Lots of big changes this year-
- Joined Big Shark as all my buddies ride for the team and I needed new clothing.
- Decided to think outside the box and get coach/plan. I mainly did this to lessen the anxiety of putting a plan together on my own, and it's definitely helped. I really enjoy the structure and my immediate reaction is less is more and, even though weekly TSS scores are similar, it's far more consistent. I really like doing the strength workouts that are provided.
- Got a proper fit from Maurice. This was a gamechanger and I saw immediate benefits including increased power, cadence, comfort and handling. My seat height went from 74.5 to 77.3 and forward with more drop. Didn't think it would work, but it definitely did.
- I decided to get off the bourbon and martinis at home and am trying to stick to a few beers and wine on Sunday nights with a steak. I'll have a few cocktails if we go out, but this is the first time in a long time I haven't had a fully stocked bar of hard liquor at home. I drank a lot in March to accomplish this and it's been nice to start add to the wine cellar again.
- I broke down and bought a smart trainer. I hate to say it but I immediately see the benefit, efficiency, and ability to dial in specific workouts. It's totally different than riding aimlessly on rollers or a old school trainer as the focus really passes the time. I'm committed to sticking to the plan through July and then doing a lot of mountain biking while transitioning to the next phase, which I'm still not 100% sure on.
- I've adopted the ever so popular 100g bottles. It's taking some tweaking to dial it in since I don't do that many rides that warrant that much, but think I'm getting a handle on what works and it's beneficial, for sure.
I love to train, I love to plan, but what's most fun about bike racing to me is winning or feeling good about the results, so all the above is actually fun.
Landahl - First race in a Big Shark kit.
I was totally on the fence about doing the marathon race, with a bigger field and better competition, but required spending the night, or driving out the day of to do the Cat 1 race. The Cat 1 race was only going to be about 1.5 hrs. so I opted to make a weekend out of it.
I was feeling great pre-riding on Saturday after about two weeks of mainly riding indoors due to the plan and terrible weather, and really liked the course which was fast, tight, twisty, minimal climbing and hero dirt. I kept it low key and thought I had a good handle on the course after a few laps. Pretty uneventful night at the hotey with some movies and lots of stretching.
I was definitely thrown off when they changed the course direction on race morning and a little pissed, to be honest, as I drove out the day before to pre-ride largely for safety reasons. Regardless, there was now a much longer field section before the single track with a tailwind. My plan was to go out hard, see if I could separate and then settle in.
I was running 60g bottles and had 30g gels to supplement every 45 mins, which worked great.
I took off hard and was surprised Wesley (Boyce) or Michael (Allison) didn't latch on. Someone came around me that must have been riding parallel to me in my blind spot right before diving in, but he was a local and knew the trail well so it didn't slow me down and we had a 5 s gap almost immediately. The trail was coming at me fast since I had never seen it from this direction but I was locked in Jedi mode. I jumped him in the first clearing about .5 miles into the race and started to floss. I was definitely expending unnecessary power since I really didn't know what was next and it was so tight, but I was amazed that my HR wasn't spiking so kept the power in check and pushed on. He stayed within sight for the first half of the lap but after coming through the start finish and looking back through the field I was out of sight, which was probably 15-20 seconds.
From there on it was one of the more focused efforts I recall, pretty much ever. Due to the lack of climbing and flowy course, it was really all about efficiency and bike handling, which are definitely my strengths. There were a few short grinder sections, especially the uphill in the field with the strong headwind where I had to monitor the power, but aside from that there was never a time I felt like I was bogging down. I was totally focused and thinking about winning about 1 hr in, which I had to reality check myself on multiple times. I knew Wesley and Michael were strong riders and thought they would have more endurance than I did, but I didn't see them again after the start.
The nutrition was going well aside from a little stomach upset/rot mouth that led to some apprehension and slightly slower lap times in the 3rd quarter, but that almost always happens and I was able to switch to water for a bit and then resume with a gel and bottle for the last two laps.
Coming through at about 2.5 hours I was weighing whether I would have 1 or 2 more laps and asked for a time split. I was told about 4 mins, which wasn't as much as I expected so put in a fast lap and was mentally prepared to keep going at close to the 3 hr mark, which I did. Lap 8 was my 5th fastest of 9, and lap 9 was my 3rd fastest.
This was an eye opening experience for me given my ability to race at XC pace for over 3 hrs. My avg power was higher than any UFD Cat 1 races last year, but given the lack of climbing the NP was not. There was genuinely never a time during this race that I questioned myself, which I remember being common in the marathon/endurance days. To say I'm optimistic about what's ahead would be a dramatic understatement.
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