Sore/Pool

I woke up a little sore today from my crash yesterday. My right shoulder, ribs and hip were all feeling it a bit. Nothing too visible; just a little minor bruising and tightness. Headed to the pool to loosen up a little bit and realized just how long it's been since I've been there. That hurt. More mentally than physically. It was only 1000 yds but there's a lot of work to be done there. No strength in the water at all.

2 For 1

Race Summaries. Two races since my last post, neither of them easy. Truth be told, they couldn't have been more different from each other.

Last Sunday was the second Green Mountain Cross race which greeted us with mud. Sticky, slow, snotty, peanut butter. One lap into the warm-up and my drivetrain was caked. Two laps into the race and my entire body was caked.

Usually we get about 6 laps in but on this day we got 4; it was that slow. Every pedal stroke was an effort in itself. By the end of the race it felt like I was pedaling a singlespeed that was stuck in the big ring. It ended up not being too far from that since when I finished Ionly had two gears that worked. Mud and weeds had clogged the rest of them and if you try and force through it, there's a better than good chance that you'll knock off the rear derailleur.

I was shot out the back early on in the race, but I was fine with that this time. I knew I didn't have the leg strength to keep up with a lot of the other people out there and with these conditions, you really had to focus on your own race. In most cases you're out there to race. On this day I was 100% satisfied that I simply finished. Once across the line, it was dropping my bike and sitting down......just like everyone else did. There's usually a post-race, informal 'hey, great job out there on this part,' etc. but this time everybody was quiet in their own misery right up until we all realized we were cold, wet and covered in mud. Overall there were 42 that started, 38 that finished, and I was 29th.

No pictures from today's race, which was AlphaCross 2. I'm not sure what prompted the change of venue, but instead of the anticipated 50-minute drive, I instead only had about 15 minutes. It also made it easier for Nate, Todd, and Rick to come out and watch the race. I had no idea what to expect but when I saw an all grass course I knew it would be trouble. Riding on grass feels like velcro against your wheels. All effort and no speed to show for it. Throw in a bunch of off camber turns, some short but steep hills and a couple sand pits and we had a course. I almost missed the start because I was talking to a friend and when I got up there they were calling 30 seconds before we go. Just in time! First lap was uneventful - just fighting for position as usual and seeing who will be in your pack. It changes every week based on course and conditions. I knew a couple of people and one of the guys has been beating me all season. Once I saw he was faltering I thought today would be my day. After stopping for a dropped chain, I was able to work my way back up to him. I'm sure I burned a couple matches in the process. Once on, I settled in to see how he was riding and given the pace I figured I'd be able to make a move without him staying with. Not necessarily the case. I made my move but before I was able to see what he had in the tank, we both came around a 180* turn with me in the lead and my front wheel washed out. I hit the deck sliding, and then so did he. Another lap with him trailing and on the bell lap he came around me on a straight away. Perfect since I was always faster than him on a stretch before the finish anyway. One thing I forgot to mention was that it was windy out. The tape marking the course was blowing into the course in between each of the stakes. I knew the other rider was stronger through one of the S-turn sections so in order to get my turn right, I started wider. When I did, the tape blew up under my handlebars and somehow wrapped around them. Since it was right by the stake, it jerked my bike and I went straight over the handlebars. I landed on my right hip, got up, slowly walked the bike to top of the hill and got passed by a few people. Fixed my chain and soft-pedaled to see how things were. No problem so with only half a lap to go I sucked it up to see what I could salvage. I got two places back but lost two in the process. Out of 25 riders that started, 21 finished. I was 18th.

Even though I wasn't able to acknowledge anybody that came out to watch, it was cool to have them out there. When you're that cooked, it literally takes too much effort to even wave when you're going by. Any break in the focus is energy wasted to get it back and the way these races go, there's no energy to spare. The last two races I've come home and taken naps!

One more race weekend to go and then it'll be time to hang up the 'cross bike for the season. In the meantime Rick, Chad, Cory (Rick's brother) and I have the run challenge coming up starting on 12/1. And I also have the mountains calling for ski season to get underway!

Cross Clinic

On Monday afternoon I headed up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic put on by Boulder Cyclesport with Brandon Dwight and Joachim Parbo. Brandon's a co-owner of BCS and is a 2x U.S. National Cyclocross Champion for Masters 35-39 (2007 & 2008) and Joachim is a 3x Danish National Cyclocross Champion (2006, 2007, 2009) so needless to say, we were under good instruction. The clinic was supposed to go over some technique while riding through sand, as well as dismounts and re-mounts for about an hour and a half on the bike, followed by 2 hours of discussion over some food (and beer). Since it snowed over the weekend, there wasn't much exposed sand but the snow was a good substitute since the mechanics we were going over were basically how to center your weight and just trust the bike. Kind of tough to do at times, especially when you're riding off camber on a descent while having to turn and go back uphill. And oh yeah, they're telling you to pedal harder into the corner.



Without going into everything that we did, it turns out they knew what they were talking about. Once I started drilling it into some of the corners, I had a lot better control even though I almost bailed a couple times. That was probably the biggest take away for me - just going for it. But if that was the biggest, coming in a close second was when we were talking about managing the race. Since the race within the race always comes down to a matter of seconds, being able to pay attention to your competitors, to the course, and to how when/where you apply the effort saves energy, keeps the heart rate down a little bit more when needed, and leaves you in a better position for when it counts at the end of the race. If any of that makes the clinic sound easy, it wasn't. It wasn't super hard, but doing a bunch of repeats of sprints on the bike up a snowy hill, mashing through it after you've lost your momentum, etc. and getting some quick recovery turned out to be more of a workout than I was expecting. It didn't help that I did a quick 30 minute run earlier followed by 30 minutes of core work. At the same time, it was a good reminder (which they pointed out afterwards as well) that once winter is here full on, and I'm tired of hitting up sessions on the trainer, hop on the 'cross bike, pedal over to the park and figure out a loop to do. Good intervals and some added bike handling skills to go with it.



Once it got too dark and cold to see and feel, we headed back over to BCS to change and then went to 4580 Restaurant to grab some food and get to the discussion part of the clinic. I think we talked about everything from tire pressure, wheel choice, start and race strategy, training, nutrition, etc. One of Joachim's best points was about just enjoying it. Whether it's nutrition or training or racing, trying to program everything down to perfection will eventually end up ruining the experience. Instead, loosen up a little bit and have fun. Pick training routes that have good scenery, eat things that are good/good for you but don't be afraid to have a beer too, and remember that the world won't end if you miss a workout to go do something else you enjoy. Train hard, have fun, and go race. Then do it all again the next week. Sounds pretty easy.

Getting An Itch

No cyclocross racing for me today. I did everything right to make sure I'd be there but with about 8" of snow at my house, and really slippery roads, I wasn't up for making the 45+ minute drive up to Longmont. Too bad since I did well at this venue last time, and I also like racing in the slop which it was sure to be today. Should be some good stories to come out of this race.

The snow started last night when I was out. Since I knew I would be racing, and the roads were already getting bad, I wasn't drinking. I stayed out until about 12 switching between Cokes and water. Still had a good time and slept great. It's always nice to wake up feeling good instead of groggy and hungover. I went out on Friday night and even though I wasn't hungover on Saturday, I slept like crap. That seems to be the trend for me when I drink. Awful sleep and I wake up feeling unrested regardless of if I'm having Advil for breakfast or not. I'll sleep great for about 3-4 hours and then just wake up and toss and turn. Very frustrating. So yesterday was essentially a wasted day. While Whiskey and I took periodic naps, Tacoma patrolled the backyard despite being rained on the whole time. Odd dog, that one.

When I knew I wasn't going to be racing, I had to figure out what I was going to do with all the energy I had so I came up with a list that's only about halfway complete. Nothing fun, but all necessary. I also realized I need to get a workout of some sort in, and that's when I realized that the itch had begun. That is, the itch for next season. Any workouts I've been doing have not necessarily just been going through the motions, but they weren't with any real purpose either. Now it's time to start trending that way and I'm also looking forward to when the 2010 Xterra schedule of races will come out. Right now the only one I know is Xterra Indian Peaks which conflicts with Boulder 70.3 so I'll have to choose between the two. It could be my first season in a while without a half ironman on the schedule, but with an increased focus on getting some more technical skills on the mountain bike, the shorter stuff will be a good focus. I'm sure it will benefit my cycling strength in the long run and help me race better at HIMs once I get back there. Still a lot to be figured out but things are starting to feel good again and seem to be heading in the right direction.

Even though it probably has little benefit, I moved the furniture around in my family room. It's been too easy to come in and plop down on the couch and get sucked in, either to the internet or the TV. I'm certain the rearranging isn't as good of a layout, but it's not as accomodating for laziness either. When I moved the couch I found 6 dog bones under there! I took each one and placed them on the fireplace and while I was vacuuming, Whiskey would go over and grab one off, chew on it for about 5 minutes and then go get another one until all 6 were scattered around the floor. He was very pleased with what he'd done. I told him he's a shithead. His wagging tail and smiling face told me he was unnerved by my comments.

In addition to my motivation moving in the right direction, my eating has also gotten better. Even though I'm very far from eating great, and never plan to be perfect with it, what's been going in has been a lot cleaner and I haven't gained as much weight this off season. All good things.

With both dogs sleeping right now it's going to be a good time to either hop on the trainer or go finish painting the guest bathroom. There's also some weights I'm going to go push around. Then, since I still have vacation days to burn, I took tomorrow off and in the afternoon I'm heading up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic with Joachim Parbo, the Danish National Champion. Should be interesting and fun.

Midweek Update

Not a whole lot going on but since it's Veteran's Day (thanks to any/everyone who's served or serving!), I got the day off and there's only so much of an NCIS marathon I can watch. I've come to realize that about 8:30 is all the longer the dogs will let me sleep and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Either way, I was up for an uneventful morning routine but I took it slow since, well....., because I could.

The last two days I had good intentions but poor follow-through when it's come to working out. It's a poor excuse but I'm still thrown off by getting home and having it completely dark out. Once I get out I don't mind running in the dark at all but I start feeling like I have about 3 hours less to get some other things in, including dinner. With today off, though, I was able to get out for a good ride. It wasn't long, but it was at a good pace. Too bad my powertap wasn't working since I was curious about my watts. I'll keep that up through the weekend to try and maintain some pop in my legs for the cx race on Sunday.

One of the things I did today was go to an accupuncture appointment. I won 4 sessions in a silent auction that was held for two friends that were involved in a bike accident. I paid $50 and got 4 sessions. Pretty good deal! I think there's a good balance in there somewhere between Chinese medicine and Western medicine where the body has natural healing energies that can be triggered. At the same time, science can help jumpstart the process as well. Point being, they're not mutually exclusive. Anyway, the accupuncturist/therapist is a competitive open water swimmer so while she was pricking me with about 20 or so pins (I'm guessing), we were talking about having a proper off season. Right now I'm definitely not in top shape, but that's not a bad thing. Rather, it's an appropriate thing. Still, it's time to start getting it back. I know I've said that before, but then the whole job thing happened so it's take 2.

I'll be using the last four or so 'cross races for my weekly dose of high efforts on the bike and just maintaining otherwise. I even have plans to hop in the pool starting next week. That will probably be 2-3x/week. Then in December we're working on some sort of running "challenge." Rick and Chad are in charge of details so I'm just waiting for the word. The only hesitation I have with it is that I'll be going from low volume to an initial guess of about 120 miles in one month. Maybe not the smartest thing but if I feel like I'm starting to get an overuse injury I'll shut it down. That also highlights the need to get going in the second half of this month.

No insight as to a schedule for next season just yet but I'm thinking I'll start the heavy training later, as in March. I've come to realize just how much I like riding my bikes in the Fall so instead of having my fitness start to decline in mid-August, I'm going to try and push that to mid-October. I can fake it for a couple months there through 'cross season.

There are a couple other things going on like a cycling club we're working on throwing together but that's a post for another time.

3 Days, 3 Bikes

Another weekend of riding bikes. It's pretty much the only thing I do consistently, or at least kind of consistently since I haven't been on the trainer as much as I should. Still haven't warmed up enough to the fact that even though it's already dark out by the time I get home, I need to get on that dumb thing to stay fit. Maybe one of these days. Anyway, I took Friday off work and got some things done in the morning so I could meet Adam and Brant at Green Mountain for a mountain bike ride. We weren't really sure if it would be dry enough, but it was still worth finding out. Good thing is we didn't have any real problems. We were far from clean at the end of the ride but no real problems......other than lungs and legs. My aerobic conditioning seems to be good but once I get anaerobic, I fade pretty quickly to where it's just managing the process. On this ride there was a long climb to the top that tested everyone's conditioning, and everyone agreed that we failed. Other than making it to the top of course. The downhill was a bit anticlimactic since it was down a fire road rather than singletrack but we were running up against the dark so it was the quickest descent with the most light.

On Saturday I could have gone up to Louisville to race 'cross but opted against it since I was racing on Sunday. Instead I hopped on my road bike for a bit which was fun since I hadn't been on it in a while. Nothing special about the ride; just a solid tempo ride. I think it's easier to ride a steady-hard pace on the roadie after pushing (and spinning) on the mountain bike. It was good to feel the vibration of the road too - just a steady hum the whole time through.

Sunday. Race day. Actually it was race day that I almost missed. I woke up and fell into my routine of making breakfast, watching NFL pre-game and then some of whatever game is being shown while I gather my stuff and head out to the race. Well today they changed the times and the race was about 1:25 earlier. I figured it out in time, but only got one warm-up lap in. Seems to be the story as of late. Fortunately I had talked to Adam after he was finished with his race so I had an idea of what to expect. The course was pretty twisty in the front half with a lot of S-turns that were capped off by a steep run up with a barrier in the middle of it. A few more turns at the top and then flat and rough on the back with a section that was just soft. You could pedal as hard as you wanted but you weren't going anywhere fast through it. Kind of like pedaling through a moss field. Then a barrier section, turn a corner and back to the beginning.

The field was smaller than fields have been in the past. Could be that the early season saw a lot of people just giving cyclocross a try and they've fallen out, or that it was in Brighton which is basically the middle of nowhere. Judging by the caliber of people riding, I think it's the former and you're now getting the people that actually want to be out there who want and know how to ride their bikes.

As usual, my start wasn't anything spectacular. I got in a decent position and was generally able to hold it on the first lap. As the separation of groups started to occur, I could see the people up ahead of me, whether it was a couple bike lengths or 10 seconds. With all the turns on the front side you need to have some good explosive strength to pedal out of the slow corners, even if it's only for about 10-15 yards. Hit it hard, slow for the turn, and hammer again. One section had about 5 turns like that. Without the upper end strength, instead of picking up some ground, I was left to defend the ground I had and/or watch a few people pick me off.

Once to the back side, somewhere on the second or third lap I realized that it was a good long, flat stretch that I could get into a solid steady-hard effort like I did on the road bike the day before. And then I realized I could shift up to the big ring and make my effort more efficient. Lo and behold it worked and I started moving past a couple guys. No big groups but every person counts. That became my strategy for the rest of the race. Maintain on the front half, push it on the second half. There was a group of maybe 4 people that I kept playing leap frog with because of our different abilities. Finally it was down to two laps so I figured I had to make whatever moves I was going to, but be smart about it. I got to the top of the run up and passed a guy. Then another guy I'd been following (and passed on the last lap last weekend) bobbled briefly which was just enough for me to get by. Hoping I could drop him, I kicked it into gear and hammered the back stretch. I got a gap but it came at a price and coming back around the start section I saw he had made it up. I've ridden a lot of these races on my own without much of a chance to use race tactics against other people riding with me so this was a chance for that. With that in mind, since he was so close, I let him come by and figured I'd just hold his wheel on the front again, bide my time and do a repeat on the back stretch. That worked great right up until the run up.

Once I got to the top I realized I'd blown up a bit and the guy in front got a gap. It started small but kept growing and by the time we got to the flats it was too late. I was able to hold off the guy behind me but didn't get to make the move I wanted and finished 29/40.

In retrospect, knowing that I was a weaker rider through the turns, I should have held my position and made him work harder to get around me. That would have been my best bet to moving up that one spot. Either way it was fun to race like that and even though I was close to the bottom, I was happier with the way I rode than what the standings showed.

Next week is the final race of the Boulder Series so I'm expecting another big crowd at the start. Not sure of the course yet but I'm hoping for mud!

Halloweekend

Hockey, bike racing, concert, looking at naughty......ness (?), bike racing. That was my Halloween weekend and it was pretty fun. By Friday night I was pretty fried and ready for the weekend and it just so happened that DU hockey was in town and I have season tickets. Went to the game and had a couple beers, and although it was a bit uncertain at times, DU ended up winning. We usually go out afterwards but since I was racing early on Saturday, I called it a night.

Saturday morning I was up at 6:30 to get ready and make the 45 minute drive up to Longmont. There were two times I seriously questioned why I race today. One of them is always about halfway into the race where you've already committed enough and know you have to keep suffering while trying to hold off anyone you've already passed and work to catch the guys you can see just ahead. That happens every. single. race. Without fail. The second time today was actually first. The alarm clock. Waking up earlier on the weekend than during the work week? Awful. Nonetheless, up I was and it was out the door. Because it was the Boulder Cup weekend (which means that all the pros were in town to race this stop on the circuit), the start times for the rest of the categories were moved around and I was starting at 8:50. I didn't have quite as much time as I would've liked to warm up but I still got to see the course. They did a good job of moving the snow off, but the ground was basically frozen ruts which made for a bumpy ride. Even though it was only about 40* when we started it felt a lot warmer, and as we raced it continued to warm up.

Once the gun went off it was up a hill, around a soft left and off the road to the dirt. Or at least to the ruts. Try as you might to hold a line, you really didn't get much say especially if you were the guy that got squeezed out of the course and ended up over the front of his handlebars. The lines were all being dictated from the lines that had been taken from earlier racers. And apparently some of the earlier racers took shitty lines! Really though, it was going all over the place but the course had a bit of everything and was set up well. The front side was some good S-turns with a couple off camber corners. That led into a paved section with a fun wall to ride up and down through a corner, some barriers and a sand pit. Then the back was just plain old sloppy. And hard. Off camber hills, muddy steps, slippery corners, and once you hit the pavement you were rewarded with a hill.

After about the second lap, right when you were starting to get a feel for the lines, it all changed. The frozen mud thawed out and turned into slimy mud and it was going everywhere. Pretty sure I ingested a good amount but I certainly wasn't alone there. Of course, it probably didn't help that I went down once. After a run up (that was rideable on the first two laps with firmer ground), there was a sloppy downhill with a right hand turn that led to some steps. The descent looked like this:

Except for when I went. Then it looked like this (pic isn't of me, but the result was the same):

What was once a nice, light bike instantly added 10 lbs of grime and became harder to pedal, not to mention lift over the barriers. But the riding also became more fun. It wasn't any easier, and in fact, just the opposite, but definitely more exciting. At one point, on about the 4th lap, I remember wondering how in the hell I was going to make it through the typical 7 or so laps. Whether it was pedaling my easiest gear uphill, trying to run through the sand or up the steps, or re-mounting my bike, I was quickly getting down to having burned my last match. The good news was first that the lack of oxygen to my brain kept me from realizing we were turning laps a lot slower. So when I came through on the next lap it was the final lap. Awesome. The next part was that everyone else was starting to get tired too, and somehow in that final lap I was able to move past 4 more people and hold off the final one on the last sprint up the hill to the finish. When it was all said and done I had finished 23/43 which I was definitely pleased with. A very challenging course, changing conditions, and always good competition, not to mention that I was able to finish ahead of a guy that has consistently beat me by a handful of spots in all of the races we've entered together.

Not a lot of pics of me from the day but here's my bike post-race:

Here's a picture of my friend Adam's bike post-race. There really is a crankset, front and rear derailleur in there somewhere. Makes for some nice, smooth shifting.

The organizers had already planned ahead to prepare for the mud and dirty bikes (and people) and had pressure washers for some post-race cleaning:

Since it was Halloween there were a few costumes rolling around, including the support from the Mavic sponsored pits:

And this guy (yes, it's a guy):

All in the name of fun, of course. Speaking of costumes and fun, that night I went to the Jason Isbell concert. It started pretty late but there were some interesting "outfits" being worn that night. None by me, but to keep this blog from quickly becoming rated R or worse, there will be no pics of the costumes or body parts that may have been seen. However, I'm pretty sure there was no shortage of nurses running around should their services have been needed. Services, in this case, probably has a pretty loose interpretation!

On Sunday it was back up to Boulder for some more bike racing but this time it was just watching. To be brief, watching the pros race was a completely different world. From floating through the sand, sprinting over the barriers, or just laying it down when they needed to, there wasn't much that they made look difficult. Pretty cool experience. More pics on that another time.