Training for Life

The past couple weeks have been crazy busy, but that isn't an excuse to skip training. I haven't' been perfect, but improvements and progress are happening. 00:00-0056 - Intro 00:57-01:27 - Gravel Bike is Back 01:28-01:44 - Talking 01:45-03:15 - Honolulu/Diamond Head 03:16-03:32 - Talking 03:33-03:57 - Deer Camp 03:58-04:12 - Interval Ride 04:13-04:20 - Talking 04:21-05:16 - Amsterdam 05:17-06:03 - Talking - Update

Rainy weather, trainer days, and a visit from my mom. Throw Iceman into the mix, and it was a busy week with regards to training. Nutrition is still a struggle, however, the scale and fit of clothing are progressing in the correct direction.

This week's update.. and some riding among some amazing fall colors. Aiming for a weekly check in and trying to find my groove moving forward. Weight, caloric intake, and actual workouts are something which I look to add as content in this series. Here in the middle of Michigan, we have been enjoying a streak of warm days and dry trails. More on my why and my how in the next video. My GoPro was having a good time changing white balance in every other shot. Color correcting was a challenge... and I am still new at most of this.

Home to work to the layover. Typical first day of a trip for me at my day job. Part of my struggle with fitness is irregular schedules, time zone jumping, and sitting for long periods of time... but I absolutely love what I do to pay the bills and have no idea what I want to do when I grow up! Not much commentary, just a day in the life. Getting from home to work to the first layover. If you were looking for actual videos of me at the controls of an airplane, I apologize, but that is something that is not allowed. All footage was recorded when off duty.

A minute and a half of "Whoo's" with an EPIC group of people on bikes, in the woods, with lights. Impromptu ride turned out to be a party! Great group ride on an amazingly warm-ish evening in mid October.

Trail day! Installing a new elevated bridge with eighty feet of rolling goodness at one of our local trails. This bridge is replacing a land bridge over an area that stays soft and damp throughout most of the spring and fall.

Assessing the damage to our yard the morning after strong storms we got in mid-Michigan on August 24th. When the winds and rain calmed down, we learned we had lost at least one tree. When the sun came up, I was surprised at how many trees fell. We are very fortunate that all of our damage appears to have been in the yard and not on our house. I have never personally been through storms that strong. Three cells had tops around 70,000 when they were passing over our house. Power was down for four days, and even as I type this, there are still several areas around us that are without electricity.

It has been a minute. Lately, my focus has been on enjoying each and every moment with my family, friends, or those around me and backing away from the immediacy of social media and most things internet. I'm still here, but the focus has shifted to that which is in front of me and embracing the joy that life brings each and ever day. This is a bit of a collection of the past four months regarding my training. Burnout is real, but I know with consistency, good things will happen when the big event arrives. Rides in the video have occurred of the past for months. Locations/events: Crusher EX, Maui (Hawaii), Amsterdam (Netherlands), DTE Energy Foundation Trail, Anderson Park MTB Trails, Bath (Michigan) Gravel Team Ride, and multiple gravel roads in the greater Lansing (Michigan) area.

My trainer had picked up the training significantly and I was able to put the hard work to the test last weekend revisiting the race that got me into racing MTB in 2018. Oh what an amazing day it was! The conditions were fantastic, the bike was dialed in for the conditions, and I was able to hammer for the whole race and even get out of the saddle and push when needed. For the first time that I can remember for a MTB race, there was no sign of cramping during any of the race. 00:00 Race Day! 00:19 Pure Michigan 00:26 Flower Pond with Friends 01:35 DTE Energy Foundation Trail with Brian L 05:26 Sanuk (Slipper) Watts - Forgot my Shoes! 05:42 Race Day Footage from Rebecca 05:58 Photo by Rob Meendering Photography

With a busier than normal family schedule, it was a challenge getting the rides completed this past week. Thankfully, I had some friends willing to meet up at odd times and we shared many miles and smiles. This edit has quite a bit more first person camera footage. When things are not as busy, I am able to capture more footage after the scheduled workout is completed. With limited time this past week, I didn’t have the time to get more third person video. Next week, I will be working on sitting down in front of a camera and explaining a bit of my who, what, and why. Who my trainer is, what the current workouts look like, and why I am using all of this to keep progressing toward being the best version of me I can be. 0:00 Start 0:12 Solo Anderson - Dirty 30 Recovery Ride 1:41 Gravel with Friends (Katy and Nicole) - 2 Hour Zone 2 Ride 2:15 Solo 2.5 Hour Zone 2 Ride 2:46 Sunrise at Anderson with Josh - 2 Hour Zone 2 Ride with Sprints

Playing in the dirt on my 29er for the first time this season. Had AXS installed over the winter and need to adjust the shifter position. Lots of accidental shifts after getting a bit of air... thankful that I did not break my chain!

Prepping for my first race of the season. The Dirty 30 is happening this weekend and my trainer has me tapering this week. Last week we spent spring break in Europe and enjoyed creating some amazing adventures as a family. Lots of memories, not much to publicly share. This week, between a lot of rain, I managed to sneak out and get this workout done. All other training sessions this week were completed on a trainer. This edit was done on Final Cut Pro. I have been using Premier up until this point and wanted to give FCP a shot as it costs a lot less annually.

Lots of gravel riding outside with friends. Had a couple workdays where I had non-bike-based workouts planned. Taking a week off of the bike for a family vacation, but there will be a ton of walking and running to help maintain the current fitness level.

50 degrees Fahrenheit in the mitten with the sun out means it is time to get outside on two wheel! It was windy but fun chasing around a buddy for his first gravel ride outside for this year.

You can not out train a bad diet. Real raw talk. Raw video. No music. No color correcting. No polish. This is me. This is where I am physically and mentally. I know where I am and where I want to be. I know how to get there. It is time to commit. Time for a shift in the approach to make my bikes lighter by taking care of the heaviest thing on them. This is my personal accountability video to myself.

Early morning ride with Matt after a warmer snow fall. On this ride, the snow was cold, not wanting to pack down too much, and similar to riding on Velcro. It was so much work to maintain enough speed to even stay upright... as if we were cutting new trail with ever pedal stroke. Regardless, it was a gorgeous morning to be on a bike in the woods... and on the roads.

I have the luxury of being paid to take people to some amazing places. While on layovers, there is usually opportunity to get out and explore. It has been over ten years since I was last on Oahu. Planning a trip to Diamond Head, I figured the earlier the better. What I failed to realized was that I was heading to the park on a Saturday morning... that also happened to be Christmas Eve! In the past, I would try to get to the gate at 6:00am, go up and down twice, then head back to the hotel. The goal being getting up and down the first time before the first tour busses arrived. Alas, this time, it was not meant to be. The sunset was amazing, and taking the long way back to the hotel, I still managed to walk/hike around 9 miles.