A few days off and training

Feeling a little blown this past week, I took Fri thru Sunday off. While I was off I looked back at my training calender and updated my results file that I keep to make it easy for reference. And what I found was pretty interesting. Note this information may not apply to everyone, but seems to be the key to any success I might have.

I noticed that from March 8 to April 26 I had a lot of issues. Most of them out of my control such as getting sick, getting a new job, working on wedding stuff, etc. The one big thing that I could've controlled was that I didn't race. Not a single road race, crit, or even TT. I did the same thing the year before (only it was actually a little longer), and noticed a big drop in performance.

Well this year I haven't lost that much performance physically, but what I did loose was my focus. Sure I was going out and busting out some 8 min intervals and 4 min intervals, but I wasn't focusing on the intervals. No I'm not going to turn into Mr. Philosophical on you, but without focus your basically pedaling without a chain. I was just going through the motions of training, and racing (once I started back after the draught). I thought I wasn't training hard enough so I put in more time...well that was good for weighing myself down with fatigue, but not much of anything else.

Now that things are leveling out in general, I'm feeling more on track with trying to up my performance. My training feels good, I feel good, and I want to win again. Will I win? Who knows. I feel like I have the legs, and if I make smart choices while racing I'll be in good shape. I feel success in a race goes as follows 20% physical, 30% mental, and 50% is making the right choices. Which means I need to get smarter with racing. And I feel that's coming along nicely with the regained focus.

As for my training. I've swapped up some intervals and added 6x2min @ 120%FTP and 3x5min @ 110%FTP for the weeks that I race. That's 27 min above my FTP, and I should be able to get a good 15min above it during even one race. (Remember the goal is to have 30-40min above FTP per week). During the weeks I don't race, I'll continue with my 4x4min's and 3x8min's. I think this will help me stay a little fresher.

I'll be heading up to Roanoke on Saturday for a crit in the ID3 races. It should be a good race.

Take care!

2nd half of the season

I've listed some races to do for the second half of the road season. I'm not sure I'll do them all, but most likely I'll do a great number of them. Most of them are crits, which I perform better in and enjoy more than RR. All are pretty close, and shouldn't cost a great deal to go to either.

The goal is to get 8 points. I said at one point I wouldn't upgrade with top 10 finishes, and I'm hoping I wont have to take backwater on that. My training and focus will be on getting every little point I can get. If I have eight, one point races, I'll be perfectly happy with that. Another win would make me pretty happy too though. I can't lie about that.

And finally all this should lead into cross season. I hope to do well in the CX3 field this winter. I oh so love racing in the cold. Maybe it's because its' agonistic.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend.

Ace Speedway

We headed down to Ace Speedway in North Carolina yesterday for a couple races. The course is a flat (slight banking in the turns, but not much) race car track for amateur racers. Luckily they've been letting cyclist come on Tuesday nights for 20 years now. 20 years...wow.

The first race was a 4/5 field of 50+ people. That's a big group. Everything started surprisingly fast. The field split and I ended up jumping to the front part. I looked around and thought the other half were going to catch us, but they didn't. We dwindled down to a group of 6 guys including myself and Brian, and after a few laps we caught the field. Sprinted in for the finish and ended up 4th. Brian wasn't aware of the lap board, but still made it in for 5th. A few more points for upgrade.

The second race went pretty well. I felt good to have just finished one. I tried to just set in and not see any wind at all. Halfway through a couple guys crossed wheels in front and went down. I came to a complete stop to keep from running over one of the guys, and then chased to get back on. The rest of the race was a blur. The pace got high and I waited too late to move up for the finish. Brian did well though, possibly another top 10? I should've been farther ahead. I just didn't play the tactics well.

A few more points earned for my Cat3 upgrade. 8 to go now. Hopefully with a handful of races after the wedding in July I'll be able to get enough. I think so.

By the way, the cross bike feels sweet. I'm looking forward to putting it on some dirt.

Take care.

Century, excitement, and a wedding

So the Blacksburg Cycling Classic was canceled this past weekend, and I thought what better way to pound the crap out of my legs than to do the Walker Mountain Century Ride. The short of it is I can't handle racing that long, and even though it was a "ride" any time someone is recording your finish time it turns in to a...well, swift ride. I held together pretty well and up the first 20 min climb without any trouble. I actually enjoyed the climb. Then we hit the back 40 miles and this was basically a 40 mile climb to me. The wind was horrible. Anyway, at about 3.5-4 hours in I was blown. I would've gotten in a sayg wagon if there had been one. But I limped back into Wytheville at a very VERY slow pace. I just haven't trained for any kind of riding/racing of this distance. It was a fun ride and what surprises me is I felt relatively recovered the next day. Maybe I'll do some more 100 miler rides.

I started putting new cables, handlebars, stem, and saddle on my cross bike today. I can't wait for cross season. I don't know how it'll go, but I'll be as ready for it as I can be. Cross is addictive....maybe Boonen should try it instead of cocaine.

The wedding is in less than 3 weeks....wow. It seems like I just took the big one knee dive yesterday. I can't wait though. We went today to get the certificate and I tried to talk Ashley into going ahead and getting married at the court house..........but that wasn't happening.

Tomorrow I'm heading down for a double header at Ace Speedway. Steady effort crits...my thing. Two top 10's would be nice.....a win would be even better. Update after I get back.

Take care and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Keep on the sunny side

No, I'm not talking about "O'brother Where Art Thou". I'm talking about my disposition. I've been down a little the last few weeks because my performance hasn't been so great. Well I don't really have a good excuse for my lack of performance, but a good reason...and no, reason doesn't equal excuse.

In the last two months I've taken on a new job, moved into an apartment, underwent big change at work from corporate, and focusing on getting married all while trying to train. I didn't think I was that overloaded, but looking back on it I see that I was. I'm not complaining about any of those either, except the corporate stuff. Moving out was part of the getting married thing, the wedding couldn't get here soon enough, and the job brought more $$ which helps with the getting married thing again.

This weekend was the first weekend in a while, probably two months, Ashley and I finally got to relax and then saturday it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought to myself "what have you been doing for the last few weeks training wise". Every day I go out and hammer wide open, or thought I was anyway. My power files looked like a hospital heart monitor, and I feel like everyone else has passed me up on the bike.

So what now? Relax. I finally relaxed and my workouts this week have been the best they've been in 2 or 3 months (probably since cross season). My cadence is smoother(this seems to really be a key for some reason), my attitude overall better, and ready to race again (this is the biggest key mentally). My power has dropped a little, an FTP of 330 or so, but as long as I can start building back up I can live with that.

The key now with the wedding less than a month away is to not get stressed, and keep on the positive side. The only time I'm taking off the bike as of now will be the week of the honeymoon (and if I can sneak into the fitness center on the cruise boat, I'll probably hit a stationary).

Blacksburg Cycling Classic next weekend. Good luck to anyone racing this weekend. Have a safe trip and be safe racing.

Take care....

Sanofi Crit

Yesterday was the crit. The course was perfect. Tight turns, 4-1 lane turns, manholes, potholes, and really really fast. The race was balls out from the start. I felt good out of the gun and took off on lap 2 or 3, somewhere in there, and I didn't really have a plan in mind (this was probably obvious to anyone watching). It didn't take but a few seconds to figure out I wasn't going anywhere so I fell back and stayed in the top 5 for most of the race. Towards the end I looked around and what was a 40 man field had dwindled to around 12 or 13 guys. I was hurting, everyone I looked at was hurting, and then the last lap two guys went down on the back side of the course....I know they were hurting. I didn't have enough steam to get to the front for any kind of notable finish, just in the pack...or what was left of it.

My Cat3 chances by the wedding are pretty slim at this point, and I have to say that I don't feel as though I need to be a 3 yet. I've dropped the ball with my training, mentally, or something that's let everyone else fly by me fitness wise. I think my power is there, but I've still not developed mentally enough to ride at any higher level than a 4. I'm staying positive though and I still have a chance to come back this season, and I'm sure I'll get it figured out.

Congrats to everyone who did well this weekend.

Stay tuned for training updates....

RR and TT

The road race went about as expected. The group went out pretty easy, and then there was the climb. I went up with the front group for about a mile, but there was no way I could make it another 7 miles at that pace. So I dropped back and took it easy...as easy as I could for a 7% 8 mile climb. Not sure what place I finished, but nothing notable.

The TT was ok. I was hoping for a sub 4'20" time, but came away with 4'35". I still say the winning time will be 4'15" or less. My average wattage for the TT was 415 watts. I don't know what I'm missing about TT's, but I'd really like to figure it out.

I can feel myself getting wore out with the racing and training. My drive is going away, and even though I want to upgrade, I'm thinking some time off is in order. I'm going to keep training through the Rogues races and the two crits the week after, and then take off till after the honeymoon in July. I've been going hard since this time last year, and I took no break along the way that didn't have to do with an illness.

The Crit is tomorrow morning at 10, I'm hoping it goes well. It'll be a good race no matter what.

Update after the race tomorrow...

Sanofi Omnium

The road race takes you to a 7.5 mile climb that takes roughly 45 minutes. Maybe more maybe less depending on your ability to climb, but that's a good average. I pre-road the course this past saturday, and I still feel the same way about it now as I did the first time I climbed Roan Mountain....it sucks. Its not the amount of power per time you have to put out to climb, its just that you're going so slow. I have a true mental block on this. I honestly don't know what to expect in the road race. It will be interesting nonetheless.

The TT is a 1.7mile course. This is all about going balls to the wall and not loosing too much time in the one or two tight turns on the course. Total winning time for this course should be around 4'15" or so. This course really suits my strengths, and I hope to do well. Power numbers are going to be interesting, I'd like to see a 425 watt average when I finish, but I think anything over 400 will do.

The Crit...oh how I love crits. I feel a lot better on the bike after I raised my stem. I hope that this solves my crit problems. 6 tight turns and no hills. This is another course that suits me well.

I don't know what to expect this weekend. Focus on racing smart, and put out big watts at the right times. It'll be interesting anyway. Stay tuned for the day-by-day recap...