Wholistic Fitness

HOW TO WIN A STAGE RACE; THE WF WAY
WF Online Student Sammy Morse Wins The “Working Man’s Stage Race”
By Sammy Morse, on assignment from Coach Ilg

WF Online Student Sammy Morse; The Epitome of A Working Man’s Champion!

INTRODUCTION by Coach Ilg

“What you are afraid to do, is a clear indication of your next step…if you are a spiritual Warrior!”
– Coach Ilg

i work a lot with Fitness Warriors who have to fight hard to squeeze in their training volumes between the juggles of life and occupation. we all do. i am not fascinated by those who complain or allow excuses to overly laminate that which matters most in the long run; Quality of Practice and Integrity of Intensity. Of all the Warriors who study this Path, most challenging to train wholistically are the cyclists and triathletes that are professional or sponsored. These sports require so much sport specific training on the bike, foot, and/or pool that only minimal amounts of non-endurance related WF Practices can be safely assigned. Any major volume of asana, pranayama, meditation, or strength training must wait until the few weeks of off season. Thus, through the years, i have devised a careful amount of progressive ‘inner WF workouts’ that such athletes can enjoy and can relish distinct sport performance benefits.

Sammy Morse, an elite road cyclist and cycle cross racer, is one such busy Fitness Warrior. He is a daddy, a mentor, a husband, holds down a high stress, high hour job, and is one of the most kindest guys in my humble Temple…at least, off the bike! On the bike is a different story. Once his wheels get rolling, they give rise to a fierce warrior who trains mega miles and hellish intensities with pro cyclist/coach McCormack. My role in Sammy’s training is to artfully insert some inner elements to ignite the sheer physicality of his training and to soften the demands of living a Warrior’s life among modern day stressors.

Evidently, Student Sammy’s respect for and practice of hiring Teachers to help him has paid off once again. Sammy just won the highly competitive “Working Man’s Stage Race,” a brutal 3-day event that tests all physiologic elements of a cyclist’s weaponry.

I bow in deep respect of my beautiful Student Sammy…and congratulations on your victory! This Path has a pattern of getting Her sincere students up to that Top Step! Well done, Noble Warrior! DL Readers, enjoy his report and may your own Training be inspired!

Namaste,
coach ilg

***

PART I; CREATING THE STAGE
“You can’t really learn anything deep within you until you do what it takes to even get to the start line of a race against your peers. Competition shatters the illusions and masks of modern day living. Get real; get to a start line and push yourself beyond what you think you can do.”
– coach ilg

As the name describes the WMSR consists of a 3 evening races during the week. The format is a points race and are points based on places in each stage, as opposed to time, as in the Tour de France. The points are: 1st/10pts, 2nd/9pts, 3rd, 8pts�you get the point�pun intended. The stages are as follows:

-Tuesday 6.8 mile TT on a nice hilly course with several challenging corners.

-Wednesday 45 mile/5 lap circuit race with a nice long hill for King of the Mountain (KOM)pts, top three going toward general classification.

– Thursday 20 mile Points race. Held on a � mile stock car racing track. 80 laps with sprints for points every 5th lap. With points going to the top 5 across the line every 5th lap. Points = 1st/5 pts, 2nd /4pt, 3rd/3pts�.ect. These points accumulate and go toward the stage placing.

PART II: Anaerobic Chess; Sweat, Power, and the ability to Sprint like lightning after hours of endurance racing!

Tuesday I managed to place 2nd with a 14.50 time. One of my teammates, Coleman, placed 1st ! That leaves us with allot of cards to play going into the Circuit race on Wednesday.

Wednesday, since we had a good strong team we decided that we�d take turns getting myself or our 1st place riders into breaks while the team covered any other attempts and also gum up the works once a break gets away. After numerous attempts in the first lap we were able to get Coleman (our first place rider) in a three man break. The break managed to get a nice gap and our team did an amazing job covering any attempts to bridge or pull the break back. This created a very frenetic fast then slow environment in the field. Every time up the KOM climb (500meters) was a Vo2 max effort that strung out the field as riders attempted to get away. On the final lap the break was in view and I knew that the race would soon be on my shoulders. Going up the KOM hill I covered a small group that gunned it up and over the hill and made contact with the break. I stayed near the front of this group as riders started to come across from the shattered field. I had to rely on my intuition as the group started to accelerate into the last kilometer of racing. I surfed the top 5 positions and kept out of the wind until the sprint started

�.with 150 meters to go I followed the first jump and just sprinted with every cell in my body while my calves cramped I went across the line in a blur with riders all around (see photo)� I managed 2nd in a photo finish. This put me tied for first place heading into Thursday!

Cycling Yoga; in the moments before the suffering and war begins, the WF Warrior is trained in Pratyhara; the ability to draw the senses within and focus on an assigned Mantra, visualization, or breathing technique. Above, Student Sammy goes deep within before his final race.

Thursday, This is a crazy race, held under the lights with a start time of 9:30! This is a tough one as I was in my office at 7:00am and worked a full day, not great recovery�.this is when the pranayma comes in handy for recover and energy. The first 10 laps of the race were so fast and crazy that I didn�t think I�d be able to win any points! Finally on the 3rd sprint my team did an amazing job setting me up perfectly going into the last corner and I captured fist in the sprint! This caused my whole mindset to change. I completely focused on remaining near the front of the group and digging deep as I could and continued to pick away at points for the rest of the race. The race felt like it was 5minutes long. I was meditating except at 30mph! At the finish my points accumulated to place me 5th for the stage and secured the over all for a win!

PART III: HOW A WF WINNER RELAXES

Coach,
thanks so much for filling in the non physical and inner gaps that have been missing in my training, I know we�ve only scratched the surface! It has really made me trust my intuition and race and live in the moment. The past week has been a true test of WF. I�m off the bike for 8 days for a mid season break to charge the batteries into the 2nd half of the season�..I can hardly wait!

In the meantime here�s a picture of me during my 8 day break off the bike. Looks like Ananda and i are at about the same plane when balancing on rocks (see DL; 7*28*05)! I�ve been hiking and doing some good long swims, if feels great to take a break. The attached photo is from East Rattlesnake in Holderness NH, overlooking Squam Lake. We were visiting this beautiful part of the world on our way to drop our son off for two weeks at camp. My workout is everywhere!

Head bowed spine straight,

Namaste,

Sammy