Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Super (with lots of randoms) Post

Since my last update I have partially started at least 4 posts and managed to not upload a single one. So now that I have a few minutes tonight I decided to post them all. It may be a little random at points but you'll get the idea.

Iola:

Yea i'm "The Other Guy" which isn't so bad. Not the worst company to roll to a race with or get training advice from.

Managed a solid early season result and haven't been looking back ever since. This is probably my best start to a season in a few years which is a good sign of things to come.

I remember it was not all that long ago that I was super pumped to be graduating college and starting my first real job. School was beginning to drag on feeling tiresome and I was ready to move on and join the "Real World". Well my initial thoughts on how great the real world would be were a little skewed and at times I really miss the good ole days of school. Honestly I am very thankful for my job and am not trying to complain but merely explain my current thoughts. The mandatory minimum of 50 hours a week at work is the new tiresome act I find myself completing for the last couple months.

Time is more precious then ever before and must be managed carefully. Cycling is one of the few things that truly keeps me motivated and going day in and day out. I never realized the abundance of time I had in college until now when I could go for a training ride pretty much whenever I wanted. It's probably safe to say those days are going to be few and far between from here on out. Long story short I have to try to be smart about my time spent training given it's limited nature. Consistency is the key to success this season and I feel I'm off to a decent start even when it feels like my world is spinning at 100 mph to try to get all the things I want to do done.




One the 1st of June I pulled the trigger and signed up for professional coaching. Over the last couple years I have been getting help and advice here and there from my good friend and who I often call "Coach" Brian Matter. Since he has now made it official and joined forces with the all wise and talented T.J. Woodruff as a coach I have also taken the next step in my endeavors and decided to step it up to the next level with "Official" coaching. It's been less than 2 months and I can tell the difference in my overall preparedness and fitness improvements. I am very happy with my results so far and am on track to meet and hopefully exceed my goals for the season. If you are interested in being coach by one of the most knowledgeable people I know don't hesitate to email him (bmatter@momentumendurance.com) and see what it's all about.

As for the last couple weeks and races they have all gone pretty well. WORS #3 was Wausau and I proved to myself more than anyone else that I was in fact in half decent shape and my result at Iola wasn't a fluke. WORS #4 was the Subaru Cup and proved to be a tough weekend of racing in the CAT 1 field but still solid. Which brings us to last weekends races. Miners Revenge was a VERY last minute decision to race on Saturday. I was beyond impressed with the course and how technical it was. I can compare it to Mount Snow, Vermont and chalk it up as one of the most technical trails and races I have ever done. Did I mention we got to ride through an abandoned mine.... yea it was sweet.
I did my best to take it easy knowing I had another race the next day which proved easier said than done. The steep climbs and drops were just to fun to not rip them in a few sections and left me a little tired.

Matter and myself spent more than a few hours driving over the weekend, som
ewhere just over 20 hours by the time we went to the UP, back home and then to Eau Claire and back. Some how I managed to recover quite well and after a nice warmup I was ready to crush another days worth of racing. After about 60 seconds of racing I knew the legs were feeling GOOD. I managed to move from my 3rd row start position to 3rd place in the leadout and stayed there for the next 2 laps. I knew I was feeling good and also knew it wouldn't last forever with the previous days efforts. At the start of the 3rd lap the sweltering heat was really starting to take its toll and I had to go into survival mode and salvage my good start and placing as best possible. I was fading pretty good but managed to finish reasonably strong and put the icing on the cake from a great weekend of racing.

The coach really dialed up the training this last week with the most L.T. work I can ever remember doing. I'm still alive and can't wait to see what kind of new fitness I am going to get out of this last training block.

Next up WORS#6