Saturday, February 13, 2010

January - February Training

As I did last year, I started my serious mountain bike training ridiculously early. The less ridiculous part is the nice variety of activities I've been getting in. My weeks have been going something like this: Monday yoga, Tuesday racquetball, Wednesday 1-2 hr trainer ride, Thursday weights (very heavy, low reps), Friday off, Saturday and Sunday skiing and trainer time depending on weather. I capped it off today with satisfying 5 and 20 minute time trials (testing protocol per Coogan and Hunter).

I think I really let my self go, relatively speaking, during the cyclocross season. I was trying to mix it up with the Cat 3s in the B races, but I never came away with great results. The training was really slack at that point. After that, I rested for a couple weeks, then got serious again.

Playing with the new (used) PowerTap has been fun. I ride so much on the trainer, that in the past I was able to gage my output level by the speed on the computer. To do this, mount the sensor on the back wheel. It helps to look up the power curve for your particular trainer.

My most significant accomplishments for this training block have been: 1) Creatively modifying my schedule - I got sick Tuesday the week of the city of lakes loppet, then, instead of powering through a hard week, I decided to make it a rest week and get recharged for that race. The following week (ending tomorrow) was then to be a quasi-rest, quasi-on week. I feel great for the nice result at the COLL and for my good trainer ride today. 2) Squatted 255 lb. 8 reps, 6 sets, with lots left in the tank. This is a big improvement over last year in terms of reps. 3) Hitting my workout time goals without dorking up my personal life. 4) Had a great 5 min. time trial today according to the benchmarks in the Coogan/Hunter book.

We'll see how things shake out as I enter the base 2 period as defined by Friel. Here's some good reading for the self coached mountain biker:

Joe Friel, The Mountain Biker's Training Bible
Coogan and Hunter, Training and Racing with a Power Meter (useful even if you don't have one)
www.mtbr.com XC training forum


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

2010 City of Lakes Loppet

Photo from skinnyski

I did the Loppet again this year. I beat last year's time by 10 minutes (2:07 -> 1:57). Unlike last year, I rested up for the race, had good wax, better luck getting through traffic, and no equipment issues. Last year my speed lace boots untied themselves at the top of the first hill. I snipped those off, now I just tie them like normal shoes -- perfect! The snow was really fresh this year. I used the Swix HF7, but it didn't seem like $70 worth of glide to me. Oh well. I still got my ass kicked on the lakes, where the big guys flew passed me. I might have done just enough to sneak into wave 1 for next year.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Turning Over a New Leaf


I'm re-tooling this Mofo with some focus. Expect more regular posts. Cheers and happy 2010!