Are You Living It?

I tried something new in my training schedule for the Willamette Classic stage race. This in itself is not a bad thing, but trying a fairly big change just prior to a race, may not have been a good idea. Up through February I had been riding strong. Climbing with riders that I had never been able to hang with in the past. Willamette was looking good!

Then I decided to give my training a boost, as in “can I do something that will get even better results quicker”. I fell for the trap so many athletes do, not sticking to the plan. Remember, when you lay out your training plan you take a long hard look at your training history, your time available, and your goals. You lay out a plan that allows for steady progress, maybe slightly harder at times than you have tried in the past, and if it is a bit too much you can back off to recover. Don’t go the other way around, hit that period in training that you feel on top of the world, and then crank it up for that extra boost at the end. Timing is everything, and when you are feeling great, hitting it harder may result in greater fitness, but your gains may not be realized for race day!

I hit it hard for two weeks, felt the tiredness set into my legs, pushed harder, knowing that I would feel weaker after this bout, but the rebound would give me Super Legs. I made it through to my rest week, and for good measure added few extra rest days just prior to Willamette. I was feeling good and my expectations were high. Stage one began well, my legs were pushing up the small hills without much problem. I dropped off the back on a longer steep one and was able to catch the peloton again at the base of the next climb. This climb exploded the field and again, I was riding alone. When it was over I was 20 minutes down. Not a good day, worst placing ever. Stage two criterion was even worse. As the race began, my legs felt like they would not react to my efforts and I watched the entire group pull away from me, like a train leaving the station. I rode on until I was pulled and given a pro-rated time. I went back to the hotel and slept. How could I feel so strong just weeks before this and be riding this poorly? Was the field just that much stronger? Should I reconsider this racing stuff? Maybe I’m just getting too old for this shit! By the next morning, I was still feeling sorry for myself. Started stage three, got dropped, finished. Drove home.

I had already planned to take Monday off, so I went in and had a massage on my legs. No riding. On Tuesday I worked and was beginning to feel normal again. At the end of the day I decided to go on the local group ride, as my legs were feeling pretty good. I was amazed at how they felt, spinning easily, no fatigue, good power on small accelerations. I decided to hit a couple short hills hard, just to see how my legs felt. Wow! I was able to ride hills, that I had previously been able to ride at 11 mph, at an incredible 15 mph. A huge jump in power! Good news in the overall outlook, not too old, racing is still fun, the field may have been strong but I can be too.

The modification in the training plan did accomplish the goal of some additional power, but the timing was definitely off. In racing its not how fast you can be, its how fast you can be on race day! And that is not just about training, it’s about timing as well. So, lay out that plan, implement things you learn, and stick to the plan. You will get to your goals, and with a well thought out plan you will be fast when it really counts! I am currently looking forward to the Elkhorn Classic stage race in June. I will be finalizing my training plan with the additional input of Lactate Threshold testing at the end of next week. More on that later.