It's been bitter cold the past couple days, which has been a bit of a shock compared to the relatively mild weather we've been having. It's supposed to be a bit warmer tomorrow and into the weekend, but we're also supposed to get dumped on tomorrow, so I'm not expecting to ride outside for a while still.
I've had a pretty good week so far in terms of training. Monday was a speed skill ride and yesterday I did some "garage skills" and an off-the-bike strength and conditioning workout. I tried some of my usual garage drills with my "weak" foot forward. It was quite a bit tougher, especially the first few times.
I'm feeling a little run down today; mostly from not enough sleep this week I think. I'm going to take it easy tonight and hopefully get re-energized for a good weekend.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Running, etc
Here's the GPS data from my run this week.
I ended up riding on the trainer last night. Not my first choice, but I need to get used to pedaling the bike for a while again. Hopefully the weather warms up just a bit (at least, for the weekends), so I can ride outside.
I ended up riding on the trainer last night. Not my first choice, but I need to get used to pedaling the bike for a while again. Hopefully the weather warms up just a bit (at least, for the weekends), so I can ride outside.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Quick Week
It's been a very busy week, so I haven't had much time for blogging. It seems like all I do is eat, work, eat, train, eat, sleep... repeat. The big changes this week have been increasing back to a more "normal" training volume, cleaning up my diet and being more concious about getting to sleep on time (or early!). Some days, it doesn't leave a lot of time for other things, but those are the sacrifices I choose to make.
From a training point-of-view, it's been a good week. I've put in a decent amount of time in the garage working on very low speed balance and bike-handling stuff. So far, my favorite drill has been riding through a 4-cone slalom. I space the cones out at about wheelbase-length, then try to get through without letting either tire hit a cone. The tricky part is not letting your back tire hit the middle couple cones; your balance has to be good to go slow enough to do this. I think to go tighter than wheelbase-length, you may need to stop and hop a wheel to the side...
I got a nice run in on Wednesday night. It was dark, snow was falling, and the streets were basically empty. I took a picture with my phone, it probably didn't turn out well, and took my GPS. I'll try to post that stuff later.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do for tomorrow. I'm supposed to do a 2hr ride, but it's going to still be cold in the morning. I'm supposed to go to a diaper class with Sarah in the afternoon. (Who knew there was such a thing as diaper class?) I just hate to do long rides on the trainer.
From a training point-of-view, it's been a good week. I've put in a decent amount of time in the garage working on very low speed balance and bike-handling stuff. So far, my favorite drill has been riding through a 4-cone slalom. I space the cones out at about wheelbase-length, then try to get through without letting either tire hit a cone. The tricky part is not letting your back tire hit the middle couple cones; your balance has to be good to go slow enough to do this. I think to go tighter than wheelbase-length, you may need to stop and hop a wheel to the side...
I got a nice run in on Wednesday night. It was dark, snow was falling, and the streets were basically empty. I took a picture with my phone, it probably didn't turn out well, and took my GPS. I'll try to post that stuff later.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do for tomorrow. I'm supposed to do a 2hr ride, but it's going to still be cold in the morning. I'm supposed to go to a diaper class with Sarah in the afternoon. (Who knew there was such a thing as diaper class?) I just hate to do long rides on the trainer.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Training Begins
"Success each day should be judged by the seeds sown, not the harvest reaped."
- Unknown (to me, anyway)
So, training begins in earnest for me today as I start my Base 1 phase. The focus is on developing skills (bike handling and pedaling) and trying to get a long ride in over the weekend. I'll ride if the weather is OK, but otherwise do cross-training. I try to limit my time on the trainer for Base 1.
I basically got over my cold late last week; hopefully being out late at hockey last night doesn't cause me any trouble.
Hockey was decent last night. I played OK, but I didn't feel particularly fit... not a big surprise I guess given that I didn't do much for the past few weeks.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Training Guidelines
"Skills pay the bills."
As I was madly planning my strength program last week, I got to thinking that, for most races anyway, my strength probably is not going to have the biggest impact on my results. (Certainly, strength work is important, but maybe not so important that it needs to be planned to the nth degree.) What was obvious to me last year was that what separates me from the top Sport racers is bike handling skills.
I've written numerous times before about how I need to improve my skills, but I've generally not gone after improving them the way I've gone after other aspects of my riding. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake.
Joe Friel wrote a couple "training guidelines" for novice mountain bike racers that I think maybe should still apply to me:
The first is "skills before fitness". I think he intended this to mean that you need to develop skills to the point where you don't crash before you worry about fitness. I'm obviously (mostly) past this point, but I think this is still a helpful guideline in terms of setting priorities. Taking the guideline literally, it means I need to do the important stuff first. So, work on skills before I go on my ride instead of after (when I might decide to skip it, or forget about it, or whatever).
The second is "speed before endurance". So, work on riding sections fast before you worry about riding the whole trail. In fact, this is basically how my very first mountain bike rides went. You ride a section, then stop (to catch your breath), then ride the next section. I've sort of dismissed this type of riding as "for beginners", but maybe it has more merit than I thought? The point for me here is work on riding technical sections at (or, ideally, above) race pace. My instinct for self-preservation is strong enough that I'm not going to ride a section significantly faster in a race than I've ridden it, or something similar, in training.
I think that following the "speed for endurance" model is also part of how I improved this year in 'cross. At our Tuesday night practices, I decided I would go as hard as I could for as long as I could. This got me used to riding sections at speeds higher than my race pace. I definitely benefited from this in the long run.
As I was madly planning my strength program last week, I got to thinking that, for most races anyway, my strength probably is not going to have the biggest impact on my results. (Certainly, strength work is important, but maybe not so important that it needs to be planned to the nth degree.) What was obvious to me last year was that what separates me from the top Sport racers is bike handling skills.
I've written numerous times before about how I need to improve my skills, but I've generally not gone after improving them the way I've gone after other aspects of my riding. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake.
Joe Friel wrote a couple "training guidelines" for novice mountain bike racers that I think maybe should still apply to me:
The first is "skills before fitness". I think he intended this to mean that you need to develop skills to the point where you don't crash before you worry about fitness. I'm obviously (mostly) past this point, but I think this is still a helpful guideline in terms of setting priorities. Taking the guideline literally, it means I need to do the important stuff first. So, work on skills before I go on my ride instead of after (when I might decide to skip it, or forget about it, or whatever).
The second is "speed before endurance". So, work on riding sections fast before you worry about riding the whole trail. In fact, this is basically how my very first mountain bike rides went. You ride a section, then stop (to catch your breath), then ride the next section. I've sort of dismissed this type of riding as "for beginners", but maybe it has more merit than I thought? The point for me here is work on riding technical sections at (or, ideally, above) race pace. My instinct for self-preservation is strong enough that I'm not going to ride a section significantly faster in a race than I've ridden it, or something similar, in training.
I think that following the "speed for endurance" model is also part of how I improved this year in 'cross. At our Tuesday night practices, I decided I would go as hard as I could for as long as I could. This got me used to riding sections at speeds higher than my race pace. I definitely benefited from this in the long run.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Down and Out in Boston
I made a quick trip to Boston over the weekend. I never quite got feeling good last week, and it finally caught up to me Friday night. Sarah and I were in Boston for her brother's wedding. We woke up early on Friday to catch a 6:30am flight out of Flint. I actually felt decent during the day on Friday, but as I was going to bed (relatively late) Friday night, I started to feel my nose filling up.
Saturday morning when I woke up, I had a full blown cold. I was pretty miserable all day Saturday (including for the wedding, yay!). I slept for a good chunk of Saturday afternoon; it helped a little, but not enough. I felt a little better yesterday, but still not too good. I got to bed early last night, which helped convince me to go to work this morning.
I was a little torn this morning. The bike racer in me wanted to stay home and go back to bed, but the guy with the day job in me decided it would be better to go to work. I was OK for a while, but at some point I decided to just finish what I had to finish today and then go home. Still, I didn't end up leaving until around 1pm.
I've just been lounging around since I got home. I watched Off Road to Athens for the first time. I thought it was great! Definitely a must-watch for any mountain bike racer. I don't know if it's because I was sick or what, but it got me teared up a couple times.
Anyway, I'm off to bed once I finish typing this. At a minimum, I need to get feeling better by next week, when I start my Base phase for 2008. Ideally, I'd like to get feeling better sooner and get some quality days in this week. We'll see how it goes.
Saturday morning when I woke up, I had a full blown cold. I was pretty miserable all day Saturday (including for the wedding, yay!). I slept for a good chunk of Saturday afternoon; it helped a little, but not enough. I felt a little better yesterday, but still not too good. I got to bed early last night, which helped convince me to go to work this morning.
I was a little torn this morning. The bike racer in me wanted to stay home and go back to bed, but the guy with the day job in me decided it would be better to go to work. I was OK for a while, but at some point I decided to just finish what I had to finish today and then go home. Still, I didn't end up leaving until around 1pm.
I've just been lounging around since I got home. I watched Off Road to Athens for the first time. I thought it was great! Definitely a must-watch for any mountain bike racer. I don't know if it's because I was sick or what, but it got me teared up a couple times.
Anyway, I'm off to bed once I finish typing this. At a minimum, I need to get feeling better by next week, when I start my Base phase for 2008. Ideally, I'd like to get feeling better sooner and get some quality days in this week. We'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Strength Benchmarks
Last night I set my pre-season strength benchmarks. I made a little chart showing where I am, where I'd like to get by the end of the base phase, and roughly where Friel says I should be. On the Friel numbers, I'm making the assumption here that target load is cut in half for the 1-leg variations, which makes sense I think.
So, my goals are to improve my lower body numbers to 120lb (I talked about this calculation last year). This works out to be about 20%. I think this is definitely doable over 3 months. For the upper body, I'd like to achieve a strength balance around my shoulder joint (note that the exercises break down to horizontal/vertical push/pull). There are some bigger percentages to go after here, so I don't know how feasible this is. I also want to be careful with the overhead pressing.
The other interesting part is that my benchmark numbers are already in the ranges that Friel recommends. So, I guess I'm thinking that the Friel numbers are too low, at least for the lower body. I think that building more strength in my lower body would help me go faster, even if it means adding a little weight. As for the upper body, my strength probably is good enough for racing. It's been a long time since my upper body has gotten fatigued during a race.
My throat has been pretty sore this morning. I haven't decided if/how I'll let this affect my workout plans for tonight.
So, my goals are to improve my lower body numbers to 120lb (I talked about this calculation last year). This works out to be about 20%. I think this is definitely doable over 3 months. For the upper body, I'd like to achieve a strength balance around my shoulder joint (note that the exercises break down to horizontal/vertical push/pull). There are some bigger percentages to go after here, so I don't know how feasible this is. I also want to be careful with the overhead pressing.
The other interesting part is that my benchmark numbers are already in the ranges that Friel recommends. So, I guess I'm thinking that the Friel numbers are too low, at least for the lower body. I think that building more strength in my lower body would help me go faster, even if it means adding a little weight. As for the upper body, my strength probably is good enough for racing. It's been a long time since my upper body has gotten fatigued during a race.
My throat has been pretty sore this morning. I haven't decided if/how I'll let this affect my workout plans for tonight.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
2007 Hours
I finally got around to tallying up my training hours for 2007. The total damage was:
- Bike: 221.5 hrs
- Strength: 47.5 hrs
- Cross-training: 58 hrs
- Total: 327 hrs
It's interesting to compare this to 2006. I had a few more hours overall in 2007, but the mix is very different. I spent much more time on the bike, much more time cross-training, and much less time doing pure strength work. Looking at the 2006 chart though, you can see that my consistency was better. Especially early in the year, the undulating loading and unloading pattern is pretty obvious.
Monday, January 07, 2008
All Out
I played hockey again last night. It was the first time the group has played for a couple weeks. The attendance was pretty good, we had 6 guys on each bench. So, I figured I might as well go all out an every shift and keep my shifts short. The teams ended up being pretty evenly matched and the pace stayed pretty high for almost the whole game. Each team had 2-3 guys (myself included) that were really working hard.
Anyway, I had a good time, but I didn't get any production out of my work. The goalie I was going against was pretty hot, and he robbed me on a few good chances (and I screwed up a few other ones without his help!). Still, I felt like I helped by keeping things moving and being disruptive.
Anyway, I had a good time, but I didn't get any production out of my work. The goalie I was going against was pretty hot, and he robbed me on a few good chances (and I screwed up a few other ones without his help!). Still, I felt like I helped by keeping things moving and being disruptive.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Not Quite Right
This week sort of ended up being a bust for my training. I just wasn't feeling quite right for most of the week. I never actually got sick, but I didn't really feel healthy either. I had a sore throat off and on, and sometimes a cough (felt like it was coming from the upper part of my lungs). Sarah was sick for most of the week too. So, I decided to play it safe and not do too much.
I finally got feeling a bit better yesterday, so I did a pedaling technique workout on the trainer. It also put me on the board for our 2008 POTATOES challenge (it's like the 2007 edition, but we're "riding" from Pentwater, MI to Murfreesboro, TN). This morning, I did Ross's "Magic 50" workout; hockey starts up again tonight also.
I'm getting ready to start my winter bike overhauls. It's a good time of year to really get everything clean, replace worn out components, etc. I was thinking about rebuilding my suspension fork myself, but I was having trouble finding all of the right rebuild parts. Just by chance, I checked Push Industries' website and found that they now rebuild RockShox Reba forks (I think that they used to only work on Fox forks). Their rebuild price is pretty reasonable, close to what I would have paid for the components, oil, etc. So, I'll probably have them go ahead and have them do it.
I finally got feeling a bit better yesterday, so I did a pedaling technique workout on the trainer. It also put me on the board for our 2008 POTATOES challenge (it's like the 2007 edition, but we're "riding" from Pentwater, MI to Murfreesboro, TN). This morning, I did Ross's "Magic 50" workout; hockey starts up again tonight also.
I'm getting ready to start my winter bike overhauls. It's a good time of year to really get everything clean, replace worn out components, etc. I was thinking about rebuilding my suspension fork myself, but I was having trouble finding all of the right rebuild parts. Just by chance, I checked Push Industries' website and found that they now rebuild RockShox Reba forks (I think that they used to only work on Fox forks). Their rebuild price is pretty reasonable, close to what I would have paid for the components, oil, etc. So, I'll probably have them go ahead and have them do it.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Shoveling
We got dumped on last night, maybe 12-14 inches of snow. So, this morning, I did my "shoveling workout". It took me about an hour and 15 minutes, including the sidewalks and a bit of the street (so we didn't immediately get stuck upon leaving the driveway).
It was kind of fun, I felt pretty energetic the whole time. I could do without my neighbors and their snowblowers though... they're loud and smell bad (the snowblowers, that is). Kind of ruins an otherwise good outdoor experience. Both guys that were running their snowblowers this morning are definitely young enough and healthy enough that they could be shoveling.
It was kind of fun, I felt pretty energetic the whole time. I could do without my neighbors and their snowblowers though... they're loud and smell bad (the snowblowers, that is). Kind of ruins an otherwise good outdoor experience. Both guys that were running their snowblowers this morning are definitely young enough and healthy enough that they could be shoveling.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Ice Hike
I went out to Pontiac Lake this morning for some hiking. I expected the ground to be frozen, but I figured that the conditions would otherwise be OK. I knew I might be wrong when I only saw two other cars at the trailhead; then I almost wiped out when I stepped out of the car. The parking lot was completely iced over.
On the trail, the tread was covered with a thick layer of ice. It was very bad near the trailhead, but conditions improved some once the trail really got into the tree cover (more crunchy snow instead of ice).
I walked along the edges and managed to go the whole day without falling (farther up the trail, you could basically walk anywhere). The GPS said I covered 4.7 miles in 2 hours. Anyway, it was borderline stupid to be out there today, but I had fun.
Edit: GPS data now loaded...
On the trail, the tread was covered with a thick layer of ice. It was very bad near the trailhead, but conditions improved some once the trail really got into the tree cover (more crunchy snow instead of ice).
I walked along the edges and managed to go the whole day without falling (farther up the trail, you could basically walk anywhere). The GPS said I covered 4.7 miles in 2 hours. Anyway, it was borderline stupid to be out there today, but I had fun.
Edit: GPS data now loaded...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Christmas Wrap
So, I'm back home from my Christmas travels. Sarah and I (and Suzie Q) went down to Muncie, Indiana last week to spend Christmas with Sarah's family. It was pretty low-key, but I didn't get enough sleep. I got some exercise in before I left and then one day while I was down there.
From Muncie, we came back to Michigan to visit my family. We had a nice visit there also, but I didn't sleep enough there either. I got two workouts in on this leg of the trip. One day was a minute drill from Ross. Kevin and I went on a Fartlek run the other day. I got a Garmin eTrex Vista for Christmas, so I took it on the run. Here's the data. The data isn't bad, but it looks like it got off a little in a few spots. The time info is also not right, because it includes a few minutes of me futzing around with the GPS at the house. Anyway, it should be a fun toy.
We left my parents' house just as a big snowstorm was rolling in. The roads were bad most of the way home. It took us about an extra hour to get here, and I was driving a bit faster than most of the other cars (I credit the snow tires).
The lack of sleep had me feeling like a cold was coming on, so I didn't work out yesterday when I got home. I slept like a rock last night and I feel pretty good this morning. I'll do some kind of workout today, I'm just not sure what yet.
From Muncie, we came back to Michigan to visit my family. We had a nice visit there also, but I didn't sleep enough there either. I got two workouts in on this leg of the trip. One day was a minute drill from Ross. Kevin and I went on a Fartlek run the other day. I got a Garmin eTrex Vista for Christmas, so I took it on the run. Here's the data. The data isn't bad, but it looks like it got off a little in a few spots. The time info is also not right, because it includes a few minutes of me futzing around with the GPS at the house. Anyway, it should be a fun toy.
We left my parents' house just as a big snowstorm was rolling in. The roads were bad most of the way home. It took us about an extra hour to get here, and I was driving a bit faster than most of the other cars (I credit the snow tires).
The lack of sleep had me feeling like a cold was coming on, so I didn't work out yesterday when I got home. I slept like a rock last night and I feel pretty good this morning. I'll do some kind of workout today, I'm just not sure what yet.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Hill Sprints
"Happiness is a warm puppy."
- Charles Schultz
So, what's new since my last post? Hockey was good on Sunday. We had a big snowstorm in the morning, so I figured we might be short on skaters Sunday night. As it turned out, just about everyone showed up, we had 4 or 5 guys on the bench. I actually played pretty well; at least I felt like my "hockey fitness" was better than it had been all year. I don't know if it was the change in workouts or what, but it was good. The strange thing about the game was that I thought our side should have been much better than the other side (even though the best player was on the other side), but we got blown out. We had trouble breaking out of our end and we had trouble scoring, but in between, we were pretty good. ;) Our side did a lot of flying around and a lot of work, but we didn't really get much done.
Tuesday night was another strength workout. After doing only bodyweight exercises last week, I went back to using the weights some this week. No issues there, but the workout turned out to be longer than I like. It ended up taking an hour and 10 minutes. I prefer to keep my strength workouts to 45-50 minutes if I can. Workout quality can start to suffer if I go too long.
Last night I went outside and ran some hill sprints. I worked a little late, so it was dark by the time I got out to run. The road was a little snowy in parts, but not too bad. More distracting than the road was the German Shephard tied up at the top of the hill. He'd start barking like crazy every time I'd get up to the top. I ended up doing 8 sprints (run up, 15 pushups, walk down, immediately run up again). I felt like the running wasn't too hard (maybe the snow kept me from going full speed?), but the pushups caught up to me. Still, I was feeling pretty tired after I got home. I've also noticed a little soreness in my legs today, so I guess it was a good workout.
My upper body is not recovering from the workouts as fast as my lower body (probably because it's not used to being worked so frequently), so I'm probably going to give the upper body a break tonight. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do, go run or use the jump rope.
I start my Christmas vacation tomorrow. I may go skiing someplace local tomorrow (there are two small ski areas within about 15 minutes of my house). We'll see.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Camera Dump
I finally pulled the pictures off of my camera and phone; you'll see that some of them have been on there for a while. Here's a sampling:
Me chasing John Osgood at the Stony Creek CX race. The warm weather is a distant memory now...
A guy at work owns this yellow motorcycle... I think it's so cool.
Kitchen remodeling...
Suzie running through the snow this morning. I'm not sure how much actually fell because we get lots of drifting, but I know I shoveled about 8 inches out of the driveway.
Me chasing John Osgood at the Stony Creek CX race. The warm weather is a distant memory now...
Video of the barriers at Stony. See, no hop!
Me and Sarah in Georgia over Thanksgiving.
A guy at work owns this yellow motorcycle... I think it's so cool.
Kitchen remodeling...
Suzie running through the snow this morning. I'm not sure how much actually fell because we get lots of drifting, but I know I shoveled about 8 inches out of the driveway.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Beat Up...
... from the feet up...
That's how I'm feeling today. I did some pretty hard workouts off the bike this week, and today I'm just feeling beat up. I was going to go on a long hike, but I think I may trade that for a short walk around the neighborhood. This isn't the time of the year to push too hard.
I did ride my bike on the trainer this week. Just half an hour or so of pedaling technique work. It was the first time I'd been on the bike in about two weeks. I felt a little strange at first, but once I got going, it was OK.
I've been thinking a bit about the Mitchell Report. Just more "evidence" about widespread cheating in professional sports (although, I gather that there is very little real evidence in the Mitchell Report). Anyway, what I have to say is this:
For me, the whole point of racing my bike is to test myself. The point is to transform yourself into the athlete that you want to be by training, eating, sleeping, sacrificing things that detract from your goal. Satisfaction comes, not from beating other people, but from the realization that your placements and your improvement are a result of your hard work. I don't understand how someone could be satisfied with their achievements if they knew that they came, at least in part, as a result of their cheating.
Photo by Andrea Tucker
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Musings
Aghh... I just wrote a nice long post, and somehow it got eaten before I could actually post it. I will try to reconstruct...
So, hockey was OK Sunday night, but I didn't feel like the fitness was very good. In our game, fitness makes a big difference; for the most part, everyone has roughly the same skill level. Still, my hockey fitness could be much better. It's the little things I catch myself doing when I get tired that bug me: making a looping turn instead of stopping, not going after loose pucks as hard as I should, etc. I think that improving that stuff would make me one of the better players in our game.
There was an article in the Detroit News today about Nicklas Lidstrom's durability. The guy has only missed 22 games in the 16 seasons that he's been with the Red Wings. Pretty incredible! He thinks that part of his durability and longevity has to do with his conditioning. There was an article in the paper this summer about Chris Chelios that said the same thing.
I did my first strength workout in quite a while last night. It went much better than I expected, especially the upper body stuff. I think that the Paleo nutrition plan has helped me maintain a little more strength than I could have in the past. I'm a little achy today, but not too bad.
Tonight I tried out a slightly modified version of one of Ross's "Enhanced Interval Training" workouts: 400m run, 20 pushups, 2 minutes rest (Ross gave you less rest). I made it through 6 intervals before I called it a night. I was going to do 7, but I had really slowed down by my 6th run, so I called it good after 6. I may be a bit sore from this tomorrow. I'm not used to running so fast for that long.
So, hockey was OK Sunday night, but I didn't feel like the fitness was very good. In our game, fitness makes a big difference; for the most part, everyone has roughly the same skill level. Still, my hockey fitness could be much better. It's the little things I catch myself doing when I get tired that bug me: making a looping turn instead of stopping, not going after loose pucks as hard as I should, etc. I think that improving that stuff would make me one of the better players in our game.
There was an article in the Detroit News today about Nicklas Lidstrom's durability. The guy has only missed 22 games in the 16 seasons that he's been with the Red Wings. Pretty incredible! He thinks that part of his durability and longevity has to do with his conditioning. There was an article in the paper this summer about Chris Chelios that said the same thing.
I did my first strength workout in quite a while last night. It went much better than I expected, especially the upper body stuff. I think that the Paleo nutrition plan has helped me maintain a little more strength than I could have in the past. I'm a little achy today, but not too bad.
Tonight I tried out a slightly modified version of one of Ross's "Enhanced Interval Training" workouts: 400m run, 20 pushups, 2 minutes rest (Ross gave you less rest). I made it through 6 intervals before I called it a night. I was going to do 7, but I had really slowed down by my 6th run, so I called it good after 6. I may be a bit sore from this tomorrow. I'm not used to running so fast for that long.
Friday, December 07, 2007
2007 Season Recap
So, the 2007 season is in the books. It's a good time to look back and see how things went.
My goal for the mountain bike season was to finish the Stony TT in less than 55 minutes. Since I ended up going to Alaska, I didn't race the Stony TT. It's hard to say if I would have managed 55 minutes or not; I think I would have been close. In general though, I felt like I had a pretty good year on the mountain bike.
My goal for the cross season was to race well enough to feel comfortable moving up to the "Killer B's" for next year. I accomplished a lot this year in 'cross. I got rid of my "hop", I feel better on technical parts, I learned what I need to do at the start, and my fitness improved until the last couple races. Anyway, I feel good about moving up for next year.
The other major change I made late this year was switching to a Paleo nutrition plan. I've been really happy with how this has worked for me (even though I have to cook more) so I'll be sticking with it.
Speaking of next year, I think there are two main things I need to work on. The first is technical riding (especially cornering and descending); the fundamental drills I worked on in the backyard seemed to help, but I started them pretty late this season. The second thing I need to work on is developing leg strength. The last 'cross race at Waterford drove it home again for me.
My goal for the mountain bike season was to finish the Stony TT in less than 55 minutes. Since I ended up going to Alaska, I didn't race the Stony TT. It's hard to say if I would have managed 55 minutes or not; I think I would have been close. In general though, I felt like I had a pretty good year on the mountain bike.
My goal for the cross season was to race well enough to feel comfortable moving up to the "Killer B's" for next year. I accomplished a lot this year in 'cross. I got rid of my "hop", I feel better on technical parts, I learned what I need to do at the start, and my fitness improved until the last couple races. Anyway, I feel good about moving up for next year.
The other major change I made late this year was switching to a Paleo nutrition plan. I've been really happy with how this has worked for me (even though I have to cook more) so I'll be sticking with it.
Speaking of next year, I think there are two main things I need to work on. The first is technical riding (especially cornering and descending); the fundamental drills I worked on in the backyard seemed to help, but I started them pretty late this season. The second thing I need to work on is developing leg strength. The last 'cross race at Waterford drove it home again for me.
Greetings!
Greetings from the land of Not Training. I've had a pretty relaxing week, but we've had people in the house working on the kitchen, so things aren't exactly normal either.
I went for a short run Tuesday night and last night. I picked up some new running shoes (pictured); they're spikeless cross-country racing shoes. So far, I really like them. They're super light and I can tell that they're making my feet work. My feet and calves got a little sore the first time I ran in them, but it's been getting better ever since. Even though the shoes are very breathable, my feet haven't gotten cold yet (last night, it was in the high teens); I'm wearing thin wool socks when I run in them. On a slightly warmer day when it's wet or slushy, I may have a problem though. 
I went 5 rounds with the heavy bag last night too. By the end, it had started leaking again. I called Everlast earlier this year to see what they'd do to resolve the problem, and they offered to let me buy a new bladder for $60. How nice! I tried a temporary repair, which obviously didn't hold, so now I'm done with it. I'm going to chuck the bladder and fill the bag like a traditional bag (with sawdust and padding). I figure that the bag is rated to hold 80lbs, so it shouldn't matter if it's water or something else.
I got Ross's latest offering this week too, Full Throttle Conditioning. Good stuff in there, as always. He makes a nice analogy at the beginning about fatigue "locking up" your "toolbox of athletic abilities". It's kind of hard to explain without going into the whole thing, but it was definitely nice.
I went for a short run Tuesday night and last night. I picked up some new running shoes (pictured); they're spikeless cross-country racing shoes. So far, I really like them. They're super light and I can tell that they're making my feet work. My feet and calves got a little sore the first time I ran in them, but it's been getting better ever since. Even though the shoes are very breathable, my feet haven't gotten cold yet (last night, it was in the high teens); I'm wearing thin wool socks when I run in them. On a slightly warmer day when it's wet or slushy, I may have a problem though.
I went 5 rounds with the heavy bag last night too. By the end, it had started leaking again. I called Everlast earlier this year to see what they'd do to resolve the problem, and they offered to let me buy a new bladder for $60. How nice! I tried a temporary repair, which obviously didn't hold, so now I'm done with it. I'm going to chuck the bladder and fill the bag like a traditional bag (with sawdust and padding). I figure that the bag is rated to hold 80lbs, so it shouldn't matter if it's water or something else.
I got Ross's latest offering this week too, Full Throttle Conditioning. Good stuff in there, as always. He makes a nice analogy at the beginning about fatigue "locking up" your "toolbox of athletic abilities". It's kind of hard to explain without going into the whole thing, but it was definitely nice.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Waterford Race
We got the weather they predicted last night. A couple inches of snow, plus a little ice on top of that. It rained just a little during the race this morning. It was tough going through the course, you had to break through the snow and ice to hit solid ground; it felt even tougher on the paved track.
Anyway, I felt decent on my warm-up laps. It was tough going but I felt OK, and I felt pretty good around the slippery corners. I lined up on the front row at the end.
I knew I was in trouble right off the bat when the race started. The pace was a lot higher than I expected, even Mark Caffyn went by me at the start (nothing against Mark, but he doesn't usually start faster than me). By the time we hit the grass, I had recovered a bit, and was back up in 7th or so. Still, the guys up front were really laying it down. I managed to get past a few guys who started fast and faded fast and I finished the first lap in 5th.
On the second lap, John Osgood went by me at a pretty good clip. Shortly after that, I fell on slippery corner. I got up quickly, but then I botched the remount after the runup (I got on the bike too fast when I needed to run to a flat spot). My fall and stall after the remount helped John open a big gap. Another guy also got by me and had a little gap during that sequence.
I worked my way back around the "other guy" on the third lap, but the gap up to John was really big. I kept pushing, just in case someone fell or whatever, but I didn't pick up any more spots. So, I ended up finishing 6th, one spot off the podium. A bit disappointing, but I'm not sure what I would have done differently today.
So, what happened here? My fitness felt OK, but the course conditions highlighted one of the weaknesses I identified earlier this year, Force (in Friel lingo). The snow covering the course made it almost like riding through a giant sandpit (Mark's analogy). I think it really favored guys that were heavier and stronger, especially in the early laps (it got a little easier near the end once we'd worn a line through the snow). Looking at the podium, you saw guys that were all considerably bigger than me. Certainly, some of them might have beaten me on a clear course, but I don't think everyone would have.
Couple more points:
- I need to re-examine my nutrition during the Peak and Race phases. As of this morning, I'd lost 6 lbs since the Peak phase started. Yeah, some of this is upper body muscle (since I also stop lifting during the Peak/Race phases) and a little is fat, but at 6 lbs, I think I'm also losing lower body muscle. That's a bad thing...
- I wonder if I should have taken a little air out of my tires today. I ran them at 30psi, same as usual, but I wonder if I'd have been better off at maybe 25 psi (or less)? I decided not to try it, since I've never ridden with pressures that low.
I'm not going to worry about this stuff too much just yet. My plan is to just enjoy being done with bike racing for a little while (and to drink some beer!).
Anyway, I felt decent on my warm-up laps. It was tough going but I felt OK, and I felt pretty good around the slippery corners. I lined up on the front row at the end.
I knew I was in trouble right off the bat when the race started. The pace was a lot higher than I expected, even Mark Caffyn went by me at the start (nothing against Mark, but he doesn't usually start faster than me). By the time we hit the grass, I had recovered a bit, and was back up in 7th or so. Still, the guys up front were really laying it down. I managed to get past a few guys who started fast and faded fast and I finished the first lap in 5th.
On the second lap, John Osgood went by me at a pretty good clip. Shortly after that, I fell on slippery corner. I got up quickly, but then I botched the remount after the runup (I got on the bike too fast when I needed to run to a flat spot). My fall and stall after the remount helped John open a big gap. Another guy also got by me and had a little gap during that sequence.
I worked my way back around the "other guy" on the third lap, but the gap up to John was really big. I kept pushing, just in case someone fell or whatever, but I didn't pick up any more spots. So, I ended up finishing 6th, one spot off the podium. A bit disappointing, but I'm not sure what I would have done differently today.
So, what happened here? My fitness felt OK, but the course conditions highlighted one of the weaknesses I identified earlier this year, Force (in Friel lingo). The snow covering the course made it almost like riding through a giant sandpit (Mark's analogy). I think it really favored guys that were heavier and stronger, especially in the early laps (it got a little easier near the end once we'd worn a line through the snow). Looking at the podium, you saw guys that were all considerably bigger than me. Certainly, some of them might have beaten me on a clear course, but I don't think everyone would have.
Couple more points:
- I need to re-examine my nutrition during the Peak and Race phases. As of this morning, I'd lost 6 lbs since the Peak phase started. Yeah, some of this is upper body muscle (since I also stop lifting during the Peak/Race phases) and a little is fat, but at 6 lbs, I think I'm also losing lower body muscle. That's a bad thing...
- I wonder if I should have taken a little air out of my tires today. I ran them at 30psi, same as usual, but I wonder if I'd have been better off at maybe 25 psi (or less)? I decided not to try it, since I've never ridden with pressures that low.
I'm not going to worry about this stuff too much just yet. My plan is to just enjoy being done with bike racing for a little while (and to drink some beer!).
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