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El Tour De Tucson 2024

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2024: A Year of Growth and Memorable Experiences 2024 has been an incredible year for me, brimming with valuable lessons and unforgettable experiences, both professionally and personally. It has been a year of highs, lows, and unexpected turns, yet it stands out for the wonderful memories it has brought. This year, cycling evolved for me from a fitness activity into a fundamental part of my daily routine. It’s a sport I’m deeply passionate about and plan to continue for life. Cycling has kept me grounded, focused, and resilient, giving me the courage to start over without fear. Like many passionate cyclists worldwide, the Tour de Tucson has become my favorite event. Watching people of all ages showcase their dedication and determination is truly inspiring. I look forward to this event each year to absorb its energy, celebrate life, and experience its uplifting spirit. 2024 Racing Season As the 2024 racing season approached, I focused intensely on improving my overall fitness—enhancing ...
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Reflections on my 206-Mile Journey: Lessons in Excellence

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Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a 206-mile road ride from Seattle to Portland with my great friend, Rajkumar Balasubramanian. As first-timers in this event, we were filled with excitement, anxiety, and self-doubt. However, we successfully completed the ride in under 13 hours, and it turned out to be a fantastic day. Though 4 weeks have passed since the ride, I still feel immense satisfaction, self-belief, and gratitude. The memories of preparation, planning, and execution continue to play on a loop in my mind. Reflecting on this experience, I realized the parallels between the challenges I face in both work and life. This journey has inspired me to distill some key traits that contribute to excellence, which I now share as a "run book" for success. What Is Excellence? To me, excellence is about identifying a meaningful problem, acquiring and applying the necessary skills to arrive at an optimal solution, executing with maximum effort, seeking feedback, and r...
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El Tour De Tucson 2023

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I am super happy to complete my hat-rick 100 miler historic race(El Tour De Tucson) in Tucson, Arizona beating my 2 previous ride timings.  If you have not read my previous 2 ride summary, please click the links below 2022 https://www.bikingandalways.com/2022/12/el-tour-de-tucson-2022.html 2021 https://www.bikingandalways.com/2021/12/the-el-tour-de-tucson-is-epic-cycling.html Last year was one of my busiest year with hectic work schedule, taking up a new job function, family events, strength training, injuries, recovery but yet it is one of my strongest year. One of my favorite activity for for last week of every year is to look back, cherish and decode key facts for the year. This year I wrote things I should continue, improve and stop Top 3 things I should continue   Strength training & Cycling Read for 15 mins daily Measure consistently & Pivot Top 3 things I should Improve Active listening Let others fail & learn Focus on long term outcomes Top 3 things I shoul...
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El Tour de Tucson 2022

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I am super thrilled to share my second consecutive 100 miler bike race journey in Tucson, Arizona. Before I begin, a quick summary of what El Tour de Tucson is and recap from last year can be found in below link. Please read through this if you haven't already. You will get a context to this experience I am sharing here  https://www.bikingandalways.com/2021/12/the-el-tour-de-tucson-is-epic-cycling.html Right after my maiden race last year, my goal was to participate again in 100 miles race in 2022 and be the best version of me, of-course beating my own record from last time ( Completing the 100 mile race less than 6:34 minutes ). Key to success in cycling is thorough planning, meticulous execution and consistent efforts. Well, I had everything sorted in paper and what are best ways to achieve them but life had something else planned. I started off the year 2022 testing positive for COVID. Though, I was asymptomatic, my training rhythm, heart rate and metabolism had a a huge toll fo...
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No time, is not an excuse. Let's compound!!!!!!

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Yes it is true, you don't need to spend hours of training in gym to become stronger. Thanks to multi joint exercises. This video and message is for those who share an excuse that they don't find time to go to gym. Multijoint exercises are part of compound movement that uses more than one muscle group of your body and provides more bang for your buck. Even a simple 3 set 6/8 reps for 15 mins would burn more calories than doing a cardio for 1 hour in gym. Before you begin, you might need to purchase a 10/20/25 lbs kettlebell, dumbell & barbell. All links given at the end of the blog.  Time you need: 15 to 20 minutes Frequency : Every other day Sets : 3 Reps : 6/8/10/12/15(Start with less reps and increase gradually to maximum reps) Let's compound Before doing any workout regime, spend 2-3 minutes for a quick stretch of your upper/lower body. Stretching loosens your muscle, warms the body and avoids injury Kettlebell swings Barbell squat Barbell row Barbell deadlift Dumbbe...
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Grand Canyon Rim to Rim - A Day Hike

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 Grand Canyon Rim to Rim is 26 mile strenuous hike with altitude drops of more than 9000 feet and elevation gain of 4000 feet. It starts in North Kaibab trail head of North rim and ends in Bright angel trail head in South rim.  Everywhere you will be seeing a warning board like this. Doing rim to rim as day hike is of-course very tough but it is not something dangerous or unachievable. Planning the day well and training your body for elevation gains and high heat weather conditions will make your hike achievable and rewarding How to train for Grand Canyon Day Hike GC rim to rim hike from North to South can be split into 4 parts 7 miles downhill - Usually cold, windy and taxing on your knee 8 miles medium downhill, dry/flat box zone 6 miles medium elevation with high heat tiring zone 5 miles of high elevation stairs Above split is my logical break and based on the plan that you start early in the day in north rim and finish during sunset in south rim. Base building For any endu...
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7 workouts you can't miss in a week!!

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As we have discussed in my previous blogs, key to fitness is consistency and varying intensity. If you have always been training at the same level of intensity, your body gets used to it and bringing noticeable improvement to your strength is bit challenging. Different people have different fitness goals. For my father who is 70+ years old, doing same intensity every day enables him to maintain his current strength and mobility but if you are like me in 40, who wants to improve the current strength then best option is to include variety and varying intensity in your training program. As a fitness enthusiast and budding coach, I have put together 7 key workouts that you need to include in your weekly routine. These routines will work for all fitness levels(beginner to advanced) and has many options to mix up the workload and intensity factor.  Work routines can be created focusing on certain muscle groups or focus on core strength.  I recommend to include core muscles, fullbody...
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