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.
