It's that time of year again: Transition phase, the change from racing season to "off-season."
In other words, for the next month or so (until after my honeymoon), I'll be training how I feel like it, when I feel like it, and if I feel like it. Sure, I'd like to lose another pound or so before the wedding and I'd like to get into the gym enough to get past the initial muscle soreness, but those are hardly major goals.
It's also a time for me to look at my goals for the next season in closer detail, pick my priority events, and start outlining my training. I start to geek out and reread all of my Coggan, Bompa, Friel, Carmichael, and whoever-else books so that I can remind myself of what needs to be done.
Above all, it's really nice to have a little time to just enjoy riding and working out because I enjoy it and not to prepare for a race that's looming.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Year Ahead
For the 2012 season, I have two focuses: lose weight and improve my time trialing. That's it. Just two.
To start, I'm really sick of trying to lose weight, so I want to get the weight off and be done with it. I'm aiming for 170, and the only thing stopping me from getting there is my love of snack foods at the office. Since my weight tends to vary by a pound or two naturally during a week, I'm really aiming for an "average" of 170, with my weight fluctuating between 169 and 171.
To help motivate me, I bought some new clothes that I really like that are just a little too tight right now. Once I reach the new weight, they will fit (and look) great.
While my power profile suggests that I'm a more natural sprinter, I'm just not into crits and road races that much. They are fun and all, but the risk-reward ratio is just not there (potential crippling injury, dismemberment, or death for little bragging rights and up to $100 in prize money). The biggest risks during a time trials would be getting hit by a car and having a heart attack from the exertion (both of which I risk every time I get on the bike anyway).
So, I'm focusing on time trials for the next year. My primary goal is to do a 40K in less than an hour. That's 24.84 miles in 60 minutes, so I need to average 24.85 mph in order to be under an hour. By comparison, that's the rough equivalent of doing the West River Time Trial three times in a row with a time of 20:09 all three times.
That kind of speed requires strong fitness (functional threshold and flexibility), good aerodynamics (both the frontal profile and the slipperiness of that profile), and good technical skills (like turning around quickly and riding the shortest course possible by watching the curves in the road).
In the coming weeks, I'll write more about what I'm looking to improve in each of those areas and how I plan to do it.
To start, I'm really sick of trying to lose weight, so I want to get the weight off and be done with it. I'm aiming for 170, and the only thing stopping me from getting there is my love of snack foods at the office. Since my weight tends to vary by a pound or two naturally during a week, I'm really aiming for an "average" of 170, with my weight fluctuating between 169 and 171.
To help motivate me, I bought some new clothes that I really like that are just a little too tight right now. Once I reach the new weight, they will fit (and look) great.
While my power profile suggests that I'm a more natural sprinter, I'm just not into crits and road races that much. They are fun and all, but the risk-reward ratio is just not there (potential crippling injury, dismemberment, or death for little bragging rights and up to $100 in prize money). The biggest risks during a time trials would be getting hit by a car and having a heart attack from the exertion (both of which I risk every time I get on the bike anyway).
So, I'm focusing on time trials for the next year. My primary goal is to do a 40K in less than an hour. That's 24.84 miles in 60 minutes, so I need to average 24.85 mph in order to be under an hour. By comparison, that's the rough equivalent of doing the West River Time Trial three times in a row with a time of 20:09 all three times.
That kind of speed requires strong fitness (functional threshold and flexibility), good aerodynamics (both the frontal profile and the slipperiness of that profile), and good technical skills (like turning around quickly and riding the shortest course possible by watching the curves in the road).
In the coming weeks, I'll write more about what I'm looking to improve in each of those areas and how I plan to do it.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Year Behind
2011 was a pretty wild season. I did a total of 14 races this year (4 crits, 2 road races, 1 hill climb, and 7 time trials), which is probably double the number I had done in any previous year. The downside is that I hit the end of the year without hitting any of my goals (more on that later).
In general, I'd say that I did pretty well on riding regularly throughout the year with a combination of riding the trainer in the morning before work, riding with the guys from work at lunch (even through the winter), and riding outdoors on the weekends.
I did not do so well at getting to the gym regularly. Over the winter, we only went about once a week at most. During the summer, we barely went at all.
I started this training season (Oct 2010) with my weight at 186. It climbed to 190 by New Year's. By the beginning of May, I was back down to 180 pounds. I more or less held it there until July, when a combination of new tattoo project and a wicked flu kept me off the bike for almost 4 weeks. My weight climbed up to 184 and I now have it back down to 182. At least I'm lighter than last year :-)
My racing was a little scattered. I started off the year doing a bunch of crits and road races, at one point doing 8 races in 6 weeks. I did pretty well in the practice crits, but ultimately my pack handling skills are not what they should be for the real ones. I tend to end up at the back of the pack as I struggle to maintain position in each high-speed corner.
After that, I decided to switch to time trials. I started fiddling with my bike fit and my position on it. I'm finding that I like time trialing for many of the same reasons that I enjoyed speedskating: The subtle technique, the focus on set distances, and the same (smaller) group of people who travel to all the races in the region.
My goals for this year were:
- Get my West River TT time under 20:00 (my best was 20:01)
- Get my max 5-second sprint over 1300 watts (my best was 1268)
- Improve my pack skills (after setting this goal, I did only two pack races, one of which I was dropped on the first lap)
- Get my weight down to 175 (stated when I was 190, as I write this, I'm 181)
These goals are a little bit opposite from one another. First off, it's really hard to lose weight at all when you're racing a lot. There's too much focus on performance to worry about calorie deficits. Everything is about recovering from the last workout and recovering for the next one.
Being a better time trialist and a better sprinter are pretty opposite training and technical goals. Improving time trialing requires a better threshold, better muscular endurance, and better flexibility to stay in a low tuck for an hour. It also requires a deep mental focus to keep you at just the right pace, not so hard that you burn out and not so easy that you hit the finish line with energy left. Sprinting requires you to be able to draft other riders from 2 inches away at 28 mph and then very rapidly accelerate around everyone at just the right instant to hit the finish line first.
Ultimately, I'd sum up this year by saying that I learned a lot.
- Focus on one type of race that I want to do well in.
- I can lose weight as long as I pay attention to it
- I lose weight more easily when I'm lifting weights
- Success in time trialing is more than just power output. I need to work on my flexibility and balance as well.
- Those 4-hour zone 2 endurance rides really do help build up your aerobic fitness
- I'm only willing to drive so far for a race (3 hours for a 30 minute race is a bit much; 5 hours is out of the question)
- Riding the CompuTrainer in Erg mode is probably the most efficient training method for me
- The only way to survive racing in the heat is to train in the heat
- Even though my natural strengths are as a sprinter, I enjoy time trialing a lot more.
- Riding at lunch with the guys from work is fun just to get out and do a few sprints and hills. It's also a good way to get outside during the winter
- I get better results when I plan things out AND THEN STICK TO IT
So, for the next month I'll be training a little randomly. I want to get into the gym a few times and get past the initial muscle soreness phase. I am starting to do a little yoga; just one DVD so far amusingly titled "Yoga for Inflexible People". And I'm getting out and riding without any real goals or intervals or plans just so I can enjoy being on the bike.
Coming soon: the post about my goals and plans for next year.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Drawing to a Close
Today was my last race of the 2011 season: the Ernie Simpson Memorial Time Trial, a 20K (12.4 mile) time trial held near Carlisle, PA.
The course is a little unusual: It's 8.5K to the turnaround, with the first part mostly downhill, then there is an 11.5K part to the finish, most of which is uphill. Don't let me kid you though, the part out had two pretty solid climbs as well. Still, there were some really steep and fast descents.
Above all, I'd say that I paced this time trial better than any other that I've done this year. I started off easily, held back on the first climb, and gradually pushed harder until the turnaround. After the turnaround, I was able to gradually increase power all the way to the finish. With about 2K (1.2 miles) to go, I gave it all that I had left. Of course, that last 2K was all uphill, so it was not all that fast.
I finished the race, rolled back down to the parking lot, got to the car... and it started POURING. I quickly got my bike into the car and got inside to get changed out of my racing uniform. I was lucky. All the folks still on the road got soaked.
A few numbers:
Total distance:20K (12.4 miles)
Total time: 34:06
Avg Speed: 21.9 mph
Max Speed: 40.7 mph
Avg Power: 243 watts (261 normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 162 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 170 bom
Total climbing: 624 feet
Morning weight: 182.2 pounds
As I wrap up the year, I look forward to some time away from racing and training a little more randomly for a while. I want to get back into losing weight. Looking back, I managed to drop form 190 to 180 pretty quickly, but once racing started, I pretty much hovered from 180 to 183 all summer. If I can drop another 10 pounds, that will help a lot with next season.
My next few posts will take a look back at this year and what I'm thinking about for next year (and probably something about my honeymoon in there!)
The course is a little unusual: It's 8.5K to the turnaround, with the first part mostly downhill, then there is an 11.5K part to the finish, most of which is uphill. Don't let me kid you though, the part out had two pretty solid climbs as well. Still, there were some really steep and fast descents.
Above all, I'd say that I paced this time trial better than any other that I've done this year. I started off easily, held back on the first climb, and gradually pushed harder until the turnaround. After the turnaround, I was able to gradually increase power all the way to the finish. With about 2K (1.2 miles) to go, I gave it all that I had left. Of course, that last 2K was all uphill, so it was not all that fast.
I finished the race, rolled back down to the parking lot, got to the car... and it started POURING. I quickly got my bike into the car and got inside to get changed out of my racing uniform. I was lucky. All the folks still on the road got soaked.
A few numbers:
Total distance:20K (12.4 miles)
Total time: 34:06
Avg Speed: 21.9 mph
Max Speed: 40.7 mph
Avg Power: 243 watts (261 normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 162 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 170 bom
Total climbing: 624 feet
Morning weight: 182.2 pounds
As I wrap up the year, I look forward to some time away from racing and training a little more randomly for a while. I want to get back into losing weight. Looking back, I managed to drop form 190 to 180 pretty quickly, but once racing started, I pretty much hovered from 180 to 183 all summer. If I can drop another 10 pounds, that will help a lot with next season.
My next few posts will take a look back at this year and what I'm thinking about for next year (and probably something about my honeymoon in there!)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
What a difference the course makes
Two weeks ago, I did 23.7 mph at 231 watts on a 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) course that was dead flat with just a little wind. This week, there was a sustained head wind on the way out and a decent 3/4 of a mile climb just before the turnaround on a 17.5K (10.9 mile) course. My numbers were 23.9 mph at 254 watts. A lot more wattage for just a bit more speed.
I was much better about my pacing this time. For the first 3 miles, I held back a bit, knowing that there was a lot of wind and a climb still ahead. I focused on keeping my head down and into a solid aero tuck.
I knew the guy who started 30 seconds behind me (Greg). Once he caught me, he got about 50 yards in front of me... and I held him there. I dug as deep as I could to keep myself from losing ground to him, but not so deep that I burned out.
The first (and only real) turn was a little nasty, with some bumpy pavement. I took it way to fast (22 mph) and almost went into the grass. Luckily it was a left-hand turn, so I had a slightly larger radius to take the turn. I didn't learn...
The rest of the course was just a straight grind to the turnaround. The wind was probably around 10 to 15 mph, but when it's straight into your face and you're already doing 23 mph, that's a stiff wind.
At the turnaround, Greg was only about 15 seconds ahead of me. I took the turnaround as fast as I could. Maybe I can catch him on the way back...
He was still about 50 yards ahead of me when we hit the descent. We were pushing 32 mph. I tried as hard as I dared but couldn't bring him back. By this time, we were starting to pass a few people who had started ahead of us. I think bringing them back was driving Greg as I was trying to bring him back.
As we can towards the turn, I felt like I was gaining a little on him. I roared through the turn, forgetting (a) that it was a right hard turn on a narrow road and (b) the pavement sucked. I hit the turn at 25 mph. I bounced enough to lose traction and started to skid into the other lane as I heard the course marshal say something, but I know I heard the word "...car....". I looked up to see an SUV coming toward just as I crossed the yellow line and missed a couple cones. I jammed on the brakes, suddenly realizing that I had not closed my rear brake. As a result, my front brake was far stronger than the rear and I felt my back wheel start to come off the ground.
By now, I had straightened out my line of travel. I let go of the brakes and leaned hard to the right, dodging the cones, and getting back to my side of the yellow line. I missed the SUV by about 5 feet. One thought crossed my mind: Where's Greg?
I looked up the road to see that he had gained probably another 20 yards on me while I was busy playing in traffic. So much for catching him... I settled into a rhythm, knowing that I only had 2 miles left.
When I saw the 1K to go sign, I poured all that I had left into the pedals. Looking at the download, I averaged 26 mph for the last minute of the race.
I saw that Shelli was a little past the finish line. I tried to keep my pedaling up for a few extra seconds so she could get a couple of extra pictures :-)
Given the hill and the wind, I was aiming for about 28:00. I got 27:24. I was quite happy.
The numbers:
Total Distance: 10.9 miles
Time: 27:24
Average Speed: 23.87 mph
Average Power: 249 watts (254 normalized)
Average Heart Rate: 163 BPM
One more time trial and then the season is over!
I was much better about my pacing this time. For the first 3 miles, I held back a bit, knowing that there was a lot of wind and a climb still ahead. I focused on keeping my head down and into a solid aero tuck.
I knew the guy who started 30 seconds behind me (Greg). Once he caught me, he got about 50 yards in front of me... and I held him there. I dug as deep as I could to keep myself from losing ground to him, but not so deep that I burned out.
The first (and only real) turn was a little nasty, with some bumpy pavement. I took it way to fast (22 mph) and almost went into the grass. Luckily it was a left-hand turn, so I had a slightly larger radius to take the turn. I didn't learn...
The rest of the course was just a straight grind to the turnaround. The wind was probably around 10 to 15 mph, but when it's straight into your face and you're already doing 23 mph, that's a stiff wind.
At the turnaround, Greg was only about 15 seconds ahead of me. I took the turnaround as fast as I could. Maybe I can catch him on the way back...
He was still about 50 yards ahead of me when we hit the descent. We were pushing 32 mph. I tried as hard as I dared but couldn't bring him back. By this time, we were starting to pass a few people who had started ahead of us. I think bringing them back was driving Greg as I was trying to bring him back.
As we can towards the turn, I felt like I was gaining a little on him. I roared through the turn, forgetting (a) that it was a right hard turn on a narrow road and (b) the pavement sucked. I hit the turn at 25 mph. I bounced enough to lose traction and started to skid into the other lane as I heard the course marshal say something, but I know I heard the word "...car....". I looked up to see an SUV coming toward just as I crossed the yellow line and missed a couple cones. I jammed on the brakes, suddenly realizing that I had not closed my rear brake. As a result, my front brake was far stronger than the rear and I felt my back wheel start to come off the ground.
By now, I had straightened out my line of travel. I let go of the brakes and leaned hard to the right, dodging the cones, and getting back to my side of the yellow line. I missed the SUV by about 5 feet. One thought crossed my mind: Where's Greg?
I looked up the road to see that he had gained probably another 20 yards on me while I was busy playing in traffic. So much for catching him... I settled into a rhythm, knowing that I only had 2 miles left.
When I saw the 1K to go sign, I poured all that I had left into the pedals. Looking at the download, I averaged 26 mph for the last minute of the race.
I saw that Shelli was a little past the finish line. I tried to keep my pedaling up for a few extra seconds so she could get a couple of extra pictures :-)
Given the hill and the wind, I was aiming for about 28:00. I got 27:24. I was quite happy.
The numbers:
Total Distance: 10.9 miles
Time: 27:24
Average Speed: 23.87 mph
Average Power: 249 watts (254 normalized)
Average Heart Rate: 163 BPM
One more time trial and then the season is over!
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