Cornea Ulcer = rest week

I hadn't really planned on having a rest week this past week, but since the doc told me I had a cornea ulcer, and I didn't want to take a chance of getting something in it while riding, I took a recovery week. So, not so exciting here's how the week went.

Mon-off
Tues-20min @ FTP
Wed-45min @ 85%FTP
Thurs-30min ride below 75%FTP
Fri-off
Sat-off<---because of work
Sun-45min @ 85%FTP

Even though I hadn't really planned on taking a rest week, it feels good to have one right now. I'll hit the trainer again tomorrow, but after going to the doc Wed I hope to get back on the road. The weather has turned off cold, and there's a chance of snow here tomorrow, but hopefully it wont get bad enough to keep me indoors.

Cross race Saturday.....I can't say I wouldn't like to see some snow for it. That would be sweet. Goal for this race is a top 5. We'll see what I can do.

Last week's workout and Cornea Ulcer

Here's the workout from last week

Monday-off
Tuesday - 2x20min @ 95%LT
Wed - off(still blown from the past weekend races, should've took Tuesday off)
Thursday - 1.5 hours at 75%LT
Friday - off
Saturday - 4 hour road ride @ IF of .67
Sunday - Cross practice: dismounts, remounts, hill runs, and starts
Total ride time for week - 8 hours

Last week was a good workout week, but I should've took Tuesday off after racing Saturday and Sunday. I wasn't fully recovered and pushed a lot harder than I should've to get the workout in. So I took Wed off to fully recover and felt better by Thursday.

I finally downloaded the Cycling Peaks Software Saturday, and found out that my IF(intensity factor) was only .67 for the ride. This should be at least .75. That's something I'll be working on, and I think shows what's wrong with my endurance.....I'm just not pushing hard enough on my longer rides.

Too, the reason I didn't post this yesterday is because I was going from eye doctor to eye doctor because I now have a Cornea Ulcer. Not sure what caused it or even what it is really, but the doc is giving me some good meds to take care of it. People that wear contacts usually get them, but I don't wear contacts. The good news is that it doesn't stop me from riding......or at least as of right now it doesn't. I go back in tomorrow for a checkup and see if its getting better.

A face only a mother can love

I tried to buy this picture online, but I couldn't get it to add to cart......so I resorted to my college days of borrowing.

The sandpit from the first weekend of MSG racing......

More thoughts on cross

Since this weekend I've been thinking about the 4 or 5 guys that ran off and whipped the rest of the CX4 Field by a few minutes. The reason is because they changed the rules for upgrading to CX3. Now you just have to have "experience" in 5 races. I'm not a big fan of this, as it causes a lot of people upgrade that shouldn't, and I really don't want to be one of those guys.

But here are my thoughts. The guys that finished top 4 this weekend in both events should now upgrade to CX3. Maybe they will maybe they wont. As far as my upgrade, I feel pretty good about my 12th and 9th place finish. I think I'll do better as I do more cross racing. The handling and all that has a lot to do with speed in a cross race.

So am I good enough to upgrade to CX3? Personally right now I don't think I am. I think I will be by the end of cross season, but not right now. However, if those guys that should be in CX3 don't upgrade, I'm going to after 5 races. I mean if I'm going to loose to someone who's a CX3, I'm going to be in a CX3 field. Maybe I'll be dead last, but two things are certain. One, the races will be longer, which will help me for the upcoming road/mtn bike season. And two, I'll push a ton harder so that I'm not dead last, which will help me for the upcoming seasons.

Maybe they will upgrade, and I can cherish some sweet top 5 CX4 racing, and then upgrade before next season. One way or the other I'll be happy. I just can't stand sandbagging.

MSG #1 and #2

This weekend was the start of the Mud Sweat and Gears cyclocross series. Here's how it turned out for both Sat and Sun:

Saturday
Course was nice and dry, w/ a ton of technical off camber turns. I had a bad start, and struggled getting around a number of people. There was a group of 4 that ran off and stole the show, but what can I say...they were faster. The last lap left me running on Empty, and I wrecked going into the last set of barriers. I didn't feel like my cornering was that good, nor was my accelerations out of the corners. Tuff luck, but still ended up 12th. Not too bad, especially considering my best cross finish before this race was pretty close to next to last.

Sunday
Basically the same course, with some faster technical sections and more sand. I had a lot better start to the race this day, but could you believe that the same 4 people ran off and left everyone else again......I'm seeing a pattern. Anyway, I road the course almost perfect except for one trip through the sand pit, which left me bogged down. My cornering was good, and accelerations were good. I just need to get faster. Finished up in 9th place.

Overall I think I've come a long way in cross. I think as the season goes on and I get more used to the cross bike racing scene, my placings will get better. And if those 4 sandbaggers would upgrade to CX3, that would help to. I mean really, if I were beating 26 other CX4's by 2 minutes I would upgrade. haha. But as I said before, they are faster, and they played by the rules, so they deserved the win.

I'm pumped about the rest of cross season. Its going to be fun.

Going Full Out

Lately my fiancee and I have been talking about tradition. I am a bit more traditional than she is, but it works for us. It got me to thinking about how much I've come to depend on cycling for fitness, peace of mind, and too for fun. To me though, the tradition of cycling is man and machine. That's all....no fluff added.

Sometimes though for me its easy to get caught up in the news of professional cycling. I see these guys making the big move to Europe, and I'll set back and imagine how nice it would be for me to be over there racing. I imagine myself as a professional cyclist from Belgium riding for a proTour team.

Well......the truth is I'm a cat4 cyclist from Lebanon, VA. My LT on the road is 335 watts, and my PWR is just below 4 watts/kg. My main goal for the coming season should be none other than to win cat4 races, and upgrade to cat3 status. Once that happens evaluate where I'm at in my cycling, and go from there. I don't need to worry about being slower than a cat2 rider. I should know I'm slower, that's why I'm still a cat4. Sounds simple when I type it out, but in my head its a different story.

So I've come up with a plan. Until next July, the Tour to be more specific, I'm not going to read any online news about professional cycling. I'm not going to buy any magazines to deal with professional cycling. I'm not going to search for the latest and greatest cycling parts. I'll only buy what I need to train and race. And no watching cycling on TV.

Lance Armstrong is coming back to cycling? Well good, I wish him all the luck. Him coming back doesn't help me upgrade to Cat3.

John Hamlin lapped Tim C. twice in one cross race? That doesn't help me either....although it is a good laugh.

I get beat by some guy that has hairy legs? Its because he's faster than me, simple as that. Maybe my power numbers are better, but he played a better mental game than I did. Simply put, he was faster than me getting from point A to point B. This is the stuff I need to be worried about. Being the fastest from point A in a race to point B.

So from this point on it'll be me, my bike, and my power meter. I'm going to post every Monday, starting on 10/20/08, what I've done in the past week towards bettering my riding. I'll use this blog to keep track of my training, and monitor my progress. I'll post what workouts I've done, what powers I run them at, total training time for the week, and maybe a few extra numbers here and there.

My goal right now is to get to a PWR of 4.01 Watts/Kg. My LT will be around 350 watts. I want to reach this by next March for Jeff Cup. I'll perform a LT test at the end of December, and one at the start of March. If I go above 350, great, but I want to get to at least 350. At that PWR I should be able to win any Cat4 race, as long as I am the smartest racer on that given day.

I hope you enjoy the posts to come, and I hope this doesn't seem so crazy.