I finally did a “real” race this past weekend. The first in nearly two months, which given my general schedule of racing nearly every weekend while living in Chicago was quite a break. Being November, it was a ‘cross race, a discipline I both love and loathe. When I did my first cross race, may be four years ago, I loved it with all the passion a neophyte has. The sheer novelty of it made me excited to be racing in a way I hadn’t been in years. Of course, all that enthusiasm didn’t translate into results, and I counted it a victory that season if I didn’t get lapped after the first few laps. Fast forward four years, and well, things haven’t changed all that much. In Sunday’s race the top 9 guys lapped me, ninth place catching me in the finishing straight.
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The importance of specificity (re)illustrated
November 15th, 2008The wisdom of Kenny Rogers
October 28th, 2008Or "know[ing] when to fold’em."
Yesterday I committed a classic training mistake — not paying attention to the signals my body was sending and pushing through a 75 mile ride that included something like 9000 feet of climbing despite having a really off day. I knew it was going to be a bad day when I couldn’t maintain my normal climbing wattage on the very first hill, but it was still a bit chilly and I had woken up with a stuffy head, so I managed to talk myself into believing that as the temperature and my body warmed up, I’d pull through it and reach some level of normalcy. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, no matter how much I ate or drank. I could ride tempo, but anything even approaching threshold, let alone over it, was unattainable. By the time I finally admitted to myself that the situation wasn’t going to improve, it was too late to turn back, and I spent the next 30 miles staring fixedly at my front wheel, willing my legs to keep turning. Thankfully, the guys I was riding with stopped and waited for me every few miles, just to be sure I was still upright (which wasn’t a given towards the later stages of the ride).
On a normal day, it would have been a beautiful ride, up and down the Blue Ridge, with the foliage just a bit past peak brilliance. For the moments when I could get my head up and look around the scenery was breathtaking, or would have been had I any breath to spare.
It remains to be seen how big a hole I’ve dug myself; today was certainly a wash and tomorrow probably will be as well. And therein lies the danger– jeopardizing an extended period of training to complete a ride that for whatever reason, you’re just not up to.
And, yes, about the 60 mile mark, "The Gambler" did start running through my mind. The sign of a true bonk: you start humming Kenny Rogers’s songs.
Including Cross in your season
September 30th, 2008At this time of year, most riders are wrapping up their seasons and looking back, hopefully with fond memories of success. All athletes need to do some sort of post-season review — more on that later, but what riding they do now depends on their goals for October, November, and December, that is, whether or not they are racing cross, and if so, how seriously.
If a rider is not racing cross all that seriously, I generally recommend one cross workout midweek, with a warm-up of 20′ or so, focusing on skills, then 20′-40′ (depending on the length of the races he or she does) of race simulation on a shortened course. One of my favorite workouts is to set up a course that takes approximately 4 minutes to ride, with at least 1 dismount, 1 run-up,and if at all possible, a short section of single track to work on handling, and then alternate hard and easy laps for the recommended time. Following this scheme gives the rider specificity both on the “on” and the “off” section of an interval. This midweek workout, combined with a weekend race, is generally enough for riders to maintain enough race fitness to last through the cross season. The other days of the week, I recommend all other rides be endurance rides, with the occasional sweet-spot ride through in every 10 days or so.
For most of the riders I work with, and in most years, for myself, this stripped down approach is the one I recommend. This season, however, my move at the end of July put paid to the last 3 months of my road season, so I determined to focus more fully on cross. I will only be doing a few cross races, but in the past, I’ve always been happy to finish in the top half of the field because I was just out there for the heck of it. This year, I hope to move up a bit by focusing my training more specifically on cross.
What this means in practice…
Burned out … return to base
September 15th, 2008At this time of the season, many riders feel a bit burned out. The usual advice is to take a decent break from the bike, and I certainly think that it is sound. Indeed, I wound up taking nearly a week off myself when we moved from Chicago to Virginia. But if it hadn’t been for the move, I’m not sure I would have taken the time. Rather, I would have returned to early season workouts, endurance rides, tempo and lots of sweet spot (sst). After the sheer agony of anaerobic intervals and two crits a week, the dull pain, perhaps better described as a pressure on the legs, of sst is a welcome change.
When I was able to get back on the bike, I focussed solely on this type of threshold work — climbing the local mountains at threshold intensity, doing the middle hour or so of rides at sweet spot intensity, and of course, a few sessions of the ubiquitous 2×20. For the latter two I discovered that to stay in the proper training zone in this (hilly) area requires me to ascend the hills at nearly a walking pace and hammer on the downhills. Despite the natural variation of cadence required by the rolling terrain, I have definitely lost some "snap" in the legs and will have to put in some time working on my sprint so that I don’t get gapped in ‘cross starts.
Technorati Tags training,cycling
A tough 40 miles…
August 18th, 2008Today was an endurance day, so I decided to ride up Afton Mountain. As my title suggests, it was the toughest 40 miles I’ve done in quite some time. Though the numbers don’t suggest an epic ride (133.3 TSS, 170 NP), my body certainly felt like it. At around the two hour mark, I was pretty well fried. After 2 hours, NP was 154, before that 177. Luckily, I won’t be doing any races that are over 2 hours, but the significant drop off certainly suggests a need to work on my endurance.
For those of you interested, I’ve put a link to the ride route below. For a guy just moved from the flatlands of Chicago, 3300 ft of climbing is a lot.
First impressions of VA
August 14th, 2008Well, we’ve been in VA for a week now, and I’m still adjusting to the new terrain. The hardest change seems to be the lack of roads suitable for a recovery ride. For instance, I had a recovery ride scheduled yesterday, aiming to keep the power ~level 1, low level 2. In order to maintain that level, I wound up riding up the hills at 5-8 mph. There were times I was going so slowly I felt as if I might topple over. I kept repeating the mantra — you have to go slow sometimes to go fast when it counts. Thankfully, I didn’t see too many folks who might wonder about the guy in fluorescent yellow who was moving slower than the cows ambling by in the fields. All in all, I think I was successful at maintaining the proper intensity — TSS for the ride was 19.9, IF of less than .5; 115 NP watts.
If the lack of recovery type rides is a drawback, it is far outweighed by the ability to roll out my front door and do nearly any other type of workout. Yes, it’s been difficult to find the flat, steady roads that are conducive to 20′+ SST type efforts, but I’m sure with a little searching, I’ll find a hill (or a mountain??) that will provide the appropriate distance. As an added bonus, the hills makes the time spent training more efficient. On my "long" day on Sunday, I rode for all of 2.5 hours, less than 40 miles, but managed to rack up 150 TSS points. By comparison, my highest TSS total from one ride in Chicago was 155 and that was 45′ longer.
I have yet to ride with a group. I’m curious to see how my level of fitness compares to the riders from around here. I suspect given the extra weight I’m carrying, which has pushed my w/kg at threshold down to 3.44, I’m going to struggle.
Technorati Tags training
Going out with a … slide?
August 1st, 2008On 7/29 I rode my last Tuesday night training crit put on by my club, the South Chicago Wheelmen. These have been a mainstay of my training since I moved to Chicago 6 years ago. Because we only have an A (Cats 1-3, some 4s) and a B (4 and 5s) category, the A races are invariably faster than any weekend USCF Cat 4 races. I almost never finish in the points in these races, and sometimes don’t finish at all. I do, however, get a wicked hard workout.
This week being my last, I was determined to make a good showing and in the first two races worked as hard as I could, staying near the front, and chasing as many breaks as I could. In the last race, word must have gone around that it was my last night and the pack magnanimously allowed me and 3 others to get away. Now, I know the guys were being nice to let me finally get in a break and further to make sure it was a successful one by riding tempo rather than chasing, but man, was it painful. Eventually, we lapped the pack — a first for me, again something of a parting gift from the group. To make the situation even sweeter, I was pretty sure I could outsprint my breakaway companions. The pack rode together for two laps and I marked the other three riders on the lead lap. Then disaster struck — with 4 laps to go, both A & B packs wound up together in the same corner, with the Bs on the inside as they were setting up for a sprint and going faster. I wanted to maintain my position and tried to go wide in the turn; unfortunately at that very moment a lapped B rider was in the corner, following the rules and staying as far outside as he could; my supposedly fast line took him directly into him. I tried to readjust, but grabbed too much rear brake and slid out. My teammates Joe Bippus and Steve Feehery tried like mad to chase me back on, but I was pretty gassed and we quickly ran out of laps.
So, I rolled in with 4th place secure, my best ever finish in the A group, and a nice case of road rash to remember the night by.
Now, it’s on to Crozet, VA, in the shadow of the Appalachian mountains and not a flat road in sight. Something tells me in a few weeks, I’m going to be missing those pancake flat training crits, however painful the last one might have been.
Technorati Tags training,racing
Chicago Crit – power vs. perceived exertion
July 31st, 2008My Chicago racing career, such as it was, came to an end on Sunday with the inaugural Chicago Criterium. I didn’t register in time for the Masters 4/5, so I and 119 others got to race the Cat 4s. Because I went with my teammate Michael, who was doing the earlier race, I was at the course with plenty of time to preview the course, warmup, and snag the primo starting position right on the front row. If ever there was a crit to make sure you got good starting position, this was it, not so much because of the course was highly technical, but more because with such a large field, if you started at the back, it would take an all out sprint to get to the front, if you could survive the accordion effect of the first few corners.
The race was scheduled for a meager 35′ + 2, so we knew it was going to be fast. When the Chief Judge shortened it to 30′ at the line, it was bound to be even faster. And fast it was, both in speed and in the officials’ timekeeping. According my PT, we raced a total of 27′. I had just settled in and begun to look for teamates when we came around to see 4 to go. Predictably, all hell broke loose and I never made it near the front. At one point I found my teammate Joe Bippus and tried to bring him to the front, but he popped. With two laps to go there was a crash right behind me because someone moved off his line in the penultimate turn causing us all to shift a bit. Whoever was behind me couldn’t make the adjustment and went down hard. At that point, with an out of state move less than a week a way, I backed down and did just enough to finish with the group, 34th overall.
The power numbers from the race puzzle me a bit; NP was fairly low (224), but the RPE was through the roof. For the first time in months, my asthma and acid reflux kicked in. While the power was lowish, the speed was high (26.5 mph), which may suggest the effort I felt may be due to neuromuscular efforts. That, combined with the extreme heat, pushing 90 in the sun, made the race feel a lot harder than the numbers suggest.
Technorati Tags Chicago,racing,Criterium
Frustrated in Kenosha
July 26th, 2008Today’s race in Kenosha was a disappointment. I felt really good, even during what I thought was going to be an abbreviated warm-up. But no, in true Superweek fashion, it turned out to be an elongated one, turning slow laps around the course as the crew finished setting up. Thirty minutes behind schedule, they were ready to start, and I snagged a primo spot on the outside of the second row and when the whistle blew, easily slipped into 7th or 8th wheel and cruised. The pace was pretty high and there were the obligatory early crashes from guys who couldn’t take the turns at speed.
After the initial burst, the race settled down for the next 40 .6 mile laps, and if anything became a bit boring. There were a few attempts at a break, but nothing stuck, which is not surprising since the course really didn’t present enough challenges to break up the pack. I tried to stay invisible, out of the wind, near the front, and ahead of the several crashes.
Plan A was to be in the top 10 and jump with .5 lap to go. I doubt plan A would have won me the race, but it would have gotten me in the money at least. Plan B was to find the wheel of a big, sprinter type and follow. Plan B would have been the best bet since the wheel I was eyeing belonged to the guy who finished third. In the end, I went with Plan F, as in failure and didn’t fight hard enough on the last two laps to maintain my position. Shuffled halfway down the pack by the final turn, I wound up finishing a lowly 36th/60.
Perhaps Plan F could also stand for frustration as here was a day on which I felt really good, but I couldn’t manage to finish in the money, let alone in the upgrade points. Physically, it wasn’t even a really hard day. The speed was 25.4 mph and my NP was 224, so I was well below threshold for the 30 miles. Apparently the body was able, but the mind not willing…
Technorati Tags racing
Hammering up the Humboldt Park Hill
July 22nd, 2008Michael and I headed north today for the Humboldt Park crit, the penultimate event in the Masters 4/5 series. We wouldn’t be heading up to Ripon for the final event, so today was the last chance we had score any points towards the overall. Not that we had a chance of coming out on top; Voytek Glinkowski had that wrapped up, but a top five was a possibility. The course is a triangle, with one leg a steady climb on some pretty rough pavement and the long twisting descent with the finish at the bottom.
Two guys attacked from the line. Of course, conventional wisdom said that was doomed, especially since one of the riders in the break had tried the same move at Bensenville and had been brought back. Shows you what conventional wisdom gets you — we didn’t see those two until we were cooling down.
Another rider I knew to be strong (Michael Boals) tried to bridge after a few laps. He stayed enticingly close for a lap or two, but again, I didn’t take my chance and soon he was away for the die. Finally, I did try a few digs myself, but all I managed to do was string out the pack as no one was willing to work with me to get away.
Going into the last lap, I had decent position, but the last time up the hill, my bottle popped out, got caught between my leg and frame and scare the crap out of me. I sat down, let the bottle roll away (shouting the obligatory and somewhat redundant warning “bottle”), and restarted. In the end I lost 3 places, took 8th in the field sprint and 11th overall.
A satisfying end to the Masters 4/5 series — 6 races, 6 money finishes. Now to see how I do in the open Cat 4s.
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