Creakyknees

Anyone else dealing with end of summer blah's? Searching for a reason to keep "training" ?

Sure, I could go into layoff mode... I don't race cx anymore, my road season targets are long past... guess I could sit up, slow down, enjoy the views.

But also, as a 40+ er I'm acutely aware of the "use it or lose it" rule and winter is coming... I don't want to waste all the slobbering gasping cramping efforts I've already put in this year.

kensuf

Nope, the weekend of October 7th is a great motivator for me.

GirlAnachronism

Nope, I'm in the best form I've ever been in and getting consistent results in the races I was targeting. I was getting a little frustrated early in the season but patience has paid off now that the long hilly RRs are upon us.

Homebrew01

Yup ..... very similar situation.

Last year about this time I didn't do much Aug - Oct, but trained harder over the winter than I had in the past, and it set me up for a decent spring. The few races that I do are spring and early-mid summer.

Allegheny Jet

Road racing season is winding down in NE Ohio and my zest for racing has peaked for the year. I'll still race two or three times in the next month but not focus any training towards them. However, I've been getting out on the mtb working on skills and off road endurance and am anticipating the upcomming cross season as well as some killer mtb rides this fall.

Racer Ex 

Sucking last weekend kicked some air out of my tires. But I still have Nats and a UCI qualifier in Colorado staring me in the face so my motivation is to not be embarrassed.

That TX heat would demotivate Matt Foley

You still have the state RR btw. Great course.

hammy56

Altered for me.

rbart4506

Nope...

Got GMSR staring at me in my face, so I know I got a bit of work to do before then!

After that then begins the serious time for relaxation...

SalsaPodio

Yes. I haven't done any real "training" for the past two weeks.

This week I have a TT on Thursday and a crit on Saturday and my road season is over for the year. I have cross to look forward to, but I do that more for fun and just to maintain fitness, so I don't really care about the results a whole lot.

graphs

My last race of the season is this weekend and even though it's one I've been targeting, my enthusiasm for hard training and racing has greatly diminished (to the point of not even having the mental fortitude to complete hard interval sessions). I need to do well in this race too, being the last opportunity for upgrade points this year. Needless to say I am tapering heavily this week.

Afterwards I will look forward to a couple weeks of lowered volume and intensity before I do a hard late-season block to send me into the off-season crying for mercy.

Creakyknees

Yeah that and Tour de Gruene are about all that's left of interest. I would include Cotton Patch but I'm working volunteer all weekend instead of racing.

Racer Ex 

Accurate.

BTW Gruene rolls around I'm pretty much done but it's such a fun event...might shoot back there for it.

Hida Yanra

just married & that kept me very busy.
got the bike out this morning for the first time for 4 weeks
going to do 1-2 weeknight CRs, a couple track nights...

not much training though, just going out to enjoy it and work on fitness.

shovelhd

It's that time of year when all the little aches and pains creep to the forefront of your mind as the end of the season is near. I remember this feeling well from the past. Right now I have crit regionals on my radar screen. I am trying to figure out a training plan for the next four weeks. After that, just commuting, the charity ride, some long club rides, and as much cross as I feel like doing. It will be my first time ever racing cross and I have zero expectations.

Nate552

TT course is changed. One way, mostly uphill. I'll be there.
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/34794880

aham23

no burn out here. if anything depression is setting in due to the fact the road season is nearing an end. i think we have one USAC race left on 8/20 thats it. i was peaking rather nicely in July for Superweek when i was crashed out. had my first podium and 5 more races to come, but........it was apparently not meant to be.

we still have ABR's Fall Fling which is a nice 4 stage event held the end of Sept & begining of Oct. This seems to be my focus now. later.

topflightpro

Yep. The 100+ temps the last couple of weeks have really demotivated me.

Since there are only about two races left this season, and neither really excite me, I have decided to start my off season training a little early. I"m taking off the rest of the month - running, swimming and lifting instead. Hopefully by the time I get back on the bike, the brunt of the heat will have passed.

HMF

Yep. I've been riding hard too long, doing the same routes over and over, and dealing with heat and a saddle sore that I won't let heal. This week has turned into a "rest week". The good news is i'm starting to get the itch back, so I'll go for a ride tonight - more of a "look at the scenery" ride than a "hit those intervals" ride.

BrainInAJar

Track racing starts up in October so personally I'm thrilled with the end of summer

mike868y

yeah I'm starting to get worn down even though my training for late summer races started far too late. My last race is this sunday (I'll probably do the tuesday night crit next week for fun as well), then I'm going to relax for a few weeks, move back into school, and enjoy life for a bit. After that I'll probably spend about a month doing some cross training (erg, running, core, and still some riding), then jump heavy into base mid october for the early spring collegiate season.

mattm

Pretty much exactly the same for me, except that we are doing CRs these days and not RRs.

I'm actually sad the road season is ending (around here) so soon.. this is the last month of real racing.. boo.

Doggus

Just look at your 401k. That'll cheer ya right up.

crapweasel

I'm a bit burned out from my heavy early season trying to get 10 starts for Cat5, but my fitness is as good as it's been all year. I'm looking at spending money on new cycling toys to keep myself motivated.

aham23

way to early to self motivate via new cycling purchases. what will you do in January? later.

Racer Ex 

Rather than look at the glass as half empty, I prefer to think of it as smashed into tiny fragments that will shred my feet into bloody stumps as I'm forced to walk barefoot while panhandling the few banking executives and defense contractors that walked away from the cause of this with their pockets so heavy with loot that they need to be carried by a few dozen "downsized" former employees who'll they'll declare as private contractors to get out of paying either a minimum wage or any type of benefit. My pleas for spare change will be handled through a iPhone call to some callcenter located in Somalia where "Steve" will have to escalate my request to a higher level at which point I'll be disconnected as the porters will go into coughing fits from untreated TB because they can't afford the antibiotics and drop the morbidly obese banker on top of me, further grinding me into the aforementioned broken glass.

The banker, grateful that I broke his fall and protected him from broken glass will adopt me as a sort of "pet" for his 7 year old niece who'll have me dress up in a Shirley Temple outfit and sing "Poly Wolly Doodle" in falsetto while doing a dance reminiscent of an epileptic seizure, which causes me no end of pain from the chronic injuries sustained in the glass/banker incident. I'll be rewarded with 3 hots and a cot.

It's always good to have a retirement plan.