What”s up with the blogs you ask? They are two fold. One is it a cool story that shares the journey and maybe inspires some of you. It is also one of the #roadtowalton accountability checks. You can not go missing when you got a blog due!!
There is no rules, no limits, no expectations on these blogs. The only rule is MUST do them.
Enjoy this week from Brett, Dig and KT.
Blog 2 -Brett Lee
Instagram
@Brett991
@waltonraceway
Strange times.
I started this little plan of challenges and competitions off with the belief that it was what we all were looking for to motivate ourselves to be stronger versions of ourselves. As individuals, who thrived for years on motocross, the “one on one” and “crush everyone” mentality has always driven most of us. We always had to “beat the other guy.”
In many ways that mentality has served us well. We are all independent men who are never afraid to share what we believe is right. The challenges for the group never got laid out in this early on, and we have all just worked to create habits: diet, health and movement. So unintentionally we have become a team. Our chat group has busted each other and made fun of each other, but mostly it has supported each other (insert Gaudy calling me a Nancy and asking where my Kumbaya guitar is). The first 5 weeks we have shared wins and admitted losses and generally motivated each other off the lazy boy recliner.
What has broken open for me is that I see this #roadtowalton thing now as not a competition with 5 other guys, but one with myself. Can I stay the course? Can I forgive myself and recover when I fall off the program? Can I build on the small wins – and not collapse on losses.
Motocross is a sport that tests and pushes physically and as well mentally. I love it. Deep in all of us, we admire the the ability to suffer the highs and lows. When we see a racer in the winners circle after a National, dirt-caked to their face, sweaty, blisters taped over – we envy the feeling.
The cool truth is, it doesn’t matter if you ride or not. If you are a junior, a Vet racer or if you are Dylan Wright…we can all capture the feeling of pushing outside what is comfortable. Our attraction to motocross is just as much about showing up ready to race, paying the price as it is about racing. Trophies are not won at the track as they say.
I am not gonna be always big “personal enlightenment” in my blogs. For sure I have some bitching coming. I know I really love the pushes from our group on the chat, and I have been enjoying the work, the goals and the purpose in the first couple weeks. It is not going to be all highs and our groups will be quick to point this out when we slow down and when the season starts it will get tougher – but it will come with rewards.
If your #roadtowalton is starting or started — put people around yourself that bring you up. As I said, our small group started out talking about how we will crush each other – quickly it is pushing to elevate and share the wins.
Blog 2 -Derek Schuster
Instagram
@Derek.schuster
@gdrhonda
We are about a month into our #roadtowalton and things have been going pretty good for me so far. My goal to get started on this was to work on the following 3 things:
– Clean up my diet a bit
– Add in cardio exercise 3-4 days a week
– Develop a solid stretching program
Each of these things have been going quite well. When it comes to diet, my goal was to cut down or eliminate a few things. Pop was something that I like drinking and drank too much of and also snacking late at night. I have had a few pops in the last month, but it has been rare and I have treated it as more of a treat to have one then something that I would normally have every day. For food I had already been trying to eat a little healthier dating back to before the Christmas holidays, so I didn’t make too many adjustments there. I am currently doing a juice cleanse, which I have noticed that I have shed a few pounds over the course of that time.
For exercise, this is something that I have not been doing at all for a long time and knew I needed to do something for this. I have been splitting time between my Concept 2 bike and Skiierg about 3-4 days per week. The first few days were tough and I wanted to stop after 5 minutes, but now it has gotten much easier to do a 30-40 minute spin. I have been spending quite a bit of time snowmobiling and have definitely noticed the cardio starting to make a difference for long days on the sled. We have also been building a gym at the Dunes, which I hope to have done in about a month. My goal is to continue with the cardio for now and start adding in some workouts with weights when that is complete.
I have a bad back so stretching is super important for me and something I had started doing regularly prior to this Road to Walton competition. In 2018 I went through some serious back and sciatic issues, which lasted close to a year. To this day I need to be somewhat careful with my back and stretching along with regular visits to the chiropractor have really benefited me for this. My goal for stretching going into the competition was to expand from just doing a few simple stretches for my back into being more limber and flexible so I have added in a few stretches to do so.
I am hoping a few of you have started your own Road to Walon and if you have, I wanted to give you a few recommendations of things that I have found that I am liking:
#1 – Here are a few Instagram accounts to follow with some great stretches. Especially for back pain, hip stiffness, Sciatica and injury recovery. @ptvitals @thephysiofix @backpaintip
# 2 – If you are looking to shed a few pounds I recommend giving Pulp and Press a try. I have done a 3 day cleanse before and am currently doing the 7 day cleanse. The “beginner” option is a good place to start with your first one, you place the order online, pick your delivery date for when you want to start the cleanse and they sip a cooler to your house with the product inside. www.pulpandpress.com @pulpandpress
#3 It’s always nice to treat yourself every once in a while. My wife Kerri has made this recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies a few times and I can honestly say I prefer them over regular chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, give them a try!
That’s it for this week, off to log some more miles on my sled!
Kevin Tyler
Instagram
@kevintyler101
@mx101racing
So the check in on the “process” is here.
Happy to report still on track! Still cycling along as I draw closer to my first 6 week FTP (Editor note KT crushed a 181 Score) . Have logged over 25 hours of seat time since beginning the program just before Christmas, and am impressed with the change I can see while monitoring my HR. That combined with the workouts progressively getting harder, ride plans I thought were going to kill me the first week while certainly not easy on week 6 are manageable.
I have been proud that I have stuck to the plan and even though my time management is not always the greatest with fitting in things for myself, I have hit the mark even if it meant a very late night workout. This last week I have really tightened up my eating..especially with no late night snacking. That is the killer for me….8pm to sit down and watch some TV before bed. The cycle is to fill my face with calories as it is with many others.
On point with the water intake getting 2.5-3L daily so that’s good too. Positives while the scale has not moved much, sleep has been great and restful, clothes are fitting better, mood has been solid. The forward focus is to continue with at least 3 days of cycling per week but add in some weights, and rowing. We just finished our gym basement and it is quite amazing to say the least… no excuses on variety or lack of equipment here. The whole family has been on the train so that makes it easy motivation, as well as the group chat of idiots.
Tipping the scales at just over 250 now…. time for the 240’s (at the high end of course) on next check in.