First Race

I’ve scheduled my first race and it’s going to be the 5430 Sprint Triathlon in Boulder.  My form, so far, is coming along nicely to the point where I think I will be in contention for a top 10 overall or better.  The biggest question mark for me, at this point, is the swim.  My plan of attack is to continue to work on my form as well as get some more solid endurance swim sets in.  Additionally, I plan on going to a few Master’s swim sessions to gain a little more top end speed.

A New Set of Goals for 2012

With my departure from road racing, I’ve had to scramble to come up with some new goals for my budding triathlon career (I use that term loosely).  Why am I posting them like this in a public forum?  Easy.  If I make them public, then I can’t hide from them later.  Now, when someone asks me if I am a 5:40 runner, I can’t say, “I’m really only shooting for 6:00”.  I have to be accountable about where I am.  This also has the added side effect of ensuring that *I* can’t fool myself into thinking that I’m hot stuff when I’m really not (or am hotter than expected)!

The Pain Cave

There’s been a lot of change in my life the last couple of weeks.  Not only have I converted full-time to triathlon, changed my bike fit and moved to a new apartment.  The first order of business has been finding appropriate training routes, which has been difficult given the new suburban area I now live.  All is not lost though, this new-found challenge has given me motivation to try something new in my training.  Trainer work!

Goals for 2011

Looking back at my 2010 season, I can honestly say that it was a roller coaster ride of, mostly, success the entire way and now that I’m coming off almost a week of no riding it’s time to look forward to 2011.

This next season will be my mark on Colorado racing. My wife has given me full reign to train as much and as hard as I want to and I plan to take full advantage of it. My coach, Tony Cruz, and I were elated at my progress throughout the season and he plans on running me through the ringer this winter and through next year in order to make next year awesome. Anyway, on to the list:

High Priority:
Upgrade to Category 2
Win a race
Complete the entire season without a DNF (Did Not Finish), only exceptions are “Acts of God”
Podium at all four state championship events:

• John Stenner Memorial Time Trial
• Air Force Academy Road Race
• Chuck Bolden Memorial Criterium
• Air Force Academy Road Race

Contribute BAT (Best All-Around Team) points, regardless of my category

Low Priority:
Increase FTP to 275 watts (4.2 watts/kilo) by April 1st
Increase FTP to 285 watts (4.4 watts/kilo) by November 1st

Preparing for Battle

The last couple of weeks my coach has taken no mercy on me.  Ever since I received my upgrade to Cat 3, he’s taken that as a sign that he should run my body into the ground!  My rides have almost entirely consisted of climbing the various mountains and canyons in the greater boulder area, which I can tell you is brutal.

Despite the torture that my coach has managed to create, I can say that I feel stronger than ever and ready to tackle a big weekend of racing starting with the BRC criterium on Saturday, which leads to the Colorado road race championship on Sunday in Colorado Springs.

I’ll report back after the racing, but I can sense good things coming!

V02Max

Sorry it’s been so long since the last update, my life has been consumed with training and racing.

Overall, the racing has been progressing well. I’ve made plenty of dumb mistakes this season, but I think I’ve got all the obvious ones behind me!

Nate, one of our P12 riders, has reset my entire training program again! I’m now set for more “Hard Core Riding” and more recovery riding. By doing both extremes more, I’ll be more ready to take on the demands of the peloton while staying fresh for races on the weekends and, so far, it’s working incredibly well. I’ve already seen my power go up across the board:

5sec – 1450 +11%
1min – 570 +11.5%
5min – 301 +2.5%
20min – 250 +3%

I figure I’ll keep this up until I plateau later this season, probably mid June sometime, and then I’ll need to revert to a short summer base training before the big races at the end of the season.

This weekend: Wheels of Thunder Circuit Race. The course looks to be mostly flat with a few rollers, which means we’ll probably see a bunch sprint at the end as long as we don’t see any crazy wind. Perfect for my riding style.

Till next time.

Reshuffling the Deck

This week was my first recovery week in the last month and I really needed after all of the high intensity V02 work that I’ve been doing. Now that I have a firm V02 (read: short interval/high intensity) base set and racing results to prove it, I need to refocus on raising my FTP (Functional Threshold Power).

In my most recent FTP test, I did not do any better, power wise, than last month, which was expected although disappointing. Some improvements were apparent though, mainly pacing and pedal efficiency. VI (Variability Index) for the ride was an even 1, which indicates perfect pacing. Also, average speed went up 0.7 mph, which means that, while I’m not pushing the pedals any harder, I’m delivering a more even pedal stroke which is propelling me faster.

So, I’m planning on doing two months of solid Base work and FTP building which will start with longer endurance rides as well as 4x8min FTP intervals. All this should bring me back up to par with where I should be, FTP wise, at this point in the season, I’m about 3-5 watts behind schedule.

This next weekend there’s no racing to speak of, but Lindsay and I are moving, so I’ll have to use my free time wisely in order to meet my training goals for the week. It should prove to be a fruitful week as I don’t have to worry about saving myself for racing!

Until next week!

Blah Week

This week was just a blah week of training, which was suddenly interuppted by some in office surgery to remove a bump on my leg. Unfortunatley, this kept me from being able to race on Sunday (My leg was killing me all week), but seems to be clearing.

This week I’m on a solid recovery week as I mentally prepare for the true opening of serious racing in Colorado. The Koppenburg Circuit Race is on Sunday and always proves to e an unpredictable race.  Sometimes breaks go, sometimes it’s a bunch sprint, but it’s always a race of attrition.

Till next week.  Time to go pack boxes, Lindsay and I are moving!