Starting Over Part II

The Times They Are a Changin - Bob Dylan

Of course Part II here focuses on the cycling component of Starting Over ..

In six years it amazing the amount that has changed in the sport and the cycling equipment world but the reality is the things that mattered then still matter today ... fitness, position, nutrition, pacing and racing ethics! Wait, sorry, ethics just doesn't mean as much as it use to on the course. I'm not going into details in this post but Jay Prasuhn spent a couple paragraphs discussing it on his blog here and you can read my comments to the that section of his post here . I feel bad for the guys and gals that rode legal and barely missed out on spots.

Moving on ;)

As I rolled thru late fall and early December the training was very much in the mind set of getting the body prepared to train again. The cycling was ahead of everything else so I was able to ride a little more during this time. That being said it was important, from a health stand point, to be conservative and use HR caps the majority of the time. This was hard because I was back in the garage with the cycling team and it's not easy to put the governer on in a group setting, especially when you are motivated! I did begin to add a little climbing in to the mix thru December to help improve my general strength and muscualr endurance.

As the new year hit and the health seemingly in the clear it was time to take the HR caps off the cycling and see what happens. Essentially the first 6 months of 2008 were based around riding with my cycling team when I could, feel good completing our three day TrainTo Endure Winter Training Camp and getting a little bit of bike racing in as well. The period would end with a three day, 100 miles a day ride with the cycling team before taking a little break from the hard riding. The weeks were pretty simple as far as structure:

> Tuesday - Team Ride -- Interval session on the trainer, on the road, or 1:00 of crit racing once May came around.

> Thursday - Hill repeats, hilly ride, or steady state on the TT bike

> Saturday and/or Sunday - Longer ride, hard group ride or the occasional race.
NOTE - On occasion I was also able to do a short or medium distance aerobic ride on Wednesdays with Tom & Phil.

The goal with this routine was simply to be consistent and get stronger through riding and racing with the team!

The second part of the "season" started in early August and I decided to race the Big Kahuna Half to see where "things" were at. Things were not where I hoped they might be and changes needed to be made. The changes needed? Simply riding the TT the majority of the time and doing some steady state intervals. The foundation of the final weeks was based on a weekend steady state / long ride and a Thursday 75 minute interval session on the compu-trainer at the Aria Velo Lab. Other than that I had an ez recovery ride on TUES and a steady aerobic ride on WED.

Some details:

- AVG Cycling Per Week from JAN 1 thru Race Day = 7.5 hrs

- Biggest Cycling Week = 18.5 hrs (June - Tuesday thru a Monday that included a three day camp)

- Longest Ride = 112 miles x 3

- AVG Cycling per week in the last 10 weeks pre race = 8 hrs

RACE DAY:

Similar to the swim I was a little unsure of what i was going to ride but based on two simulation rides on the Silverado Trail I thought 5:30-5:35 could be done comfortably, even if there was some wind blowing around. Goal? Ride as fast as I could with lowest power output possible!

I knew I had done some stuff correctly in the first hour of the race because I settled into the bike real quick with a low heart rate. The first hour for me is all about emotion control because it all feels so easy! ;) The course rolls out of town and essentially three out and back "loops". The outward loop was gradually uphill to rolling uphill for 18+ miles into a headwind while the return is just the opposite. Because of the courses nature I thought the outward bound leg section would be closer to 75-80% of FTP (as opposed to 70-75% that is typically advisable) with the downhill/tailwind return section likely being closer to 65%.

It played out that I rode all three loops pretty equal from an even power stand point but the return legs yielded way lower percentage of FTP than I imagined. (even riding at an AVG of 25mph) It just didn't make sense to push any harder on the down or tailwind sections. For me it seemed better to get the calories in/absorbed and put some reserve in the bank for what might be an unpredictable run! ;) My lap splits taken off my PT were: 1:48 / 1:50 / 1:48 with laps 2 & 3 having 2min of pee stop each (and man did I need that ;)

As the ride came to a close I knew I rode pretty conservatively. The other thing I realized is that I felt a little stopped up in my intestines (?) plus a little extra solute sitting in the belly. For nutrition I used two concentrated bottles (one per lap) for nutrition (one Carbo Pro 1200 / one Infinit) and followed sips of that with clear water. What I ended up with is not taking enough clear water so I tried to push a little extra H2O over the last 10 miles of the bike and ride easier with hopes for absorption. You'll find out later it didn't work optimally!

I got off the bike in under 5:30 ride time (my PT had 5:25) and thought to myself ... "hey I'm going OK, BUT don't get too excited because there is a big, looming chunk of running to come! I took another pee in T2, went about changing into a completely new set of gear, strapped on the Fuel Belt, some stealth, homemade granny compression sleeves, the Saucony runners and rolled off into an unknown world!

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Lessons Learned - Lesson Confirmed?

1) Don't neglect riding the TT / Tri bike frequently in your race lead ups. I made the mistake before Big Kahuna ... leasson learned before IM AZ ;)

2) If you are not sure of what you might be capable of on race day do a couple HONEST 110-115 mile simulation rides on course similar to what you will be racing on. Take that opportunity to hammer home the nutrition plan AND run immediately off the bike

3) Like I said ... tha game has changed a bit. Courses like IMAZ have too many people on them and many athletes race ethics have changed. I thought that might be the case .... 10-4, roger that!

4) If you have limited training time on the bike during the week perform at least one session that address muscular endurance and strength. If you can tolertae it, the indoor trainer is valuable!

Next time we talk running :) ... DL