Pick Up The Pace!

First race in a year, as Chuck would say “it was a Hoot!”. Actually the entire week was a Hoot, Tuesday I joined the night rider group and even took a swing at the beehive. Of course I got stung and drug myself home welted and wounded, but I’d expect nothing less from good friends :^) Thursday I did my first round of intervals, 2x20min at Sub LT and Sunday I paid money to get spanked at a local MTB race. Good times!

The race was at Chamna, a pan flat course with a thousand turns per lap. Each lap was 7.5 miles, we did 3 laps, so 22 miles or so of single track trails. Very cool course and even though it is flat, each corner requires an acceleration back to speed, so after the first lap you can really feel the “punch” fading quickly.

Lap 1 I worked my way up to mid field and then took a wrong turn, crap! U-turned and hammered my way back as I became reacquainted with the word “anaerobic”! It was a victory though as I didn’t launch the pre-race gel that my gut, for whatever reason was ”saving for later”. As the lactic acid levels settled back to a gentle burn we entered the Peninsula, Jimmie hates the Peninsula. It’s about a 6-8min section where you never stop pedaling, lots of grass, some slime, a few roots, your basic grinder that makes sure you aren’t slacking. I found a good wheel though and stole a tow all the way through as Mark Sturgis focused into the cross hairs. My tow picked up a stick in his spokes, so I dropped the hammer (a hobby hammer) to bridge to Mark. He musta known that I was making a move (or that I was packing a hobby hammer) cause it took me forever to get his wheel!

Lap 2 I latched onto Sturgis and basically let him do all the work for the rest of the race. Mark was defending his position against the guy behind me, so he was motivated. Mark was carving great lines and maintaining a perfect pace. When I stood up to tighten the gap I could feel the burn, so Sturgis had me right on my edge. For close to 2 full laps I stuck to his wheel like glue in hopes that he would hold the pace all the way. And he did, great pacing, I was punching laps on my computer and in the end we pretty much had equal splits (33min) for all 3 laps.. very cool!

By the finish I was fully toasted. Not quite destroyed, but pleasantly used up. I finished mid-pack (8 of 16) which is a bit better than I expected. The week has been good and my power has measurably improved. Feels good to be riding, I look forward to staying consistent and slowly working towards my goals. The arrows are pointing in the right direction, just a matter of suiting up and showing up.

Goal Sept 2012: 155lbs 4.5w/kg
Date....Weight...1hr Power......Power/Weight
12/5....166..........245w.........3.25w/kg
11/28...167..........225w.........2.96w/kg
11/14...169..........225w.........2.93w/kg
11/7....170..........225w.........2.91w/kg

Thanksgiving Update

Head Cold kept me off the bike for a week, but after 2 brutal weeks I probably needed the recovery. I say brutal because my butt, neck, shoulders and back felt like I hadn't ridden... ever! My legs felt great, they never hurt a bit, though my lungs weren't too accommodating, but the legs seemed unfazed. The worst was definitely all about how my body needed adjustment to the saddle and riding position.

I rode this weekend and all those non-cycling specific muscles seemed to have adapted and were much more agreeable to my position on the bike.. I felt great!

Still trying to avg around 5hrs per week at an EZ pace. My CTL is 16, moving in the right direction but have a LONG ways to go. I plan to race this upcoming weekend, which may seem as though I'm biting off more than I can chew, but I plan to ride for fun and will enter with the goal of trying not to come in last place... Racing is the best training!

Date....Weight...1hr Power...Power/Weight..Goal (LB's & w/kg)
11/28...167..........225w........2.96w/kg........155/4.5
11/14...169..........225w.........2.93w/kg.......155/4.5
11/7.....170..........225w.........2.91w/kg........155/4.5

The Apple Pie Diet

The Holiday season always seems to wreak havoc on the best laid diet plans. Dial in a nice routine and before you know it 7 pies lie before you. My wife is an amazing baker, and I am an equally amazing enjoy'er of home baked goodies. For Thanksgiving Deb tested my dieters resolve with Pumpkins, Choc Pecan, Pecan, Choc Cream, Banana Cream and my all time fave Apple Pie. Cruelty!

Whats a dieter to do? Well, I could cave or I could go on the offensive.. and this year I went on the offensive. Dieting is all about calories, plain and simple. So, the way I see it I could eat nearly an entire pie every day and be real close to my calorie budget, as long as that's all I eat! So when the crackers, cheese and beef stick Hors d'oeuvres hit the table I go straight for the pie, which raises eyebrows when I bust through the top of that beautiful Apple pie (saved for desert), but hey.. I'm on the offensive here and I won't calm the hunger pangs with beef stick.. especially when I'm on a calorie budget! Splat of whipped cream and I'm spending my calorie budget exactly the way I want.

And that's pretty much how the subsequent days went as well, pie for breakfast, pie for lunch, and maybe even pie for dinner.. sure the nutritional value is questionable, but in times like this we must make sacrifices, and weight gain isn't one of em!

Calorie debt is required for weight loss, that's it. It doesn't matter if I eat 2000 cal of butter or 2000 cal of sugar, as long as I keep my intake around 2000 cal and stick to my exercise routine I'll loose weight. Of course the blend of macro-nutrients (carbs,fat,protein) can impact performance, but hey its EZ miles this time of year so no worries here.

Christmas will be another wave of butter and sugar and I look forward to it!

Winter Base Training

What should I do? Well, that completely depends on my goals! But one thing is for certain, it will need to be part of a plan that features a progressively increasing workload.

If my goal were to be flying in April, well I'd already be logging some serious workload because I'd be planning to start race specific (hard intervals) training in February. But since my 2012 goal event is in September, I will need to be prepared for the hard stuff in July.. that gives me a lot of time, in fact that gives me 8 months to prepare myself for the hard work of race specific training... and that's a good thing because I've been off the bike for a long time!

I will break the 8-months into 2 periods: Base & Build. The base will prepare me to build, and the build will be a workload greater than base. The build will last 3 months, so that means my base will be 5 months. It will go something like this; Base 5-mo, Build 3-mo, Race Prep 2-mo.

Its important to remember that the workload needs to be continuously increasing (progressive). When I transition from base to build, everything will need to get harder.. and continue to get harder all the way to the race prep phase. You might be thinking how can we design a base/build plan that progressively gets harder (every 3-weeks or so) for 8 consecutive months? I guess that's why Base training has earned a reputation as being a period of EZ miles!

But even though base training may be a time to hold the reins back, its not a time to get to comfortable in the same routine week after week. Remember, the workload needs to increase progressively, so every 3-week cycle needs to feature more work than the previous cycle. This progress needs to move forward all the way to the build phase.. at which time we will really dig in and ramp it up. We need to make sure and leave plenty in the tank for the build!

I am coming from a completely sedentary 1year vacation. I am completely de-trained.. have been completely de-trained for several months. This is the only reason I am planning to spend 5-months to build a base. Right now I'm riding about 5hrs per week, and its a pretty slow 5hrs.. but as long as I gently increase the volume, my fitness will grow (hopefully free of injury) while at the same time provide ample recovery to keep fatigue at a minimum and motivation at a maximum. With 5-mo I should be able to enter the build with big fitness, big freshness and big motivation... a long, slowly progressive base should be just the ticket!

I Rode My Bike!

Thats right, and my son Jimmie has joined the mission. Jimmie (16) wants to race next season too, and its probably fair to say he'll get in good shape a lot faster than I will!

Our first week back brought plenty of tender butt muscles, labored breathing and the confirmation that we're in BAD shape. But thats OK, we knew it would hurt.. and we also knew it would be fun, and it has been. We ride week-ends and Tue/Thu nights. Yep, we strap the headlamps on and terrorize the sidewalks and trails in the area for an hour. Its dipping into the 30's so good riding gear is important. We have gloves, shoe covers, jackets and hats just for the purpose. After a brisk few minutes the body warms right up and its actually not bad at all. Of course we will revisit this issue when its 15 and snowing!

Ok, I am keeping track of my stats. I use a Powermeter to calculate power and I use the Trainingpeaks WKO+ software to manage the data. A key calculation is "Chronic Training Load", AKA "CTL". CTL is a key measure of fitness, and when I'm in form my CTL is generally between 110 and 120. Today it is 8. Sad I know, and beleive me, that number moves like a glacier.. I would be surprised if I hit 100 by summer. Anyway, the numbers below are good stats for measuring progress.

Date....Weight...1hr Power...Power/Weight..Goal (LB's & w/kg)
11/14....169..........225w.........2.93w/kg........155 / 4.5
11/7.....170..........225w.........2.91w/kg........155 / 4.5

Back In The Saddle Again!

So what does 1 year off do to a mountain bike motor? It pretty much chops it in half. My sustainable power (1hr power) is down about 100 watts to 225 and my weight is up about 8 kilograms. So if we do the math my motor has faded from a 4.8watt/kg hill slaying force to a 2.9watt/kg beach cruiser! Amazing. Considering my age (almost 49) I may never find 4.8w/kg again, but I'm on a mission to find out.

This will be a long road. Its not reasonable to think I'll find that motor before the 2012 MTB race season launches this spring, but it is possible that I might find enough of it by Marathon Nationals September 2012. That will be a 50-mile race up and around some mountain in Bend, OR. Where do I start?

First we need to train to train, or basically get the body adapted to riding the bike again. Get those joints working and blood flowing and spend a few months of just making sure I suit up and ride 4x per week. Say, 5-6hrs per week, nothing heavy, just enough to break a sweat here and there and do enough to encourage the body to strengthen all those joints and restore a little muscle mass in those areas that have not been asked to do anything for the last year. Definitely important to pay attention to any aches or pains that might spring up and be certain to not plant any seeds for chronic pain or injury. Basically, just ride, have fun, and stay rested/recovered.

In addition I'll need to start the process of loosing weight. Considering that my potential goal race isn't for 10 months, I don't have to do anything extreme, though with close to 20lbs to loose, I will need to have a plan. Lets say I want to be down 15lbs by May, that means I'll need to drop 3lbs per Month. That is a pretty gentle pace, the calorie debt shouldn't effect performance, just need to settle into a routine that will provide some calorie restriction. What works good for me is to eat 3 meals per day (2000 cal), no snacks and take in about 2-300 cal/per hr on the bike in the form of a carb drink. I'll schedule my rides so that a meal will follow the ride. It is also important that I stay busy and not get to cozy laying on the couch.

I'll frequently update this blog, that will give me the motivation to stick to it when the going gets tough.. like when Christmas comes with snow on the ground and all I want to do is lay on the couch and eat Christmas cookies!

2010 What Happened, Where'd I go?

2010 was really a mixed bag, I didn't win at Sea Otter and didn't even make it to Nationals, though I had some of the best performance I've ever recorded. I entered my first 100-mile MTB race and did better than expected, and did manage to win a few races that I'll remember forever as some of my best. I flatted while on pace to match or beat my all-time best time on the Badger Mtn TT and then placed 3rd at Cyclocross State Championships. Overall, 2010 left me feeling disappointed, but in retrospect there is a lot to be proud of. My fitness was super, the results just didn't confirm it. But that's racing! And as I always say, winning is just the cherry on the cake.. all the work we invest is "the cake".

November 2010 I hung my bike up to join my son in a Music project. It was really hard to put cycling in the closet, but we just don't have time to do everything and my son had been asking for this for a few years. I committed to the project November 15 2010 and completely quit Cycling for 1 full year, yep, a complete 1 year rest!

November 2011 I'll start again, and we'll have fun monitoring training progress from a complete un-trained and over-weight status! This will be fun, and it will likely be a bit painfull with months of training bearing a look on my face like the one below :^)