Lean forward

I went to Finningly Moto Park on saturday with Mason in the Shocktech race truck. He had some people to see and I had some motos to do... it was a perfect symphony... or something.

My first moto out I felt pretty quick for 3 laps and then the arm pump set in really bad. I think it was a combination of not warming up properly and riding way too tense.
My second moto was much better and I managed to ride consistently for 20 minutes. I felt really comfortable on the jumps which was one of my main reasons for going to the practice track. I feel I really need to work on my arms and upper body strength/fitness as I feel they are my biggest downfall at the moment. My legs, lungs, heart and breathing all feel strong.



Mason gave me a few tips. He said I need to loosen up loads. He also told me to lean forward whilst accellerating in order to save my arms. Now that I think about it, it is something that all the pro's seem to do when they are under hard accelleration. This definitely helped me in my last moto of the day especially when the track was at its worst. I'm going to continue working on this technique.



So my goal now is to work on my upper body fitness and to obviously work on technique in order to conserve energy and not tire my upper body too quickly.

Mental toughness

I'm at the beginning of my third week of interval training. Now I've already said that its by far the hardest type of training I've ever done but I'm starting to believe that it doesn't just make you physically stronger and fitter but it actually makes you mentally tougher.
In reality the intervals will never get easier because when you're training with a heart rate monitor you're aiming for a specific heart rate. Therefore the fitter you get the harder you pedal in order to reach your target heart rate but for some reason it still feels easier. I think this is the result of the mind getting stronger and more resistant to the pain.

I had a good day of riding on Sunday and this Saturday I'm hoping to get to a proper track. I'm really looking forward to getting some air time again.

Going to California...

The Led Zeppelin song wondered in and out of mind the entire weekend. I have a lot of time for English weather but this weekend was one of those weekends when you start thinking of ways to escape it all and just move out to the home of motocross where world class tracks are as common as the warm summer days.

As you might have guessed, no riding took place this weekend which is frustrating with the start of the season getting closer. I guess it did allow me some time of rest after last week's training and this week I have been pushing extra hard during each training session to make up for the weekend.

The weather is looking good for this weekend so fingers crossed we'll be out tearing up the track and going faster than ever before!

Man I love this sport!

I've been watching the Supercross series religiously every week and I find it gets me so amped for the up coming season. I'm busy looking into getting some new graphics for the bike and some new boots. Muhammad Ali Once said...
"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."
I love that quote because I think its so true. Its amazing what a new piece of kit can do to your confidence.

Tonight, Mason is bringing round the new Great Outdoors dvd called "The Formula". I've been wanting to watch it for ages so I can't wait. Just watching the trailer makes me all warm inside and makes me realise how much I love this sport.

Train train train... just balls to the wall

The last week has been pretty intense but the training has gone well. The training plan which I have a aquired was written especially for Motocross as a pre-season plan.

The plan consists of quite a bit of running and then interval sessions on a stationary bike. Instead of getting a stationery bike I went and bought a turbo trainer so I could use my road bike. Its a Tacx Satori and its nice and solid, it also comes with a carry bag incase you want to take it to the races to use it to warm up.



The goal of this phase of the training plan is to get the body used to pain through lactate tolerance and removal sessions... and man is it painful. I think the interval training is the hardest training I've ever done to the point it actually makes me sick to the stomach. The thing is, I'm certain that this part of the training will make the biggest difference to my riding performance, so its gotta be done.

Other than that I've just been running every other day. Running is something I've never particularly enjoyed but lately I have been enjoying it. Haha maybe its because the interval training is so horrible, running feels like heaven.

South Africa

This is a week overdue but things have been hectic since I got back.

South Africa was a fantastic trip. I took Hannah with me which was awesome. I could write a few pages on the trip but I'll keep it sweet and short.

Our first week was spent in Jeffrey's Bay which is home to one of the most famous surf spots in the world. I managed to get some epic surfing in and as the sun was setting on the 31st of December I asked Hannah to marry me. She said yes, BAM!



It was great seeing all my family again and spending time with them. I also got to see some old friends. Ryan van Zyl and Daniel were truly on form and we ended up having some rad times together.



The training regime definitely took a massive hit although I did manage to get quite a lot of surfing in which I'm sure helped or at least maintained my fitness levels. I also didn't get to ride as much as I wanted to but I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of that in the months to come.

So its on with the next part of my training program which incorporates cardio and interval training. This is what separates the men from the boys, so they say but more on that later.

Christmas fun

Well its been a great week and christmas has been awesome. I've had loads of great food and received some great presents. Funny enough I didn't receive anything to do with motocross. I'm not sure if thats a good or bad thing.

I haven't been to the gym in over a week but I have been out on the bike twice and had two awesome sessions. The last session was with OC and we had a great time. We put in a few fast motos and then just messed around for the second half of the day. We found this little course that went through the woods and trees. It was great for bike handling skills. You had to have really good balance, brake and clutch control. It also gave your body a good work out. After a few laps you wouldn't be out of breath but you could definitely feel your arms starting to ache.
I also got in a little session on the mini bike down at bolehills BMX track. Couldn't really ride the main track as the surface was really soft due to the rain and I didn't want to rip it up, but I did manage to sneak in a run on the first straight.



Tomorrow I'm off to South Africa for 3 weeks with Hannah but not before I squeeze in a session at the gym early tomorrow morning. While I'm out there I should hopefully get some riding in and get to do some jet skiing which is always a good workout on the arms. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in an update while I'm there. Until then, Adiós!