There is 1.5 weeks until the Whistler Gran Fondo!
Where has time gone? It feels like yesterday when I registered for this event 7 months ago.
I haven’t been on my bike much the last couple of weeks but I’ve been going pretty hard at the gym with the weights and lots of high intensity interval training simply because I felt like I was gaining body fat from doing way too much cardio (ahem, cycling), my body was getting too soft for my liking and I actually lost strength. I missed my muscles! My glutes and IT band also seemed like they were super tight all the time and they were actually affecting my rides earlier this month because they got really uncomfortable and almost painful especially when I climbed hills. Last week, I didn’t ride at all (first time since February!) —even though I had rides planned, unexpected circumstances popped up but I don’t regret it because my legs are feeling great right now… even WITH the heavy leg days. I guess endurance cycling, too many hills mountains and heavy leg days are a no-no for me. I should have also been doing way more stretching and should have not gotten so lazy with going to massage therapy.
Here is my rough plan for the final countdown to the 2013 Whistler Gran Fondo:
- Bike ride to work tomorrow (Thursday) + short evening ride after work.
- Rest on Friday. I’ll be having a gym date with Mr. Foam-Roller and I know I will probably be tempted to do a 100-workout (100 DU’s, 100 burpees, 100 wall balls) because I’m already thinking of it in my head.
- Group ride this Saturday up to Seymour and Grouse.
- Rest day or perhaps a leisurely ride on Sunday just for fun.
- Usual morning Grind on Monday.
- Leisurely bike to work on Tuesday and Thursday.
- Full-body circuit once or twice sometime during the week (less intense than usual but will incorporate some HIIT sprints on the spin bike).
- Rest day on Friday.
- … Whistler Gran Fondo on Saturday!!
- Lots and lots and lotssss of stretching, foam-rolling every day.
- Physio and RMT visits.
I know I’m not tapering too much but I’m confident I can handle the Gran Fondo, sans injury. I promise my workouts will be less intense than usual! The following tips are from this article (click for more) on tapering for a Gran Fondo ride:
- Do your last endurance workout 4-8 days before your Gran Fondo.
- Avoid “big gear” workouts for 1-2 weeks before the event.
- Avoid exhaustive aerobic workouts for the three days prior to leaving for your Gran Fondo
- Intervals are OK in the last week, but should be avoided in final 2 or 3 days before you depart for the event
- Use an active recovery ride (very, very easy) in the days before, or simply rest if riding isn’t an option
- Treat the first few kilometers of the Gran Fondo as a “warm-up” to get your legs accustomed to the effort
