Saturday, May 17, 2014
Perfect Second
Today is one of those days when everything went right. I am happy with my training the last few weeks. I'm well rested, well fed, and my allergies are no longer acting up. I got in a good recon of the course, a good pacing plan, a good night's sleep, and a good warmup.
As I usually do for longer courses, I divided the course into quarters. The first quarter was all flat or uphill, including a very sharp turn. The middle two quarters were rolling hills, some of them pretty steep. The last quarter had a steep descent into a sharp turn, a steep climb right after the turn, and then flat or downhill for a couple miles (with a huge crater to avoid in the road) before the final climb to the finish. I hit the finish line thinking I'd done everything right and might have won... then I realized that Anthony was just behind me at the finish. He started 30 seconds behind me.
Some days the competition is just better.
The funny thing is, I'm not upset. You've all seen my "second per mile rule." If the difference between two riders is a second or more per mile, then the difference was probably fitness, not just some mistake on the course. Over an 11.2 mile course, Anthony beat me by 2.5 seconds per mile today.
It bugged me a lot more last time when he beat me by 4 seconds over 9.5 miles.
I hit my speed and power targets. It wasn't enough to win today but I'm really proud of the result.
I get two more weeks of training before my next race: the Philly TT. It's one of my favorite events and this one is not part of the series, so it will be against a totally different set of competitors.
What I did right:
Planning and execution
What could have been better:
Nothing that I could fix today
The Numbers:
Distance: 11.2 miles
Time: 27:15
Speed: 24.7 mph
Avg Power: 263 watts (283 normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 165 bpm
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Breather
After six weeks in a row of racing, I'm happy to say that there were no races this weekend.
There was supposed to be an 18 mile TT on a flat course today, but it was canceled due to major construction on the road. I'm not complaining.
I really love racing. I love the excitement of the start line, the pressure to do my best during the race, those moment of suspense afterward waiting to find out how I did, and the great competition that Anthony and I have going on this year... but I really needed the break. Doing it every weekend is a little more than I would prefer. It feels like I have not had a day off since March.
For the last six weeks, my life has been a frenzy of training, resting, equipment maintenance, packing, traveling, and unpacking. It's really nice to have a weekend to stay home and not worry about any of that. In fact, both days of the weekend were unstructured training and I just rode for fun.
For the next six weeks, I have a race every other weekend and then get a month of no races at all. I'm kind of excited since I knew that I had some weaknesses in my training at the start of the season and I've been dying to work on them. With a little more time between races, I have time to actually train instead of just maintaining where I was.
With the series already half over, I'm in second place at 85 points. Anthony is in the lead with 91 points. What makes it more interesting is that the series will drop our lowest scores at the end of the year. Both of our lowest scores were at the High Point Hill Climb, where he got 6 points and I got 0. Dropping those scores ties us both at 85 points! He still has the advantage and gets to start behind me. I'll really need to work to take that way. We both really want to win the series and neither of us is giving an inch. I hope the second half is just as fun as the first!
There was supposed to be an 18 mile TT on a flat course today, but it was canceled due to major construction on the road. I'm not complaining.
I really love racing. I love the excitement of the start line, the pressure to do my best during the race, those moment of suspense afterward waiting to find out how I did, and the great competition that Anthony and I have going on this year... but I really needed the break. Doing it every weekend is a little more than I would prefer. It feels like I have not had a day off since March.
For the last six weeks, my life has been a frenzy of training, resting, equipment maintenance, packing, traveling, and unpacking. It's really nice to have a weekend to stay home and not worry about any of that. In fact, both days of the weekend were unstructured training and I just rode for fun.
For the next six weeks, I have a race every other weekend and then get a month of no races at all. I'm kind of excited since I knew that I had some weaknesses in my training at the start of the season and I've been dying to work on them. With a little more time between races, I have time to actually train instead of just maintaining where I was.
With the series already half over, I'm in second place at 85 points. Anthony is in the lead with 91 points. What makes it more interesting is that the series will drop our lowest scores at the end of the year. Both of our lowest scores were at the High Point Hill Climb, where he got 6 points and I got 0. Dropping those scores ties us both at 85 points! He still has the advantage and gets to start behind me. I'll really need to work to take that way. We both really want to win the series and neither of us is giving an inch. I hope the second half is just as fun as the first!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Certainly Better Than Last Week
After last week, almost anything is an improvement... but today was still not quite what I wanted.
Last year I obsessed over this course to the point that it's still seared into my memory. I knew where and how long the climbs were, how to take the turns, and when I had to anticipate major shifts. I drove the course last night just to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. The only new thing was a short area of really messed up pavement. The rough winter strikes again.
I was confident in my strategy going in, but I knew the results would depend on my lungs more than anything.
Last week I had a terrible day on the bike. After coughing up a lung that whole day and a lot this week, I went to the doctor and found that my seasonal allergies were much worse this year. He put me on a new medication, which is slowly helping but I still can't breathe quite normally.
On Sunday I still felt awful and couldn't even finish my planned workout. I took this as an easy week so my body could start to piece itself back together. That helped a lot, but I still didn't feel 100% this morning and it showed in my performance today.
I think the race went reasonably well, with no major mistakes and no real issues. My start was strong. I held my position pretty well. I kept the power on the downhills and paced the climbs the way I wanted. I just missed all my power and time targets by a little bit.
In comparison to last year, I averaged 20 watts less (15 watts less normalized). Even though my position was much better and I have better equipment than last year, I was still 11 seconds slower. The download showed that I was pretty consistently putting out less power over the whole course. I didn't lose it in any one stretch of road.
That's even more frustrating since Anthony beat me by 4 seconds. Even more surprising, someone else finished in between us, 2 seconds behind him. I finished in 3rd place.
That puts me second in the series by 6 points. It will take some work if I want to win. Even though I'm not in the lead anymore, I'm having a lot of fun and I'm not giving up!
I guess it's finally time to come clean. I've mentioned it a few times but it's time to say it plainly: my performance numbers have not been what they were last year. In general, I'm running 10 to 15 watts lower in almost every race and workout. I was running behind at the start of racing season and I've been just barely hanging on to the fitness I had then.
I realized a few mistakes that I'd made in planning my training right before the start of the season. I think now I'm paying the price for not riding outside as much, especially not doing any climbing. Last year I was doing a lot of aggressive climbing and this year I'm not climbing at all.
I'm still having a great year and cannot complain too much. I've already had 4 podium finishes, including 2 wins, out of 6 races. It's a year to be proud of, even if it's not quite the performance that I wanted.
Six weeks of racing in a row was a big mental and physical strain. The next three races are every other week and I'm looking forward to having a little more breathing room between races.
What I did right:
Called the doctor when I didn't feel right (like most people, I can be stubborn about that)
Planned out the course and my pacing
Rested up this week
What could have been better:
Nothing that I could fix today
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.7 miles
Time: 23:43 (last year was 23:32)
Speed: 24.5 mph
Avg Power: 260 watts (290 normalized) (last year was 280 avg and 305 NP)
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Last year I obsessed over this course to the point that it's still seared into my memory. I knew where and how long the climbs were, how to take the turns, and when I had to anticipate major shifts. I drove the course last night just to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. The only new thing was a short area of really messed up pavement. The rough winter strikes again.
I was confident in my strategy going in, but I knew the results would depend on my lungs more than anything.
Last week I had a terrible day on the bike. After coughing up a lung that whole day and a lot this week, I went to the doctor and found that my seasonal allergies were much worse this year. He put me on a new medication, which is slowly helping but I still can't breathe quite normally.
On Sunday I still felt awful and couldn't even finish my planned workout. I took this as an easy week so my body could start to piece itself back together. That helped a lot, but I still didn't feel 100% this morning and it showed in my performance today.
I think the race went reasonably well, with no major mistakes and no real issues. My start was strong. I held my position pretty well. I kept the power on the downhills and paced the climbs the way I wanted. I just missed all my power and time targets by a little bit.
In comparison to last year, I averaged 20 watts less (15 watts less normalized). Even though my position was much better and I have better equipment than last year, I was still 11 seconds slower. The download showed that I was pretty consistently putting out less power over the whole course. I didn't lose it in any one stretch of road.
That's even more frustrating since Anthony beat me by 4 seconds. Even more surprising, someone else finished in between us, 2 seconds behind him. I finished in 3rd place.
That puts me second in the series by 6 points. It will take some work if I want to win. Even though I'm not in the lead anymore, I'm having a lot of fun and I'm not giving up!
I guess it's finally time to come clean. I've mentioned it a few times but it's time to say it plainly: my performance numbers have not been what they were last year. In general, I'm running 10 to 15 watts lower in almost every race and workout. I was running behind at the start of racing season and I've been just barely hanging on to the fitness I had then.
I realized a few mistakes that I'd made in planning my training right before the start of the season. I think now I'm paying the price for not riding outside as much, especially not doing any climbing. Last year I was doing a lot of aggressive climbing and this year I'm not climbing at all.
I'm still having a great year and cannot complain too much. I've already had 4 podium finishes, including 2 wins, out of 6 races. It's a year to be proud of, even if it's not quite the performance that I wanted.
Six weeks of racing in a row was a big mental and physical strain. The next three races are every other week and I'm looking forward to having a little more breathing room between races.
What I did right:
Called the doctor when I didn't feel right (like most people, I can be stubborn about that)
Planned out the course and my pacing
Rested up this week
What could have been better:
Nothing that I could fix today
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.7 miles
Time: 23:43 (last year was 23:32)
Speed: 24.5 mph
Avg Power: 260 watts (290 normalized) (last year was 280 avg and 305 NP)
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Not One of my Better Days
This weekend was the High Point Hill Climb, a 5.5 mile uphill time trial with about 1250 feet of climbing. It had a couple of short downhill sections and it had a couple of steep 20%+ sections.
I knew that I would have some problems with this race on Tuesday. I got out for a decent climbing ride for the first time all year and I just had no power on the climbs. I suspect that the problem is that I've been riding almost entirely on my TT bike since January. I might get an hour or so each week on the road bike, but that's about it. In years past, I've worried about adapting to the TT bike so that I can put out enough power on it. It looks like this year I've managed to reverse that and have now managed to lose power on the road bike since I'm just not used to it.
As far as the race day itself goes, I can't say that I messed anything up. We got there early, I got in a good warmup, and I paced the course well.
Knowing that you can (or at least, should be able to) maintain a higher power on long climbs than you can on a similar flat road, I was aiming for 285 to 290 watts. I was aiming for a time of around 25:30.
I reached the top of the first segment and could barely hold onto 280 watts. I was 20 seconds behind my pacing schedule already. There was a short downhill and then back to the grind.
The top of the second segment, I was barely able to maintain 275 watts and I was now over a minute behind schedule. Oh, this was bad... I settled in around 270 watts, which I was more or less able to maintain the rest of the way.
When I turned into the park, it just got worse. I went up the short, steep climbs at 400 watts, but it was all I had, and I could barely push over the top of them. I had little left to put anything into the downhills.
I hit the finish line totally spent, just a shade over two minutes behind my goal time. I was dreading seeing the results.
Perhaps the biggest damage of the day was to my series results. I finished in 18th place, outside of the points (which are only awarded to 15th place or better). Anthony had a great day and got 6 points, putting him back in the lead by one point. That puts the pressure on for me next week since he gets to start behind me again. If nothing else, we're keeping the drama high for the series!
Nick had a great day, taking a minute off his time last year. I always knew he'd beat me one day, I just didn't expect it to be today.
I also heard that the course record was broken by one of the 1/2/3 riders.
At least someone had a good day :-)
What I did right:
Got there early
Planned out my pacing for the sections of the terrain
Didn't panic when things weren't going well
What could have been better:
Spend more time on the road bike!
I should have rested more. Since I was not expecting great results, I trained right up to Thursday (with an 11 hour week)
The Numbers:
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 27:31
Speed: 12.0 mph
Avg Power: 271 watts
Avg Heart Rate:168 bpm
Saturday, April 19, 2014
In an Instant
The short story is that I won for the second week in a row and I'm now in the lead for the TT series. I'm very happy that even though each week the race has gotten just a tiny bit longer (growing from 7 miles to 10 miles), my average speed has gone up every week (going from 25.4 mph to 26.2 mph).
The bigger story was what happened right behind me in 2nd through 4th place. People talk about time trials being very close and every second counts. You have to go as hard as you can from the start to the finish and pace it perfectly in the middle.
The times for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place this week:
23:15.65
23:16.13
23:16.94
That's 3 people finishing in 1.29 seconds (probably less time than it took to read that sentence).
An extra half watt through the whole race, a slightly smoother turnaround, a slightly faster start, taking just a slightly straighter line around a pothole, getting back up to speed just an instant earlier after the turnaround... there's almost an endless list of ways that someone could have made up that difference.
It's the kind of things that can drive you nuts when it's you. These are the kinds of things that I look for each week in this blog, trying to track what things I did right and what I could have done better. Believe me, it's really hard to do a time trial without any mistakes. There's a lot to pay attention to and you have to do it all while pushing as hard as you can (which of course, takes some knowledge of your own abilities and limits going into the race).
Nick, Glen, and Anthony all deserve kudos for a blazing fast race.
Next week everything changes. The High Point Hill Climb is 5.5 miles with a total of 1200 feet of climbing. It claims an average of 4% grade but that's a lie since there are a couple of short descents. It's really more like 5 or 6% average with a couple of places near 20%.
I have no delusions that I'll win next week. I know a few guys with the same power output that I have but they are 20 to 30 pounds lighter, so they should beat me by a minute or more up a climb that steep and that long. All I can do is my best and try to earn a few more points for the series.
What I did right:
Planning the course
Pacing the course
Position
What could have been better:
I was way too worried about this race all week (I was really worried about my series score in this race)
Lost a few seconds taking the turn too tight (I almost hit a cone)
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.95 miles
Time: 22:51
Speed: 26.2 mph
Avg Power: 283 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Not Quite What I'd Expected
I've been beaten by the same rider the last two weeks, definitely telling me who the competition will be for the NJ TT series and, to be honest, getting me a little worried. If he beat me again this week, it would be three times in a row and make a really big point gap that I would have to make up in the coming races. I really needed to break the streak.
It's no secret that my training plan now is pretty intense. This week included back-to-back, high intensity days on Tuesday and Wednesday at a power output that is much higher than I'm used to. My legs were really tight and sore on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. By Thursday night, I was in a panic about my legs recovering in time for the race today.
On Friday, I did a good warmup ride, doing a couple of efforts at 90% of my target power for the race today. My legs felt awful. My panic was getting worse.By Friday night, they didn't feel any better
Warming up this morning, I was still not all there. My legs still felt tired and heavy and my heart and lungs were not responding quite right. On the plus side, it was cool out, but I was at least happy that it was not windy or raining.
I got to the start and just focused on doing the best I could.
The course was mostly flat but with a LOT of tight turns and curves. A few times I went into the turn at full speed and was leaned over as fas as I could without coming up out of the aero bars.
I hit the turnaround and I knew I was in trouble. My average power was only 265 watts, a full 15 watts down from my 280 watt target. My legs were just not putting out the force I needed.
To make it worse, my turnaround was awful. I came in way too fast and had to apply brakes in the turn. I was doing 12 mph when I came around the cone and started getting back up to speed. I looked up to see Anthony bearing down on me heading into the turnaround. He was a little closer than I wanted to see.
On the way back, I dug a lot deeper. My legs did not want to go at all, but I pushed with all I had, blazing through the turns as fast as I could, not wanting to let up the pressure for even a second in case my legs wouldn't pick back up again.
It worked. On the way back, I held the power around 285 watts... much better. With a mile to go, I picked up the pace just a bit more, holding it around 300 watts. I hit the finish line at 18:24, with an average of 273 watts for the day, a whopping 12 watts below target. I felt like I had given it all I had, but I was hoping just to be on the podium. I kind of wondered if I had lost the series today.
It turns out... I didn't.
I first suspected when Anthony and I were talking after the race and he thought he was around 18:40. I know how easy it is to be a little off on your time, so I tried not to get too excited. Sure enough, when we got the final results, I had won. Anthony was in second at 18:36 (12 seconds, the same margin that he had over me last week).
There are a lot of unknowns today. I don't know how I put out so much more power on the way back. I don't know how to put in the type of intensity I need without it impacting my race. There's a lot for me to think about this week.
Of course, we get to do it all again next week. The next one one is 10 miles, dead flat, almost completely straight, and a wide turnaround that barely requires you to slow down.
What I did right:
I noticed that I was overdoing it and focused on recovery
I contained my worry at the warmup and the start, focusing on doing what I could
I picked up the pace in the second half
I felt like my position was the best it's been yet this year
What could have been better:
My weird pacing problem on the way out
The Numbers:
Distance: 7.9 miles
Time: 18:24
Speed: 25.7 mph
Avg Power: 273 watts (285 target)
Avg Heart Rate: 162 bpm (168 target)
It's no secret that my training plan now is pretty intense. This week included back-to-back, high intensity days on Tuesday and Wednesday at a power output that is much higher than I'm used to. My legs were really tight and sore on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. By Thursday night, I was in a panic about my legs recovering in time for the race today.
On Friday, I did a good warmup ride, doing a couple of efforts at 90% of my target power for the race today. My legs felt awful. My panic was getting worse.By Friday night, they didn't feel any better
Warming up this morning, I was still not all there. My legs still felt tired and heavy and my heart and lungs were not responding quite right. On the plus side, it was cool out, but I was at least happy that it was not windy or raining.
I got to the start and just focused on doing the best I could.
The course was mostly flat but with a LOT of tight turns and curves. A few times I went into the turn at full speed and was leaned over as fas as I could without coming up out of the aero bars.
I hit the turnaround and I knew I was in trouble. My average power was only 265 watts, a full 15 watts down from my 280 watt target. My legs were just not putting out the force I needed.
To make it worse, my turnaround was awful. I came in way too fast and had to apply brakes in the turn. I was doing 12 mph when I came around the cone and started getting back up to speed. I looked up to see Anthony bearing down on me heading into the turnaround. He was a little closer than I wanted to see.
On the way back, I dug a lot deeper. My legs did not want to go at all, but I pushed with all I had, blazing through the turns as fast as I could, not wanting to let up the pressure for even a second in case my legs wouldn't pick back up again.
It worked. On the way back, I held the power around 285 watts... much better. With a mile to go, I picked up the pace just a bit more, holding it around 300 watts. I hit the finish line at 18:24, with an average of 273 watts for the day, a whopping 12 watts below target. I felt like I had given it all I had, but I was hoping just to be on the podium. I kind of wondered if I had lost the series today.
It turns out... I didn't.
I first suspected when Anthony and I were talking after the race and he thought he was around 18:40. I know how easy it is to be a little off on your time, so I tried not to get too excited. Sure enough, when we got the final results, I had won. Anthony was in second at 18:36 (12 seconds, the same margin that he had over me last week).
There are a lot of unknowns today. I don't know how I put out so much more power on the way back. I don't know how to put in the type of intensity I need without it impacting my race. There's a lot for me to think about this week.
Of course, we get to do it all again next week. The next one one is 10 miles, dead flat, almost completely straight, and a wide turnaround that barely requires you to slow down.
What I did right:
I noticed that I was overdoing it and focused on recovery
I contained my worry at the warmup and the start, focusing on doing what I could
I picked up the pace in the second half
I felt like my position was the best it's been yet this year
What could have been better:
My weird pacing problem on the way out
The Numbers:
Distance: 7.9 miles
Time: 18:24
Speed: 25.7 mph
Avg Power: 273 watts (285 target)
Avg Heart Rate: 162 bpm (168 target)
Sunday, April 6, 2014
As a Rule
The guys I ride with at work know that I have a couple of rules for riding in certain weather: I don't ride in the rain and I don't ride when it's below 42 degrees.
I've broken both those rules for races in the last 8 days. Last week it was pouring rain. This week is was 36 degrees. Sure, it was sunny, but the 18 mph wind gusts made it feel a lot colder.
Like last week, I got in a decent week of training with a sharp drop in training the last few days. I felt terrible on the bike both days, but had faith that I would be ready this morning... and I was. Warming up, I felt really good.
I planned on taking a risk with my pacing strategy. With the gusty winds on the way out, I planned to go full gas out to the turnaround and hope that I would have enough to work with the tail winds on the way back.
After beating me last week and getting ahead in the series standings, Anthony was starting in the spot 30 seconds behind me, so he had the advantage of being able to see where I was at all times. I was going to really have to do well to override that.
The start went well and I was right up to speed quickly. Unlike last week, I was paying attention to my position, trying to stay under the wind as much as I could and I kept my power right where I wanted it. Even with the headwind, I was seeing speeds in the 24 to 25 mph range.
I hit the turnaround at about 8:50 and an average of 298 watts. There was no way I could maintain that the whole way back and I knew it... right according to plan. I kept my power up until the last second and rolled smoothly through the turnaround. As I got back up to speed, I saw that Anthony was not far behind me, but I couldn't really judge how far.
The way back was WAY faster. As I had planned (hoped?), the tailwinds were really strong on the way back. I was pushing 27 to 28 mph at some points. I was really struggling to keep my power up, but I knew it would not be near my top end.
I hit the finish line with everything I had. Just in time... I could barely feel my fingers anymore! I looked a lot more determined in the finish line photos.
It turned out that Anthony beat me by about 12 seconds, like last week (all that work for the same results?!?!). If I'm going to win the series, I need to start beating him. At this point, I'm not quite sure how to pull that off.
That said, he was someone I raced all last year. If someone is going to beat me, I'm happy that it's someone I already know and respect. It was his first win and it's awesome to be able to congratulate a friend on a huge accomplishment like that.
What I Did Right:
Put faith in my training
Planing and executing my experimental pacing
Focused on my position
Kept the power up the whole time
What Could have been Better:
I think today went really well. I didn't make any obvious mistakes.
The Numbers:
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 17:11 (I did 17:32 last year)
Speed: 25.5 mph
Avg Wattage: 284 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
I've broken both those rules for races in the last 8 days. Last week it was pouring rain. This week is was 36 degrees. Sure, it was sunny, but the 18 mph wind gusts made it feel a lot colder.
Like last week, I got in a decent week of training with a sharp drop in training the last few days. I felt terrible on the bike both days, but had faith that I would be ready this morning... and I was. Warming up, I felt really good.
I planned on taking a risk with my pacing strategy. With the gusty winds on the way out, I planned to go full gas out to the turnaround and hope that I would have enough to work with the tail winds on the way back.
After beating me last week and getting ahead in the series standings, Anthony was starting in the spot 30 seconds behind me, so he had the advantage of being able to see where I was at all times. I was going to really have to do well to override that.
The start went well and I was right up to speed quickly. Unlike last week, I was paying attention to my position, trying to stay under the wind as much as I could and I kept my power right where I wanted it. Even with the headwind, I was seeing speeds in the 24 to 25 mph range.
I hit the turnaround at about 8:50 and an average of 298 watts. There was no way I could maintain that the whole way back and I knew it... right according to plan. I kept my power up until the last second and rolled smoothly through the turnaround. As I got back up to speed, I saw that Anthony was not far behind me, but I couldn't really judge how far.
The way back was WAY faster. As I had planned (hoped?), the tailwinds were really strong on the way back. I was pushing 27 to 28 mph at some points. I was really struggling to keep my power up, but I knew it would not be near my top end.
I hit the finish line with everything I had. Just in time... I could barely feel my fingers anymore! I looked a lot more determined in the finish line photos.
It turned out that Anthony beat me by about 12 seconds, like last week (all that work for the same results?!?!). If I'm going to win the series, I need to start beating him. At this point, I'm not quite sure how to pull that off.
That said, he was someone I raced all last year. If someone is going to beat me, I'm happy that it's someone I already know and respect. It was his first win and it's awesome to be able to congratulate a friend on a huge accomplishment like that.
What I Did Right:
Put faith in my training
Planing and executing my experimental pacing
Focused on my position
Kept the power up the whole time
What Could have been Better:
I think today went really well. I didn't make any obvious mistakes.
The Numbers:
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 17:11 (I did 17:32 last year)
Speed: 25.5 mph
Avg Wattage: 284 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Saturday, March 29, 2014
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:
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
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:
- My head was up way too high, I was trying to hard to see ahead in the rain and it wrecked my aero position
- 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
Sunday, March 16, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
