3 Lessons from Nature Valley

The Nature Valley Grand Prix wrapped up its 6-race/5-day run yesterday with the grand finale criterium at Stillwater.  This stage was comprised of 20 laps of climbing (including the famous Chilikoot Hill and its 18% average grade) and screaming descents.  The power these riders exhibited as they climbed this brutal hill and the bike handling skills they showed as they navigated the corners at 40+ miles per hour was incredible.

While most of us will never reach their level, we should still aim to achieve the best of our abilities within the limitations of our busy lives.  So what can we learn from these top riders?

1. Push through our barriers, and beyond the levels of speed/power/workload we think we have.  We all train within our own comfort zone.  In order to reach the next level of fitness, we must find a way to smash our way through what we currently think is do-able.  Many of the riders didn’t even finish this race because it was so hard, and the ones that did finish were totally spent.  When is the last time you felt that way?
2. Recover fully.  Many of these racers will go to another race next weekend and do it all again.  In order to be at the top of their game, they know they must be fresh going into the race.  So the next couple days for them will be off or very, very easy.  They might then do a quality workout mid-week, and then recover again going into the weekend.  We rarely recover enough, believing that we’ll “get out of shape” by taking time off or doing very easy workouts.  This is wrong.  If the pros can take a recovery day or two, so can we.
3. Refuel with quality nutrition.  Food is fuel, and we put way too much junk food into our systems.  Rather than loading up on sugary, fatty and otherwise poor quality calories, eat several small meals throughout the day.  Each one of these meals should consist of protein and quality carbohydrates, as well as a small amount of quality fats.

While these rules might be simple, they aren’t always easy to follow.  However, they are much easier to live by if we set a long term plan so we have definite goals to aim for.  Each of these goals should be challenging yet achievable and should include a specific timetable.

If you don’t have your goals written down, do so right away, then GET OUT AND RIDE!