Base, Base and a Race
10.08.2010
Big rides, runs and swims have been going well. All focus is still on base training for Nationals and Worlds. The last two weeks have been all about consistent training everyday at aerobic intensities. Everything below LT. With the intensity kept low I was able to feel good everyday and log a 30 hour and 27 hour weeks the last two. Feeling it a bit this week after concluding it with a local Xterra race. The plan is drop the volume a bit (18-ish hours) this week with another local race to test the fitness. Then after this lighter week, hit two more 25-30 hour weeks of continued aerobic training.
I’ve been feeling very good with long rides of the 6 hour, 10,000 ft climbing variety, long runs of the 2.5 hour 25oo ft climbing variety and long swims of the 6000 yd variety. One or two of these sessions each, each week has been complimented with shorter, more technique focused sessions in between. Everything aerobic, nothing intense.
Sunday I hit up the XTerra Indian Peaks race to just as a fitness check. I took Friday easy with just a 2 hour swim session and Saturday a pre-ride and run of the full course distance at an easy pace. A small taper of sorts. With 30 hours the previous week and 22 hours of training leading up to Sunday’s race that week, I was no where near fresh and really had no expectations for the race. I just wanted to open it up and go hard since I hadn’t done so for over 3 weeks! My warm-up felt a bit tiring, but once racing I settled into a nice pace and felt surprisingly good. The swim was nothing special. Came out in 5th place 2.5 min behind leader Branden Rakita. Once on the bike I got after it. Didn’t feel great, but apparently I was moving up the climbs as I quickly reeled in 2nd place Brad Zoeller near the high point of the two-lap course half-way through the first lap. Right on second and within a minute of first, I slipped over a big wet root, stuck my wheel in a mud hole and went over the bars. Got up, realized I hit a tree with my rear wheel hard enough that it popped out of my dropouts! It took me way longer to get the wheel back in and I lost about 2 minutes fixing my skewer and brakes. The other victim of my fall was my chain guide that keeps my chain securely on my single front chainring. The plastic guide had blown completely off when I tried pedaling without my wheel in the frame. Shit. The next 1.5 laps of the course I dropped my chain about 15-20 times causing me to stop, dismount, put the chain back on, remount, and get back up to speed. I was flying through the lapped riders, then drop the chain, have riders pass while fixing, then re-passing them. Embarrassing. I figure I lost around 6 minutes with the whole debacle. By T2 I still managed to catch 4th place, and close the gap a bit to the leaders. Brad and I hit the run hard and miss a turn. Nice. Losing about 40 seconds, we figured it out and turned back. Brad left me in the dust, or mud as it was, and I ran steady to the finish in 5th place. Disappointing. After the race I refueled, rested a bit and then rode home 4 hours and 4000 ft climbing later. Got to get the base!
Monday I was tired and sore from the falling (I fell one other time on the bike and again on the run) so I decided to sleep in and take the day off. A little volume drop this week for some recovery, another test race on Saturday and I hope to redeem myself. Feeling strong and positive for the fall races that count!