Racing in the Rain

Last year, there were a few key races that I would have done rain or shine, but most races I didn't even sign up for until I saw the forecast a couple of days in advance.

This year, going for the series, I don't have that option. Today's 45 degree, raining, and 15 mph winds conditions at the start were just something I had to cope with.

This was also my first week on the in-season training plan. It was so strange doing intervals right up until Wednesday and feeling terrible during yesterday's warmup... I was a little worried that I would feel that way again today.

The course was 7 miles, almost entirely flat, with just a very short roller hill that was less than 30 seconds long. The only real technical action anywhere was the turnaround.

It started raining almost as soon as we got there. Luckily I brought the tent to warm up under, letting me at least stay dry for a little while.

It was great running into a few QCW teammates and all the gang from last year. Rich moved up to the 45+ category but Nick and Anthony are back for another round. If I'd had to guess, I expected it would be the three of us fighting out the series.

Being the first race of the year, I was a little out of practice at held starts. I was a little shaky while I was being held but got it together with about 10 seconds to go.

Almost as soon as I started, it started to rain harder... great.

About a mile in, I was so glad that I had a thermal jersey, tights, and waterproof shoe covers on. Still, I could feel the cold water coming off my front wheel and hitting my shins. Within another mile, the water was running over the tops of my shoe covers and I could feel the water squishing in my shoes each pedal stroke. The head wind was not helping any.

I was a little worried about my pacing. As I've mentioned in the last few weeks, my power output has not been great. I was optimistically thinking I would average 280 watts. I hit the turnaround at 284, which had me wondering if I'd gone out too hard.

I took my time with the turnaround. I slowed down way too early to get a look at the turn and really should have kept the pressure up longer. I slowed down a lot, took the actual turn really slow, and then pushed gradually back up to speed. I probably lost several seconds, but I would rather lose a few seconds and stay upright than take the risk and crash. Not to mention, I hadn't done a turnaround at race speed since last August... come to mention it, I haven't ridden my TT bike outside since then either!

The way back was a LOT faster with the tailwind. I still felt good and pushed the power a little higher. I caught two people on the way back, which is always a confidence booster.

I hit the finish line, looked down at my computer, and was really happy. I'd averaged 287 watts, well over my goal. I was a little slower than last year, when I could do 293 watts for a race of this length, but it was much better than I thought I would do.

I was also happy with the time. I was hoping for around 17:00 (25 mph). I finished in 16:32 (25.5 mph).

When the results were posted, that was enough to get me 4th place. The top two guys were triathletes who probably would not be in most of the series race. Anthony got 3rd (at 16:20) and he is definitely competition for the series. He is going for the series the same as I am, so I will have to work to get ahead of him in the coming races. Nick was not far behind in 7th. Knowing those two are fitter than ever will be good motivation for the coming weeks!

Looking at the photos, I noticed two things that I need to work on:

1. My head was up way too high, I was trying to hard to see ahead in the rain and it wrecked my aero position
2. Anthony wanted it a lot more than I did. His look at the finish line said "I AM HERE TO WIN!!" The look on my face said "This sucks. Am I done yet?"

What I did right:
Warmed up in the tent
Corrections in my training the last few weeks
Maintained my optimism despite the rain and cold

What could have been better:
My turnaround
My position on the bike
My focus on giving it everything I've got

The Numbers:
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 16:32
Speed: 25.5 mph
Avg Power:287 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 167 bpm

2 Weeks to Go

The racing season is just two weeks away and I'm doing my final preparations for it.

Looking at the first four races, all four are completely flat. The first three are short, around 17 to 18 minutes. The fourth is a little longer, probably around 30 to 32 minutes. Give the time of year and the proximity to the ocean, I expect all four to be cool and windy.

The courses for the second group of four are much harder. The first one is a 5.5 mile hill climb with grades up to 18%. The next one is a technical 9.9 mile course with steeply rolling hills. After that is a17.8 mile course that is completely flat and straight, and just focusing to maintain speed is the challenge. Wrapping it up is another steeply rolling 11-mile course.

My fitness is coming along nicely. I've corrected the mistakes in my training that I mentioned last time,  but I'm only beginning to see a change. It takes time to change performance!!

My weight is a little high. I'm currently 4 pounds over my target weight (currently 171, with a target of 167). My weight has been slowly drifting downward, at about a pound a month instead of my targeted 3 pounds a month. Once the racing starts, I don't know that I'll be able to lose more weight since I'll be training very intensely and need to maintain the incoming fuel.

My motivation and confidence are not at their best. I missed the power targets in my last two tests. I'm struggling to finish long intervals more due to mental focus and drive issues than problems with my legs and lungs. I think the problem stems from the pressure of doing so well last season and feeling the need to live up to that.

My biggest concern is going to be continuing to improve my fitness once the season starts. With races on 8 weekends in a row, all of them part of the series, I need to race as well or better on the later races as I do on the early ones. While I've spent a lot of time figuring out how to make that training as efficient and effective as possible, the time to put it into practice is almost here.

4 Week Checkup

With 4 weeks to go until the first race of the year, I did a little bit of testing today.

I've got a strong foundation and I've been seeing for very good numbers for my 8:00 and 5:00 power, but I have not tested my 20-minute power in quite some time. It's probably a mistake to have gone so long without it since I have several races that will be right around 20 minutes in length.

To put it simply: the results were terrible.

I was shocked when I cracked about 14 minutes into the test at what I expected to be a power I should be able to maintain. Boy, was I wrong!

Looking back over my training data for the last few months, I can see exactly where I went wrong and I think I have some ideas about how to fix it. I'm just a little annoyed that I didn't notice these problems earlier. With all the training data that I have, the mistakes were really obvious in the charts and graphs, almost at first glance.

The big question is whether four weeks is long enough to correct the mistakes I've made.