Today I went for a nice little group ride with my wife and a few other guys, including a very promising new Jr. in our are who, mark my words, will be mixing it up in the Pro 1/2 races by the end of the year.
When we rolled in, there are the porch, thanks to sponsor Zipp, were my new race wheels for this year. Drum roll please.... 808 Tubulars.
Now, some might think its "too heavy" and more of a TT wheel or that they are n0t light enough to accelerate out of the corners at a crit, (i hear that one a bunch). Well its like this, aero always wins over weight...well almost always. Ideally I would like to have a set of 303's for hill climbs 404 for really hilly road races, I would use a 404 front and 808 rear if it was extremely windy, and 808's the rest of the time. But... I can only have one set of wheels so the best choice for an "all around" wheel is the 808's. Like I said aero always wins, even if there are some hills, and they are a bit heavier, the races around here have more terrain where a more aero wheel will save you way more time than a lighter one on the few hills. You save way more watts in a crit by a wheel that rolls through the wind at 25 mph, than you do with a "light" one that may accelerate out of the corners just a tad easier. Once you have ANY wheel rolling at such speeds, weight begins to make less and less difference and aerodynamics become MORE important.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Where do you get your information?
This is the question I got from one of my Athletes earlier in the week. I thought it was a good question to post about. First of all, this Athlete is a nutritionist and the question was geared toward that. She has been constantly amazed that despite her former schooling, I have been able to give her great nutrition and supplement advice for years now. Stuff they don't teach you in the class room.
First let me say that an 'expert" has all of the answers, a "professional" knows where to GET all of the answers. I would call myself a mix of the two. I know quite a bit when it comes to nutrition and what I don't know, I know who to ask.
So where have I learned all of this valuable nutrition information? Well, from a few places. Mainly experience, but also from a ton of reading, seminars and apprenticeships under other VERY experienced coaches and Athletes. Its no secret I am a BIG fan of the Paleo diet, so big in fact it seems other coaches in the area are know jumping on that band wagon as well. I have added my own variations to that diet however that will remain top secret. I have quite a bit of experience with female athletes and the deficiencies they almost always have, my experience with them has taught me what foods and supplements work best for them.
The network I have built over the years with some world renowned "experts" also keeps me up to date on nutrition. I read a ton, all of the new studies, and experiment on myself. Once a year I attend a sports nutrition seminar (that will remain a secret) that has proved extremely valuable in staying on top of nutrition.
Nutrition is a KEY component of your training...so....Where do you get your information?
First let me say that an 'expert" has all of the answers, a "professional" knows where to GET all of the answers. I would call myself a mix of the two. I know quite a bit when it comes to nutrition and what I don't know, I know who to ask.
So where have I learned all of this valuable nutrition information? Well, from a few places. Mainly experience, but also from a ton of reading, seminars and apprenticeships under other VERY experienced coaches and Athletes. Its no secret I am a BIG fan of the Paleo diet, so big in fact it seems other coaches in the area are know jumping on that band wagon as well. I have added my own variations to that diet however that will remain top secret. I have quite a bit of experience with female athletes and the deficiencies they almost always have, my experience with them has taught me what foods and supplements work best for them.
The network I have built over the years with some world renowned "experts" also keeps me up to date on nutrition. I read a ton, all of the new studies, and experiment on myself. Once a year I attend a sports nutrition seminar (that will remain a secret) that has proved extremely valuable in staying on top of nutrition.
Nutrition is a KEY component of your training...so....Where do you get your information?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
New bike!
Unfortunately its not mine.... Built up Tonya's new race bike today courtesy of Bianchi. its really sweet ride, Womens specific Carbon, Dura-Ace, SRM Pro, and she will race on Zipp 303's again this year.
I love bikes!
I love bikes!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Get off the trainer....
The last two days I had a nice couple of workouts. Monday I did 2x16:00 climbing repeats up the local Mineral Springs Mountain at 98%. Again it felt pretty easy so I know FTP is climbing quickly, cant wait for a field test to verify.
Today I rode with my wife on mainly a fun ride but I threw in 2 15:00's at about 90%, but they were highly variable in terms of power. In fact both days the power was up and down within about a 20-40 watt range.
This reminded me of why I prefer to have my Athletes do workouts outside whenever possible. The microbursts, changes in cadence and wattage, different muscle groups used as well as terrain is much more effective than nailing the power right at a certain wattage for an interval. Think about it, how many events RR/crit or TT have you done where the power and cadence is exactly X and never changes?
The trainer is good for some types of workouts like the dreaded "race winning interval" or a crit specific workout with bursts every 15 seconds. Changes in terrain and wind can make it pretty difficult to do those types of workouts accurately. But for the most part, and especially for longer 15:00+ Threshold intervals and tempo work you are better off doing them on the road. Don't focus on the power too much, rather keep it, in a range of bout 20-30 watts and go by feel, glancing down every 20 seconds to make sure you are on target, chances are your normalized power will be very close to your goal.
There are some coaches and athletes out there doing ALL of their workouts on the trainers or rollers. I am still looking for that event that requires me to ride at exactly 365watts for 20 minutes....if anyone finds one let me know.
Today I rode with my wife on mainly a fun ride but I threw in 2 15:00's at about 90%, but they were highly variable in terms of power. In fact both days the power was up and down within about a 20-40 watt range.
This reminded me of why I prefer to have my Athletes do workouts outside whenever possible. The microbursts, changes in cadence and wattage, different muscle groups used as well as terrain is much more effective than nailing the power right at a certain wattage for an interval. Think about it, how many events RR/crit or TT have you done where the power and cadence is exactly X and never changes?
The trainer is good for some types of workouts like the dreaded "race winning interval" or a crit specific workout with bursts every 15 seconds. Changes in terrain and wind can make it pretty difficult to do those types of workouts accurately. But for the most part, and especially for longer 15:00+ Threshold intervals and tempo work you are better off doing them on the road. Don't focus on the power too much, rather keep it, in a range of bout 20-30 watts and go by feel, glancing down every 20 seconds to make sure you are on target, chances are your normalized power will be very close to your goal.
There are some coaches and athletes out there doing ALL of their workouts on the trainers or rollers. I am still looking for that event that requires me to ride at exactly 365watts for 20 minutes....if anyone finds one let me know.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hit and Miss
Thats what my blogging has been like lately... So I apologize to my loyal readers. It has been 6 months since i have posted, and there has been a ton going on with me. So here are the bullets of the last 6 months.
The past two days I put together some nice workouts Yesterday I did 2x20:00 at 95% of FTP, felt great so today I went out and threw down 60:00 at 95% of FTP.. much tougher for sure but i did it and i felt good. I suspect that FTP has already made that early spring "leap" of about 20 watts that is the norm for me when i climb back on the bike for yet another racing season.
We may be headed to the beach next week for 4-5 days and do 2-a-days for a nice little spring trainig camp. We will see!
Ill try to be more consistent with my postings this year. Healty Day!
- Injury, pliriformis syndrome took me off the bike from October till January 15thish.
- Medical problems... long story involving a small outpatient surgery mid Jan.
- Started "lightly" training towards the end of Jan.
The past two days I put together some nice workouts Yesterday I did 2x20:00 at 95% of FTP, felt great so today I went out and threw down 60:00 at 95% of FTP.. much tougher for sure but i did it and i felt good. I suspect that FTP has already made that early spring "leap" of about 20 watts that is the norm for me when i climb back on the bike for yet another racing season.
We may be headed to the beach next week for 4-5 days and do 2-a-days for a nice little spring trainig camp. We will see!
Ill try to be more consistent with my postings this year. Healty Day!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Like Shootin Fish in a Barrel"
Thats what it was like this weekend at Crossroads for Time Pro Cycling. They took the lions share of the podium and prize money all week with Daniel Ramsey winning the first three days of Crossroads. There was not anyone that could go toe to toe with this powerhouse over the weekend. And I imagine this trend will continue through the rest of the 9 day race series this week.
Friday: Very hard race, big finishing hill. 36 Starters, 26 Finishers. I lasted 20 minutes. Ramsey lapped the field solo, followed by Hamblen and Johnson and that was your podium. Teammate Jay Cox hung in there for a field finish, great ride to even finish among mainly Pros that finished.
Saturday: Didn't race, the 8:00 PM start, chose to go home and sleep, but failed in that as well. Our team had no finishers in the filed of 26 that did cross the line.
Sunday: Up at 5am, set up course, put up almost a mile of crowd barriers, set out 50 hay bails, hang banners, on feet all day promoting the race in the heat, forgot to eat drink or sit, kitted up to race last minute with no warm-up. Strong recipe for a disasturous race, and thats exactly what it was.
The temp at the 3:30 start was about 95 degrees. All of the big guns were there from the past few days the 3 powerful teams being Time Pro Cycling, DLP, and Hincapie/Coke.
The course is one of the hardest in the south-east, if your not climbing your turning. Did I mention it was hot? The race was insanely fast from the gun and guys went off the back at record speed. I was hurting from working all day but was trying to hang in there until my body settled into the pain cave. The first few guys i saw of note drop out in the first 15 minutes were Torsten Wambold, Joey Coddington and Andrew Olson, all from the DLP PRO Cycling team. This race was crazy hard. At about 19:00 into it Erik Barlevev, famous for his recent win at Harlem Rocks Crit, was next to me and obviously on the rivet, then he just quit pedaling and pulled off. This was really bad for my attitude about the race, because i reasoned "if all these "Pros" are quitting, than ive done ok to stay in this long". I probably could have stayed in a little longer. Right after that there was a $100 cash preme and i was gone. My two teammates Pete and Jay hung in there to get 7th and 18th respectively. There were only 22 finishers out of the 44 starters.
Friday: Very hard race, big finishing hill. 36 Starters, 26 Finishers. I lasted 20 minutes. Ramsey lapped the field solo, followed by Hamblen and Johnson and that was your podium. Teammate Jay Cox hung in there for a field finish, great ride to even finish among mainly Pros that finished.
Saturday: Didn't race, the 8:00 PM start, chose to go home and sleep, but failed in that as well. Our team had no finishers in the filed of 26 that did cross the line.
Sunday: Up at 5am, set up course, put up almost a mile of crowd barriers, set out 50 hay bails, hang banners, on feet all day promoting the race in the heat, forgot to eat drink or sit, kitted up to race last minute with no warm-up. Strong recipe for a disasturous race, and thats exactly what it was.
The temp at the 3:30 start was about 95 degrees. All of the big guns were there from the past few days the 3 powerful teams being Time Pro Cycling, DLP, and Hincapie/Coke.
The course is one of the hardest in the south-east, if your not climbing your turning. Did I mention it was hot? The race was insanely fast from the gun and guys went off the back at record speed. I was hurting from working all day but was trying to hang in there until my body settled into the pain cave. The first few guys i saw of note drop out in the first 15 minutes were Torsten Wambold, Joey Coddington and Andrew Olson, all from the DLP PRO Cycling team. This race was crazy hard. At about 19:00 into it Erik Barlevev, famous for his recent win at Harlem Rocks Crit, was next to me and obviously on the rivet, then he just quit pedaling and pulled off. This was really bad for my attitude about the race, because i reasoned "if all these "Pros" are quitting, than ive done ok to stay in this long". I probably could have stayed in a little longer. Right after that there was a $100 cash preme and i was gone. My two teammates Pete and Jay hung in there to get 7th and 18th respectively. There were only 22 finishers out of the 44 starters.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Know When to say ENOUGH!
Last night it was looking like T-storms 2 - Zach 0. However by the time I got the bike setup in the garage to ride, it had blown over so I headed outside. The workout was this:
Warm-Up
2x5:00 at 410 watts (VO2)
1x5:00 "Race winning interval"
I felt pretty decent for the first 5:00 averaging 409, right on target. I decided to mix it up and go straight into the "race winning interval" after a 5:00 recovery. This is one of my favorite workouts that simulates an end of the race "winning move." It starts with a 15 second sprint, usually at around 1600 watts for me, and then goes into V02 or around 410 watts until 3:00, then settles into FTP (345 watts) for the last two minutes and then ends with a sprint.
This workout simulates perfectly a 2 to go race winning move in a crit. You have the sprint to create initial separation, the 3:00 of high output V02 to build a good gap, and the last two minutes you settle in to your FTP and then you finish with a sprint to hold off the field for the win. These are really hard.
So I start the "race winning interval" and at about a minute into it I notice that my HR is only around 185, very close to my LT HR, (max is about 203 for me). Normally my HR would be in the mid 190s for this particular workout. I have been noticing for the past few days that I was feeling tired and sluggish and legs have been sore, the deep soreness that feels like its in the bone.
Alarms and red lights went off instantly, WARNING WARNING MELT DOWN APPROACHING. I instantly killed the workout and headed home for some good sleep.
Which leads me to the point of the post, listen to your body and pay attention to the signs. Know when its time to pull the plug and take a rest day. This is where having a coach to review your power/HR files really comes in handy. Most athletes don't recognize overtraining until its to late and the are in a violent tail spin ending a large portion of their season, and perhaps ruining their "A" race of the year. Even riders that may recognize the signs are often too stubborn to listen to them and think they should "man up" and push through it.
I constantly preach "less is often more" and "when in doubt don't." When you get these warning signs listen to them and go home and take a nap, you'll be way better off for it.
Most of you know that one of my "A" goals is coming up Sunday the hometown Morganton Cycling Classic. So i have decided to stay away from the bike today and tomorrow and do a short "tune-up " ride on Saturday. I would much rather show up a little "dull" well rested and motivated than perhaps a little sharper but tired and overtrained. After all there are 7 crits next week, plus a TTT so I need the rest!
Warm-Up
2x5:00 at 410 watts (VO2)
1x5:00 "Race winning interval"
I felt pretty decent for the first 5:00 averaging 409, right on target. I decided to mix it up and go straight into the "race winning interval" after a 5:00 recovery. This is one of my favorite workouts that simulates an end of the race "winning move." It starts with a 15 second sprint, usually at around 1600 watts for me, and then goes into V02 or around 410 watts until 3:00, then settles into FTP (345 watts) for the last two minutes and then ends with a sprint.
This workout simulates perfectly a 2 to go race winning move in a crit. You have the sprint to create initial separation, the 3:00 of high output V02 to build a good gap, and the last two minutes you settle in to your FTP and then you finish with a sprint to hold off the field for the win. These are really hard.
So I start the "race winning interval" and at about a minute into it I notice that my HR is only around 185, very close to my LT HR, (max is about 203 for me). Normally my HR would be in the mid 190s for this particular workout. I have been noticing for the past few days that I was feeling tired and sluggish and legs have been sore, the deep soreness that feels like its in the bone.
Alarms and red lights went off instantly, WARNING WARNING MELT DOWN APPROACHING. I instantly killed the workout and headed home for some good sleep.
Which leads me to the point of the post, listen to your body and pay attention to the signs. Know when its time to pull the plug and take a rest day. This is where having a coach to review your power/HR files really comes in handy. Most athletes don't recognize overtraining until its to late and the are in a violent tail spin ending a large portion of their season, and perhaps ruining their "A" race of the year. Even riders that may recognize the signs are often too stubborn to listen to them and think they should "man up" and push through it.
I constantly preach "less is often more" and "when in doubt don't." When you get these warning signs listen to them and go home and take a nap, you'll be way better off for it.
Most of you know that one of my "A" goals is coming up Sunday the hometown Morganton Cycling Classic. So i have decided to stay away from the bike today and tomorrow and do a short "tune-up " ride on Saturday. I would much rather show up a little "dull" well rested and motivated than perhaps a little sharper but tired and overtrained. After all there are 7 crits next week, plus a TTT so I need the rest!
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