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.