On September 30, I will turn 34 years old. As I hurdle towards middle-age and my inevitable demise, I’m learning a multitude of things about myself; most importantly, the things I can change and things I cannot. 

For example, I can’t quit cookies. They are part of me, part of my identity that I cannot deny. I’m also quite fond of a cold IPA at the end of a hard week’s work. In the past, I’ve tried to remove these two earthly pleasures completely in the hopes of going faster on a bicycle, and quite frankly, in the hopes of looking Instagram-Hot at the beach. 

At every attempt to remove beer and cookies entirely from my life, I’ve failed. Thus, I’ve learned a valuable lesson in my ripening, near-old age. 

Stop trying to change everything a lot. Just change a few things a little. 

This approach has paid dividends over the last month of my Making an Iceman experiment. With just a few changes to my diet, I’m down to 178lbs, which happens to be my healthiest weight in quite some time. It’s also given me more confidence that my training will pay dividends in November, but that’s getting ahead of myself. 

No, I don’t look Instagram-Hot yet. But maybe by spring? One can only hope.

For now, let’s talk about FTP #2. One month after my first FTP test, I’m pretty happy to see my weight going down and my FTP going up. Here are the results from FTP #2:

• FTP 300w
• 3.71 w/kg
• 178 lbs.

This is a pretty decent improvement in just one month from what I’ve read on cycling training sites. Due to a hectic schedule and a streak of pretty dismal autumnal weather, the vast majority of my training has been on Zwift, consisting of racing and some more structured workouts. 

With a little over a month to Iceman, the mission now is to simply stay the course. Eat as well as I can without being miserable, get my training in, and get plenty of rest. I’m also going to work in even more structured training as the daylight quickly fades each morning and evening. 

Any tips to get to 4 w/kg before Iceman? I sure would appreciate some insight. Thanks for reading about my mid-30s crisis. See you all on the trails soon.