Unlike what I find a typical endurance athlete to do or be -- I engage pretty seriously in the team sports as well. Playing both in a competitive volleyball league and a basketball league over the fall/winter/spring. Best part about being an endurance athlete & playing those other sports (provided you have at least a moderate amount of coordination & skill....which mine is certainly on the modest side) is how much more effort you can put forth than most of the people you play against. When you've trained your cardiovascular system to a pretty high level it's kinda amusing how fast you can make other people you play against run out of gas.
However, both of those leagues are wrapping up here at the end of March. In volleyball, the team I sponsor, is close to closing in on the 5th or 6th league title in past 7 years, really fun team to play with. Basketball is on the other end of spectrum, not the worst team but the winning percentage is certainly below .500.
Playing the other sports, beside for the enjoyment & challenge of it, has seemingly helped maintain my overall flexibility & mobility. I'm not just one dimensional with a bunch of over developed and corresponding underdeveloped muscle groups that endurance sports can do. I never felt like being a "robot" -- and knock on wood I've had little in the way of injury as a result of doing it... besides, I've never seen a sprained ankle stop a person from biking.....
Something of interest to share -- in the past I've talked about how adamant I am about other forms of cross training, be it core training, lifting, flexibility training or stretching. Core Performance and Resistance Stretching have been a big reason if not for an improvement in my cycling performance but at least in injury prevention and chronic pain management. Show me a serious cyclist of a certain age that doesn't stretch and do some form of flexibility training and I'll bet you they have plenty of chronic aches and pains. However I came across another seemingly worthwhile read & program for pain relief -- It's called "Pain Free" written by Pete Egoscue, an exercise physiologist (if I recall correctly), with a decent track record of helping both professional athletes and couch potatoes from chronic pain issues and problems. He's adament about what he believes and has to say, so if that doesn't turn someone off too much I've discovered a few truly valuable routines & philosphies from what he has to say that have addressed some nagging issues I couldn't rid myself of with other programs. Betcha can find the book on Amazon.com for $10... could be entirely worth it, if you've ever had to deal with a chronic or ongoing pain condition.
Other than that I'm coming off a couple week break, had some sleep issues to get resolved and managed to have an instant weight loss program last Friday in the form of a stomach virus. Ah heck, I was getting too heavy at 168lbs anyways, had to get back to the 163lb fightin' weight.... never been too patient in getting it done the long way so why not do it in a day or two.
Got on the bike again this week and the intervals were on target without really any unnecessary hurt & suffering so it looks like a good 6 weeks of training to go and then it's off to the races. Probably the best part about this year is the baseline fitness I'm settled in at is already very competitive to my standards. I don't necessarily have do any special prepping or peaking early on to probably race well (of course I say that with crossed fingers because one never knows until things get settled out on the racecourse). That way I can enjoy the early races and continually build to peaking later in the summer & the fall. Feels like a good place to be right now.
Next post up......... Less gears is better? ..............Stay tuned.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Everybody wants a story....
When someones reading a cycling blog -- what's the draw, what's the interest. Obviously race recaps written well make for an allure. Mid winter kinda makes that a limited commodity unless you are some kind of Arrowhead 135 hooligan. Which by the way, hat's off to you guys & girls. It's not exactly my style or holds any overpowering charm, but I greatly respect the amazing feat of physical & mental stamina it undoubtedly requires.
There are stories of training, of new bikes and of what someone's kids or crazy relatives are doing. Maybe it's someone getting a sponsor to plaster on their jersey.
I always enjoy Doug S's blog back in the day when he time and before all the twittering & tweeting. Witty, humorous... I think he had more bad days on the bike (which were very few) than he ever had blogging.
My story this winter remains much the same. I'm having an amazingly good preseason for my training. This is probably the first time winter hasn't compromised my training plans. I've opted for riding the bike outside over skiing and enjoyed it. Probably have 30-40% more time in than any time previously. Which was actually an eye opener. Not sure who of you keep any kind of records of how much riding you get in but I was looking that over this past month. Comparing previous years, etc, etc. What I found amazing was how relatively little time I've really spent training when compared to what you see written up by "Training bibles" and hear other people talk about. The cool part about it when I looked back. You can still be a pretty good racer without sacrificing the rest of your life to make training a part time job. What's relatively little when it comes to riding? Alot of times you'll read in a training program a person needs to do 500--600 hrs/yr or even more. How easy is that?! On paper maybe 2hrs a day 5 days a week doesn't seem like a lot, but that's assuming 50 weeks of the year - week in, week out. Miss the normal week or two because of a flu or cold, go on vacation for a week, take long weekends to travel somewhere and it's not necessarily easy to put that kinda time in. I've not done a final tally's of years past but I don't think I've ever done more than 350-400 hours in a year and somehow I've manage to reach the level of an expert racer. It leads me to believe the quality of workout you put in goes well above the quantity you put in. I'm not knocking that quantity of miles as it helps in alot of areas. But if your goal is to become faster and you think you have to sell your soul to the devil to find enough time to train I'm not so sure that's the case. Train doing the right stuff & I think you can really surprise yourself.
Though I've worked some moderate intervals in throughout the winter, to keep that part of my fitness nurtured, some recent power tests I've done do not even shown the normal winter fall-off that happens. That's encouraging so I'm excited to see where things could go this year.
Funny story how in life you intersect with other people -- the other week I'm calling Planet bike about some equipment I purchased. This guy, James (no last name given), answers the call -- Lord knows why but for some reason I think I should know him. Anyways it required him to look around for some answers and call me back. And sure enough when he does my suspicion is confirmed -- it's James LaLonde, the youngest of the three very talented Lalonde bros. Often we've been together in a race so it was neat to visit and catch up with someone you wouldn't expect to talk to unless you were at a race. Small world.
Well, another 70 days or so left before MTB racing kicks off. Going be having our Mid winter bike party pretty soon as well. Food, drinks, fun. Always a good cycling video and probably some indoor bike racing... for real. It's pretty wild. We have a pretty dominant 5 yr old in that category of racing, his size & skills work the course over pretty good.... how my wife ever allows it I'll never know... guess I'm just lucky.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Couldn't let another month go by....
Blog updating...? What's that?
Can't believe how long it's been since a write up. But gotta get a least one in for this month.
I think it's safe to guess it's one of the two B's as to why blogs don't get updated. Either things are too Boring or too Busy....
Can't say it's been the former. Work, family, holidays and .....lot's of training. This fall I'd been looking very much forward to getting some CX skiing over winter, things just didn't play out that way however. A couple of miracle winter training aids and I got in an amount of outdoor cycling that would have previously been not fathomable. Back in November I picked up a some Thermic heated insoles. The Lake winter cycling boots I got the previous year ('08) though good -- just didn't cut it once temps got 30ish or colder or if their was any significant wind (10mph or more). Put the two of them together however and not too much can stop a person from some longer winter training rides. The heated insoles cost a fair amount but I gotta say, they've been worth every penny. If you're ever looking for a solution to your feet freezing, seriously consider picking up a pair. Years of riding in stupid cold weather without them only serve to cause nerve damage in my feet. Training on a set of indoor rollers while great for developing your balance and beats the cold weather... really test the limits of my tolerance and interest on riding a bike. If you do check out the Thermic insolves consider getting the lithium ion battery ones and it's alot less maintenance to properly take care of them.
One more year of gearing up for a MTB race season with a cyclo-cross cap at the end. If current training is any indication, my '09 riding/racing season and this winter's training I may have finally kicked my "enduro" problems. The best thing a fellow competitor could have asked for in the past is "just make the race long enough" and the odds of that person out dueling me were probably pretty good. I think I can go reasonably fast... but in as short as an hour or the longest 2 hours I was general toast. The butter-me-up-and-serve-me-with-scrambled-eggs kinda toast.
If a person looks at their abilities, strengths & weaknesses they can quickly sum up where they excel at and where they fall apart or can't muster the effort. I believe each of us has a natural tendency toward something.... a body that can steady utilize it's fuel reserves for hours on end or one that can dissipate levels of lactate acid at high levels of power output. I find it fascinating how similar the motion of cycling is for everybody but how different we all excel under differing conditions and disciplines of cycling. Watch cross races -- muddy versus technical versus power races. MTB races technical versus hill climbing versus the double track "gravel" road races. Same type of things for road cycling.
Coming from some pretty humble results and beginnings as far back as '01, I've somehow managed to climb the rungs slowly and one at a time. Never really any big jumps and a lot of sitting at plateaus. The one nut I never had much luck cracking was the endurance side of the sport. I've learned to go reasonably fast over the years with a lot of interval training but keeping it up past a certain point was always my downfall. '09 I had a couple breakthroughs but with the training I have going on now I hope to solidly put it behind me. Maybe even a NUE 100 miler in my future... perhaps?
Hmmm... only about 100 days til the first MTB race. That sounds pretty exciting when looking at it that way.... it's alittle more motivating than saying it's finally the end of January. Well, I got a great coach in Josh Powers who's somehow been able to understand the demands of my life (running a business, while trying to be a good husband, and father of 3 children under the age of 6). Somehow he crafts a program that "tricks" my body into getting better on some level each year.
If you're reading you're probably racing on some level or at least riding for the love it. I find the battle isn't about winning (though who doesn't like to) -- it's about doing the best you can with the resources you have. Ride and race to have fun or stay in good health or to find out just how good you can become. Is it ok to be curious about what that next guy is doing? Of course, but no two individual's lives are the same. Not only from the physical possibilities we hold but the demands, choices, points in life and other intangibles that make up our lives.
In wrapping up, I'm looking forward to see many of the friends I've made & fellow racers I've had the priviledge of toeing the line with over the years. For those of you think it's still winter and you're out skiing, knock yourself out, have a great time. In a month or two however, you might find those sticks strapped to your feet growing wearisome and the snow to be in short supply....so swing a leg over that old bike of yours (or drool over a new one) you might be surprised at how much you missed riding.
I'm Out..........................riding...
Can't believe how long it's been since a write up. But gotta get a least one in for this month.
I think it's safe to guess it's one of the two B's as to why blogs don't get updated. Either things are too Boring or too Busy....
Can't say it's been the former. Work, family, holidays and .....lot's of training. This fall I'd been looking very much forward to getting some CX skiing over winter, things just didn't play out that way however. A couple of miracle winter training aids and I got in an amount of outdoor cycling that would have previously been not fathomable. Back in November I picked up a some Thermic heated insoles. The Lake winter cycling boots I got the previous year ('08) though good -- just didn't cut it once temps got 30ish or colder or if their was any significant wind (10mph or more). Put the two of them together however and not too much can stop a person from some longer winter training rides. The heated insoles cost a fair amount but I gotta say, they've been worth every penny. If you're ever looking for a solution to your feet freezing, seriously consider picking up a pair. Years of riding in stupid cold weather without them only serve to cause nerve damage in my feet. Training on a set of indoor rollers while great for developing your balance and beats the cold weather... really test the limits of my tolerance and interest on riding a bike. If you do check out the Thermic insolves consider getting the lithium ion battery ones and it's alot less maintenance to properly take care of them.
One more year of gearing up for a MTB race season with a cyclo-cross cap at the end. If current training is any indication, my '09 riding/racing season and this winter's training I may have finally kicked my "enduro" problems. The best thing a fellow competitor could have asked for in the past is "just make the race long enough" and the odds of that person out dueling me were probably pretty good. I think I can go reasonably fast... but in as short as an hour or the longest 2 hours I was general toast. The butter-me-up-and-serve-me-with-scrambled-eggs kinda toast.
If a person looks at their abilities, strengths & weaknesses they can quickly sum up where they excel at and where they fall apart or can't muster the effort. I believe each of us has a natural tendency toward something.... a body that can steady utilize it's fuel reserves for hours on end or one that can dissipate levels of lactate acid at high levels of power output. I find it fascinating how similar the motion of cycling is for everybody but how different we all excel under differing conditions and disciplines of cycling. Watch cross races -- muddy versus technical versus power races. MTB races technical versus hill climbing versus the double track "gravel" road races. Same type of things for road cycling.
Coming from some pretty humble results and beginnings as far back as '01, I've somehow managed to climb the rungs slowly and one at a time. Never really any big jumps and a lot of sitting at plateaus. The one nut I never had much luck cracking was the endurance side of the sport. I've learned to go reasonably fast over the years with a lot of interval training but keeping it up past a certain point was always my downfall. '09 I had a couple breakthroughs but with the training I have going on now I hope to solidly put it behind me. Maybe even a NUE 100 miler in my future... perhaps?
Hmmm... only about 100 days til the first MTB race. That sounds pretty exciting when looking at it that way.... it's alittle more motivating than saying it's finally the end of January. Well, I got a great coach in Josh Powers who's somehow been able to understand the demands of my life (running a business, while trying to be a good husband, and father of 3 children under the age of 6). Somehow he crafts a program that "tricks" my body into getting better on some level each year.
If you're reading you're probably racing on some level or at least riding for the love it. I find the battle isn't about winning (though who doesn't like to) -- it's about doing the best you can with the resources you have. Ride and race to have fun or stay in good health or to find out just how good you can become. Is it ok to be curious about what that next guy is doing? Of course, but no two individual's lives are the same. Not only from the physical possibilities we hold but the demands, choices, points in life and other intangibles that make up our lives.
In wrapping up, I'm looking forward to see many of the friends I've made & fellow racers I've had the priviledge of toeing the line with over the years. For those of you think it's still winter and you're out skiing, knock yourself out, have a great time. In a month or two however, you might find those sticks strapped to your feet growing wearisome and the snow to be in short supply....so swing a leg over that old bike of yours (or drool over a new one) you might be surprised at how much you missed riding.
I'm Out..........................riding...
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Swany's
Alright, we've all heard about the Oscars, the Emmy's, even the ESPY's.... well, it's about that time of year for the Swanys.
With any luck a couple of installments of odds, ends and notables of the year going by. The content of which will be varied and attempt to exploit no single individual or effort -- but offer in humor and light heartedness with an occassional dash of sincerity a recap of the varied slices of the cycling related world that crossed my path this year.
But before that... what's been going on that so limited my entries of late. Well,...life of course. I left off with a 3 week past due recap of BayCross racing, the second day of that race is now 2 months past and with it any residual memories. Ah, no, that's not exactly the case. It was like Day 1, less Jesse Bell & his UP compatriot, instead Nic Anikin from Duluth showed up. What was interesting about the race? It was a great course at Ashland's BayView park overlooking Lake Superior, great weather and even proved to be respectfully fun racing. Out of the blocks I had some hangover effects from the solo shot the previous day's race. Nic showing up after skipping the first day wasn't exactly reason for a grand harrah. Even so, I was certainly looking to do the best I could, winning the overall title for the weekend was the primary objective, seeing what I could do in this race was number two.
After the heavy solo effort the previous day I was content to see what pace others wanted to take things out at. Early on it was 4 person lineup, myself, Shawn Gort, Nic Anikin & another guy I wasn't familiar with Bill Kuster. The pace wasn't slow but it wasn't fast initially either. I generally have a ton of juice in the early minutes of a race so as I recall I went to the front in part of lap one & two to move things along but also felt like I didn't have the all out power of the day before. So soon I was content to mark anyone else's moves and react instead of instigate. Within few laps Bill dropped back & it was just Shawn, myself & Nic. Now without going into alot of history, I'll just say Shawn's a guy I respect alot and coming in behind him fair & square I'd never have any issue with. Nic as a far as I know him sure seems like a nice enough guy, suffice to say, I can't say I've always been happy with his racing tactics. And I guess you could say having commisserated with Shawn the previous day, I took the approach of siding up with him. I felt I had nothing to lose Day 2, I'd put in the hero's effort the day before and didn't have anything to prove. Nic was going to have the upper hand of the three of us due to the fresher legs so I was satisfied with sitting in & covering his race. At different times he eased up looking for a pull through, but because of what I'd done the day before I felt I didn't owe anyone. Shawn & Nic took turns at the front, once or twice when Nic was likely trying to force my hand it gave Shawn the opportunity to get away -- which if would have been successfull , yes, would have taken away the chance at the overall, but it would have been worth it.
I almost dropped off once when I took a digger on the barriers, but got back into position soon enough before Shawn & Nic turned on the jets. As it turned out, in the final 3 laps or so, Shawn had a replay of what happened to me on the barriers only Nic took off & I was able to stay with him.
In the second to last lap, Nic put in a big surge and my legs just couldn't put out the effort they had the day before. It was strange because the previous day I could bury myself in an effort, but this day I totally had a limiting switch that never let me dig dip. It was like I never got tired all race long, but even so I couldn't go any harder. I did manage to crawl back to within a few seconds in the last lap but it proved to not enough to finish it.
Even so 2nd on the day was good enough to take the overall title & $125 purse for the weekend. Huge thanks to Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson for putting the weekend together as well as the sponsors, especially Ideal Market/Rivers Eatery in Cable. Shawn had flipped flopped positions with me in the two races for the same number of points awarded but the tie breaker was based on shortest cumulative time. In other words I had a bigger gap on Shawn day 2, than he had on me day 1.
Despite all my best of intentions to race again, after successive weeks of falling prey to flu's, colds & food poisoning, I opted out. However I must say, I really would have loved to join the fractious at the UP Championship...next year, PB & I will keep those guys on their toes. Otherwise MN's State Championship is always on the radar.
With any luck a couple of installments of odds, ends and notables of the year going by. The content of which will be varied and attempt to exploit no single individual or effort -- but offer in humor and light heartedness with an occassional dash of sincerity a recap of the varied slices of the cycling related world that crossed my path this year.
But before that... what's been going on that so limited my entries of late. Well,...life of course. I left off with a 3 week past due recap of BayCross racing, the second day of that race is now 2 months past and with it any residual memories. Ah, no, that's not exactly the case. It was like Day 1, less Jesse Bell & his UP compatriot, instead Nic Anikin from Duluth showed up. What was interesting about the race? It was a great course at Ashland's BayView park overlooking Lake Superior, great weather and even proved to be respectfully fun racing. Out of the blocks I had some hangover effects from the solo shot the previous day's race. Nic showing up after skipping the first day wasn't exactly reason for a grand harrah. Even so, I was certainly looking to do the best I could, winning the overall title for the weekend was the primary objective, seeing what I could do in this race was number two.
After the heavy solo effort the previous day I was content to see what pace others wanted to take things out at. Early on it was 4 person lineup, myself, Shawn Gort, Nic Anikin & another guy I wasn't familiar with Bill Kuster. The pace wasn't slow but it wasn't fast initially either. I generally have a ton of juice in the early minutes of a race so as I recall I went to the front in part of lap one & two to move things along but also felt like I didn't have the all out power of the day before. So soon I was content to mark anyone else's moves and react instead of instigate. Within few laps Bill dropped back & it was just Shawn, myself & Nic. Now without going into alot of history, I'll just say Shawn's a guy I respect alot and coming in behind him fair & square I'd never have any issue with. Nic as a far as I know him sure seems like a nice enough guy, suffice to say, I can't say I've always been happy with his racing tactics. And I guess you could say having commisserated with Shawn the previous day, I took the approach of siding up with him. I felt I had nothing to lose Day 2, I'd put in the hero's effort the day before and didn't have anything to prove. Nic was going to have the upper hand of the three of us due to the fresher legs so I was satisfied with sitting in & covering his race. At different times he eased up looking for a pull through, but because of what I'd done the day before I felt I didn't owe anyone. Shawn & Nic took turns at the front, once or twice when Nic was likely trying to force my hand it gave Shawn the opportunity to get away -- which if would have been successfull , yes, would have taken away the chance at the overall, but it would have been worth it.
I almost dropped off once when I took a digger on the barriers, but got back into position soon enough before Shawn & Nic turned on the jets. As it turned out, in the final 3 laps or so, Shawn had a replay of what happened to me on the barriers only Nic took off & I was able to stay with him.
In the second to last lap, Nic put in a big surge and my legs just couldn't put out the effort they had the day before. It was strange because the previous day I could bury myself in an effort, but this day I totally had a limiting switch that never let me dig dip. It was like I never got tired all race long, but even so I couldn't go any harder. I did manage to crawl back to within a few seconds in the last lap but it proved to not enough to finish it.
Even so 2nd on the day was good enough to take the overall title & $125 purse for the weekend. Huge thanks to Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson for putting the weekend together as well as the sponsors, especially Ideal Market/Rivers Eatery in Cable. Shawn had flipped flopped positions with me in the two races for the same number of points awarded but the tie breaker was based on shortest cumulative time. In other words I had a bigger gap on Shawn day 2, than he had on me day 1.
Despite all my best of intentions to race again, after successive weeks of falling prey to flu's, colds & food poisoning, I opted out. However I must say, I really would have loved to join the fractious at the UP Championship...next year, PB & I will keep those guys on their toes. Otherwise MN's State Championship is always on the radar.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
BayCross - Day I
Don’t know how to express what a refreshing ‘cross race Ashland BayCross is the 3rd weekend of October. It’s low key but ambitious at the same time. Geographically isolated in some regards, it’s draw is the uniquiness of the event. The atmosphere it brings and the beauty of Northern Wisconsin & Lake Superior.
As I mentioned in a previous post, didn’t exactly have ideal training & race preparations going into it. Ok, probably among the least ideal. Fatigue & sleep issues, making for a lot of time off the bike, just getting over a flu/food poisoning and having raced only once in the previous 5 weeks.
It’s always exciting because it’s the hometown race. In the 4 previous editions, I’ve had predominately had 2nd/3rd place finishes and a 5th or 6th place one year. Despite my poor prep time going into it this year, it was intriguing to finally race ‘cross – a shorter duration, speed & power race, something I felt was a real strength of mine this year but with the exception of Ashland’s Muddrutter’s MTB race, I’d not be able to participate in. Everything else had been 2hr+ MTB cross country races. I was kinda salivating at the prospects.
Downside and opportunity at the same time was that former winner,
Even so, for the 60 min A race, once everyone dropped their bikes up course for the Leman’s start and toed the line for the start, it appeared to still be a pretty respectable field. Kelly Mcknight, coming off a great Chequamegon 40; another great area rider who just doesn’t get enough opportunities to race, Scott Nesvold. Shawn Gort from
The BayCross Day 1 course is a perfect mixed course that’s one is equally matched on either the MTB or cross bike. Having forgone a ‘cross bike purchase this year, it was back to the SuperFly with the Dry X & XR1 Team tire combination. At the word “Go!”, I was 2nd or 3rd to my bike and quickly saw the two UP riders on their cross bikes jump to the front. Amazingly enough, given the limited training time on the bike in recent weeks, something snapped in me & I got immediately into race mode. With a couple hundred yards in, I went to the front to push the pace. Believe it or not, it wasn’t on purpose – it’s just what I felt. The initial part of the course that leaves Prentice part is across a wide open field, usually it has a cross/head wind and that day was no exception. When I looked behind Jesse & Weston were on my wheel with another group containing Kelly, Scott, etc several bike lengths back. I recall making several surges to keep everyone honest & working themselves on that open part of the course and not just drafting. The group of three of us, maintained the separation through the railroad corridor section and ensuing rutted up snowmobile trail. Feeling good I stayed out front for a good remainder of the first lap trying to get a sense of who would be riding strong and if anyone was already feeling the pressure of a hot first lap.
Coming through lap one start finish was cool because of the crowd and the volleyball sandpit… do the hero thing, get the crowd going and power through it or get off & run. The sand was deep & soft so you had to get a good “broken in” line and try to hold steady through the remainder of it. At the start of lap 2, I backed off to see how Jesse or Weston would do in carrying the work load or if it would give the other racers a chance to get back in touch. Again, crossing the open field, the pace felt reduced and I was so itching to get to the front again. I mentioned to Jesse & Weston, it’d be a good idea to step on it again as the strongest racer (in my opinion) that day was behind us. Meaning Kelly Mcknight. I’m not sure how to take this next point because one can’t always be sure they interpret things correctly but I could have sworn Weston made some kinda of seemingly (note I said seemingly) derogatory sounding comment about the fact “they’re on MTB’s”. Oh, boy! Not a smart thing to assume in a ‘cross race.
As best as I recall, I held back that lap to take alittle break but constantly had the itch to drive the pace harder. The backside of lap two I got to witness a very fine display of bunny-hopping skills by both Jesse & Weston, a railroad tied served as an inopportune barrier coming through a small single track section. It was like the guys grew wings & flew over that barrier, helmets off to them. I meanwhile did the front & rear wheelies without such a pretty effect. Jesse in particular also had really smooth barrier run throughs in the times I saw him do it.
Going into lap three the gap to the others seemed to grow slightly, and the course officials announced laps to go. Weston, I don’t know if he’s exactly a happy person because he let out some exasperated expression at hearing 9 laps to go. Anyways, I’m feeling great, and at this point I couldn’t resist hammering down. On the third go around through the windy open field, Jesse & Weston were with me. Each time I turned around & saw them drafting, I put in a hard surge and a couple bike lengths would open. Jesse closed it once, then twice but the third time was the charm. I broke free and seemingly had 4 or 5 bikes lengths in short order.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sleep, cumulative fatigue, lot's of weeks off
I find it interesting how different racer's seasons play out -- when someone starts their training, how well they keep up their performance throughout the season, when & if they train & race hard enough to finally come unglued at some point. Someone that's never really had that last aspect happen wonders "How in the heck does that happen? If you're in good to great shape how does it ever leave you?" Great question, and when posed that way I don't know that I can give a great explanation. However, it's just one of those things the human body does when pushed hard, perhaps repeatedly to it's limits. At some point, it says enough is enough and begins a process of shutting you down for your own good. I like to call it cumulative fatigue and until you can give the body enough rest to recover from it. It'll be banging at your backdoor trying to shut you down.
For all the reasons we are unique as individuals, so will the fatigue manifest itself. For me, I generally know something up when my sleep patterns get screwy. I can otherwise feel great, still race & train normal and not even feel overly tired after doing so. Alotta times that's because a person is so hepped up on the regular dose of endorphins the body has become accustomed to from the training.
What's a screwy sleep pattern, well for me, it's waking 2-3 times per night & not falling back to sleep immediately. There's also a nagging feeling that's hard to explain that tells me something's not right. It's completely different than when an outside noise or event wakes you up.
This year it started for me as soon as early August. The "if-I-ignore-it-it-will-go-away-method" didn't work as even though I cut back on the training during the week I still raced hard most every weekend. A back to back MTB race weekend mid August in Calumet,MI & RiverFalls,WI probably pushed me over the edge. The following weeks at Seeley's Pre-Fat & Copper Harbor's Fat Tire Festival though respectable races I was carrying a boat anchor through both of them.
With the sleep issues getting worse at the beginning of September Coach & myself settled in on the fact that rest & recovery was the priority. I'd still race, but do the most minimal work in between. It seemed reasonable that two weeks of rest should shake just about any cumulative fatigue....well... not for me. Mid Sept had arrived & time for the Cheq 40 -- without any training for the previous 2 weeks -- for whatever reason I was able to pull off a great race until a mishap early in the race finally caught up with me.
However still sleep issues followed me after the Cheq 40... whatever recovery I would get from my time off would get beat out of me the next time I raced. Finally I told coach, I'm taking off as much time as it takes until I finally get a solid full nights sleep! .... Three weeks later it finally happened now into the first full week of October. If you've ever had sleep deprivation issues for any reason -- you know how long time can feel like to get over them.
Sleep taken care now... time to get back on the bike... oh wait....now a 4 day battle of the stomach flu or more likely food poisoning to take care.
Here's the frustrating part of it all. You know when your season is mostly cooked, but you still have races you want to do & do well at. You want to be able to recover fast enough to still be able to to do reasonably well at. Well in the case of my last planned race of the season -- Ashland's BayCross race weekend Oct 17th-18th I'm down to 1 week to go and essentially haven't trained in 5 weeks, doing one race in that time and gotten sick.
The first time back on the bike after those 3 weeks & being sick I thought Kelly McKnight was going to kill me -- we were late to the start of the Whistlestop Half Marathon where we volunteer to lead the runners on the course. With still 3 miles to go and 8 or 9 minutes before the start -- I told him we had to move out. He went to the front & though I drafted off him very tightly, I could barely hang and after 6 minutes I had to drop off... not good and doesn't bode well for racing in a week. The next day I got out and tried several hard threshold intervals that are a standard part of my training... results... power that was 12-15% below my abilities back in May. Ugh!
Being far removed from what I consider my normal cycling abilities -- I carried through with some general workouts for that week & a few lesser intervals and hit BayCross that weekend. (Didn't want to add to an already too long post-- so I'll recaps the races later).
Only those two races or probably moreso Saturday's "hero" effort - sunk me right back into the poor sleep patterns.... AND yet MORE TIME OFF!! I think my coach said something along the lines "if you choose to do another cross race this season -- it'll destroy you". I don't know if he was serious or kidding.
Hence it's been another three weeks off the bike and a case of the swine flu later... but I'm finally sleeping decent again, Hallelujah!!
My 8 weeks previous to today? 3 races, 1 week of training....
Good thing I'm headed to the Iceman & then trying to decide on MI or MN 'cross championship the following weekend.... huh...go to the suposedly "can't miss" super fun MN event/party or bust out the big guns on Jeff, Jesse, the Tylers & give the rest of yooper country a run.
ok, I'm just kiddin'.....
At least about the Iceman that is....
Sunday, October 25, 2009
BayCross I & II - Ashland, WI
Super busy week hence behind on the update. More to come shortly.
Ashland's ambitious BayCross event of last weekend was a hit.
After a 3 week hiatius following the Chequamegon 40 and a week of the flu or food poisoning. I had only a week under my belt of being back on the bike, but the body works in amazing ways & somehow things clicked enough take the overall crown on the weekend & pocket a very nice $125 purse. Equal congrats to Shawn Gort who tied on the points for the weekend for 2nd & Kelly McKnight who took third & enough beer drinking money to last him...well, I guess that depends on what kind of beer he's drinking.
(Big Thank you sponsors, Ideal Market, Rivers Eatery on the prize money... now if there was just a way to get those beyond delicious stone oven pizza's there too.) And to the two driving forces behind the events, the promoters Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson -- you're onto something really special with this weekend of racing. And be carefully cause at some point the secret is going to get out...
Nice competition both days, good stories I"ll follow up with. Considering how rough this October's weather has been we lucked out with some great days.
Ashland's BayCross is a different kind of race weekend. Considering putting it on your calender next year & check it out.
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