Today was the New Jersey State Time Trial Championship, a 25.2 mile race over a slightly rolling (and pretty steep in a few spots) course. This is a different course than last year. It uses most of the same roads as the Blueberry TT from last year (which I won).
The weird thing about today's race is the categories are not based on actual license category. Instead, they are based solely on age in 5-year groups except for the people who don't live in New Jersey, who are all lumped together into one category. For the series, the organizers group the times by category and figure our placings among our own group.
I didn't have high hopes for this morning. I really have not been training for this length of race. My next longest race is 11 miles, which is less than half of this course. I have, however, been training like a lunatic this last month. I got in 4 weeks of solid training and took the last week really easy. I was hoping to average of 250 watts, but I was expecting to see something in the 246-249 range. Assuming the winds were not too bad, that should be around an average of 25 mph.
It was a great race morning: a little humid but in the lower 60's and winds only at about 5 to 10 mph.
Like other TTs of this length, I broke it mentally into quarters and set my computer to reset every 6.25 miles, helping me to keep an eye on my average power and know where I am in each quarter.
I did the first quarter just about right on target: 251 watts and 25.1 mph. I felt pretty good and knew the next quarter was a bit uphill and into the winds, so I picked it up a little. The second quarter was awesome, 264 watts and 24.6 mph.
I had a terrible turnaround. The road was a bit narrow and I came into it too fast. I slowed down to almost 10 mph and forgot to downshift, so I really had to fight to get back up to speed.
The third quarter was slightly downhill with a tailwind and I was flying, doing 257 watts and 25.9 mph. On the third quarter, I passed a rider who I wasn't expecting to even see during the race. I saw Anthony soft-pedaling as I flew past him. I guessed he had a flat tire. I was a bit disappointed; that's not how I want to beat him.
The fourth quarter, I poured on everything I had left. I was a little surprised at how steep the couple climbs in this section were, with one of them slowing me to 17 mph. Still, for the quarter I averaged 261 watts and 24.8 mph. I could see another rider up on the horizon but just could not bring him back.
I hit the finish line going full speed and saw my time: 1:00:29. I was a little disappointed that I was over an hour but was pretty happy overall. I hit my speed target and exceeded my power target by quite a bit. In fact, I was only 1 watt short of my all time best of 260 watts from last summer. I was absolutely stunned.
What's more, I was actually a little surprised at how good I felt. I think in hindsight, I could have gone a little harder since I was able to pick up the power quite a bit in the last few miles. My heart rate tells the story: I only averaged 160 bpm. I should have been more in the 163-165 range. I played it a little too safe today.
I finished 9th out of the Out of State category but, more importantly, I think I finished 3rd out of the 4/5 group.
So, what does this mean for the TT series results? Assuming that I'm right about being 3rd (I won't know for sure for a few days), I have a very slim lead in the series. I need to beat Anthony in at least 2 of the remaining 3 races to keep that lead. That's a pretty tall order, but I now have the advantage of starting behind him and can use that to help keep him in sight on the very straight courses coming up.
What I did right:
Improved my training
Got lots of rest
Warmed up well
Paced it very well
What could have been better:
Picking my target power more accurately
My turnaround
Might have been able to go a little harder
The Numbers:
Distance: 25.2 miles
Time: 1:00:29
Speed: 25.0 mph
Avg Power: 259 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 160 bpm
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Training, Training, and More Training
The last few weeks have been a nice break from racing. We went away for a weekend and got in some quality relaxation time and we got another long weekend for the 4th of July.
I've been under tremendous pressure at work lately so I've been stress eating a bit more. We're also in the middle of renovations at work and I don't have access to showers so I have not been riding at work. With those two complications, I have not been losing weight the way I wanted. Well, I have not lost any at all (but at least I have not gained any).
I've taken a slightly different approach to training this summer than last summer. Last summer, every time I successfully completed a workout, I would try to increase the power on the next one. That was not working this year so I tried going the other way: instead of increasing the power, I'm increasing either the duration or the number of repetitions. I'll increase an interval from 10 minutes to 12 minutes or do 4 the next time instead of 3.
It's hard to say if it's having any effect since I have not done any testing yet. If nothing else, I am at least able to finish the longer workouts (which are topping out around 5 hours now on the weekend).
It's been 3 weeks since my last race and I'm just starting to miss it... by the time my next race rolls around in 2 weeks, I should be really eager to race. Which is good. At 25 miles, it's by far the longest race of the year (with the next longest only 11.2 miles).
I've been under tremendous pressure at work lately so I've been stress eating a bit more. We're also in the middle of renovations at work and I don't have access to showers so I have not been riding at work. With those two complications, I have not been losing weight the way I wanted. Well, I have not lost any at all (but at least I have not gained any).
I've taken a slightly different approach to training this summer than last summer. Last summer, every time I successfully completed a workout, I would try to increase the power on the next one. That was not working this year so I tried going the other way: instead of increasing the power, I'm increasing either the duration or the number of repetitions. I'll increase an interval from 10 minutes to 12 minutes or do 4 the next time instead of 3.
It's hard to say if it's having any effect since I have not done any testing yet. If nothing else, I am at least able to finish the longer workouts (which are topping out around 5 hours now on the weekend).
It's been 3 weeks since my last race and I'm just starting to miss it... by the time my next race rolls around in 2 weeks, I should be really eager to race. Which is good. At 25 miles, it's by far the longest race of the year (with the next longest only 11.2 miles).
Saturday, June 14, 2014
It could have been worse
On Tuesday of this week, I was coughing so much and felt so miserable that I barely got off the couch. Wednesday was not much better. After that, I was not expecting much from today's race, but I couldn't just skip the race because I need the points in the series.
I felt a little better yesterday and a little better than that today. I was still coughing and sneezing a little, but I was able to warm up without too many problems.
The course was 10 miles going only one way and it was mostly flat with just a couple of minor rises. The entire race can be done on the shoulder of the road, which is almost big enough to be another lane. The day was nice, with temperatures in the low 60's and a slight tailwind.
The first 7 miles went pretty well. I couldn't hit the power that I could if I wasn't sick, but I was not off by much, running maybe about 15 watts low. Then it happened.
I was just about to catch another rider, so I glanced over my shoulder to make sure a car was not coming up behind me before I moved into the traffic lane to pass. BAM!!! I nailed a pothole at almost 30 mph.
The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't steer. One aero bar had pulled almost straight vertical and I couldn't even really hold it without hitting my knee into my elbow as I pedaled. The other aero bar pad rotated downward, effectively moving one elbow down an inch and the other 3 inches.This was going to be difficult
My bigger worry was that I had a flat tire. I kept pedaling, trying to tell if either tire was flat. Once I was sure they weren't, I focused on finishing. After trying a bunch of options, I settled into one arm on the aero bar that was still in the same position but had the pad lower and put my other hand on the basebar. While I'm sure it was the best of my options, with my upper body slightly twisted and a bit lower than I was used to (which was already about as aggressive as I could handle), I was really struggling to keep my power up. Looking at the download afterwards, I averaged about 20 watts lower after I hit the hole (dropping from 277 watts to 258 watts)
I dug deep and pushed as hard as I could manage. I knew that I only had about 7 minutes or so to finish.
I hit the finish line without any other problems but I was completely wiped out and just aching all over in a time of 21:54. Not bad since I was aiming for 22:10.
Even though I was ahead of my goal, I only finished 5th place, about 20 seconds behind the winner.
I'm guessing that I lost 5 to 10 seconds to my little aero bar incident. At absolute best, it would have moved me into 3rd (I was 8 second behind Anthony, who finished 3rd). There was some serious new competition today.
After today, I'm solidly in second place in the series. In order to lose second place, I'd have to finish out of the points (or not show up) for two races of the remaining four races. In order to win the series, I need to win all four of those races... I'm not giving up but that's a lot to ask.
The next race is a 40K (25 miles) in 5 weeks. I've got some training time! :-)
What I did right:
Rested all week while sick
Didn't panic after I hit the pothole
Kept my pace up afterward
What could have been better:
Not hit the damned pothole!
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.95 miles
Time: 21:54
Speed: 27.4 mph (first time I've ever been over 27 mph in a race)
Avg Power: 273 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 168 bpm
I felt a little better yesterday and a little better than that today. I was still coughing and sneezing a little, but I was able to warm up without too many problems.
The course was 10 miles going only one way and it was mostly flat with just a couple of minor rises. The entire race can be done on the shoulder of the road, which is almost big enough to be another lane. The day was nice, with temperatures in the low 60's and a slight tailwind.
The first 7 miles went pretty well. I couldn't hit the power that I could if I wasn't sick, but I was not off by much, running maybe about 15 watts low. Then it happened.
I was just about to catch another rider, so I glanced over my shoulder to make sure a car was not coming up behind me before I moved into the traffic lane to pass. BAM!!! I nailed a pothole at almost 30 mph.
The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't steer. One aero bar had pulled almost straight vertical and I couldn't even really hold it without hitting my knee into my elbow as I pedaled. The other aero bar pad rotated downward, effectively moving one elbow down an inch and the other 3 inches.This was going to be difficult
My bigger worry was that I had a flat tire. I kept pedaling, trying to tell if either tire was flat. Once I was sure they weren't, I focused on finishing. After trying a bunch of options, I settled into one arm on the aero bar that was still in the same position but had the pad lower and put my other hand on the basebar. While I'm sure it was the best of my options, with my upper body slightly twisted and a bit lower than I was used to (which was already about as aggressive as I could handle), I was really struggling to keep my power up. Looking at the download afterwards, I averaged about 20 watts lower after I hit the hole (dropping from 277 watts to 258 watts)
I dug deep and pushed as hard as I could manage. I knew that I only had about 7 minutes or so to finish.
I hit the finish line without any other problems but I was completely wiped out and just aching all over in a time of 21:54. Not bad since I was aiming for 22:10.
Even though I was ahead of my goal, I only finished 5th place, about 20 seconds behind the winner.
I'm guessing that I lost 5 to 10 seconds to my little aero bar incident. At absolute best, it would have moved me into 3rd (I was 8 second behind Anthony, who finished 3rd). There was some serious new competition today.
After today, I'm solidly in second place in the series. In order to lose second place, I'd have to finish out of the points (or not show up) for two races of the remaining four races. In order to win the series, I need to win all four of those races... I'm not giving up but that's a lot to ask.
The next race is a 40K (25 miles) in 5 weeks. I've got some training time! :-)
What I did right:
Rested all week while sick
Didn't panic after I hit the pothole
Kept my pace up afterward
What could have been better:
Not hit the damned pothole!
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.95 miles
Time: 21:54
Speed: 27.4 mph (first time I've ever been over 27 mph in a race)
Avg Power: 273 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 168 bpm
Monday, May 26, 2014
Pushing the limit
With no race and a three-day weekend, my coach decided to have me do something a little radical this weekend.
I've mentioned that my foundation training was not what I had hoped for and that I've been seeing a drop in many indicators of fitness throughout the spring racing season. The common ingredient there is a lack of aerobic fitness.
His goal was to completely tax my aerobic energy systems beyond anything I've ever experienced trying to build them back up.
Saturday was the longest day I've ever spent on the bike, both in terms of time and in distance: 103 miles in 5 hours, 20 minutes. It was not just several hours at a steady pace. I did two intervals of an hour each at a high tempo pace. I did 6 one-minute sprints uphill. And I did 3 five-minute VO2 efforts. By the end, I was totally cooked.
Sunday was another pretty long day: 3 hours, 40 minutes and 65 miles. It was at an easy pace with no major efforts. It was just a long endurace ride.
Monday (today) was back to the higher intensity. It was a two hour ride with 4 threshold intervals of 10 minutes each. With the focused intervals, Monday is on the trainer, even though it's a nice day out. To be honest, it took all I had to do these. I was so tired and my legs were so sore, I just wanted to take the day off and lay around. But I dug in and did it... and now I'm glad it's over!
It was a grand total of 11 hours of riding in 3 days. I average 11 hours on a good WEEK of training. Doing that much in 3 days really pushed me to my limits. It also gave new meaning to the expression "long weekend".
Whether this weekend's plan turns out to be insanity or brilliance remains to be seen :-)
I've mentioned that my foundation training was not what I had hoped for and that I've been seeing a drop in many indicators of fitness throughout the spring racing season. The common ingredient there is a lack of aerobic fitness.
His goal was to completely tax my aerobic energy systems beyond anything I've ever experienced trying to build them back up.
Saturday was the longest day I've ever spent on the bike, both in terms of time and in distance: 103 miles in 5 hours, 20 minutes. It was not just several hours at a steady pace. I did two intervals of an hour each at a high tempo pace. I did 6 one-minute sprints uphill. And I did 3 five-minute VO2 efforts. By the end, I was totally cooked.
Sunday was another pretty long day: 3 hours, 40 minutes and 65 miles. It was at an easy pace with no major efforts. It was just a long endurace ride.
Monday (today) was back to the higher intensity. It was a two hour ride with 4 threshold intervals of 10 minutes each. With the focused intervals, Monday is on the trainer, even though it's a nice day out. To be honest, it took all I had to do these. I was so tired and my legs were so sore, I just wanted to take the day off and lay around. But I dug in and did it... and now I'm glad it's over!
It was a grand total of 11 hours of riding in 3 days. I average 11 hours on a good WEEK of training. Doing that much in 3 days really pushed me to my limits. It also gave new meaning to the expression "long weekend".
Whether this weekend's plan turns out to be insanity or brilliance remains to be seen :-)
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)
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