motivation. I mentioned that with the Tour beginning this week, it was the perfect time to begin a training program. This race is a great vicarious training partner because, no matter how much you may be suffering or sacrificing, you can be sure there are others out there suffering and sacrificing more.

I've done a Tour training program once before. Back in '98 i mirrored the race. Because I hadn't done much bike riding and was completely off the couch, I road each day of the race but began riding only 10% of the racer's distance, which increased over time until I was riding 100% of their distance over teh final few days.

This year it's going to be tougher. Because I'm training for a few different sports, I won't just be on my bike. But I will train, and train a lot. Here are the rules.

1. Train as many hours per day as the riders race.
2. Bike each day the riders ride.
3. Blog each day.

So I'll be back, everday for the next 21 days. Along with my training program, you'll also get my views on this year's race, the doping scandal, and why American's are so ambivilant towards the World Cup.

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