Alright so I took a few days off the blog. I can't go without it. I'm not sure if I'm addicted or not, but the thoughts of not being able to pour my ramblings onto a website for everyone to read scares me. ha. Not really, but it is enjoyable. So I'm taking backwater on getting rid of the blog. Perhaps I'll make it more interesting though.
I've been reading some really good stuff from Joe Friel's blog. I'm not a big advocate of Friel because he's into the riding 40 hrs/week. That's perfectly fine if you have time, but for the most of us that work and have a family life it just doesn't work. I still keep up with his thoughts and opinions on his blog, as I feel he's a very knowledgeable individual on all things concerning coaching and training. Check his blog out. On the right-hand side of his blog there are three posts about stress-based training. Check 'em all out.
Recently he has discussed the importance of an athlete's TSS (Training Stress Score). I'll have to admit that before I read these posts of his I thought that if I came home, loaded my PT onto my computer, and then saw a big number in the TSS slot that I had done something good. If it was a small number I should push harder next time. In other words try to get the TSS to as big of a number as I could every time I did a specific focused workout. Man was I wrong, and have not been taking advantage of one of the biggest tools Training Peaks software has to offer (you can also calculate TSS on your own using the chart Friel posted on his blog).
What Friel says is 100% true, and makes complete sense, "Training for racing is all about adapting to stress". Now of course we all know tactics and a dash of luck have to do with winning, but for training that's it.
Thanks to Friel for sharing all this information without charging his coaching services.
For the past couple winters I've locked myself inside and hammered out on the trainer. I've not had any problems doing intervals, or even rides up to 2-3 hours. Over 3 hours though and I can't handle it any longer. So I'm going to get outside this winter with little regard to the weather and hammer out some long rides on Saturdays and Sundays. During the week it'll be dark by the time I get home from work, so the trainer will be the only form of riding.
Hope you enjoy reading, have a good Thanksgiving, and take care!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
New Shoes Part 2...and cross update
For part one go here.
I've had a chance to put several miles on my new Specialized Pro shoes, and I have to say that they are probably the best bike shoe I've ever put on. I'll recap a few of my favorite things about the shoe. The hill cup keeps the foot planted and prevents it from moving anywhere without the shoe. The straps really help make the shoe. The main buckle strap at top is completely adjustable and really sets the foot when buckled down. The velcro straps really impressed me as well. Since I do have a skinny foot most of the time I bottom velcro straps trying to get the shoe tight. Since Specialized offers this shoe in three (3) widths, I was able to order a shoe that really fits my foot.
On the road everything I just mentioned still holds true. You can really feel the slight amount of wedge the shoe has built into it, but for me it didn't seem to cause any problems. The one thing I really noticed and really liked was the efficiency of the shoe. I felt like everything I wanted to put to the pedals got there. Certainly there will most likely never be 100% transfer of energy to the pedal from our feet, but Specialized has closed the gap for sure. Great great product. If I lost these shoes today, I would re-order them without even looking at other shoes.
If I remember I'll post on their ability to withstand wear after this winter.
On the riding side of things, I think cyclocross is pretty much done for the season. I got sick this past week from some bad Chinese food (never eating at the Red Flower again), and then pulled a long day at work the very next day. This left me feeling dead to the world and so I opted out of the cross race saturday. The MSG 5 weekend I'll be in St. Louis on business, and for the final MSG 6 I'll be here in Grundy as we roll out a project we've been working on the last few months. If I feel good and the weather isn't too bad I might try the Tenn state cross race in January. For the most part though my cross season is complete.
So what for training? Until this work stuff hit I was working on figuring out what workouts, tapering, training period worked best for me. I got some really good info to work with, and I feel I can come out of the gate next season ready to go. My first goal of the season will be to test myself at Jeff Cup. This is a big race and its a Pro,1,2,3 field. It'll give me a good idea of if I trained well enough, and maybe pick up some knowledge from a more advanced crowd. From there I just want to do what everyone else does.......win!
Now its back to putting a bunch of time in on the bike with tempo work, threshold work, and lots and lots of SST (Sweet spot training).
Take care!
I've had a chance to put several miles on my new Specialized Pro shoes, and I have to say that they are probably the best bike shoe I've ever put on. I'll recap a few of my favorite things about the shoe. The hill cup keeps the foot planted and prevents it from moving anywhere without the shoe. The straps really help make the shoe. The main buckle strap at top is completely adjustable and really sets the foot when buckled down. The velcro straps really impressed me as well. Since I do have a skinny foot most of the time I bottom velcro straps trying to get the shoe tight. Since Specialized offers this shoe in three (3) widths, I was able to order a shoe that really fits my foot.
On the road everything I just mentioned still holds true. You can really feel the slight amount of wedge the shoe has built into it, but for me it didn't seem to cause any problems. The one thing I really noticed and really liked was the efficiency of the shoe. I felt like everything I wanted to put to the pedals got there. Certainly there will most likely never be 100% transfer of energy to the pedal from our feet, but Specialized has closed the gap for sure. Great great product. If I lost these shoes today, I would re-order them without even looking at other shoes.
If I remember I'll post on their ability to withstand wear after this winter.
On the riding side of things, I think cyclocross is pretty much done for the season. I got sick this past week from some bad Chinese food (never eating at the Red Flower again), and then pulled a long day at work the very next day. This left me feeling dead to the world and so I opted out of the cross race saturday. The MSG 5 weekend I'll be in St. Louis on business, and for the final MSG 6 I'll be here in Grundy as we roll out a project we've been working on the last few months. If I feel good and the weather isn't too bad I might try the Tenn state cross race in January. For the most part though my cross season is complete.
So what for training? Until this work stuff hit I was working on figuring out what workouts, tapering, training period worked best for me. I got some really good info to work with, and I feel I can come out of the gate next season ready to go. My first goal of the season will be to test myself at Jeff Cup. This is a big race and its a Pro,1,2,3 field. It'll give me a good idea of if I trained well enough, and maybe pick up some knowledge from a more advanced crowd. From there I just want to do what everyone else does.......win!
Now its back to putting a bunch of time in on the bike with tempo work, threshold work, and lots and lots of SST (Sweet spot training).
Take care!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
New Shoes Part 1
Since March of this year I've been riding the Bontrager RXL road shoes. When Bontrager first introduced photos and specs on these shoes I thought I had to have a pair. I mean I had been running a set of nikes for four (4) years, so Ashley bought me a pair for my birthday. Here's a quick pro/con review of the Bontragers:
Pros: Beautiful white shoe, stiff sole, and comes with decent footbed.
Cons: Cleat doesn't set even on the bottom of the shoe and requires a shim to fix. Cup for your hill is non-existent. Construction of the shoe is a little weak: glue can be seen where the shoe is put together, the buckle system isn't what I would call great, and did I mention the cleat issue?
A personal problem I had with the shoe was the huge toe box. I have skinny flat feet, and this shoe doesn't fit snug enough for my taste. I wear a 12 length with a D width in US size, and this shoe doesn't cut it. Also the e-Soles foot bed is very nice, but it doesn't come from Bontrager with the arch support for flat feet as most companies do OEM. This is only a problem because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy the arch support for flat feet. Neither of these issues can be blamed on Bontrager, but leads me to my next paragraph.
Yesterday my new Specialized Pro Road shoes came in. I have been looking at some Sidi's, some Shimano shoes (which fit well as MTB shoes), and then these Specialized. What sold me on trying a pair of the Specialized was all the options they had for foot size. With width they have Narrow, Standard, and Wide. Half sizes up to a Euro 47. Three different foot beds for flat, semi-arch, and high arched feet. The buckle strap is even adjustable without having to buy any extra parts. What is there not to love?
My first impression of these shoes is they look great. I picked up a black pair in size 45/12 (euro/US). Getting the shoes on is a bit of a challenge compared to the bontragers because of the hill cup that they have. Once I got the shoe on though, it fit like a glove. Perfect length, snug all the way around the foot, and the hill cup was impressive. I don't imagine much foot movement inside these shoes. The foot bed came for flat feet, which saved me from buying another foot bed. That's a plus for me.
Construction is equally impressive. Very high craftsmanship, and that's something I don't give out to many manufacturers.
I haven't ridden with these shoes yet, but I will today and review by the end of the week how they feel on the bike.
Pros: Beautiful white shoe, stiff sole, and comes with decent footbed.
Cons: Cleat doesn't set even on the bottom of the shoe and requires a shim to fix. Cup for your hill is non-existent. Construction of the shoe is a little weak: glue can be seen where the shoe is put together, the buckle system isn't what I would call great, and did I mention the cleat issue?
A personal problem I had with the shoe was the huge toe box. I have skinny flat feet, and this shoe doesn't fit snug enough for my taste. I wear a 12 length with a D width in US size, and this shoe doesn't cut it. Also the e-Soles foot bed is very nice, but it doesn't come from Bontrager with the arch support for flat feet as most companies do OEM. This is only a problem because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy the arch support for flat feet. Neither of these issues can be blamed on Bontrager, but leads me to my next paragraph.
Yesterday my new Specialized Pro Road shoes came in. I have been looking at some Sidi's, some Shimano shoes (which fit well as MTB shoes), and then these Specialized. What sold me on trying a pair of the Specialized was all the options they had for foot size. With width they have Narrow, Standard, and Wide. Half sizes up to a Euro 47. Three different foot beds for flat, semi-arch, and high arched feet. The buckle strap is even adjustable without having to buy any extra parts. What is there not to love?
My first impression of these shoes is they look great. I picked up a black pair in size 45/12 (euro/US). Getting the shoes on is a bit of a challenge compared to the bontragers because of the hill cup that they have. Once I got the shoe on though, it fit like a glove. Perfect length, snug all the way around the foot, and the hill cup was impressive. I don't imagine much foot movement inside these shoes. The foot bed came for flat feet, which saved me from buying another foot bed. That's a plus for me.
Construction is equally impressive. Very high craftsmanship, and that's something I don't give out to many manufacturers.
I haven't ridden with these shoes yet, but I will today and review by the end of the week how they feel on the bike.
Monday, November 2, 2009
MSG#3 continued....
For part one go HERE.
Since I'm not stealing pictures anymore...or trying to quit anyway, here's a link to my new favorite pic. I like it so much I might buy it and make a poster out of it...not really, but I like it. It says pain and anger all in one.
http://www.bart.ifp3.com/#/gallery/09-msg-series-3/09msg3-286/
In addition to what I posted Saturday night about the race, I'd like to say that I really came to like the new wheelset/tire combo that I got for the cross bike. After the first race of the season I wasn't liking them so much because they were slow on a dry course, but in a mudfest and wet grass I couldn't imagine anything better. The Williams Cyclocross wheelset rolled great, had great braking ability, and were stiff. The Challenge Grifo 34's as big as they might be, handled the dirt/mud/grass/wet/offcamber/flat/whatever the course had to throw at them. I would highly recommend these tires for any kind of conditions that weren't dry. For dry 32's would be better, or better yet a file tread.
Thanks for reading!
Since I'm not stealing pictures anymore...or trying to quit anyway, here's a link to my new favorite pic. I like it so much I might buy it and make a poster out of it...not really, but I like it. It says pain and anger all in one.
http://www.bart.ifp3.com/#/gallery/09-msg-series-3/09msg3-286/
In addition to what I posted Saturday night about the race, I'd like to say that I really came to like the new wheelset/tire combo that I got for the cross bike. After the first race of the season I wasn't liking them so much because they were slow on a dry course, but in a mudfest and wet grass I couldn't imagine anything better. The Williams Cyclocross wheelset rolled great, had great braking ability, and were stiff. The Challenge Grifo 34's as big as they might be, handled the dirt/mud/grass/wet/offcamber/flat/whatever the course had to throw at them. I would highly recommend these tires for any kind of conditions that weren't dry. For dry 32's would be better, or better yet a file tread.
Thanks for reading!
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