2 posts in one day ? !

Ok, So no pictures or power files, but the ride today was worth writing about. All everyone is talking about is the cold weather this weekend in the East. Yesterday Cara and I did a soggy, snowy miserable 90 minute MTB ride in Bent Creek where we plowed through several inches of crusty snow before getting soaked and heading back to the car. Not too fun, but a decent strength workout nonetheless. With the temps below 30 and the forecast for even more frigid conditions sunday, the ride outlook was pretty bleak. Just before we headed out we ran into some friends who were planning a nice long off road ride up the Mitchell toll road and down heartbreak ridge. Of course I said I would go....that is now my hometown ride.....we were to meet @ 12:30 sunday.
.
I think it was about 12 or 13 degrees when I headed out the door. At first I thought I was overdressed, but then I realized I had a tailwind heading over to the meeting spot. Turns out all but 2 other riders bailed...too cold for them! So it was just Marv Masson, Trish Stevens and me. We hit out to climb for over an hour on what were to be interesting trail conditions. I was afraid that we would get wet, but the snow was not melting, so we had mostly crunchy good traction...way better than expected. there was plenty of ice as well.. but not too much trouble going up hill. It was cold...oh yes it was cold, but we were in no huge hurry and stopped to warm hands and feet numerous times on the way up. The snow added resistance to the ride, but at times it actually made riding up the rocky toll road on the hardtail even smoother that usual. As we topped out near the Blue Ridge Parkway and turned onto upper Heartbreak I was a bit worried that the slippery conditions would make the downhill treacherous....and man was it cold up there over 5000 ft!
.
As it turns out the downhill conditions were AWESOME. It was super fun riding on the crusty snow. There was very little ice and where there was not snow the trail was dry.....it was so different from any other time I have ridden that trail...it was a blast. By the time we got down to Old Fort we were all actually feeling plenty warm for the trip back up the climb to Black Mountain. I made it home after being out close to 5 hours. Sure, we didn't break any speed records, but we didn't freeze to death either and had a great time......
.
Just goes to show that if you are prepared for the conditions...both with the right gear, and the right mental outlook...even "challenging" conditions can be a lot of fun to ride in.
.
a2

first couple of training weeks 2008

So the first couple of training weeks for 2008 are in the books with relative success. The first week was really solid with about 19 training hours capped off with the Snake Creek Gap MTB TT...which was a blast. The 2nd week saw a few less hours due to work/time commitments and less than perfect weather....for about 16 hours. This week (week 3) has seen even fewer training hours, but a couple of really solid sessions.

.

I have posted a couple of files above. Unfortunately the dates on the files are wrong, as I forgot to check my power control ...and it thought it was 2003 for some reason. The second is what I would call a "typical" endurance ride for me. I like the look of the srm software graphs for seeing the ride all at once. It gives an instant visual of the climbs, descents and steady portions of the ride....as opposed to the analysis that is possible in the WKO+ software. Notice that while the average power looks low (just over 200 watts), this was actually a pretty solid ride with lots of time around AeT. Living in the mountains the average power is skewed because of all the low power soft-pedaling on descents.

.

The file posted at the top is a 30-30 workout I did the other night inside on the computrainer. I thought the contrast between the outside endurance ride and the controlled short interval workout inside would be interesting to put side by side. This file is only the "work" part of the training session. I did a 1 min effort at about FTP, then did 16x 30 seconds @ 125% of FTP, with 30 seconds recovery. This is a hard workout. My goal was between 15 and 20 efforts. I stopped after 16 mostly to be sure I could get enough recovery for a long endurance ride the following day. Another thing to note is the heart rate curve. Check out how HR does not reach max after each effort until 15 + seconds into the recovery. Also note that the "depth" of recovery is less and less as the session goes on. Each effort was about 420 watts average....my estimated off-season FTP now is probably about 330 watts or so.....in the future I would hope to see several things occur with this type of workout: increased avg wattage for efforts (but probably the same % of FTP as FTP improves), increased depth of HR recovery between efforts, and of course the ability to complete more efforts without feeling like dying.

.

OK, I promise a more interesting post next time ... :)

.

a2

"42"

If I remember correctly, according to the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, "42" is the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything........well today I turned 42 years old.
.
Maybe this will be a year of particular enlightenment?
.
a2

2007 Season Summary

Happy New Year!

I have been meaning to post my 2007 season summary for a while....I ask all the athletes I coach to answer these questions for me at the end of each season, so here are my answers to those same questions. The important thing I try to get out of this is honesty. If you can honestly assess the season you are already a long way down the road to reaching the goals for the next year.
.
So, 2007 was a year of very good and well...some bad. Usually I have good consistent seasons, or not -so- good seasons. Last year was both. With everything else going on (like new business commitments, and buying a new (old) house) my training volume took a huge hit compared to previous years. However, some really great results happened in 2007 as well.....so here it is:
.
Season Summary
.
Name: a2
.
Race Season/Year Just Completed: 2007
.
1. What was the highlight of your season (for example, best race or greatest accomplishment)? Please explain why.
.
Tandem national championship road race….most fun on a bike ever.
.
National TTs, both masters and elite. I only lost the master title by 9 seconds or so…it was what I would consider a great performance and I really don’t think I could have given any more. Then I was able to maintain focus and take another top 10 in the elite TT with an even faster time….too bad I couldn't hold focus and fitness through the elite road race.
.
All the races Hekman, Harper and I did together….it was like magic, we never even had to talk about anything, we knew each other so well and what each of our roles was to get results…perfect.
.
Winning 6 hrs of Tsali, and 5th @ ORAMM….. Rediscovering my MTB roots, especially at long distances.
.
1a. In what areas do you feel you improved most this season?
.
Crits? I had a few performances in crits where I even surprised myself…particularly at the Raleigh nrc race…me on the front of an nrc crit…who would have believed it?! (and I have at least one picture to prove it...posted above)
.
Learning how to go fast on the MTB again
.
2. What was your greatest disappointment? Why?
.
Worlds: I put in a very good performance in the TT, I went 35 seconds faster than last year in tougher conditions (more wind), for only 11th place. “Very Good” does not make a world championship performance…..everything needs to be perfect: preparation, mental aspects, and giving it ALL. My preparation between nationals and the worlds trip was not up to the necessary standard to get the result I wanted. Between a slight loss of focus, too much travel and business commitments the proper training just didn’t happen. My own shortcoming with time management, I believe, was the primary cause….the trip was still wicked fun, and to share it with Cara was great, but the results left me thinking I didn’t live up to my own expectations.
.
Elite road nationals: After spending 10 days living out of hotels in Nowheresville PA I completely lost focus, fitness and determination to do well in the road race….I was ready to go home after the TT and my riding showed it…after making a stupid attack on the big climb on the first lap, getting caught and promptly dropped, I proved that you can’t help your teammates perform when you are off the back.
.
2a. What do you feel you need to improve most next season?
.
Time management! The business is going to be even more demanding in 2008 and I need to manage training, work and everything else precisely to get the form I want….I am motivated to make this happen correctly…..
.
3. If you could change your training, mental preparation, or race tactics/strategy in this past season, what would you do differently?
.
I believe I am lucky to some degree that I seem to have the mental skills I need as an athlete….I have worked on these skills for years, mostly without even realizing it. I find that I am relaxed and ready to go even for most of the big races where other riders are nervous….so no problems there. I would however like to get back to my old aggressive style of road racing rather than being conservative in order to help the team leaders like this year. Being off the front is one of the best ways to help your teammates!
.
4. If you've started thinking about next season, what would you most like to accomplish?
.
Ahhh I am not going to spill too many beans here…let’s just say I have a few exciting new possible goals for 2008. Stay tuned for more info on that. Although certainly defending our tandem RR and TT titles at nationals is on the list…as is helping the revamped Inferno road team accomplish what ever goals they have. I have several goals for off road racing in 2008 as well.
.
a2