What Does Race Week Mean?
Gotta be honest, I have no idea. The race is Sunday at 9:00 am. It's now Monday morning and I'm heading to work. I'm tired, I ate like shit yesterday, and I didn't have 2 particularly good days on the bike. In a sense I feel a little stagnant but when I try to be objective about it the rides weren't bad by any stretch. If I allow a slight taper and enough rest this week I should be good to go.
Saturday I met Woody and Kevin at Chimney Rock at the usually absurd time of 6:00. I was ready to roll by 5:50 so I went on a quick 10 minute warm up before they got there and immediately felt I was off. I was a little sluggish and I wasn't technically sound at all. So I decided to ease up a bit, spin more, and take it easier than normal.
Maybe an hour later Woody tells me to go on by myself if I want because he and Kevin are both dragging. No doubt Kevin was having a rough day having gone OTB twice in the section before he said that. I didn't feel so good that I needed to drop anyone and the pace was fine. Being objective, Woody's comment is an indication I wasn't sucking it up out there or anything. By the final loop I did feel a tad better. And my average for the day was the same as the week before when I felt invincible.
Yesterday I did my 38 mile loop which I'm kinda sick of because there are 3 roads I'd prefer not to ride in that loop. I did it in the afternoon and expected an 18-19 mph average. So I was surprised at the flat 17.0 average I pulled. Granted it was the fastest time I've ever done that loop but I'm also clearly in better shape then ever before so it's a no-brainer that should be the case. I ended up riding for 2:13 and change. I think by the end of the year I could post a 2 hour ride for that loop. But I'd really have to go balls out for that.
So I suppose objectively I had a good weekend but I didn't feel "on" either day. I didn't put in a ton of hours last week and I was pretty rested enough so I was expecting better. That's the funny thing about this training stuff. You never know how it's going to turn out. There are no instructions like there are when you bake a cake.
This week is pretty light overall. Tuesday will be an hour or so, 20 minutes of high-end stuff which is 2/3 the normal. Thursday is a 1:15 tempo ride. Then Saturday is my warm up day. Probably 1:20 out at Lewis Morris, with a 20 minute warm up, then 1 race loop at moderate pace but hammering a few hills, then a 20 minute cool down. Then a shitload of carbs and water the rest of the day which seemed to work well for the Matheny ride a few weeks ago. Still need to figure out my breakfast for Sunday.
Then Sunday at 9:00 I get to line up against some of the pros and get my ass handed to me. No better way to show yourself just how absurdly inadequate your biking abilities are by taking the line with the strongest endurance rider in the country. The annual winner of the 24 hour solo race may also be there. Actually I have no idea who will show but last year this race brought out all the top teams in the area.
Whatever though. I've been "training" for about 6 months so my expectations are reasonable. I figure I'll post 4 laps then my time limit to start another will have run out. It's a 4 hour race but you need to start your last lap by the 3 hour mark. A local semi-pro I occasionally ride with posted 43 minute lap times last year and I can't keep that pace. So maybe my best time on my best day is 45 minutes. But I won't be able to throw down 4 of those laps in succession Sunday. So I think it will be 3 and then 1 last lap.
OK so enough of all that. It's Monday morning and I'm on the train. Let's hope this week is a good one. I would wish my readers a belated happy Mother's Day but I think only Woody, Cliffy, and Terren read this blog so what would the point be? Shit I doubt anyone even got to the end of it so my words at this point are generally worthless anyway, since I myself probably won't even go back and read them.
So anyway, Merry Christmas.
Saturday I met Woody and Kevin at Chimney Rock at the usually absurd time of 6:00. I was ready to roll by 5:50 so I went on a quick 10 minute warm up before they got there and immediately felt I was off. I was a little sluggish and I wasn't technically sound at all. So I decided to ease up a bit, spin more, and take it easier than normal.
Maybe an hour later Woody tells me to go on by myself if I want because he and Kevin are both dragging. No doubt Kevin was having a rough day having gone OTB twice in the section before he said that. I didn't feel so good that I needed to drop anyone and the pace was fine. Being objective, Woody's comment is an indication I wasn't sucking it up out there or anything. By the final loop I did feel a tad better. And my average for the day was the same as the week before when I felt invincible.
Yesterday I did my 38 mile loop which I'm kinda sick of because there are 3 roads I'd prefer not to ride in that loop. I did it in the afternoon and expected an 18-19 mph average. So I was surprised at the flat 17.0 average I pulled. Granted it was the fastest time I've ever done that loop but I'm also clearly in better shape then ever before so it's a no-brainer that should be the case. I ended up riding for 2:13 and change. I think by the end of the year I could post a 2 hour ride for that loop. But I'd really have to go balls out for that.
So I suppose objectively I had a good weekend but I didn't feel "on" either day. I didn't put in a ton of hours last week and I was pretty rested enough so I was expecting better. That's the funny thing about this training stuff. You never know how it's going to turn out. There are no instructions like there are when you bake a cake.
This week is pretty light overall. Tuesday will be an hour or so, 20 minutes of high-end stuff which is 2/3 the normal. Thursday is a 1:15 tempo ride. Then Saturday is my warm up day. Probably 1:20 out at Lewis Morris, with a 20 minute warm up, then 1 race loop at moderate pace but hammering a few hills, then a 20 minute cool down. Then a shitload of carbs and water the rest of the day which seemed to work well for the Matheny ride a few weeks ago. Still need to figure out my breakfast for Sunday.
Then Sunday at 9:00 I get to line up against some of the pros and get my ass handed to me. No better way to show yourself just how absurdly inadequate your biking abilities are by taking the line with the strongest endurance rider in the country. The annual winner of the 24 hour solo race may also be there. Actually I have no idea who will show but last year this race brought out all the top teams in the area.
Whatever though. I've been "training" for about 6 months so my expectations are reasonable. I figure I'll post 4 laps then my time limit to start another will have run out. It's a 4 hour race but you need to start your last lap by the 3 hour mark. A local semi-pro I occasionally ride with posted 43 minute lap times last year and I can't keep that pace. So maybe my best time on my best day is 45 minutes. But I won't be able to throw down 4 of those laps in succession Sunday. So I think it will be 3 and then 1 last lap.
OK so enough of all that. It's Monday morning and I'm on the train. Let's hope this week is a good one. I would wish my readers a belated happy Mother's Day but I think only Woody, Cliffy, and Terren read this blog so what would the point be? Shit I doubt anyone even got to the end of it so my words at this point are generally worthless anyway, since I myself probably won't even go back and read them.
So anyway, Merry Christmas.
Labels: mountain bike, race
1 Comments:
At 11:08 AM,
Unknown said…
Happy Channukah Norm. A thought: since it appears that how you feel isn't a reliable indication of how well you're riding, you shouldn't let it be an important factor on race day. I.e. even if you feel flat, don't let it psyche you out. Although I'm not sure how you could feel flat with the adrenaline of an actual race.
Post a Comment
<< Home