Training Week

Training Week -- 1/26 - 2/1

Solid...

Mon: 0
Tue: Core/Weights
Wed: 1 hr; TT bike
Thu: 0
Fri: 3 hrs; Valley Center
Sat: 3 hrs; "A+" ride
Sun: 5 hrs; Wohlford, 76, Cole Grade, TIRED!

Total: 12 hrs

Tired and Sore

Hi All! It's been awhile since my last entry. No reason really, just haven't gotten to it. I'm two weeks into the Library Technology program, and so far, so good. As usual, I'm having feelings of "second thoughts". I get so worried that I'm not picking the right career choice, but I've dealt with this for years. Work is going OK. Business could be better. We are definitely feeling the pinch of this economy. Now, on to the good stuff! I was off the bike for almost 8 weeks from mid-November to mid-January. First with the sprained back, then followed immediately by a bout with bronchitis. The team camp two weeks ago was my return to training so to speak, and it was weak. Since then, I've been staying focused and consistent with my training regime, and am slowly beginning to feel stronger. I just finished a hard three-day training block designed to gain some fitness before my first race this season, Boulevard! Friday consisted of 3 hours through the hills of Valley Center. Saturday I rode out to Del Mar and met up with the SDBC "A" ride. Drilled it at the front for awhile (45-minutes), then branched off for some extra miles. Ended up with a good 3 hours. Sunday, was epic. Rode from the house and climbed Lake Wohlford Road, then headed out to Palomar Mountain. My plan was to climb to the summit, but as I was climbing the first 5-mile section (Highway 76), I was feeling weak for sure. As I reached the turn off to go up South Grade Road, I stopped and made the decision to skip going to the summit, and instead descended back down Highway 76 to Cole Grade Road. Needless to say, that climb is going to hurt the boys in the Tour of California! All in all, ended up with a solid 5-hours and a great prep for Boulevard. A lot of the team went out to the desert this Saturday for the Imperial Classic. They did great, got us a podium finish, and rode strong as a team. I was sooo tempted to race this one, I did last season and loved it, but instead decided to stick to the plan of focusing on RR's and TT's this season and opted for the big training block in hopes it'll pay off for Boulevard. We'll see!!! Until next time...

The Back Saga

Hello. So had my appointment with Physical Medicine today to get a specialists opinion on what could be wrong. I've been thinking all along that I probably injured my back in my last race or sometime there soon afterwards. I put some pedal extenders on the bike about a week before my race and didn't give my body time to adapt to the new position it was now in, then went out a rode a really hard TT. This is how I think the injury occured. Needless to say, the doctor's opnion was a sprained lower right-side back. It has been feeling better for the last couple of weeks which the doc said is a good sign. So the prescription...keep avoiding heavy lifting, and continue easy riding on the bike as long as it doesn't cause pain. Hopefully it heals soon, as next season is front loaded with a lot of RR's early on. Almost finished with English 202, Wednesday is the last class, then a month off before heading into the Library Tech program. Also, just had my first day at work as a library volunteer at Rancho Bernardo High School! So far, so good. Until next time.....

Down Time

I'm not a good patient. As it turns out, I injured my back at my last race, the Santiago Canyon TT, November 8th. Something in my right-side, lower back area, almost feels like a pinched nerve or a strained muscle. I kept on riding regardless of the pain because it didn't seem to bother me that much on the bike, but afterwards the pain and stiffness would set in. So I've decided to take a full week off the bike beginning this last Sunday, and today was the first day that I didn't work or ride and it already has started to improve. On a good note, I finished 6th out of some twenty odd competitors, and had a new PR of 28:47, beating my old PR by ten seconds. Great way to end the season! It's not only the bike I've taken time off from, but my diet also. Let's just say, I've been enjoying myself:) But ultimately I don't enjoy "forced time off", but I did plan on taking a full week off the bike sometime this month, but it just wasn't happening, so I guess this is someones way of forcing me to! I enrolled in the Library Technology program, classes begin this January. I'm excited to be taking something else in college besides general education classes! Until next time.....

A Great Weekend

Yes it was, a great weekend of riding that is. Before I begin telling you about that, let me get the work and school arena of my life out of the way. Work is going well, business has slowed down, as just about everything in our countries current sad state of affairs has. We're still managing to pay the bills, so that'll have to do for now. It could be worse, right? School is fairly uneventful this semester. I like English 202, but I'm getting anxious for spring to arrive so I'm able to get started in the Library Technology program. Now on to the good stuff...Thursday morning I receive an email from the team that the plan for the weekend is to attend the infamous Swamis ride on Saturday. For those of you who don't know this ride, it's touted as the hardest group ride in San Diego. Every so often a pro shows up to mix it up with the local boys, this Saturday delivered. First off, I've always been scared, that's right, scared of attending this ride for fear that I wouldn't hang very long and ulitmately end up riding solo and humilated for many, many miles. I really need to get over that and realize that although I'll never be able to hang with the big boys of the sport, my fitness is good, and there's always someone slower:) Anyway, so there I am, sitting in front of B&L Bikes in Solana Beach, with a teammate, anxious, nervous, but not afraid. Up rolls Neil Shirley and Cody Stevenson from Jittery Joes. As if on cue, the groans begin, kiddingly, but also with a hint of, "Oh shit, today's gonna hurt". At 8:15am sharp the ride gets underway and I immediately notice another teammate up ahead and proceed to ride up to him. Now I find myself right at the front of the pack while we cruise down PCH, and the whole time I'm thinking, "Should we Cat 4's be leading THIS group, on THIS ride?" Oh well, enjoy leading it while you can. About four miles down the road we spot three riders looking back at us, waiting to jump in. As we approach they do just that. The guy who jumps in in front of me is decked out in a full Astana kit, complete with Trek bike and all. He looks vaguley familiar, but I'm unable to see him from behind. My first thought is this is just some poser Astana wanna-be joining in the Swamis ride, sucker! Just about then this guy turns to look back at the group and Holy Shit, it's Chris Horner! Very cool. I'm riding Chris Horner's wheel. A smile comes across my face, and I chuckle to myself thinking, what other sport has this much accessibility to the top athletes who compete in it? I mean really. When I played golf, there was never a chance I'd just radomly run in to Tiger Woods and have the opportunity to play a few holes with him. But there I was, just one day earlier flippin eggs and slingin hash in a hot little kitchen, and the next day drafting behind Chris Horner!!! The ride, epic, the experience, as they say, priceless. A great memory. Today, another beat down delievered to me by my Swamis training partner, who will now be known as "Warner Whiskas". More on that later:) Until next time.....

Technology Overload!!!

Hello again. Here's my life lately in a brief report. School is going well, three weeks ahead on my assignments so no stress there. Raced the Santiago Canyon Time Trial last Saturday and managed an 8th place finish, with a time of 30:17. Not good considering my goal was 28:30. Don't know what happened, some days you have it, some days......I've still been managing to get out on the bike 10-12 hours a week lately, but I have to admit my motivation to ride hard has been low. I just don't see the point this time of year. My diet has also been on the "easier" side so to speak. On a high note, I will be picking up a new frame sometime this week. A full-carbon Bailey Bikes ride. I've decided to go all carbon for the comfort factor, the bike will still be stiff, but vibration muffled more then my current aluminum frame. I'm hoping the new ride will help motivate me a bit to get out and pound the pedals. Now to the topic of this post...No more technology-based riding for me. As you know, after much research I ended up pulling the trigger on a Powertap about four months ago. At first I loved it (new toy syndrome), and thought I would use it to maximize my training, but here's what I learned about myself. That approach doesn't work for me. I'm not knocking powermeters in any way. I do believe that coupled with a coach or an individual who loves to crunch numbers after rides, they're extremely beneficial. But for someone like me, who's always ridden by feel, and doesn't have the funds to employ a coach, they're a crutch. I've been letting my heart rate and wattage dictate my rides. Frequently being dropped because I've been checking the meter and telling myself, "You better let up, you're going to hard!" I've noticed some of the guys on the team who typically have trouble finishing races, post in their race reports that at some point during the race they looked down at their powermeter and decided they couldn't keep going at whatever wattage was showing, so time to quit! What if they didn't have the powermeter to look at? Would they of quit? Time for me to get back to the basics, listen to my body, and let that dictate how I'm going to ride on any given day. Anyone want to purchase a powermeter? Until next time.....

Crash & Burn

As an endurance athlete and someone who likes to train as much as possible, I've become accustomed to feeling slightly fatigued all the time. Alot of my training rides involve feeling a bit tired as I start pedaling, but soon everything feels great, and I ride strong. Not the case this last Saturday! Last week I began my weight training regime at the gym in hopes of gaining some much needed strength in the legs. Here's what last week's training schedule looked like..
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 3 hours in gym
Wednesday: 50 miles
Thursday: 2 hours in gym
Friday: 45 miles
Saturday: Meltdown!
I did all that training leading up to the biggest ride I've ever taken on Saturday. Huge mistake!!! I left my house Saturday morning and rode to our meeting point at a leisurly pace, feeling ok. This all changed when we hit the first of many climbs that day. My training partner, who I usually have no trouble dropping on climbs since he's more the sprinter type, left me in the dust. About a quarter the way up Palomar South Grade Road I knew something was wrong when I was having trouble maintaining 6-7mph, and 250 watts. My usual pace up that climb is 9-10mph, and closer to 300 watts. Needless to say, I began cramping while descending East Grade Road, and was getting worried knowing I still had to claw my way up Mesa Grande Road. I finally arrived at Santa Ysabel seventy-five miles later with forty miles left to get home. I was in trouble! I really didn't want to limp home by myself on Highway 78. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to stay on the wheels of my training partners that day. Just then my prayers were answered. Two other teammates pulled up saying they'd just finished climbing Palomar, and started their ride right there in Santa Ysabel. I was able to hitch a ride home with them, tail between my legs, as my training partners finished out the ride:( I'm convinced this was a case of over-training, especially before a ride of that magnitude. Needless to say, I decided to take three full days off the bike, and will pull the TT bike out this Wednesday and Friday for two-hour workouts, and that'll be it before the Santiago Canyon TT this Saturday. Let's hope my legs are better this Saturday then last!!! Until next time.....