Nov
18
2011
Most, if not all, athletic movements require you to activate your core group of muscles to help complete the movement. From a quarterback’s throw to the pedal stroke of a cyclist, your core provides you with the stability and power needed through every motion. Every time you lift your leg, you rely on core muscles to do so. Each time you hop a log with a bicycle, ride through technical terrain, or make a turn, you rely on core muscles. So during a long ride or a race, a core that fatigues fast will lead to weaker legs, upper torso, and arms, which will lead to a loss of power, loss of coordination, and a slower effort. A weaker core will ultimately reduce your overall potential as an athlete.
Building endurance requires a repetitive movement such as the repetitive movements used to run or ride a bike. When you think about it, while you’re running or riding your bike, your legs are moving anywhere between 4000 to 6000 repetitions an hour. That’s a lot of movement. Moving your legs that often over hours and hours of time builds endurance.
So, when speaking about core strength for an endurance athlete, you must keep endurance in mind. Focusing on a strong core that can complete five or six repetitions with max power will focus on gains within energy systems and muscle fibers that fatigue at a faster rate. An endurance athlete needs a core that is aerobically strong, because their actions happen over longer periods of time, over many hours and even days. So, you want core strength that is built for endurance.
The more aerobically trained muscles you have, the more potential you have to clear the build up of lactic acid (lactic acid – Product of the energy process – now viewed as having both potential positive and negative effects towards energy production within the muscle). So building endurance is as important in your core as in all other regions of the body. The more aerobically trained your arms, shoulders, neck and back are, the more places you will have to clear build-up of lactic acid, and the less fatigue those muscles will experience over a long race effort. Keep in mind that hard efforts may build lactic acid within the legs, but it is cleared throughout the entire body. So the more aerobically trained muscles you have, the better.
The best way to train all parts of the body is through working with a full range of motion while strength training. A bench press, for example, will only work your arms and shoulders through a fixed range of motion. Compare that to a Turkish Get Up (Video of a Turkish Get Up) where you press a kettle bell overhead while lying on the ground and then gradually stand while holding the kettle bell over head. The standing movement requires your shoulder(s) to rotate, which works more range of motion compared to a bench press. An exercise like the Turkish Get Up is also a full body movement that focuses on your entire core.
Warrior One Into Extended Angle Pose – Photo by Luluemon Athletica
A great way to gain core strength and work full range of motion with many repetitions and longer durations is through practices that primarily use body weight such as yoga and pilates, for example. Ashtanga and power yoga are styles of yoga that are faster flowing, continuous, and challenging. Yoga is hands down one of the best way to work for aerobic strength gains throughout the entire body. Not only do you focus on many repetitions such as with pushups, squats, and lunges, you work each joint in a full range of motion while doing so, which focuses on core endurance, stability, and flexibility.
A core group of muscles that fatigues less will allow you to work with increased power ranges for a longer period of time while running or riding a bike. With more range of motion, increased flexibility, and a stronger core, you will not only feel better before, during and after each workout, you will be slightly more productive as well. Pedaling with slightly more power two to three hours into a ride, or a few hours into a run, is how you make further gains in endurance and aerobic strength. With as few as one to two workouts a week through the winter months and early season, you can make great gains in core strength. The time you spend working on it now will greatly pay off throughout the entire year.
Mike Schultz CSCS
Oct
18
2011
With all the talk about bike packing going around, I decided I had to check it out for myself to see what the buzz was all about. I made the decision to bike pack the Coconino 250, a 250-mile mountain bike ride through the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona. The Coconino was my first bike packing adventure indeed, and an adventure it was. I learned that mountain biking 250 miles on a mix of single track and dirt roads has its own unique set of rules and guidelines, different than any other form of back packing. Carrying everything you need to survive in the wilderness while riding trails on a mountain bike for three to four days is not easy.
The set up
Prior to my trip, I learned a few tips about bike set up from ultra endurance racers and coaches Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris. They both have many ultra distance bike packing trips under their belt and gave great advice. They advised balancing the weight on the bike between the seat, handlebars, and backpack to make for better handling, especially going downhill. So with their advice in mind, I decided to place my tent and sleeping pad on the handlebars, wrapped in the tent stuff sack, with a seat pack containing my sleeping bag and a few extra pieces of clothing. This worked very well.
On the morning of Friday, October 7, I met up with a few riders who were also riding the Coconino loop. It was a cold morning with snow dusting the ground and still dark, but with a daily forecast in the warmer temps expected, the cold morning air didn’t bother any of us. We all knew we had an experience to remember just ahead. So, at about 6 am on Friday, we left the cars and started riding into the town of Sedona on trail.
View from top of the hill heading into Sedona, AZ at the start
Warm temperatures, in the low 70’s, arrived by the middle of the day. I was riding the Sedona wilderness, with red rock canyons all about, blue skies and flowing trails. Through the first day, we traveled in and out of the red rock formations of Sedona to the west, into the open flats and sandy trails outside of Cottonwood. It didn’t take long to realize that carrying an extra 30 plus pounds of gear and food is going to make for longer days than expected, but that was ok. I was not here to work on speed, I was here to get in a great training ride and experience a different form of cycling.
The goal for the first day was to end with a climb to the top of Mount Mingus, just west of Cottonwood. It was a 10-mile journey from Cottonwood, and almost all uphill. It was truly epic. In a 10-mile span, we ascended from the town of Cottonwood at 3300 feet, to the top of Mount Mingus at 7800 feet in elevation. It was steep and slow going with all the gear, but with one foot in front of the other, I was able to finish it before dark.
Climbing up Mingus MTN – Town of Cottonwood below with Sedona in the far distance
As I was cresting the top ridge on the front side of the mountain, about 7000 feet up, the sun was starting to disappear. Near the top, hiking my bike on a narrow steep trail, I was looking at where the trail was taking me. I was climbing up and over a ridge on the front side of the mountain, a ridge that was about 1000 feet below the top. This ridge looked super narrow and razor-like edged while climbing to it and it was a far way from the town below. I had a good feeling cresting this ridge was going to lead to a final ascent up the backside to the top of the mountain, and it did. It was steep traveling and once you crested the front side ridge, there was a narrow trail with eight steep switchbacks that led to the top. Each switchback had unbelievable views, but as the sun was going down, the views were the last thing on my mind. Making it to the top was my first and foremost thought.
Day two was a 70-mile trek into the town of Williams, the gateway to the Grand Canyon. I rode most of the day on my own, spinning, enjoying the views and passing a few riders on the longer climbs. We again dropped down in elevation to around 3300 feet before gradually climbing 4000 – 5000 feet in elevation to the town of Williams. It was a long, grueling, slow day, but with one pedal at a time, I reached the town of Williams after 9-10 hours.
Day three was a 70-mile journey from the town of Williams to the town of Flagstaff on a combination of trail and roads. By this time I was sore and tired, but enthused to be riding into the town of Flagstaff. It was a warm sunny day with more great views and flowing trails. I pedaled the entire day alone. I had a GPS route to follow and I made sure I did a good job sticking to it.
Views from the Sycamore Rim trail
As I emerged from the Sycamore Rim trail on day two and on to the open dirt roads heading east towards Flagstaff, the snow-covered San Francisco peaks appeared over the tree line. This was a welcome view but as close as they looked, they were still a far distance away.
Above – View from the roads after Sycamore trail
Left – View at the top of the climb
I traveled closer and closer to the peaks until I finally arrived at the final ascent of the day, a climb to the base of the peaks to around 9000 feet. After three long days on the bike, I was feeling surprisingly good and having a really good time out there. Maybe the views were covering up the pain in the legs, or the endorphins finally kicked in, but whatever it was, pedaling the final climb of the day was fun. As I traveled through the aspens at the base of the mountain, and into the woods, I then turned onto the Arizona trail to begin my descent back into the town of Flagstaff. This was the beginning of a 14-mile decent back into town, which was well deserved. It was an epic decent on a smooth, fast flowing trail.
At the 200-mile mark, coasting into Flagstaff, I decided to end the trip 50 miles short of the goal due to time concerns and travel. I didn’t realize how long each day was going to take with all the gear. I learned that to be successful with these adventures on bike, you need strong lightweight gear and a strong mind. You must be confident in your gear and yourself to get through a bike packing trip or race. But for my first bike packing trip, I had a great experience, learned a lot about backcountry travel on a bike and got in some hard-earned fun miles to talk about for a long time to come.
Mike Schultz
Oct
3
2011
Josh Tosado rides to his second national championship title this past weekend at the USA Cycling 24 hour National Championship race in Colorado Springs, CO. Leading the race after the first lap, Josh never looked back until the very end, where he called it quits with a one lap lead, finishing with 18 laps and riding a total of 234 miles.
The women’s field featured a few ultra endurance all stars as well. Jari Kirkland and Pua Mata battled it out for the women’s lead until Jari dropped out of the race within the first 12 hours. Pua then took a demanding lead over the rest of the women’s field, finishing ahead by three laps over second place, and taking the national title.
The men’s single speed class was dominated by Evan Plews, finishing second overall solo with 18 total laps, and riding an impressive 234 miles with one gear. Showing up in the most simple way, with an old school red suitcase, filled with the basic needs, and a Styrofoam cooler to house his drink and food. He never stopped through the night and it payed off in the end, winning the single speed class by one lap over the second place finisher.
The race was held at Palmer Park near Downtown Colorado Springs. The course was a 13 mile loop that consisted of some technical rocky terrain, loose sandy sections and a few wide open trail sections to spin out the legs. It was a challenging course in the end, with many solo riders feeling it not only in the legs, but the arms as well, after pounding through the rocks sections for 24 hours straight.
Sep
7
2011
The thought of fall racing is like the flick of a switch when cooler weather arrives. The need for arm warmers, light jackets, and lights are all fun thoughts to have. I like to think about the change in scenery, riding my bike or running in a new atmosphere, as well as what type of training I need to focus on. So, whether your goals are to prepare for shorter events such as cyclocross races on the bike or a half marathon on foot, you are going to need to be extra smart. A full year of training will provide plenty of wear and tear to your body.
Entering into the fall season and continuing to train with the same amount of volume and intensity is not wise. The body can only handle so much training stress in one season whether your limits are to race 20-30 times a year or 5-10 times a year. The goal for most is to push individual limits for the season, which means you are going to build a good amount of fatigue mentally and physically.
If the year has been a busy one with races and training, you are going to need to reduce your volume of training as you transition into fall. A primary goal should be to focus on shorter, harder efforts with plenty of easy days, and recovery days. This will help elicit further gains in top end power. If your year has been a light one with fewer races or hours, you may be able to handle more volume and intensity in the late season but you will still need to be smart about it.
The best way to know how much volume and intensity you can handle is to listen to your body and mind. You need to plan to train less late in the year but your bio feedback will tell you how to dial your program in. Your mental state can tell you a lot about how much fatigue you are experiencing, and will do so most effectively within the context of feedback from heart rates, perceived exertions, and power trends.
Late in the season, after a week or two of training, you may experience greater fatigue. Heart rates may be hard to elevate, power numbers down, higher perceived exertions, and a negative attitude toward riding may all happen after one week of training hours in the fall. If these are the trends, then, you are most likely experiencing a greater amount of fatigue and possibly pushing the limits of overtraining. It may only take one or two weeks of hours to reach this point late in the season compared to two to three weeks earlier in the year. While it is ok to experience this, it’s more important to listen to it and seek a week of rest or reduced hours to recover.
Training fatigue does not completely vanish after a week of rest, or a fixed amount of easy days. It builds through the year and carries from week to week and month to month. Even while you are peaking for events mid season, resting into them, you are still building fatigue.
So as you travel into the fall season and want to race, you need to keep a few things in mind -
- Focusing on intensity is important. But recovering from higher end intensity is just as important, if not more so. If you have gone too hard too early in the year, working on high end intensity late in the year may not be achievable and/or will lead to an overtrained state in a fast way. So listening to your body is again, important. But if you have worked on a good mix of endurance and intensity through the season, then you will be ready to work hard efforts to elicit a few final gains in top end power, which will help out with the shorter events in the fall.
- Focusing on too many endurance rides with big weekly hours is a common mistake. This is an easy way to burn out late in the year, especially if it has been a big year of racing and training. Even if you are planning on a longer event late in the fall, with a full year of training in the legs, you may not need many hours to prep well. Focusing on leg speed and top end power in the fall will elicit further gains, and help you in a late season longer or shorter event.
- You must listen to your bio feedback, your overall feel and mind. Often, I recommend to athletes I work with to rest earlier than expected later in the year, even after one week of training or a short race. It is hard to accept the need for more rest late season but it is wise to realize what’s needed and take the additional rest. This will help you avoid an overtrained state and allow late season gains to be made.
If you have raced your heart out, literally, through long training hours and hard races, then late season is a time to have fun with the power and endurance you have gained through the year. Fall is a time to work on top end power, adding to endurance gains from the season, or prep for a long distance race, but it is also a time to incorporate more rest into the program to allow for more recovery from the training and racing stress built through the year. It is also a time to enjoy the change of season, cooler temps, and post-summer scenery.
Have fun, be smart, and work hard.
Mike Schultz CSCS
Jul
22
2011
Dealing with the heat, at least initially, is always an issue. I think it is fair to say that most if not all endurance athletes have experienced some degree of cramps at one time or another, and most likely while racing or training on a hot humid day. Even those who live in hot climates need to acclimate somewhat to the hotter conditions of the mid summer months of June, July and August, especially if you plan to race during that time.
When it is hot, especially when temps are in the 90-100F (36-40C) range, your body needs to work harder to keep your core temperatures in a safe range to allow the organs to function normally.
One of the ways your body keeps cool is by circulating blood to the skin. This allows the internal heat building inside to be transferred to the environment. Core temperatures of 104F (40C) have been observed with marathon athletes. So, transferring heat to the outside plays an important role in helping your core keep cool.
One of the issues with more blood circulating to the skin while exercising, especially when you are not yet acclimated to hotter temperatures, is that you only have a fixed amount of blood to be circulated among the skin, internal organs and the working muscles. This results in less blood volume centrally surrounding the heart. If there is less blood flowing into the heart, there is less blood flowing out of the heart. So that means the heart needs to pump faster to keep up with the demand to keep cool, operate organs, and keep the muscles working.
Less fluid flowing around internally will cause a drop in blood pressure. The drop in blood pressure leads to constricted blood vessels within the internal organs, which in turn restricts blood from flowing to the skin and muscles, where it is needed for energy and cooling purposes. This results in a faster increase in core temperatures.
While sweat rates are usually not affected by all of these adjustments made by the body, the cooling effects of sweat alone are not great enough to keep the core temperatures cool. Also, the rate of sweat evaporation, which creates the cooling effect, is determined by the environment. So if it is humid, your sweat will remain on the skin a lot longer.
While not acclimated to the hotter temperatures, your body will do everything possible to keep your internal organs working and if that means taking blood away from the working muscles, then that’s what will happen. Less blood flowing to the muscles will not allow you to work at your full potential. You will go slower than normal, and most likely will experience cramps from dehydration due to the reduced amount of fluid flowing into the muscles.
Fortunately for all of us, our bodies adapt. It takes time for the body to make changes but it does happen. One major change is an increase in blood plasma, creating more blood volume. This prevents a greater loss in blood pressure while it is hot, which keeps the pathways open for blood flow to the skin, internal organs and working muscles. However, these adaptations are only evident when consistent exercise in the heat is performed. And when working harder, more progressive efforts, these adaptations can be sustained for up to three weeks. So if you are only exercising once in a while and spending a lot of time in air conditioned rooms, acclimating to the heat will not be as effective.
While it is good to adapt to the heat during the hot summer months, it is also good to limit the amount of training done in the hotter temperatures. You produce less power while working in very hot temperatures, even while acclimated. That will lead to fewer potential gains and more stress on the body. Too much training in the heat can actually have a reverse effect and result in a loss of fitness.
Adapt to the heat by living in the heat, race in the heat to allow for progressive efforts to be performed, but keep most of your quality training when the temps are cooler. Once you begin to acclimate, training in temperatures 10-20 degrees cooler will allow you to retain more blood flow within the working muscles, which will allow you to produce more power and make more gains.
Adapting is a natural process and one that most will deal with at some point. The advantage of living in a hot climate is that it gets hot sooner than it does in the northern climates, allowing for better preparation for the early season races in 90-95F temperatures (32-33C). But there will still need to be a process to adapt to the 95-100F (37-38C) temperatures of mid summer. So it is best to realize that heat adaptation is necessary and a process for all but pushing the limits training in the heat too often is not the best practice.
Race hot and train cool!
Mike Schultz CSCS
The information used to write this article is derived from a peer reviewed article from the International SportMed Journal –
1 – Taylor N, Cotter J. (2006). Heat Adaptation: Guidelines for the optimization of Human performance. International SportMed Journal, Vol 7 No. 1, 33-57.
Jul
9
2011
As trail racing grows in popularity, the physiological needs of a mountain bike athlete become increasingly important to examine and understand. Racing a bike along a trail will require a different set of skills compared to racing on the road. Knowing how to power through a turn on the trail at 20 mph takes skill, and your entire body. Core strength is an essential element in off road cycling, as is the ability to produce greater amounts of power and force, working above your threshold ranges, for short to moderate durations. But core strength and the ability to perform short powerful efforts is not the only need of an off road cyclist. The ability to recover from each effort while continuing to pedal at a moderate to fast pace will play an even more important role.
Developing muscle endurance is one of the most important performance factors for all mountain bike athletes. More than 50% of all mountain bike races are done at a moderate intensity, which requires muscle endurance. Approximately 30% of all races are spent working at a high intensity.
Trail races will require navigating rocky terrain, hopping over logs, or climbing short steep hills. All of these challenges will require a rider to produce short to moderate bursts of power at threshold or above. The ability to recover from hard short efforts, while continuing to pedal at a fast pace, is a key element to increasing fitness and speed as a mountain bike athlete. Unlike a road cyclist who can draft from a team of riders while recovering, or coast downhill, a mountain bike cyclist needs to recover without the help of others while pedaling uphill or downhill on the trail. Riding downhill on a trail is work, requiring isometric muscle contractions and a strong focus. So the more power you can produce while recovering, working in your aerobic power ranges, and dealing with other forms of muscle fatigue, such as isometric contractions, the faster you will be in the race.
Riding at a moderate intensity, while recovering from hard efforts, demands muscle endurance. Increases in aerobic enzyme activity, mitochondrial density, and capillary density, are a few of the adaptations that happen within the muscle that relate to an increase in muscle endurance. These adaptations happen while working various aerobic intensities with mainly deep breathing and steady paces. Ironically, a road is the best place to work these steady efforts. An increase in muscle endurance will allow you to utilize more oxygen within the system as well as the ability to burn more fat as fuel at higher intensities. This all relates to an increase in overall endurance during a race and allows a mountain biker the opportunity to utilize more potential top end power more often, thus resulting in a faster athlete.
A recent study done on the physiology of mountain biking, studying elite mountain bike athletes, shows peak power outputs up to 500 watts during the start of events and while climbing short steep hills. A mountain bike athlete spends most of his/her time working against gravity, whether on the hills or against the greater rolling resistance of the trail. Thus, a mountain biker is required to produce power above threshold ranges, from 3-10 second efforts to 1-3 minute efforts, while powering though short steep climbs, over logs, or during tough technical sections of trail. Thus, increasing power at threshold and above is yet another important aspect of an off road cyclist, and can be achieved while working force efforts on the roads, riding trails on a single speed, or racing a few friends on the local trails.
So, when in the training mindset, working good force for short to moderate durations to make gains in upper end power is important. But, keep in mind that working on this type of power must be well timed throughout the year. If you are always focused on working hard efforts, you will then miss the opportunity to make gains in muscle endurance, which – as noted above – is one of the most crucial aspects of training for an off road cyclist.
At the same time, the importance of core strength for an off road athlete can not be underestimated. One could argue that a strong core is the most important aspect of off road cycling, since a core that fatigues fast will result in a loss in power. As a mountain bike cyclist, you will need to maneuver over obstacles such as logs, large rocks, and varied terrain. If the muscles in your abdomen, lower back, or upper chest become weak from this required maneuvering, you lose the potential to utilize power in your legs.
A fatigued core leads to a loss of power, as a result of poor mechanics on the bike. The more mechanically sound you are on the trail the more potential you have to produce power for a longer period of time. Once you miss a line around a rock or over a log consistently, due to a weaker core, you expend more energy throughout the race, particularly in your legs, resulting in additional energy used. Working through technical sections with a stronger core will allow you to remain stable and efficient, and reduce mistakes. So, said simply, the more core strength you have, the faster you will be on the trails.
A mountain bike athlete must be able to work steady moderate efforts for longer periods of time, produce power at threshold ranges and above, and recover from hard powerful efforts. But just as important are a strong focus and the will to succeed. The trail can be an unforgiving place, especially if you are feeling a great amount of fatigue. There are no other riders to pull you along while working on the trail. With smart training resulting in gains in overall endurance, power and core strength – along with strong motivation – a mountain bike athlete possesses the potential to work efficiently and faster over a longer period of time.
Mike Schultz CSCS
References
1 – Impellizzeri F, Marcora S. The Physiology of Mountain Biking. Sports Medicine [serial online]. January 2007;37(1):59-71.
Jun
11
2011
All too often athletes will spend most of their energy maintaining and improving physical performance but they will give little or no thought to preparing mentally for an event. I listen to thoughts and comments from all athletes and, most often, the elite and seasoned veterans are the athletes who speak in a wise tone about mental preparation for a race or training. Elite athletes have been through the training and racing process so many times they know how to approach a start line in a relaxed way, confident and realistic in their abilities, only thinking about the next few moments ahead and not the outcome of the race. This mindset is not only good for elite athletes…it is good for all athletes.
You must go into a race with confidence. Confidence is how strongly an athlete believes in his or her ability to perform a physical skill or execute a race. If you prepared well, maintained a proper diet, and rested into the event, you should then feel confident standing at the start line. Confidence is derived from your most recent performances, training and overall preparation. So, the more quality and smart training you perform, the more confident you will be.
For some athletes, letting go of their fears is one of the hardest things to do. This is more common with new athletes or less experienced athletes than the elite or seasoned vets but it still plays a role with all at times. Fears are not thoughts of being physically injured but rather thoughts of poor performance, and what others will think about you if you have poor results. Letting go of this fear is one of the biggest steps an athlete can take. Thinking about what could go wrong or the possible outcome of the race will only take away from focusing on the task at hand.
Focus on you while racing, not others. Focus on the process and what you need to do to complete the task – from taking off at the start line, working through each step of the race, to crossing the finish line. Don’t get into comparisons between yourself and other runners or cyclists, thinking they look faster because they look better, or have better form. Break the race down into steps, or stages, and work through each stage as smart as you can while keeping focused on you, and what you need to do to get to the next stage quickly. Focusing on anything else will only be a distraction and slow you down.
There is nothing like showing up for a race and having a game plan both mentally and physically for each specific event. Secondary events, or training events, should be approached with a more casual mindset than an event you want to do really well at, which should only be a few times a year at most. That takes the pressure off most events and allows you to perform with fewer fears and in a relaxed, fun way. Save the serious stuff for the big events, the half and full IM’s or the national 100-mile mountain bike events. Be prepared mentally for it all, learn how to have fun, be confident, and hold no fears.
Mike Schultz CSCS
May
21
2011
Ok, so I didn’t throw a party or a cookout to celebrate bike month, but I did make it a good excuse to get out for a few longer days of riding this past week. After all, it has been one rainy day after another here in the northeast for the month of May and an excuse to ride long is just what the doctor ordered. So, I decided to ride from my home in the Laurel Mountains, where I spend time training, coaching and enjoying the outdoors, to my girlfriend’s home about 95 miles away. I set this plan in stone Tuesday night after gaining the latest weather details and decided to go for it, rain or shine.
The forecast was for off and on showers, highs around 65F, with the potential for heavy downpours, but the radar early morning looked very promising. There was even a peek of sunshine here and there and spots of blue skies. I am a very optimistic person all on my own … but the weather really was looking too good to be true. So off on my journey I went, pedaling away from the highlands, climbing the 1000 feet ascents over Laurel ridge and then Chestnut ridge. The hill climbs were enjoyable. In my third week of hours, feeling good while out on a long journey is a great feeling. So along with the partly sunny skies, it was turning out to be a great day.
Whenever the forecast calls for potential downpours there is always a chance that you’re not going to see it coming, and that’s what happened about 50 miles into the first day. It’s amazing what a hard rain will do to your mental state. It could be the best feeling day of your life but with hard steady rain, blinding your eyes, soaking your shorts and shirt while riding at 20-30 miles an hour, it feels like crap. But at this point the only thing to do is to keep pedaling. The temps were in reasonable ranges, so it was more of a discomfort thing than anything. Still, I have had my share of rides in the rain and I was slightly over it after a few minutes and once soaked.
Toward the end of the first day the rain stopped and I was able to dry out. I pedaled into the small town close to Pittsburgh and was feeling pretty good. I was looking forward to the comforts of a home and was really looking forward to the pasta dinner Mandi had planned for the night. Once I arrived, 95 miles and 8000 vertical feet later, I was able to enjoy a warm shower, and a great meal.
The one thing about riding from one destination to another is that there is no option to get home other than riding your bike. And in my case, I had a 95-mile ride back to the Highlands. The ride down took me almost exactly five hours, and when looking at the elevation profile I can see why. There is more elevation loss than gain heading away from home. But when pedaling back it is just the opposite and that is something I was prepared for.
The ride back took slightly longer than the ride down and it felt a little harder. Still, it didn’t feel super hard and after two weeks of decent hours on the bike, I was pretty excited to be feeling good on both days. The rain was a lot less dramatic on the second day but was present toward the end of the ride. It was just enough rain to provide a lot more challenge mentally going into the last 20 miles of the 190-mile round trip. But at this point I was determined to finish out the day, especially since I was feeling good in the legs and with all other signs responding, such as heart rates, breathing and so on.
Arriving home after a long journey felt great. Again, the comfort of a warm shower, a good meal and a great night of rest awaited. There is nothing like the feeling of achieving a goal and feeling good about it, even though there was some discomfort and challenge involved with the rain on both days. It is amazing how all the mental and physical challenges dissipate almost as soon as I walk through the door and take a seat. I never look back at a long ride as being painful and hard. I always look back at the day in a positive light and begin thinking about the next long ride or round trip journey. I guess that’s a pretty good sign that I like to ride my bike. Cheers to bike month!
Mike
May
6
2011
Today was the first day without rain for the past five days. It has been a wet and cold spring so far to say the least. So with a nice day on tap, and the opportunity to ride long, a friend and I planned to ride the three biggest climbs in the area, a 75 mile route on the roads. Coming off of a shortened race this past weekend the legs were feeling a little stiff, so I knew from the start of the ride I was going to need to gear it down and grind it out at times.
This past weekend was the first 100 mile national ultra endurance race, held at the Ocoee White Water center in southern TN. I traveled down to race and was feeling pretty good about racing, especially for an early season ultra endurance event. I definitely knew I was not going to be in top form but was confident that I would be able to best my previous finishing times.
The race started off fast up the first climb. I pedaled the first hill with the main pack of riders but was not feeling great from the start. After about an hour into the race my heart rate was not responding into the upper end ranges and I was short on breath. I was very well rested coming into this race, so a non responding heart rate was very unusual.
I kept riding thinking that I would get into a groove and start to feel better as the day unfolded but that was not the case. After about 35 miles, I slowed to a crawl. I was still breathing very shallow and felt like I had very little power. So I decided to stop racing and figure out what was going on around mile 40.
I am learning that I am allergic to a type of pollen, possibly tree pollen. My symptoms usually go away once all the trees are full bloomed. I am also learning that allergies can prevent you from exerting yourself and that’s exactly the issue I had in the race this past weekend. I also seem to remember dealing with this issue last year at the 12 hour DSG race mid May.
Not finishing a race, for any reason, is one of the hardest things to deal with. It is not the end of the world but it is never fun. You put time and effort into training, so you want to at least finish feeling strong and have a good time. It’s natural to get down about it for a few days but in the end there is only one thing to do, and that’s get back on the bike and ride.
So, since my race was shortened, I decided to get back on the bike this week, get in a few good rides and a decent week of hours. I want to work hard into the next 100 miler in early June. So a friend and I decide to take the scenic route today and grind out three long steep 8-10 mile climbs in the area. We ended up climbing about 8500 vertical feet over a 75 mile ride. It was an easy gear, grind it out type of day. My heart rate responded well today and the legs felt good, but my breath was still a little shallow. Overall it was a good day to get out, push the limits a little and put the weekend behind. It’s time to think and move forward into the next event in early June, the Mohican 100.
Mike
Apr
21
2011
The first race of the year is always an intense feeling. There are always thoughts of uncertainty. You are really not sure how you are going to feel, how you will compare to your peers, or if you will struggle to make it to the finish line. The first event is always a small bump in the road but an easy one to conquer. Waking up at a decent time, eating a smart breakfast, and getting out the door to travel to the race may be the most important step of the day. From there, everything else will fall into place…
Be realistic about how you will feel in the race and you will ease the tension mentally. If you had a long winter, cross training a lot, and spending most of your time training indoors, you then may not feel as strong earlier in the season as someone who has been able to ride or run outside all year long. Realize that going into the first event and race with a few less expectations. There is no need to put pressure on yourself mentally so early in the year. Being nervous and spending energy on what possibly could happen will only take away from what actually does happen.
Plan to work hard. You know you’re not going to be in peak shape and form, so working a little harder should be expected. Racing places a stress on your body different than any other type of training could possibly place, so it is impossible to be ready for the first race of the year if you have not raced in a few months or more. You can train hard but you will never be able to train as hard as a race effort.
I raced this past weekend for the first time this season. I went into it planning to work hard, expected it to hurt a little and was realistic to how I was going to feel. My only mistake was not dialing in my bike before the race. With a front brake rubbing the entire time, every hill and flat section seemed a little harder than usual, especially while racing on a single speed. There was no brake squeal or noise, so I accepted the fact that I was going slower than usual, blamed it on the first race blues, and kept referring back to my original mindset of not having high expectations for the outcome. That allowed me to continue to ride hard and have fun compared to riding hard with a negative mindset, concentrating on why I was pedaling slower than usual. In the end it was not a great finish time. But I worked hard the entire time and know that I will be much more dialed with my bike, mindset and intensity for the next event.
Mike