The sum of all the small things

This past winter listening to several podcasts, live chats, & reading some PRO interviews a common theme emerged. They all talked about racing on the road is hard because all the small things aren't there to make things smooth. Got me to thinking & doing some more reading & asking some dumb questions & some not so dumb questions about the small things.

If you think about it a lot of small things become a big thing. For me I have the big picture stuff but like last season my consistency went to hell. I made myself a basic outline of what I consider the small things. Using this outline i've been making changes to my daily routine and race day prep. I'm sure most of it is nonsense but psychologically it can't hurt.

Here's my outline. I'll expand on some later as I work out more of the trial & error. This is a work in progress for sure & I'll add to or remove from as I go. Some of this I had to implement because of my new work schedule(4on/4off) some because it just makes sense; others because I have a feeling its going to work.

THE SMALL STUFF OUTLINE:

RECOVERY: in the past I considered this to be a day off or several days off. Its bigger than that and like an onion has many layers. This is a huge one & I'll touch on it more in the future. For now besides the days off & "recovery rides".
Compression tights & or socks. I was
a late adopter of this but it seems
to be working.
Ice baths after really hard workouts.
The research is out there.
Massage. This is a no brainer since
my wife is a massage therapist.
Recovery drinks mixes & good old
chocolate milk

DIET: plain & simple my diet in the past has sucked. I've cut out meat & started to really pay attention to what I eat. Its paying off since I feel good & my race weight is getting lower.

SLEEP: this is a biggie for me. Being a nightshift worker sleep is a precious commodity on the 4 days I work. That said some simple routine changes have gained me on average 2hrs a day extra sleep. I know this because I've started tracking my sleep. Small things.

TRAINING METHODOLOGY: this one is hard to explain without getting into a long winded debate with myself. Basically I have become more consistent. I've obviously changed other stuff mostly how I approach a 4 day week. Which for me actually works out well since I can break it down into blocks. Also a new one is train more & race less. This one is forced on me since I only have wknds off every other month.

RACE DAY PREP: this is one I've been playing with for years & probably for years to come. First things that come to mind.
Warm up on the trainer.
Better more consistent warm up.
A place to race prep. I'm getting my
own pop up tent.
Race day hydration. This really
should be its own heading since I
need to work on it on a daily basis.

NOTE TAKING: I've started making more detailed notes in my training log so I can track what is working & what isn't.

I know there is more but I'm starting small to make the sum larger. Already 3 months into the year & I'm noticing changes for the better.

Things I need to address are: core strength & flexibility.
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