Week in review + Plyometrics

Monday- 2:30- 50min Tempo interval going up Lemmon
Tuesday-OFF, had to finish essay
Wednesday- 3:00- Rode to work with Dad and then to Erin's
Thursday- Thanksgiving, OFF
Friday- 2:10- McCain Loop
Saturday- 1:00 on trainer, 4x7min tempo intervals in TT position to get used to it again

Total- 8:40

Again, much lower than planned, about half, due to traveling. Unfortunately the next two weeks will be low too, due to studying for finals. Luckily a recovery week is coming up. That said, I might keep training through it, and pre-load before the Christmas vacation.

This week I introduced plyometrics to my weekly workouts. I am doing three-a-week workouts, adding more difficult exercises each time. I am feeling really good about this type of workouts. I feel that too many people just ride their bikes hard all the time. Last year I reached cat 3 and got some good results, and I only rode 2-3 times a week, and not seriously at that. I feel that if I have a good base season, train smart, and introduce good supplemental training, I can really do well this season.

My focus this season will definitely be on sprinting. I feel that I can really excel in this area. Last season I had no problem getting to the final corner in top-3 position, but then I would get passed on the sprint by two or three people. That's probably because I did absolutely no sprint training. I started weight training early this season, and now I'm starting explosive plyometrics. Later, I'll add on-bike sprinting drills to fine-tune the movement. Right now I think I could be doing more speed skill drills, like spin-ups. I'll try to incorporate them in my E2 rides.

Also, the reason I've been slacking on my riding hours is because I'm reluctant to go out and do a 3-4hr E2 ride. I feel like it's a waste of time. Luckily, harder work is up ahead, and I think my motivation will also increase when racing starts up.

Week in review

Finally, a solid week of training. Due to sickness and training apathy lately, I havent been putting in the required hours. But this week I felt great and was able to keep the hours up. Hopefully this will be a continuous trend.

Monday- 1:42- Ajo to Gate's
Tuesday- 2:10- Tuesday morning ride. Did a TT through McCain.
- 0:30- Run around Reid Park with tricats. Felt good.
Wednesday- OFF bike, strength workout in gym
Thursday- 3:10- Up to Tangerine with Erin.
Friday- OFF bike, went to gym instead because i wanted to be fresh for El Tour
Saturday- 3:30- El Tour, did about 70 miles of the course for fun and then went home. Went pretty hard entire time.
Sunday- 1:50- Gate's pass ride with Erin.

Total- 13 hours. 2 Strength workouts. 1 Run workout.

Week in review

This week was strange. I was supposed to be put in 18 hours but that didnt happen. I was sick last week and I think my body was still fatigued from that,even though I felt alright. However I did feel very lethargic throughout the week and on my rides.

Monday: 2:30- Rancho Vistoso, only averaged 140 watts and felt really weak.
Tuesday: Woke up way too tired and just took day off.
Wednesday- 2:45- Picture rocks with cycling team, felt strong that day.
Thursday- Off, it was too windy and I had a test
Friday- Off
Saturday- 2:45 Lemmon with tricats, tempo pace
Sunday- 2:30 Rancho Vistoso on TT bike, hated it at first but I'm slowly getting used to the position

Totals- 12:30. That's six hours off of my goal, but I'm glad I took the hours off instead of killing myself after being sick. This week I have very little homework or tests so I'm planning on really loading up the hours. Also my goal for this week is to get serious about stretching. I'm also going to the Tuesday tricat run workout to see how that is.

Week in review

This week was kind of interesting. I created a new training plan based on a 700-hour season. This is more than I think I can handle but I want to push myself to see if I can.

Mon- Off
Tues- Off
Wed- 3:15 TTM course
Thurs- 1:40 Gates pass with Mike
Fri- 3:40 Exploratory ride up to the Ritz
Saturday- Off, Sick
Sunday- 0:50 Easy recovery ride with Erin

On Friday night I started feeling very weak. At midnight I had a fever of 103. On Saturday I felt weak the whole day. On Sunday I felt better, and now on Sunday night I feel almost perfect. Now I can't figure out if this was a result of over-training (I felt weak on Friday's ride) or getting sick from Erin. I'm starting to think it was just catching a germ, because 9 hours in 3 days isnt really that bad at all. I'm going to repeat the same volume this week to see what effects it has on my body. Luckily I am young and my body can handle this kind of self-imposed testing!

Wheel choice

Today I sold my rear Zipp 404 to a triathlete. The first reason is because I wanted to use my powertap in races. I love data more than any racer I know, and I know how to analyze it. I figure having race data is going to be more valuable than the weight/aero advantage of a rear 404. Secondly, I was afraid I was going to crash and break it in a crit. I see this happen all the time and I don't have $1k lying around to replace it. Using my powertap (32h laced to a DT rim) will make me more confident in races since I won't have to be so paranoid about wrecking my wheel.

I sold the rear wheel for $750, including the tire and cassette. I bought the wheelset for $1,000 when I was working at AOA so I didn't lose any money on it. I decided to keep the front wheel, though. The reason for this is that the front wheel has a greater aerodynamic effect on the bike than the rear. I haven't found any hard numbers to back this up, but I definitely makes sense as the wheel is the first surface to touch the wind, and the rear wheel is shielded behind the frame.

I will be buying a Wheelbuilder wheel cover to use in time trials. This way, I will basically have a Powertap disc with a 404 front- a perfect TT setup.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my sale. I never felt like I deserved race wheels anyway, so I told myself that my next bike purchase will have to be funded by prize money only. For a geek like me thats pretty good motivation!

Week in review and some thoughts

This week was pretty strange in terms of training. I had planned to get some good long workouts in but it just didn't turn out that way for various reasons. Turns out it might not have been such a bad thing (more on that later).

Monday & Tuesday- Off, still tired from Phoenix ride.
Wednesday: 2:19- Rancho Vistoso & 2:00- MTB night ride
Thursday: 1:30- Gate's pass night ride with Erin- that was fun!
Friday: 3:15- Mt Lemmon up to mile 10. Felt really good but ran out of water.

So after talking with my coach and reviewing my racing schedule, I essentially realized I was way off track with my training plan. I am modeling my plan off of the book Base Building for Cyclists, mainly because it has some nicely structured training planes that I look forward to using. Unfortunately, I forgot to take into consideration when I wanted to peak, and considering the plan I was using, I was set to peak in December. Obviously this is bad because there are no races in December. This year, I plan on peaking for the Tour of the Gila, a highly competitive 5-day stage race with lots of climbing and a hilly TT. That race is in late April.

So what I basically did was reset my training schedule. I am now in the late base prep period, meaning I am doing about 15-20 hours of E2 riding a week. I have some more time to dedicate to training, however, so I'm debating what to do. After seeing the Tinfoilman triathlon today, part of me wants to start racing those too. But I know that my true passion lies in road racing, and it's impossible to do both, at least to do both well. Another part wants to start running more and do more weight-lifting to get my upper body in shape. But I have to keep reminding myself that those are temporary desires that are likely fleeting. Nothing can compare to the drive I have for the sport of cycling, so I figure until something else comes along I'll just dedicate myself completely to this sport, even if that means being scrawny and single-disciplined.

Week in review

This week was fairly hectic because of my physics and math tests, but I still managed to get a few good rides in, as well as (very) long ride on the weekend. Let's take a look:

Monday: 2:40- Rancho Vistoso with a little more up towards Biosphere
Tuesday: Day off- Rest
Wednesday: 1:50- Gate's pass with sprints at the end. / 2:00 MTB night ride, faster than usual
Thursday: Day Off- Forced by physics test
Friday: 3:30- Did most of TTM course, took Sandario up towards Marana
Saturday: 8:00- 140 miles to Phoenix
Sunday: 1:00 Incredibly easy recovery ride

Totals-
Hours- 16:51
Miles- 283.73
TSS: 646

I feel like the really long rides give you a special kind of endurance. Also they make you mentally tougher, because eight hours is alot of time to spend on a bike. But most importantly they make the daily 2-3 hour rides seem alot easier. I'm going to try to do one 5+ hour ride each weekend. This weekend I'd like to go out to Colossal Cave and maybe up to Windy Point on the way back.

Joe Friel on recovery

From Joe Friel's blog:

"In the last few days before a race athletes should never walk when they can ride, never stand when they can sit, and never sit when they can recline. Rest is the key now."

Core training

I've come to understand that you need to do work off the bike in order to maximize the time you spend training. My coach has a quote in the training bible that I like.

Golf pros hit balls on the range, swimmers practice with wooden paddles on their hands, and athletes in other sports do other things that improve performance by enhancing muscle memory. Too many cyclists just ride their bikes.
MIKE KOLIN, cycling coach

I started core strength training last year when I started getting upper-back pain after three hours on the bike. It helped immediately, and the payback was huge. In this off-season, I'm not weightlifting since I don't feel confident enough in my form to avoid injury, and I don't have a physical trainer to help me out. So I'm using basic tools like a jump rope and some bodyweight exercises to work other parts of my body. This is a routine I've been doing:

1 minute jumprope
20 pushups
1 minute jumprope
10 pullups
1 minute jumprope
60 seconds plank
1 minute jump rope
30 Hindu Squats
1 minute jump rope
15 side holds/extensions

I usually repeat it twice.

Purpose of this blog

I started this blog as a way to track my progress in my cycling training throughout this season. I figure it will be a good way to look back after a year and see what I did right and wrong. My goals for this year are to be competitive at a high level on the road, so I'm doing as much as I can to make that happen.

I'm a big fan of Johan Bruyneel's quote, "We might as well win" . He explains this by saying that if you are going to expend that first big block of energy to do something, you might a well do the extra small things to take full advantage of it. If you just half-ass it, you're wasting your time. In cycling, the initial block is taking the time to train, and the small things are working on technical skills, sticking to a diet, cross-training, studying tactics etc, and most importantly, making the most of the time you spend on your bike. I think that this mentality will really help me.