As the season comes to a close, and our minds begin to think towards next year, we have a chance to reflect on where we've been & where we want to go...I'm not just talking about cycling, I'm talking about life:  our professional life, our family life, and our extra curricular activities.

 

Professionally, we have to balance providing for our families & being happy.  It's the start of the fiscal year for alot of us, and we may have new bosses, new co-workers, new organizations.  Maybe you've been thinking about making a change.  Maybe your family life is changing.  All these new aspects of our personal & professional life need to be considered, and can have profound effects on our happiness, in addition to what we do on the bike.

 

At several points in my life, whether it be for career or family, I have come in and out of bicycle racing.  At 25, I was put in charge of a large team of engineers...the stress was just too much to include mtb racing...I stopped racing, but not riding....at 28, a move to Chicago saw my mtb racing come to an end again...at 32, a new job with lot's of travel put a stop to my road racing...but not riding.  I had to relearn how to train to race, within the context of my new job.  At 35, a new baby & a move to TN put a short end to my season.  At 37, mono, and a second baby, severly curtailed the amount of racing to be done.

 

Life is dynamic....I have never raised a 3 & 1 year old, and I can't exactly say what new challenges I will face raising a 4 & 2 year old.  But, for sure, life will be different...it will be different in just six months.  And, knowing it will be different, and not creating a plan for cycling that will drive you crazy, I think is what I'm learning.

 

And, so with work and family in mind, in conjunction with some serious reflection on past seasons, we begin to formulate our thoughts for next year.  While it's so easy to begin with "clearly define your goals"....I like to have people think of it a different way...I ask people to fill in this statement..."At the end of next year, I would consider the season a success, if I (fill in the answers)."....begin with the end in mind.

 

Too often, I find for myself, my clearly defined goals aren't always consistent with the answers to this question....I will repeat this general theme over and over... "we do not get paid to ride a bike".  Most of the training and planning ideas we read are developed for those that do....certainly, the training principles are applicable to all who seek to improve....my point is there is a component those of us in the real world need to include, and that's being happy....if we feel we can say the season is a success, I think this really gets to what's going to make us happy.

 

The leason that I am learning is to make sure your stated goals, are consistent with what is going to make you feel successful and happy.

 

But, the first thing we all should do before thinking about next year, is look at last year.  So here goes:

 

As the Southeast Calendar was finalized last year in late January, I went about penciling in the first part of my season.  Kids where in bed, house was quite...and my mind slipped back into the "I have no kids" mode.  My son was 6 months old, my daugher 2.5yrs....I had no idea what to expect, & since they weren't screaming, I kind of blanked them out.  I set about putting together a schedule of long road races, of ever increasing length and challenge, to cumulate into what was to be my first masters nationals.  The schedule was perfect.....so I thought:

 

Here are some highlights:

 

February:  Two weeks in FLA training, ending with a long 92mile RR in south FLA, which included at least 5 pro teams in a very large field....great training, and finished in the second group on the road...good start

March:  Racing down in Birmingam....kids got me sick two days before, and I had to miss it

April:  Racoon mtn...parents flew in and it sleeted...nope....Rock Hill and Tour DeMoore:  two epic NC RR's I always did...only problem was they where not a few hours away anymore...they where 9hrs away...sounded real good on paper, but the execution piece was not well thought out.

May:  Mcminville...I needed to go up the night before, if I had  any hope of making the race...season had the beginnings of feeling lost, and without any motivation to go, it was skipped.

Joe Martin...planned this in conjunction with a business trip to memphis....I didn't realize it was still 5hrs away from Memphis...and, oops...it's on Mothers day weekend.

June:  trip to the beach with the family, and subsequent "getting out of race shape"

July:  my daughters birthday was the same week as masters nationals...BUT, it would work out just fine, because my wife informed me we would have her formal birthday party the following week, as my parents would be coming down....sounded perfect...in March...if it would have been an adult, this would have been a fine plan...but, as I learned, a three year old really could care less about a party...she knows it's her birthday, and she knows you're her daddy...all of a sudden driving by myself to Penn, and missing spending time with her on her birthday didn't seem like such a great plan...in fact, it seemed down right seflish.

 

It goes on from here...more of the same...more parents coming down at least once a month (they love their grandchilren).   I paid for more races than I made it to.

 

Lot's of lesson learned....but, this year, I'm going to start by first writing down what would make me feel successful and happy...as a father, in my professional life, and then as a cyclist....begin with the end in mind.