SBR "U" (Page 44)

Had a (mentally) challenging long ride yesterday.  There were a lot of factors that played into it, but one of the hardest ones to swallow is simply that my bike fitness is just not where it used to be (or where I want it to be).  Where I used to be able to hold ~155W for 3+ hours, I decided to shoot for ~140W yesterday.  I was a couple watts over target for the first half, and completely fell apart for the second half (think I came in 9W short)....lots of coasting and feeling sorry for myself....heh.  Even though I knew it was largely mental, it felt physical at the time.

Galveston 70.3 is five weeks from yesterday.  I had myself nearly convinced to just bail on the race and train for Buffalo Springs 70.3 instead, which would be late June.  I probably won't do that, but yesterday was the first real confirmation that this race is not going to go as well as I would like.  I'll have to keep in mind for next year to a) not take an excessive amount of time off the bike, and b) try to minimize non-training stresses in my life!

Totally agree with Marc!  We've all had those days where things just don't click and you wonder why you are bothering.  Stick with it, it will all work out.

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on one bad day (easy for me to say about someone else   )

Wow, that was one, tough, punishing race.  It was a mini version of the Catalina Eco Marathon including lots of technical rocky single track and a couple brutal, off camber rutted and rocky descents.  This race was re-scheduled due to earlier rains, so in addition to everything else there were huge erosion drainage channels down the center of most of the big descents.   2800 feet of climbing over 13 miles (Catalina had 3800 over 26), with half of that coming miles 6-11 with no aid stations.  Simply no access to that trail or anyplace to put them.  Tough but rewarding.

Any of our trail runners have advice for descending well?   I did pretty well on the climbs, holding my own more or less and being consistent, but got continually passed going downhill.  It's not a fitness/quad issue because those felt fine, I think it's more technique.  I feel like I am (and probably am) putting on the brakes with every step.  I'm afraid of tumbling a$$ over teakettle so I am a bit wary, especially where it's rocky and uneven.  

Honestly, it wasn't a "bad day"....it was a day where I over estimated my mental (and possibly physical) capabilities.  I knew before I even left the house that I was not in a good place mentally (had issues with my bike rack and then thought I forgot my shoes when I was 10 minutes into the drive....turned around, and then realized I actually did have them, so I turned back around!).

The ride was on the Galveston bike course....I'm going to do it again next weekend and shoot for the same power targets.  That will either help me dial in race power, or just provide training stress and tell me that I need to back it down for the race. 

On a good note, my 4 mile run after went pretty well

Wow Chris, sounds super hard!

I got nothing on the descending advice other than picturing Rusty windmilling down them.    There is definitely some skill/technique to doing it properly and it's not something I have acquired. 

x3.  I've learned that you can't judge your bike fitness just by one ride, and that even if your bike fitness is lower than you want, it doesn't take a whole lot to get it back where it used to be earlier.  Trying to set PRs, or increase fitness beyond your previous best is a little bit of a different story.

Also, if you have already paid for the race, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to experiment on race day.  There is only so much of a 70.3 that you can simulate in training.  I usually learn a few new things every time I race...regardless of the type of result.

RR from yesterday's TT.

Not a good performance, but not horrible either I suppose given the lead up to race day.  Bigger focus is 3 weeks from now for another TT and then the 40k in 6 weeks.

What?!?  How could it be that soon?!? 

Looks like I have some work to do (signed up for it recently), as I'm in a similar spot.  My run and swim are OK (not great, but feeling solid), but I just haven't been able to find good riding ground outdoors here - and I don't care for 3+ hours on the trainer...  Got to get a couple 60 milers in over the next month, I think.

So, I get where you're coming from, but you have to race (BT meetup in the making!).    Of course, do what makes sense, but it'll be fun.  Everyone's doing it.  It'll make you feel good.  Just try one... (yeah, and who says tri isn't a drug?)

All kidding aside, I agree with Jason that if you can get out there for the race - even if trained less than "ideally" - you'll likely learn something useful.  Plus, races really are fun (to me, at least).  I will struggle with setting my goals and, therefore, also my W/HR/pace targets appropriately for my current as opposed to ideal fitness level, but I think I might actually learn from that, too.

Hope to see you there!!

Matt

Given the hilly nature of my local environs around home, I've been practicing the last few months with the words from the Rusty/Salty discussion in my head.  I've usually been good at the constant, not too steep descents (just "open up" a bit and don't fight it, etc.), but the steeper stuff always had me feeling like I was also putting on the brakes. 

The "stay on your toes" and "keep your arms a bit lower" and "fast feet" from that discussion have helped me on the steep stuff, although I'm also still working on it. 

Another thing that has been working for me is to focus on the front half of my leg gait and back half of my arm swing (driving the elbows) going up hill and more or less the converse on the steep downhills (paying attention to my foot coming around the back of the gait, with all the above quotes in mind, too - and keeping my arms lower and while not forward, definitely not driving my elbows back on the descent).  More of an awareness or focus than any conscious change in mechanics, if that makes sense (?).

Might be totally wrong, technique-wise, but it's been helping smooth out that braking feeling on the steeps.

Matt

I'm definitely going to race Galveston 70.3.  I'm far too stubborn to give up!  I'm just trying to temper my expectations (I keep saying that, but keep hoping for a miracle of some sorts!).  The thing is, I think my swim is about where it was last year and I think my run is a bit better....but with the bike being weaker, I'm not sure I'll actually be able to take advantage of my slightly improved run.  I'll keep plugging away and find a later season race.

Didn't realize you were racing, Matt!  That make three of us (Marc is racing as well).  Will definitely need to get together for a beer

I actually rode the course yesterday and noticed that Galveston Island Brewery is about 1.5 miles away from transition....just sayin'

Crossing my fingers that I can finally get back outdoors on the bike this weekend - it's long overdue.  Truth is that even once I get outside again I'll only get to ride once a week in the fresh air, and the rest of the sessions will remain on the trainer so it won't be too different than most of winter.

Hope you are able to Neil!  I'm nowhere near the point of even having hope yet.  

Hi all - swinging through to say hello after a spate of work travel and then moving out of our house (temporarily for about 10 months while undergoing renovation). One more day of moving the last odds-and-ends today, then hopefully I can get back on the training wagon, but a lot of damage was done in the last 3 weeks: put on about 6 pounds which puts me at 10lbs over where I would have liked to be for my first race in 3 weeks - yikes! Elbow still hasn't resolved well, even with a 3 week layoff from swimming, but it seems PT has it going in the right direction - it is just being very stubborn.

fun to see everyone's race calendar starting to heat up: Nicole you are going to do great, and I too think you will surprise yourself on the run. I would just err on the side of conservative on the bike and then be ready to motor the run. over that distance you can make up a 10w deficit on the bike pretty quickly and you will be running folks down which always helps (at least me) to run better.

Jason - great race report. Since you were glomming for the race photographer can we expect a new avatar soon? Heh.

aside from a lot of rain we have been able to get out on the road all winter, and actually enjoyed a 70 degree day yesterday, albeit with a little spritz of wet here and there. Headed up to the mountains with some teammates this weekend for a little wake-up call. Hopefully jus the thing I need to get jump started.

Hey Chris - sounds like an awesome race! One of these years I am just going to sign up for all of the same races as you - you really know how to pick them!

Re: hilly trail running In my experience if i am "holding my own" on the ascents I am usually going too hard and have to use the descents to recover too much, which lends itself to braking, which is also really hard on the body. I instead drop it into a low gear and short step/high turnover the ups and use that as sort of recovery, then absolutely launch myself down the hills In basically what is a somewhat controlled free-fall. I stay on my toes and off my heels, arms out, but hands as low as possible. 

This does cause you yo-yo a bit with your competitors, but I have found that after a couple of times they are usually gone off the back. 

On a positive note, the team I race for pays out a little bit for podiums, and I did well enough last season to have enough money (coupled with our team discount) to pick up a set of enve 3.4 clinchers and a new helmet. I'll get to try out the Enves this weekend. For the helmet I went with the newer bambino. I wanted the LG, but it seems there is a recall on them in the US. So hopefully I will do some aerolab testing of it against my other helmets - Marc, I'll be asking for your help with setting up the protocols and analysis if you don't mind looking over my shoulder?

Oh, and Arend, based on your recommendation a while back that I needed some red on my helmet I went with the red-with-a-white-stripe Kask. It's kinda retro, and I like it quite a bit. Hopefully it is faster than my Vortice....

I knew you wouldn't let me down!  

Awesome!  I'll have to start abbreviating this group as S-BRU.  (that was bad, but I love me some micro-brew)

I just signed up a couple weeks ago.  Not ready for it and can't hit training like I'd like, but I'm getting some consistent weeks in and just NEED a race. 

The last couple years have been good racing years for me, so I've been fortunate to bag many PRs.  This will be a new experience to go and actually race (not just complete), but be targeting something less than a PR.  Messing with my head figuring out how to attack this one, actually.

Whatevs, I'm just psyched to have a forcing mechanism for training (races work that way for me) and to get to race.  Taking the whole family for the weekend (in a condo on the gulf side close to the venue).  There are a few BT-ers I know of going and it'll be great to actually meet some SBRU-ers!

Matt

The momentum thing is pretty big for downhill. Many tend to "catch" themselves an awful lot, putting the brakes on more than they realize. Some good things were mentioned about balance here and elsewhere. Also helpful for me has been quicker feet. I used to have soccer and basketball to both have faster feet and be used to moving quickly. So it's both physical and mental. Now it's limited more to the repetition pace work. Being smooth while going very fast. You'll also gain confidence and ability with practice. From that you'll be able to pick lines better. The lines you pick (and can execute) may change as the previously mentioned tools improve as well.

Welcome back!  I'm going to miss the Strava posts, though - some crazy runs you got in!

Not sure I want an instagrams on the Strava feed of the extra pounds in LuLu, though... 

Question on the move (we're likely in a similar boat, as we could sell the house we're in before renovations are done on the new place).  Did you use an executive housing kind of place or rent a house or such?  Just curious, as we're getting a bit nervous about options (and this is definitely SBR related - if I'm living out of the back of my truck, I wont have room for my bike).

Matt

Whaaaaaaaa? Out of the team budget or do they split cash prize money? That is amazing if the former! 

And we are talking overall podium?

Thanks for the tips.

If you want to come out in October, here's one of the ones we're going to try to get into

Santa Cruz Island Half Marathon