Power profile since 2008

Just curious to see what the thoughts are on my power profile. This is all the data that I have since I started racing/training in 2008. This winter & for 2011, I'm focusing on muscular endurance and Functional Threshold Power. If past history is an indicator of my future performance, then I would be lucky to get near the lower 1/4-1/3 mark of the Cat 3 bin by the end of 2011. We'll see. I think that getting myself to the 4w/kg mark is going to give me the energy/confidence that I need to turn up my sprint and get me on the podium. At the end of 2010, I was able to finish with 3 top 10's in the Cat 3 field so I'm strong enough to get there...if the race is easy enough and I race smart enough. Regardless, 2011 will be a phenomenal racing season for me--barring no injuries & good luck.

Also, I never really tested 1 min power until this year. That's way the big disparity.

A$$ handed to me...

Whew. So within the span of one week, I did my 1st P1/2/3 race at BMW, Athens (cat 3) and then Walterboro (Cat2/3) race and got my ass handed to me at each one. I think at Athens, I was just tired from having to dig so deep in the BMW race. I hoped to be recovered enough for Walterboro but I was in the red 4 minutes into that race and finally popped 17mins. in. It's very humbling, but very frustrating. I took 3th place in that race as a Cat 4 last year. As a 4, the avg pace was 24.5mph and the pace of the 2/3 race was 26.2. I tried to be as efficient as possible and stay near the front, not on it. The attacks are a lot stronger in this field and that's what finally did me in. I've got to get my threshold up, in other words riding faster with less effort. That's just going to take time.

Athens Twilight AM 3 race/TNWC

I got dropped with 5 to go. I felt like I was dying out there. I knew I had more, but I didn't know why I couldn't dig deeper. When I got home, I checked my HR (attached) and it shows that I was either tired or didn't get a good enough warm up. It's a bit of both really. I did the Tuesday Night World Championships then raced my 1st P/1/2/3 event on Thursday. I went out for a WAY too long of a tune up ride (though my power number for the tune-up interval was the most i've ever seen). It all adds up to me not being able to perform at 100% I'm going to do an easy ride tomorrow and then off the bike Mon & Tue. I hope to be able to finish Walterboro (2/3 race) with the pack if not top 10. We'll see how that goes. Up to this point, my performance has been sporadic at best. I'm still trying to get it (training/racing) right.

It's funny. Jeff Corbet thought I was sandbagging at the TNWC!! Jeff, I've posted my data from the workout to show you that I wasn't sandbagging but sucking wind. My LTHR is 176 bpm (where the line is). If I keep doing rides like that with you, I'll eventually get to the point where you and Gordo won't drop me. :)

Blythewood RR

That was really, really tough. I changed my hydration nutrition strategy to try and get rid of the cramps but it didn't work. I started cramping 5 laps in and knew I wasn't going to make it. I did have 1 teammate left and he asked me to try and reel in the break. I tried the best that I could, but maybe only clawed 20s back before I popped. I collected myself and decided to ride the final two laps solo. Soon after, the pro/1/2s lapped me. On my final lap, about 1/3 of the way into it, I got picked up by a mystery rider. I think he was sent out to look for stragglers, but God bless him. He towed me to the line. Now, I had already popped, but I resigned myself to finishing the "race" or at least crossing the line. So when he picks me up, he's riding at a pace that he may have considered moderate—not me. I'm back up to threshold HR. I hand on to his wheel for dear life. We stop to pick up a pro/1/2 guy. He gets on, he's blown off. I feel better about myself, but we are getting ready to hit the 3^rd, hardest hill of the course. I give it everything to stay on, but I can't and I lock up again. It's so frustrating. He slows down at the top, and we have to take it easy going back in. I think that if I had not hooked on, I would be in better shape for tomorrow's race. Granted, tomorrow is the Forrest Acres Crit and it's only 45minutes. I know that if I can stay with the pack, I can beat the pack. I also know that I have to keep pushing myself so that I can get stronger. Today's race was the hardest race I've done thus far. I think it was more due to the fact of the mystery rider forcing me to dig deeper than I knew I could. If I want to do well at RR, I have to figure out what's causing the cramps. To be honest, it could be that I've upgraded too soon—when it comes to road racing. Let's see if the same may be true for crits. I know it's not.

My 1st race of 2010

The race went better than I expected, though I did have to drop out at the last lap due to cramps. I fought them for as long as I could, but they were immobilizing & excruciating. They started to get me on lap 3 and then lap 6 my legs stopped working.
Good things:
-With the increase in aerobic ability, I was able to follow attacks & surges and never felt like I was going to pop. There were times when it hurt, but the only thing that kept me from finishing was the cramping
-During warmup, looks like my threshold power is around 300w
-Really enjoyed mixing it up and being out there racing again

Bad things:
-cramping
-in the 1st 400meters of the race I dented my front wheel by hitting a pothole--not my Zipps thankfully!
-don’t have any power data. When I hit the pothole, my powertap flew off the mount
-I lost my backup bottle going into the 3rd lap (we had to cross rail-road tracks)

This cramping is only an issue with longer events. I may be to static in my position, but I did lose a bottle (electrolytes in it). I don't take an electrolyte tab, but I'm willing to give it a shot if it will help me to complete road races. The truth is, I'm not that concerned about it as my speciality is crits. It's more of a personal challenge than anything.

Stay tuned for next weekend's race report!

Long time no write

Sorry for not putting any recent updates to my 3 followers! I love you and thanks for hanging in there. So that you know, I have been training very hard and putting in 14-15 hours on the bike, 2-3 hours off the bike. As it stands now, I'm finishing up the build phase and I'm now in the transitional phase. On the bike so I'm doing a lot of Anaerobic Threshold intervals. 6x10 minutes with 3 minute rest between intervals specifically. Off the bike, I'm doing; core, stretching, strength & plyometric training for power. It's very difficult, but I know it will pay off. Next month, I'll begin working on my anaerobic energy system by doing shorter, harder intervals. Probably start with 2 sets 3x3s and then move into shorter maximal burst workouts with ½ recovery time. What that means if the effort is 20seconds on, then I'll get 10 seconds of rest before starting the next one. That will be repeated for a while. That's also an assumption I have based on what my coach and I did last year. This year, since we are working more on my aerobic system, it may be different. I'll just have to wait and see. He may have me doing Tabata intervals again. Either way, it's fine with me. My dear friend & one of my 1^st coaches Derek Kidd said it best, "you have to train hard to race hard."

I'm thinking of doing the Donaldson Center race on Sunday the 28^th of Feb as it looks like I'll have to work the following week. My goal there will be just to hang on, get used to riding in the pack and get a few hard efforts in. I know a lot of guys have been working their anaerobic systems so they are in pretty good form right now. Speaking about being on good form, I don't care to be in good form now—good form is another way of saying "perfect racing shape." I want to be strong for April as that is when I have my 1^st season peak planned. I hope to win again at the I'On Village Smackdown and then place well for the championships. I really want the team to have a good result and want to show the team that I'm willing to work for them. The goal for right now is to see if I'm going to be strong enough to be competitive in the National Masters 30-34 Championships races. I want to win that race in August, but I need to know if I have the aerobic power to get me to the line. I may be overzealous having only raced for 2 years, but you don't know if you don't try. How I race in the late May/June will actually be a better predictor as my threshold power will continue to rise.

If I race on the 28^th, then I promise a race report!

Cheers!